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Old 4th August 2014, 12:46   #31
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Fantastic review. Thanks a lot. 5 stars.

Been waiting for the Zest review for quite some time now after I saw the Bolt & Zest ads at the stadiums during the IPL in Bangalore.

Looks like Tata has really given a lot of thought on what changes to make to capture the personal car segment. Interiors definitely seem and look plush from the review. I hope Tata keeps up the good marketing job it has been doing with Zest and Bolt. Had me looking forward for the launch for sure.
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Old 4th August 2014, 12:50   #32
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Mod Note : Please do NOT reply to posts using bold text within a quoted post, as it leads to visual discomfort for readers. Additionally, it's inconvenient to quote & reply to such a post.

For the correct way to quote, please see this thread.


Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
The highlighted portion in your post is more or less in alignment with the reviewer comments; isn't it? This is what is meant by "on par with competitors"! Neither the worst, nor the best; right in between.
Definitely not. Its better than 2 out of 3 of its competitors deserves a better rating


Quote:
There is a defnite "scooping" of the rear of the car. Or to put it better, the back side of the front seats are NOT flat; but there is a slight recess in the middle portion. Quite visible even to the un-trained eye.
Maybe you are right. Absolutely speaking, ALL cars have a scoop at the rear of the front seat. I was referring specifically to the ridiculously thin seats we are seeing in this segment of late.

Quote:
I thought this (upper dash) is more of a straight lift from the Manza or the Vista D90 with very less modification (from a design perspective). Isn't it not the case?
Nope. The Manza/D90 have a different dash. the center console portion even in the Manza/D90 is same as the Vista. Only that the speedo console goes to the right whereas in the Zest, even the A/C vents are redesigned at the center and to an extent in the sides too.

---
Reg the DRL discussion, I too feel DRLs are an overkill for Indian driving conditions but when everyone wants it - who are we to say no to Tata.

But what I find more irritating/disturbing is the trend towards LEDs in the rear lamp assembly. I find these lights very very bright even in the day time to the point that it interferes with people driving behind such cars

Last edited by noopster : 4th August 2014 at 15:15.
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Old 4th August 2014, 12:54   #33
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Mother of God! What a Magnificent Review!

I doubt anyone will be able to drill down to this level of detail, even if they combine all the reviews from all the so called auto mags. Deserves 10 stars!

For the first time, it seems Tata has taken some time off to design the car.
Totally commendable. The interiors look very nice. Just hope they hold up well over time, and don't turn into another bang-clatter-clatter-clatter situation.

Any ideas when the pricing will be revealed? A diesel AMT as a city runabout is the need of the hour, for just about everyone!
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Old 4th August 2014, 12:56   #34
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Thread rated 5 stars!
Well done @ Tata. I think they have moved one level up and now exceeding Honda's quality (if you look at Mobilio).
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:08   #35
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Wonderful write up. Rating it 5 stars.

I felt so happy reading about the efforts that TATA has put into making the Zest. More so because it is an Indian company that is doing this.

The Zest looks so unlike the TATA cars we have seen over the years. One word - Transformation. I hope TATA would take after sales seriously too and with the combination of all three the Zest can surely give tough competition to the Japanese and the Koreans.

Good luck to Tata Motors.
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:09   #36
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

As a owner of the New Tata Manza Club Class for the past 15 odd months I have a couple of points to add.

There is a lot of the New Manza in the Zest!

The A pillars are in my opinion common to the Club Class Manza and it is not a major problem in terms of visibility!

The light around the ignition key is also available in the Club Class Manza.

The Paint job of the Club Class Manza is at the same level as the Zest as seen now.

From a feature perspective the ability to know which door is open is neat and i don't think available in any of its competition and in fact not available in a couple of segments above.

I have always loved the instrument cluster of my Club Class Manza and i simply loved the Zest Cluster.

In terms of improvement in build quality TML has already done it and I have had no issue for the past 15 months absolutely!

When i drove the zest ( petrol ), I liked the car and acceleration was linear and it was pretty much zippy in city mode. I must have driven around 5 kms on a very heavy rainy day with very little traffic so could push the car.

Personally loved the car!

Great review as usual. Shows the effort put in and also the detailing.

God Bless the team!

Cheers!
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:09   #37
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

@Aditya and Rehaan,

I am rating this a 5 star review, only because there is no option for 4.5 stars. If you guys are ok with a little feedback, I would like to give it to you. 2 points stand out very much for me in this review:

1. 1 cup holder which is positioned next to the 12v socket. This IMO is a design flaw. The cup holder is likely to hold some cup with liquid -----> which is inevitably going to spill in the socket (the fact that we travel through some perilous roads doesn't help), which will inturn most likely render it un-usable (maybe the fuse will blow or the unit will fry... I don't know).

2. The fact that you found the ECo/Sport buttons to be positioned in a place not suitable for you guys. I disagree. Think from a mass market perspective. If the buttons were in a place which were easily accessible, you are invariably looking at cases wherein people (their drivers more likely) who are constantly going to shuffle through the modes. I am pretty certain that overall it won't really damage the car in any way, but I wouldn't want anyone constantly shuffling through the modes.

3. The fact that Tata has programmed the car in such a way that the car starts in city mode irrespective in which mode it was shut down previously. That's a very thoughtful touch to me, but it's a debatable topic honestly.

There are a couple of more points which I want to point out, but I will have to re-read the review before jotting them down.

Coming to the car per say:

I would rate this car as 4 star in my books. The 5th one shall be awarded only once the long term ownership reports start coming in. I don't doubt the reliability aspect of the car. Their recent Vista/Manza/Storme models are fairly reliable. No, the 5th one shall be truly deserved if they can start a concept like 'withyouhamesha' by Mahindra. Mahindra and Tata dealers are amongst the worst I have come across, but as of today I will chose Mahindra only because I have a fair bit of power (?) over the dealer because of the company. That shall seal the deal, and I will never look at Mahindra again.
I speak this as a ex Tata owner who still admires the engineering of their products, but was let down by their dealers, and also the company.

If Tata is reading this thread, and hopefully my post, please know this: People have been thouroughly let down by your 'service' and A.S.S., so badly that it will be difficult to regain their trust. A initiative like mahindra (and following it up), will go a loooooooong way in gaining admiration.

I wish Tata and it's team a very best of luck. I hope Zest and Bolt will help you regain your marketshare, and I hope I will buy your product when it's time I replace my car in a year.

Thanks,
Simple_car
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:15   #38
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by narayan View Post
But what I find more irritating/disturbing is the trend towards LEDs in the rear lamp assembly. I find these lights very very bright even in the day time to the point that it interferes with people driving behind such cars
There's a reason for using bright LED's. Better visibility especially in rainy/foggy conditions. I too find it too bright for my liking, but considering the role it plays, it's good. Good think it's not flashing like what you see in supercars.

Also in the zest, I think the LED will only be the park and brake light (when brakes are engaged) will be halogen.

Tata Zest : Official Review-tatazest16.jpg
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:15   #39
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Excellent review guys. I saw the zest couple of days back and honestly liked what I was seeing. If I had not got the Dzire, I am sure This would have been what I would have brought compared to the Xcent and Amaze.
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:16   #40
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

This is it! Pleasantly surprised to see the attention to details and proud as a fellow countryman! Seems Zest brings back the numbers home and be a starting point for a turnaround to Tata. AMT is a fantastic offer to the mass market. Reliability should not be a problem with the track records of the engine and Magnetti marelli. After sales experience matters a lot though. Let's see how the numbers are for Tata after 6 months!
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:21   #41
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Brilliant review of the most impressive Tata till date. I like the design direction they are headed in and its refreshing to see inclusion of features such as driving modes in this segment.
I would like to TD the turbo-petrol, as I have read a lot of good things about it.
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:21   #42
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Great review, well deserved 5 stars!

Tata seems to be taking things seriously and hopefully they will see the upward trend in their sales soon. I am skeptical if this will set the sales chart on fire but for sure it shall give hard time to Dzire/ Amaze and XCent I think.

The video on last page is done well too but except few talking "little high" about car, me thinks It feels slightly overconfident on some of the statements made by the teams.

Quote:
Red light on the 'window lock button' appears when all passenger windows are unlocked. Should have been the other way around.
I thought this is correct - red means, the windows are not locked and can be rolled down by kiddos in the back seat any time. Thats risky, hence red?

The placement of the bluetooth mic closer to the driver's head and easily accessible to rear seat passengers is well in my opinion. When I drive and my kids belted in the rear seat, incoming call from their granny is clearly not for me. This placement of mic wont need them to scream to be heard
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:23   #43
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

What a well-written and detailed review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

From the review,it appears that Zest is a huge step up for Tata from the days of Indica. Its good to see them address some of the old issues,I can only hope they've also done the same about overall reliability. What's good is there's hardly any cost cutting seen, unlike some of the other recent launches.

Good move bringing the Diesel+AMT first,I can only hope this ends the dearth of sub 15 lakh diesel automatics.

I hope the Zest and Bolt do well for Tata's sake. Good Luck Tata!
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:27   #44
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Great review !!
Awarded 5 stars.
I came to know that TATA will skip AMT in the top end diesel. Is that true?
And did the officials mention anything about the Bolt at your drive event.?

Thanks
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Old 4th August 2014, 13:32   #45
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

There is this unmissable Wow factor in the ZEST which IMO is not there with Amaze , Xcent or the Dzire.
However this does not necessarily translate into better sales numbers per month. Lot of other factors and typical Indian mentality at play here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
What you won't like:
• Tata's sub-par after-sales service quality is far from that of Maruti, Hyundai and Honda
Have owned an Alto for 3+ years , A swift for 3+ years and now a manza for 3+ years . The Manza has certainly aged very well than the previous 2 Martuis .
TASS experience has been BETTER than MASS.
(may be because i have access to Concorde worli Tata car repair shop -Worli as compared to SPECTRA MOTORS - MALAD with Marutis.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
Other Points:
• The Zest is clearly a competent product. If you refer to our earlier reviews, you'll see that we were quite impressed with the Nano's brilliance, the Aria's competence and the Manza's all-roundedness. Where Tata fails is in the marketing function. We hope that the Zest receives the sales & marketing support it deserves.
Very well put. More than the products , its the marketing and commercial team that has put them down on those front. Things ARE looking better for the ZEST on this front . Its too early to comment though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
Other Points:
• The DRLs go off when the 'angel eye' parking lights are switched on. It would have further upped the 'cool' factor if it was possible to have them both on at the same time!
Should be possible with small manipulation of the wiring and knowing TATAs since last 3 years now , i can safely say that this should not create any problems in warranty replacements (if need be.)


Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
Other Points:
• The infotainment system has a few bugs. Bluetooth (specifically the contacts & call logs) didn't always work perfectly with our Android phones. Calls and music streaming functioned fine. But we couldn't ever get the "read incoming SMS aloud" feature to work. Once, while we were adjusting the music volume, an SMS came in and caused all the info in the central part of the screen to disappear. Regardless of what we tried doing to restore things, it only returned back to its usual self after a long shut-down of the car.
This requires a simple tweak in the settings of the phone actually .
It also depends on which android device we are talking about here . The samsung S Voice software is vague (imo)as compared to Google voice commands which might work perfectly.
I used to face same problem (sms not reading and vague responses to voice commands ) between my Galaxy S3 and Pioneer Avhx2590 Bt(swaped HU in my Manza) but as soon as i switched to I phone 5C, its a charm now with all the voice functionality.

Also when i paired my old Samsung Galaxy S3 with ZEST TD car , i did not face problems in SMS reading feature as my default setting in S3 is not to use S Voice for voice commands but to use Google voice feature. AND a must is that the android phone must be in CAR mode for SMS reading feature to work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
Other Points:
• Voice recognition on the Zest is limited to a set of predefined commands. Some examples: Tune to <station>, Play song <song name>, Play album <album name>, Call <contact name>, Dial <number>, Set fan speed <fan speed>, Set temperature <temp>, etc.
It was the same with much much more expensive SUV-Ford EDGE (owned by my Colleague in Bogota - Colombia)

Is it just me? I dont know but i certainly feel a slight Range Rover Evoquish influence to the dash board look and the instrument cluster look:
See below
Attached Thumbnails
Tata Zest : Official Review-ic-comparo.jpg  

Tata Zest : Official Review-dash-comparo.jpg  


Last edited by madhu33 : 4th August 2014 at 13:38.
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