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Old 5th January 2015, 15:12   #166
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Tata Motors has announced January 22, 2015 as the launch date for the Bolt.

Link to Team-BHP News Article
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Old 6th January 2015, 17:43   #167
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Seen Bolt in silver color at Tejaswi Motors, Hi-Tec City showroom, Hyderabad earlier today. Grey alloys look good with this color.
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Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review-img_20150106_135724.jpg  

Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review-img_20150106_140402.jpg  

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Old 6th January 2015, 18:59   #168
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

On sunday , i spent almost whole afternoon at Vijay Auto - vasai to get my Manza attented do post the ditch fall it had earlier in the week.

The service centre is right across the showroom.
There were 2 Red BOLTS at the center for getting washed.

Both were Revotron XT.
One of them was a showroom display car and another 1 was a test drive car.

I had a close look at the BOLT. Got to spend around 30-40miniutes with it.

Exteriors :
1)Paint quality (especially red colour) is top notch.
One of the best paint job you can see in a mass market car in India.
The Service manager was boosting, that they are being painted at the same paint booth as the Jaguars and Land rovers .
Even though i doubt that, but still the paint quality is as good.
2)Overall the design looks better and more proportinate than a Zest.
3)Smoked headlamps on BOLT looks far better than those on ZEST.
4)Overall the looks (even though not as good as E i20) impressed me more than a zest. It looked more sporty than a swift.
5)If 1 can add body skirts to the Bolt , it would look Amazing.

Interiors
1)The black biege combo of the Zest looked better than black / black combo in the Bolt. I am saying this inspite of thefact that i hate beige.
2)Front seats felt less comfortable then the Zest . I dont know why so and what is the difference in the front seats of the Zest and the Bolt.
3)Overall i would rate the interiors 6.5 out of 10 whereas Ei20 as per me is 8-8.5/10 .
4)Bottle holders will be missed (as is the case in my manza and the Zest)
5)back seat comfort has to be the highlight of both the bolt and the zest.
6)Tatas missed the trick here as even the top end Xt does not have leather upholstery.
7)HK music system and it's finctionality is where Bolt scores over the E i20.
Simply amazing. see & hear it to believe it.

Drive
1)Low end grunt of Revotron is too good for a 1.2L petrol engine.
Mid range was a little flat, not dissapointing exactly but no where near to say a honda city.
top end too again was ok , but no where as fun a an IVTEC(they are in completely different league)
But hey i am comparing a 8-9 lac car to a 5-6 lac car.
So i am still impressed overall due to low end grunt.
2)handling : impressive . Very impressive. I am used to the body roll of Manza . With the BOLT ... Boy , i was having fun on NH8 and vasai roads.
I wouldnt mention the speeds i did on NH8.
I have driven a swift for 3-1/2 years . Trust me , Bolt is as good if not better (personally as per my feeling from the 30-40 minutes i spent with the BOLT.)
I feel inputs from Narain Karthikeyan has definitely played a part here .
3)Ride quality: far better than the swift.
4)Acceleration : impressive, perosnally i liked the way the revotron accelerates. I simply couldnt drive both the bolt and the Zest revotron with a light foot.


Overall , i was getting a very young and sporty feel from the Bolt.
But anyways since it;s a Tata , i guess it will be selling only around 2-3000 cars a month.

It will be interesting to see how the Bolt sales perform.

Last edited by madhu33 : 6th January 2015 at 19:10.
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Old 6th January 2015, 19:54   #169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by madhu33 View Post
On sunday , i spent almost whole afternoon at Vijay Auto - vasai to get my Manza attented do post the ditch fall it had earlier in the week.

The service centre is right across the showroom.
There were 2 Red BOLTS at the center for getting washed.

Both were Revotron XT.
One of them was a showroom display car and another 1 was a test drive car.

I had a close look at the BOLT. Got to spend around 30-40miniutes with it.

Exteriors :
1)Paint quality (especially red colour) is top notch.
One of the best paint job you can see in a mass market car in India.
The Service manager was boosting, that they are being painted at the same paint booth as the Jaguars and Land rovers .
Even though i doubt that, but still the paint quality is as good.
2)Overall the design looks better and more proportinate than a Zest.
3)Smoked headlamps on BOLT looks far better than those on ZEST.
4)Overall the looks (even though not as good as E i20) impressed me more than a zest. It looked more sporty than a swift.
5)If 1 can add body skirts to the Bolt , it would look Amazing.

Interiors
1)The black biege combo of the Zest looked better than black / black combo in the Bolt. I am saying this inspite of thefact that i hate beige.
2)Front seats felt less comfortable then the Zest . I dont know why so and what is the difference in the front seats of the Zest and the Bolt.
3)Overall i would rate the interiors 6.5 out of 10 whereas Ei20 as per me is 8-8.5/10 .
4)Bottle holders will be missed (as is the case in my manza and the Zest)
5)back seat comfort has to be the highlight of both the bolt and the zest.
6)Tatas missed the trick here as even the top end Xt does not have leather upholstery.
7)HK music system and it's finctionality is where Bolt scores over the E i20.
Simply amazing. see & hear it to believe it.

Drive
1)Low end grunt of Revotron is too good for a 1.2L petrol engine.
Mid range was a little flat, not dissapointing exactly but no where near to say a honda city.
top end too again was ok , but no where as fun a an IVTEC(they are in completely different league)
But hey i am comparing a 8-9 lac car to a 5-6 lac car.
So i am still impressed overall due to low end grunt.
2)handling : impressive . Very impressive. I am used to the body roll of Manza . With the BOLT ... Boy , i was having fun on NH8 and vasai roads.
I wouldnt mention the speeds i did on NH8.
I have driven a swift for 3-1/2 years . Trust me , Bolt is as good if not better (personally as per my feeling from the 30-40 minutes i spent with the BOLT.)
I feel inputs from Narain Karthikeyan has definitely played a part here .
3)Ride quality: far better than the swift.
4)Acceleration : impressive, perosnally i liked the way the revotron accelerates. I simply couldnt drive both the bolt and the Zest revotron with a light foot.


Overall , i was getting a very young and sporty feel from the Bolt.
But anyways since it;s a Tata , i guess it will be selling only around 2-3000 cars a month.

It will be interesting to see how the Bolt sales perform.
You comparing the interiors with Elite i20, mid, high range with City's 1.5 iVtech and FTD factor of a Swift sums it all up, my friend.
You drove it and felt it, from your feedback, the Bolt is a great product and segment best, overall.
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Old 6th January 2015, 20:46   #170
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Thank you for a superb 5-star review, Aditya & Rehaan! The attention to detail is simply fabulous and the pictures are of the highest quality!

I was in the process of rating the thread 5*, but my old iPad 2 has considerably slowed down now and in my hurry and by mistake, I seem to have chosen the 1-star option when clicking the submit button. The vote got registered and I can't change it now. I'm truly sorry as it was an extremely stupid mistake caused by a slow device and clumsy fingers. If the mods have the privilege to allow me to change my vote, I request you to enable it once for me, so that I can vote the thread a well-deserved 5* as I meant to!

Coming to the car, the Bolt is on expected lines and that is a hatchback version of the Zest (instead of a heavily facelifted Vista). The huge step up in terms of quality and fit & finish and the inclusion of features like navigation and climate control are very welcome indeed! It's good that the Revotron is offered in the same 90 PS state of tune in the Bolt as well. The shift in favour of petrol cars was noted by Tata when they released the Zest, and they did well by not de-tuning the petrol engine for the hatchback.

I do feel they could have done a bit more to differentiate the car from the Vista. The DRLs and halo ring parking lamps on the Zest top-end look very cool, and I feel they should have offered at least the DRLs on the Bolt as well. Reverse parking sensors would have been a nice addition too. I do welcome the grey finish alloys on the customer cars, as they look way better than the usual silver ones.

On the topic of wheels, I'm disappointed that the spare wheel is a 14" one with the same tyre width and profile. I understand that they've used this as there is no space in the boot's wheel well to fit in a 15" wheel, but this makes the spare smaller in diameter by a huge 25.4 mm and strictly limits its use to that of a space-saving spare.

The market response boils down to the variants and their prices now. The countdown begins!

Last edited by RSR : 6th January 2015 at 21:12.
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Old 7th January 2015, 16:11   #171
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

I got to Test Drive the Bolt recently on my trip to Trivandrum. I was very very impressed. I drove the Petrol Top Model and it felt really good. Took it uphill on 4th gear and then took my foot off to see if the car would take the climb with a little acceleration and to my surprise it took the climb effortlessly without any knocking or downshifts!

Cornering stability is really good at speeds and anyone who is from Trivandrum will know the place near Peroorkada where the Test drive is done.

I must have driven it around for 15 minutes and then my cousin who owns a Hyundai Grand i10 drove it and he came back very very impressed.. Heard him call a friend and tell him about his experience about the Bolt and he was all over the moon with his praise of the Bolt!

Guess it should start seeing sales. I did get a figure and if Tata keep to that figure I, think people are going to start looking at the Bolt very very seriously!

Overall this car is a beauty! The best in it's class by years!

Last edited by shashi63 : 7th January 2015 at 16:12. Reason: Correction
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Old 7th January 2015, 19:30   #172
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Got a chance to TD the Bolt 1.2L Revotron and thought i would share my humble views here. I must say, Tata has really outdone themselves. The engine was a gem to drive. It could gain momentum pretty easily from low speeds even in 4th gear, without much throttle input. The different driving modes were fun, although I would say the difference was not as evident as night and day. It is definitely noticeable, but not admirable. Even in sport mode, top end whack which is typical of a petrol engine was lacking. The gears were nicely spaced out. Shifts were precise, albeit a bit notchy at times. The clutch was a bit too light for my liking. Steering is well balanced. The ride was well sorted. The brakes were confidence inspiring. Tata has done a great job with the Bolt's dynamics.

I didn't like the exterior styling when I saw the pics, but in flesh it looks pretty good. Loved the red color. Along with the blackened C pillar it looks really sporty. The 175/65 R15 looks good, but the design of the body panels tend to make the wheels a bit cooped in. IMO, upgrading to wider tyres would make it look even more sporty.
The interior is definitely awesome for a car of this class. Harman Kardon system steals the show! Audiophiles have nothing much to complain. The steering felt really nice to hold. A center armrest is sorely missed. Tata has pulled out all the stops by offering loads of equipment, although when it comes to overall fit and finish, Hyundai still wins. Tata never skimped on space and there's lots of it. Rear seats can comfortably space three.

All in all, a great product from Tata. They have really rewritten the segment standards. Hats off!

Last edited by GKR9900 : 7th January 2015 at 19:33.
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Old 8th January 2015, 15:20   #173
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Did you guys get a chance to have a peek at the FE figures reported on the MID of the TD units ?

The TD units should have run a fair distance under real world conditions by now and hopefully the FE figures for the Bolt round up what is already a fantastic package on offer.
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Old 8th January 2015, 22:50   #174
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Quote:
Originally Posted by perty View Post
Did you guys get a chance to have a peek at the FE figures reported on the MID of the TD units ?
I didn't check the FE figures in the MID personally. The sales exec was overtly enthusiastic in explaining the Harman Kardon unit and other niceties that I almost came to the point of shushing him just to enjoy the drive :P He did inform me that the FE figures would lie somewhere in 17-18kpl range. Will wait for other BHPians to give their input on this.
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Old 10th January 2015, 14:32   #175
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

The Malayalam newspapers carry a half a page ad for 'India's first multi drive car'. Bookings are open.

However, my father passed me the paper clipping with a comment that the new Indica is here. He is not aware of the changes in the bolt. For him- it's an Indica.

I think TATA made a blunder keeping the side profile virtually unchanged from the Vista. This will turn out to be its biggest weakness.
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Old 10th January 2015, 15:02   #176
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
I think TATA made a blunder keeping the side profile virtually unchanged from the Vista. This will turn out to be its biggest weakness.
I was passing a Tata dealership last evening and happened to notice that they had displayed the Bolt and the Vista side by side. Can you believe it? The only way I could distinguish the Bolt from the Vista was because of the bright red paint job and the blackened C-pillar! The entire body shell looks identical!

While I do appreciate the effort taken by Tata to refresh its range of vehicles and boost its image, the similarity of the Bolt to the Vista might not be well accepted. And Tata please stop claiming that the Bolt is a derivation of the Zest which was designed from scratch. It makes me every time I hear that statement!

Last edited by S2!!! : 10th January 2015 at 15:04.
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Old 10th January 2015, 21:04   #177
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
...However, my father passed me the paper clipping with a comment that the new Indica is here. He is not aware of the changes in the bolt. For him- it's an Indica...
To me, this also means, that 80% of the Indian customers are going to respond in a similar manner. The mistake unfortunately repeats after Storme!!
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Old 10th January 2015, 23:07   #178
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

As such the side profile looking the same doesn't matter much. Hasn't the Swift's side profile pretty much been the same all along ? Don't the masses favour it ? Key is pricing - to bring the masses back into the showroon. After that its upto to adept salesman ship to get the walk ins converted to sales and for that the Bolt has a few things going for it. Hope they throw in the 333 offer at launch and bring in a good pricing in the range of 3.7-4.5 for Revotron and 4.2-5.5L for the QJD. Tough ask but I doubt they have choice. Margins will be in the Zest but the Bolt is needed to keep the factory running

Last edited by narayan : 10th January 2015 at 23:09.
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Old 11th January 2015, 10:32   #179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by narayan View Post
As such the side profile looking the same doesn't matter much. Hasn't the Swift's side profile pretty much been the same all along ? Don't the masses favour it ? Key is pricing - to bring the masses back into the showroon. After that its upto to adept salesman ship to get the walk ins converted to sales and for that the Bolt has a few things going for it. Hope they throw in the 333 offer at launch and bring in a good pricing in the range of 3.7-4.5 for Revotron and 4.2-5.5L for the QJD. Tough ask but I doubt they have choice. Margins will be in the Zest but the Bolt is needed to keep the factory running
It can not be more than 10% less than the Zest's price. 3.95-5.40 for RT and 4.75-6.40 for QJD is somewhat more likely, still VFM than the Swift.
Your numbers are just too low, what do you get for that kind of money? A Beat? Or a Celerio?
I know its Tata and they give VFM but Bolt is just a Zest with no boot and some features here and there.
Also, new Swift looking similar to Old shape Swift is not an issue as the old one was a sales winner.
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Old 11th January 2015, 10:48   #180
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Re: Tata Bolt 1.2L Revotron : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by S2!!! View Post
And Tata please stop claiming that the Bolt is a derivation of the Zest which was designed from scratch. It makes me every time I hear that statement!
I agree with your observation about the nearly identical body shell. But the similarities end there.

The Bolt is a ground up project, if you will. True they used the existing body shell design from Vista, but everything around it has been redesigned or made from scratch. The infotainment system/interiors/engine are all shared between Zest and Bolt. They have setup an m-cube facility with inputs from JLR to make sure the body panels, components are consistent across specimens with tolerances as low as a human hair, again, for both Zest and Bolt. The manufacturing lines are different, paint booths are different. The point is, these 2 are markedly different from other models we have seen so far from the TML stable.
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