[prashanthyr]

Excellent review of a very promising car by Tata! Only question on the review - What kind of mileage did you observe during the test?

I honestly feel Tata missed a trick by not designing the Zest as a notch back similar to the Octavia / Laura. The notch back would have been a clear design USP against the Dzire / Amaze / Xcent.

[400notout]

Best review available out there.


Saw the car at Inorbit Vashi today. Looks good, took the revotron one for a short test drive. I cant say anything conclusively about it though, need to the drive car for a longer period to say anything fairly.

From what I read on the forum,

About the storage space below the seat, the pic will provide the answers. I guess should be good for rectangular bottles, not sure about 1 litre round ones. Not good angle to analyse the depth of it.

The representatives were very warm and welcoming test drives were promptly provided, diesel had a queue.

I know the launch is just a few days but couldn't resist seeing it.

Below is the pic of the storage below the seats.

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

...I honestly feel Tata missed a trick by not designing the Zest as a notch back similar to the Octavia / Laura. The notch back would have been a clear design USP against the Dzire / Amaze / Xcent.

AFAIK, designing a hatch door is more expensive than designing a sedan's boot - the higher price is just because of the utility the boot offers.

Since the design & development probably required a decent amount of investment, they may have hesitated from adventurous spending given the uncertainty of sales numbers. Infact instead of spending on designing a 60:40 split seat, they've limited themselves to designing a rear seat that could seat 3 people in very decent comfort.

[Chitta Pradhan]

Tata knows the Indians & reads their mind better than any one else. Launching the truncated sedan first & delaying the hatch launch is a master stroke, unlike other sedan/hatches like Dezire/Swift, Xcent/Grand i-10, Amaze/ Brio etc. Launch of Bolt later will give an impression that the hatch is carved out of a more premium car ( read- a sedan). In other cases, the sedans give an impression ( atleast to the mass market) of being a clear after thought & in the process a compromised sedan comes out with all the limitations of a hatch. This is what comes to my mind why sedan is being launched first & hatch later.

Seems to be an excellent product. Height of the car may be a deterrent for enthusiasts, but should be liked very much by most users. 90 hp diesel is the most powerful diesel car in the segment ( other than Amaze). Other unique things like the only small auto diesel & petrol engine with different driving modes shold generate lots of interest among buyers. I love the refinement & ride quality of newer TATAs & this car should be an improvement over the existing ones. Fortnunately look of the car is not resembling with VISTA/Indica/Manza atleast from front & rear which should now be well accepted as a owner driven car. TATA will surely price the car most competitively.

Seems that TATA is almost bang on & with better service experience, this car has the potentality to outdo others in the segment.

I wish TATA all the best.

Cheers

[pgsagar]

I wish Tata all the success with Zest. They need all the help they can get on sales front right now. I hope their worst days are behind them. Some people question abilities of AMT vis-a-vis other forms of automatics. But I read soemwhere that Lamborghini also uses AMT, albeit a lot refined, but an AMT nevertheless. If that is so then there is no need for any concern.

With this Tata also joined AT car club. And Fiat is the only car maker in India who do not offer a single automatic car.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

And Fiat is the only car maker in India who do not offer a single automatic car.

So does Renault, Mahindra, Chevy and to a large extent Ford (only Endy AT). No? Funny thing is Magneti Marelli is a Fiat Company and they weren't the first to jump into the party

[prashanthyr]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

AFAIK, designing a hatch door is more expensive than designing a sedan's boot - the higher price is just because of the utility the boot offers.

Since the design & development probably required a decent amount of investment, they may have hesitated from adventurous spending given the uncertainty of sales numbers. Infact instead of spending on designing a 60:40 split seat, they've limited themselves to designing a rear seat that could seat 3 people in very decent comfort.

True, designing a hatch door is more complicated and expensive as compared to a sedan boot lid. However, IMHO, Tata could have taken the risk - they are at the bottom right now and the only way is UP!

I am not sure Tata spent too much money on the redesign. The more I look at the Zest, the more I feel they have used a number of proven components from the Vista / Manza, especially in the interior.

For ex: The B pillar in the Zest seems to have come out straight from the Vista, as do the seats, stalks etc.

This is very clever engineering by Tata and a good way to reuse proven components while creating the perception of an all new car.

Overall, with the Zest, Tata has likely gone the last mile and finished the job they started with the Vista / Manza. This is what those two cars should have been in the first place.

[anilntny]

Amazing review.

I am extremely happy that finally TATA has come up with a truly international car .


In between,I saw this "got bhp" key chain just now only .Amazing design.I am placing my order today itself.

[itsashishsharma]

Yesterday I went to see the car in person at the Forum mall, Bangalore.
I had nothing much to add on what is said in the official review, but will try to sum up my experience and to answer your questions, if any.

1. I missed to spot one speed-breaker and had to apply brakes really hard. The ABS kicked in and I could feel it working under my foot. I really liked the brakes on the Zest.
2. The car looks really good. I personally liked the boot integration better than the competition, including the Xcent, yes.
3. The interiors are really good. The piano black finish feels premium and the ugly bits like chair rails are tucked away behind a layer of leather/carpet. The lights/wiper control stalks feel really good by the segment standards. I liked features like DRLs, the comprehensive MID, the HK music system, it takes voice commands pretty well, BT pairing is easy, touchscreen is awsome, buttons on the steering wheel feel premum.
4. One of the best steerings around, ride is really compliant (a tad too soft for my taste), I couldn't differentiate the suspension setup b/w the diesel and the petrol. Cornering was fine, not as fun as in my Swift petrol, yet predictable.
5. Bad bits are there, yes - i) The choice of plastics at a few places which is though much better than the same in the Vista, is not as good as you would like.
ii) The clutch on the diesel is not as soft and precise as that is of the petrol.
iii) Petrol's gearshift is good, but still, the shifts are not the shortest comparative to my Swift.
iv) Diesel's gearbox, though feels much better than the Manza and Linea, the segment standard is better.

Other than those listed in point number 5, I couldn't find a single issue with this car.
The petrol is lighter to drive around in city conditions, light steering, light clutch, easy gearshifts, softer suspension. Believe me, this petrol is as easier to drive in the city as any car in the A segment. I can tell this with my experience with driving the likes of Wagon-R, i10. Cars like i20, which are known to be excellent in city driving conditions, I think will fall shorter when it comes to comparing with the Zest petrol. There is so much lower end torque available because of that smaller turbo, that keeping up and even beating the burst of vehicles after a signal turns green will be easy and fun. Also, it has something to do with the higher seating position that would aid in city driving conditions.
However, I really liked the diesel over the petrol. Partly because of the highest levels of refinement the Zest has. You got to trust me on this one, the diesel feels as refined and the NVH are comparative to the petrol and it is only at the idle that you could make out that it is a diesel, or perhaps >3000 RPM.
On top of this, there is absolutely no turbo lag. It doesn't take up from from 1000 RPM like a Ford Classic but you should never find a problem maintaining pace in traffic. Acceleration is there and it is satisfactory but I noticed the turbo surge at quite high RPMs ~@2500. Though the engine becomes fairly vocal (well not like Amaze vocal), if needed, you can keep the car in the 2500-3500 RPM band and dears, it literally flies

Would I put my money on it? Well, yes. In most of the areas, the Zest is best in the segment. Some of the segment first features are there. And, it is a Tata, not as good as Maruti or Hyundai or Honda or Toyota as a brand name, but it is no Skoda too
I am looking to replace my parents' Baleno and the Zest could be it. However, I am not sure about the manual gearshift. It has to be the AMT. My take is that you beat the minor shortcomings (listed in point 5) by opting for the AMT. If I be honest, I don't see myself buying the manual diesel, the transmission is just too notchy. About the petrol, wherein there is no AMT option, the gearshift is just fine. Of course after running for say 10k KMs, the shifts got to become smoother and that clutch on the petrol is just lovely, perhaps best in the segment.
For me, it checks all the boxes, only thing remaining is a thorough TD of the AMT, after which, I would make a call

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by narayans80

So does Renault, Mahindra, Chevy and to a large extent Ford (only Endy AT). No? Funny thing is Magneti Marelli is a Fiat Company and they weren't the first to jump into the party

Mahindra, Renault , Chevy and Ford DO have AT cars in their line-up. Scorpio, Fluence, Koleos, Captiva, Cruze, Endy, Ecosport and Fiesta do have AT versions. Not a single model in Fiat line-up.

[vinaygurudutt]

Thanks for the Excellent review Aditya and Rehaan.
The Zest Indeed is yet another Masterpiece.Hope Tata Motors do price it weel enough and get the breakthrough they've been looking for
Good luck Tata Motors.Good Luck Zest

[imranshks]

I saw the Zest live last week. The blue color on car, design of Zest looks good unlike indica / indigo or Vista / Manza too for that matter. Hope Tata comes back into the game !!

[StepUP!]

What a detailed and fantastic review! Thank you Aditya and Rehhan!

Zest looks terrific in the blue shade! Interiors and exteriors are pleasing and appealing.

I have a soft corner towards TATA; being an Indian company! I was blown away by the space all TATA cars offer. While Honda is advertising its "Man Maximum Machine Minimum" strategy, I feel TATA has been doing it silently since years that too without scooping in front seats etc.!

What I liked the most about Zest; it's a complete package and no compromise car. While Amaze tells you compromise on interior quality, sheet metal thickness, cost cutting as we are giving you class leading engines; Xcent tells you compromise on 3 pot diesel, handling, steering feedback as we are giving you class leading interiors; And Dzire on top of it says compromise with rear bench space, awkward looks as we are giving you a Maruti product! I don't think Zest compromised on anything in this regard.

I agree TATA needs to advertise the product aggressively and spend on marketing a lot to regain the buyer's confidence and trust.

Remember Safari DICOR advertisements? "Reclaim your life"! They used to give me goose bumps! Such marvelous advertisements with cult and character of Safari! Zest needs the same.

[vikrantpatnaik]

Remember Safari DICOR advertisements? "Reclaim your life"! They used to give me goose bumps! Such marvelous advertisements with cult and character of Safari! Zest needs the same.

True as it seems, marketing needs to gear up with this product and more so the service...
Horizonext seems to deliver here

[AutoIndian]

Note: Mods please shift this message to appropriate thread, if found irrelevant over here.

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