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Old 20th August 2014, 12:03   #541
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

I got about 10 minutes to spend with the Zest.
Quick observations, esp about the weight.
- the bonnet is heavy - I expected the same weight as my Vista and lifted, but it was noticeably heavier
- The doors are similar to the Vista (weight)
- The rods behind the rear seat - I suspect they add torsional rigidity, improving the dynamics - add to the weight
- Overall thicker gauge sheeting (compared to Dzire and Amaze)

My Vista (Petrol SaFIRE engine - Fiat) - gives a consistent 12-14 kmpl in city driving cycle and 16-17 highway speeds. 96NM Torque, almost same weight so I expect the Zest to do better consider the higher torque.
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Old 20th August 2014, 13:21   #542
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Had a call with Tata Concorde about my Revotron booking. He says Tata has indicated that the top end model has a 1.5 month waiting period while the middle version can be delivered in 20+ period.

I told him to check with Tata & expedite my top end model delivery as I need the car in September positively, else I would cancel. He will get back to me in a couple of days.

I hope Tata has a method to professionally allot the deliveries too like the online booking, else it will just be a tug-of-war between dealers.
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Old 20th August 2014, 13:38   #543
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atif View Post
This is a new one, which i have never heard before. I always thought the lesser the BHP, the more mileage we get. I own a vista, and your FE figures are spot on. But, 90 BHP gives more mileage, is somthing which i am not aware of till now. I have another query based on your reply, so you mean to say that Manza returns more than ARAI Figues in real time driving conditions !!!!!!!!
1. Higher BHP here doesn't indicate more fuel is being burnt, but, it is just because of the difference of geometry of the turbo being used. Being a VGT powered engine, it benefits by more torque especially in the lesser RPM range, resulting in better fuel economy. The engine doesn't have to sip more fuel in case of VGT, as it has more torque to accelerate by.
2. All the diesels are more likely to return ARAI mileage figures in real time, while compared to petrol ones. A lot depends on driving conditions here, meaning a VGT diesel would definitely have good fuel economy.
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Old 20th August 2014, 14:34   #544
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atif View Post

. This is a new one, which i have never heard before. I always thought the lesser the BHP, the more mileage we get. I own a vista, and your FE figures are spot on. But, 90 BHP gives more mileage, is somthing which i am not aware of till now. I have another query based on your reply, so you mean to say that Manza returns more than ARAI Figues in real time driving conditions !!!!!!!!
On the highway, Yes.

Read the ownership review of Motomaverick's Manza. He did the ladakh trip on the Manza and it gave excellent mileage figures.
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Old 21st August 2014, 20:17   #545
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

I had an opportunity to test drive the top variant in petrol in early August at an event at a local mall. I had been desperately waiting for the Zest and arrived before the 10 am start time. The staff were very cordial and immediately took me on a test drive. I had an 18 month old Vista ZX (diesel) (not the D90 version) and was fairly satisfied with the car. Contrary to most opinions expressed here, I have been extremely satisfied with the purchase experience and service at Tata. It didn't make sense for me to change my almost new car to a Zest but having been bitten by the Zest bug and after waiting eons for the launch, I was seriously considering it.

I have lived abroad for an extended period and have driven all sort of cars in the US, Europe and Latin America and I was really proud to see our home grown manufacturer coming out with such a beautiful product.

Here are my impressions:

Overall exterior looks:

It looks gorgeous! The metallic blue colour in particular is simply a feast for the eyes. I would rate it very highly here.

Interior:

After seeing so many pictures and waiting for so long to see the car, I was a little underwhelmed. The interior looks ok, not as good as I had hoped. For instance, the Hyudai Xcent has a much more polished interior. So many things were carried over from the Vista and after sitting in the Zest for a few minutes I found that the cup holders were identical, so were the window and OVRM switches, interior lights and the console for the hand brake were the same. Nothing wrong in it as the Vista has nice interiors but I wish that Tata had made some things a little more plush.

Instrumentation:

Nice instrument cluster but the MFD is really tiny. I don't know why Tata couldn't make it a little larger.

Features:

I am happy with the airbags in the top variant but I so wish that they had been included across the board and then Tata could have called it India's safest car or some such catchy slogan. That for me is much more important than alloy wheels. In addition, as this is a new product being designed for the next decade, there should have been at least an option of side airbags. If new launches don't have them, then we are doomed to wait for the next decade for side airbags to become prevalent. Similarly not having airbags in the diesel AMT version is deplorable.

I liked the touch screen and steering wheel controls.

I love the look of the projectors but fail to understand why Tata didn't put HIDs/ Xenons after going to the trouble of putting projectors. It should at least be available as an option.

No smart entry/ smart start (push button) feature. Hyundai has them in i20, i10 and Xcent and it is rumoured that the upcoming Swift facelift would have it as well. Tata shouldn't fall behind in a new product.

Ride and handling:

I was a little underwhelmed here as well. It seemed ok but the steering didn't provide much feedback and the ride seemed less solid than in my 2012 Vista.

In summary, it is a fairly good product and anyone considering a small hatch or small sedan will find it more than acceptable. I love the outside design and really wish Tata all the success with the Zest and the Bolt. If I were looking for a new car now, the Zest would be at the top of my list!
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Old 21st August 2014, 21:08   #546
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Got a call from Tata Concorde today. They said Tata has manufactured a lot of the middle variants & not so many of the top variant that I have opted for. Tata is able to deliver the top variant only after 1.5 - 2 months.

Still, if I was willing to accept any color they will try to expedite & deliver it to me in September. I said OK to that, they said they will let me know by Saturday.

So if they say yes, I wait, else I would have to cancel my booking as I need the car in September.
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Old 22nd August 2014, 10:06   #547
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by torquecurve View Post
I got about 10 minutes to spend with the Zest.

- The rods behind the rear seat - I suspect they add torsional rigidity, improving the dynamics - add to the weight
These rods act as both, for rigidity as well as safety. The cabin is safe in case of any rear impact during accidents. This was the logic shared to me during discussion at display.
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Old 22nd August 2014, 16:39   #548
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Some bad behaviors and process die hard. Me and my better half walked into Concorde Showroom at Balanagar -Hyderabad to see Zest and understand the features and for a test drive. We are looking at a replacement for our 5 Year old Swift ZXI and was eagerly waiting for Zest to come to showroom. For the 40 Minutes we where looking at the car not one single person came to attend to us. I went to the reception and requested if somebody could help, another 15 mts passed by and nobody winked an eye. Not knowing how to open the boot, a customer sitting in one of the chairs got up and helped us open the boot. This is state of affairs in Tata and it is now famed changed dealers. I would probably never take a test drive and never want to even consider a Tata product, imagine this is what the state is before purchase, I can't but imagine what would be the situation with respect to after sales service.

Last edited by ajitsank : 22nd August 2014 at 16:40.
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Old 22nd August 2014, 16:57   #549
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

NICE EXPERIENCE:
Today i had been to the Pandit Auto, Pimpri, PUNE showroom fo the Zest test drive. Moment we entered the showroom [ which was already quite crowded despite being a working weekday] , 2 people attended to us for necessary details. PLEASED at that , had bad experience few years back when we went to purchase another car [ that tie we walked out and brought another make car] .

Since we knew the features, details, model trim etc [ after that fantastic team bhp eview] , we simply asked for a test drive. within 5 minutes, it was arranged and we were off on th road with a Revotron XT Buzz Blue color .

Drove on good road, bad road, no road for about 5 kms odd ... quite happy with the car esp Ride quality, NVH, interior plushness, steering feedback, ease of drive ,fit amd finish, braking all are very very good. I drive a linea so i benchmarked it aginst that only.

But, the Harman touch screen audio is toooo good ....so its top end for me :-).

Will i buy it ....yes 90% in next 1 month, the revotron 90 HP . Color : Beige [ saw in display, liked it ] or Red [ heard its awesome, need to see how Red Zest looks in person .Blue looks quite dazzling but i cannot mantain it at all, so no dark colors for me however good it looks.

a happy customer ....impressive tata customer experience after a long time. Keep up the good work Tata.
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Old 22nd August 2014, 17:14   #550
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajitsank View Post
Some bad behaviors and process die hard. Me and my better half walked into Concorde Showroom at Balanagar -Hyderabad to see Zest and understand the features and for a test drive. We are looking at a replacement for our 5 Year old Swift ZXI and was eagerly waiting for Zest to come to showroom. For the 40 Minutes we where looking at the car not one single person came to attend to us. I went to the reception and requested if somebody could help, another 15 mts passed by and nobody winked an eye. Not knowing how to open the boot, a customer sitting in one of the chairs got up and helped us open the boot. This is state of affairs in Tata and it is now famed changed dealers. I would probably never take a test drive and never want to even consider a Tata product, imagine this is what the state is before purchase, I can't but imagine what would be the situation with respect to after sales service.
The Balanagar showroom is the main service center for Concorde motors in the hyderabad ,so the focus of that place is not on new car sales. I would be surprised if they were delivering cars from that showroom at all. For new car enquiries/testdrives check out their Khairatabad or the L.B nagar showrooms. By the way I have had a very good experience for service at Sanath nagar when we got our safari and indica now sold serviced there regularly.

Last edited by damodar : 22nd August 2014 at 17:16.
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Old 22nd August 2014, 20:14   #551
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by gauravdgr8 View Post
Well, no idea on the XETA mileage.

Coming to the mileage on 75BHP and 90BHP version, Manza returns better in city and highway mileage than the Vista 75BHP. Yes. You heard it right.

On the highway, Manza running at 100kmph is @2000 rpm vs the Vista which at that speed runs @2500 rpm.

On the other hand, my friends Manza used to return an easy 23kmpl at speeds of exceeding 30kmph over century.
I can second that. I own a Manza and have always achieved between 22- 24kmpl on highways and city driving has always been around 16Kmpl
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Old 22nd August 2014, 20:28   #552
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Two days back, I had taken brief test drives (around 2 KMs each) of both petrol and diesel versions(both top end, fully loaded), following are my quick impressions, listing positives first:

1. Blue color looks excellent and dazzling. If I were to buy Zest today, blue would be my choice
2. Diesel engine is tuned for driveability, linear acceleration, turbo lag is not felt and NVH is well controlled
3. Petrol engine is silent and good to drive, clutch is extremely light (felt this compared to diesel, after a back to back test drive). However did not feel any great pickup even in 'Sports' mode. I could not get a feeling of turbo spooling (hope that is the right word) even accelerating in 3rd gear to 60 kmph. Revotron failed to impress me for pickup. May be, good FE will compensate for outright acceleration. (I could not get clear idea of what is instantaneous FE, as FE meter had analogue type display).
Also, I managed to stall it while trying to go over a small bump in 2nd gear - could tackle this bump comfortably in 2nd gear in diesel variant.
4. Seats are very cushy and comfortable
5. Space is well managed and despite dark interiors car feels specious in both rows
6. Visibility is good and I could find comfortable driving position with respect to seat and steering.
7. AC is good, with multi step fan speed control providing very premium feel
8. Audio is very good for a stock system, however I felt it was loud but missed SQ was not great - may be it takes some setting to make it as per my liking - did not explore more though
9. Boot space was decent - though protruding portions at side would make the space less usable

Overall positive impression except the following:
1. As mentioned by other members, strangely TML is promoting petrol Revotron variant, while they should be promoting and projecting FTronics/AMT with diesel - which is a strong USP for this car. Sadly, AMT variant was not even available for test drive
2. Consistency (or lack of it) - I think this mars the positive experience and leaves one with a bad test. Couple of examples - for both petrol and diesel cars I drove, their horns were sounding differently. Also, the door of diesel vehicle closed with a 'clank' while door of petrol vehicle I drove closed with 'thump'. Also, though plastic and overall interior looked premium, I did not get a feel of a polished/finished/refined product - for e.g. plate in the area near gear lever(which houses a glass holder and electric outlet) did not look like flush fit. I hope TML does not make these small issues their Achilles' heel, which will prevent this competent product from getting deserving success.
3. Lastly, strangely the three cars which were available for test drive at the venue were not marked as test drive vehicle. Hope these vehicles do not go to unsuspecting customers as fresh vehicles.

Best regards,
JLS

Last edited by JLS : 22nd August 2014 at 20:32.
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Old 23rd August 2014, 05:45   #553
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by damodar View Post
The Balanagar showroom is the main service center for Concorde motors in the hyderabad ,so the focus of that place is not on new car sales. I would be surprised if they were delivering cars from that showroom at all. For new car enquiries/testdrives check out their Khairatabad or the L.B nagar showrooms. By the way I have had a very good experience for service at Sanath nagar when we got our safari and indica now sold serviced there regularly.
Yes. Its one of the best in the country. My vista's entire 44000 service has been done at the same place without any complaints.

I would blindly believe in what they say for a cars service.
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Old 23rd August 2014, 15:02   #554
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Seems like TML is taking feedback seriously. Noticed a boot lamp in the Zest XT displayed at Tata motors Nerul, Navi Mumbai.
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Old 23rd August 2014, 18:12   #555
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

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Seems like TML is taking feedback seriously. Noticed a boot lamp in the Zest XT displayed at Tata motors Nerul, Navi Mumbai.
It is the absence of boot lamp in the lower end versions of Zest that was being discussed here. XT always had it.
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