Tata Hexa : Official Review

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Cannot agree that the stock MRF Wanderers are useless in slush. We did quite a bit mud plugging with the Hexa XT 4x4 and it did everything that the other AWDs and proper 4WD vehicles did. The electronic aids are quite strong in the vehicle. It did far better than a XUV AWD. I will put up a detailed report with pics and videos once I get some time.
But saying that, it would be great if Tata could provide AT tyres on the 4x4 version, or at least a tyre like Michelin Latitude Cross that is biased towards onroad driving but can handle off-road a bit more than the HT tyres.

That's a lot of slush! Given the experience I had with my XTA, I would never dare try anything even close to this.

Highlights how good the Hexa's 4x4 system is and how badly they blundered by not offering a 4x4 AT variant. They would have had a ready customer in me.

Hexa AT 4x4 on proper all terrain tires with the torque multiplication of the slushbox can be really potent.

[pramodpk]

Had a chance to drive the Top end 4X4 version of the Tata Hexa yesterday. Drove in stop go traffic and some bad roads. Here are my observations.

+ves.

1. Good ride quality on bad roads
2. No rattles
3. Good engine power. Negligible turbo lag and responsive engine

-ves

1. Cabin quality is not great. It's not as great as it looks in pics. The wiper control stalk on the test drive vehicle was broken and held with insulation tape. The 12V socket in front was broken

2. Very few storage spaces in the cabin. Door pockets are small. Even glove boxes are small

3. Gear shift is very notchy. The gear lever is too far from driver. Very difficult to do quick gear shifts. The clutch has long travel but is light.

4. The foot well is very narrow. No dead pedal. Also no space to rest the left leg. I found this to be very uncomfortable.

5. The hand brake light flashed once after a hard braking. Also, low brake fluid warning message flashed once.

6. Engine sound was on the higher side.

[damodar]

Got this image in our Hexa WhatsApp group. Looks more MUV now albeit from the yankee genre.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Though hill hold worked like a charm, after 3 seconds, the car started rolling backwards at which time, i raised the RPM to 4-4.5 with half clutch. The wheels spun and the car regained traction and began to climb. However, there was a strong burning smell from the clutch plates

In a situation like this, engage the hand brake, slot in first gear and gently release the clutch. A car like the Hexa should have sufficient torque to get you rolling. If the car does not nudge forward, slight increase in rpm will do.

The rpm's you pushed to are almost borderline limits which is why you got the smell of the clutch burning.

Wheel spin is asking for trouble. It is best to avoid it as you can end up getting stuck more than trying to get yourself moving.

It also helps that if you are driving in unfamiliar territory, approach it by day instead of an odd hour.

[hillsnrains]

Originally Posted by damodar

Got this image in our Hexa WhatsApp group. Looks more MUV now albeit from the yankee genre.

Owner must be crazy about white color or hates black color to the core. All around black cladding is painted to white. This modification transformed Hexa to Aria, which is true MUV. White body color and contrast black cladding will definitely breaks that monotonous of MUV looks.

[Nchaly]

Originally Posted by hillsnrains

Owner must be crazy about white color or hates black color to the core. All around black cladding is painted to white. This modification transformed Hexa to Aria, which is true MUV. White body color and contrast black cladding will definitely breaks that monotonous of MUV looks.

I dont know but somehow I think we are too caught up to the term SUV. It is just a type of vehicle but we associate it somehow with manliness. I feel the Hexa is just a great vehicle as it is. It doesnt have to be termed an SUV or MUV. In fact I think it looks much better than some of the SUVs out there. And it is not just the Hexa. We have seen some very cool vehicles which does not come in the "manly" classification. The Chrysler grand voyager is an example of how cool a people carrier can look.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Had a chance to drive the Top end 4X4 version of the Tata Hexa yesterday. Drove in stop go traffic and some bad roads. Here are my observations.

+ves.

1. Good ride quality on bad roads

Agreed

Originally Posted by pramodpk

2. No rattles

Agreed

Originally Posted by pramodpk

3. Good engine power. Negligible turbo lag and responsive engine

Turbo lag is pretty evident below ~1600 rpms specially in Comfort Mode. I was mostly driving in Dynamic mode and response was much better.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

-ves

1. Cabin quality is not great. It's not as great as it looks in pics. The wiper control stalk on the test drive vehicle was broken and held with insulation tape. The 12V socket in front was broken

I am not qualified enough to comment on this since I drive a Bolero LX and a Thar. But I have driven quite a lot of different cars and found the Hexa cabin really nice. Even a person who drives a Duster RXZ was all praises for the cabin quality. Broken wiper stalk and socket should have been taken care of by the dealer before giving the vehicle for test drive.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

2. Very few storage spaces in the cabin. Door pockets are small. Even glove boxes are small

Again, different perspectives. I did not have any complaints regarding these.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

3. Gear shift is very notchy. The gear lever is too far from driver. Very difficult to do quick gear shifts. The clutch has long travel but is light.

Maybe it was an abused vehicle because I did not find the gear shift notchy. However the clutch takes time to get used to. It has a long travel.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

4. The foot well is very narrow. No dead pedal. Also no space to rest the left leg. I found this to be very uncomfortable.

Dead pedal has been a bad miss and I pointed out the same in the TD feedback report.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

5. The hand brake light flashed once after a hard braking. Also, low brake fluid warning message flashed once.

No idea

Originally Posted by pramodpk

6. Engine sound was on the higher side.

Yes engine sound is on the higher side if it is revved hard. In traffic I found it unobtrusive.

[kbishwa]

Last week test-drove 3 so called SUVs back to back, with all family members.

1. Tata Hexa XTA (finally the dealership provided me with the automatic version)
2. Honda BRV VXD (dealership didn't have automatic which I wanted to)
3. XUV 500 W10 (dealership didn't have automatic which I wanted to)

Here I would provide the comments from my family members for whom I'm planning to buy (I'm being a happy non-complaining type of driver with most of the vehicles I drive)

Parents: XUV the best, easy to get in and out, and comfortably sits 3 adults. Looks also proportional. (The Hexa was equipped with the side step though!)

Wife: Ok with Hexa & XUV both (ride & seating comfort in 1st & 2nd row mattered), though look wise she liked Hexa.

Children: They were happier (in the last row always) with XUV, probably they were excited about the sun-roof.

My logic doesn't matter more and I don't mind either!

[HOTROD]

Guys I have booked my hexa xta with the on road price of 19,65,000 RS ( including the extended warranty for two years and AMC in Chennai. The dealer presently has two vehicles in his stockyard both manufactured in April. Is it safe two get an April manufactured vehicle or should I wait for the July manufactured one? Will there be a price difference since the price of a few raw materials have also gone down.

[Nchaly]

Originally Posted by HOTROD

Guys I have booked my hexa xta with the on road price of 19,65,000 RS ( including the extended warranty for two years and AMC in Chennai. The dealer presently has two vehicles in his stockyard both manufactured in April. Is it safe two get an April manufactured vehicle or should I wait for the July manufactured one? Will there be a price difference since the price of a few raw materials have also gone down.

Hi I am sorry to ask a question instead of answering yours but please tell me, did the dealer give you this pricing with the extended warranty and AMC initially or did u bargain for the same? I have booked XMA but the dealer did not mention anything about extended warranty or AMC.

As for your Q, I think it would be ok to go for the one's in the stock yard because no changes have been brought to the Hexa. Price difference would not be there because they take the current on road price.

I also have another question for the fellow BHPians. Since I booked for XMA, I am looking at fitting with the 16" alloys, Fog lamps with DRLs and rear parking camera but the dealer has not given me the official price list for any of these and from talking to him it felt like he is not keen on promoting the same. for the fog lamps and DRLs he said the wiring has not come. What is the situation in dealerships across the country. Have they started fitting with all optional accessories?

[HOTROD]

Originally Posted by Nchaly

Hi I am sorry to ask a question instead of answering yours but please tell me, did the dealer give you this pricing with the extended warranty and AMC initially or did u bargain for the same? I have booked XMA but the dealer did not mention anything about extended warranty or AMC.

As for your Q, I think it would be ok to go for the one's in the stock yard because no changes have been brought to the Hexa. Price difference would not be there because they take the current on road price.

I also have another question for the fellow BHPians. Since I booked for XMA, I am looking at fitting with the 16" alloys, Fog lamps with DRLs and rear parking camera but the dealer has not given me the official price list for any of these and from talking to him it felt like he is not keen on promoting the same. for the Fod lamps and DRLs he said the wiring has not come. What is the situation in dealerships across the country. Have they started fitting with all optional accessories?

The price list comes with the extended warranty and AMC and there was no room for bargaining since the prices have dropped and the dealer kept telling me that the product is new and no discounts available.

Coming to the accessories I have asked for the side step alone. When it comes to getting electric accessories I would suggest getting it done with the dealer in the future once he has all the required wiring since you can question him if there is some issue. Alloy I would suggest you get it in the market. For now this dealer does have all the accessories. I will ask him if he does the lights and stuff

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

The access to the home-stay was a narrow ghat mud-road with steep inclines and hair-pin bends. It had rained the entire night and the mud was both deep and slippery. I was up a stump as this was my first experience of driving a diesel on such a road. Though hill hold worked like a charm, after 3 seconds, the car started rolling backwards at which time, i raised the RPM to 4-4.5 with half clutch. The wheels spun and the car regained traction and began to climb.

When you have hill hold you can shift into gear with your foot on the brake, and move your foot to accelerator and release clutch within the 4 seconds. you need not reve beyond 1600 to 1800 Rpm, the begining of the torque band. If your car doesn't have hill hold, or you are not confident that you can do the shift in the 3-4 seconds, use the handbrake, and release it just as you start moving when you feel the engine tone loaded. handbrake also helps prevent only one wheel spinning if it has less traction.

Rahul

[rkg]

Originally Posted by Nchaly

from talking to him it felt like he is not keen on promoting the same. for the fog lamps and DRLs he said the wiring has not come. What is the situation in dealerships across the country. Have they started fitting with all optional accessories?

AFAIK , all TATA cars come with pre wiring for audio, fogs etc, even if the version does not have audio or fogs.
I have ARIA Pure LX without any factory fitted Audio or fogs( front). But wiring is present for all speakers including tweeters and also for fogs. Rear fog lamps come vehicle but not connected. Just fit front Fogs and connect the wires. Both front and rear fogs will work.
cost of front fogs is around 2.5K for my ARIA

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

When you have hill hold you can shift into gear with your foot on the brake, and move your foot to accelerator and release clutch within the 4 seconds. you need not reve beyond 1600 to 1800 Rpm, the begining of the torque band. If your car doesn't have hill hold, or you are not confident that you can do the shift in the 3-4 seconds, use the handbrake, and release it just as you start moving when you feel the engine tone loaded. handbrake also helps prevent only one wheel spinning if it has less traction.

Rahul

Yes hill hold does come into use in day to day driving and is very helpful. Also, to a certain extent, on slushy inclines too. Will try the hand break method next time!

[narayan]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Yes hill hold does come into use in day to day driving and is very helpful. Also, to a certain extent, on slushy inclines too. Will try the hand break method next time!

Going by the description of the event, I recall a similar incident in my Storme (described in my ownership thread) where I had to go up an incline right after a sharp turn. I took it as usual which is turn in slowly and started ascending from gear 1. But the vehicle was totally bogged down and kept rolling back. I gave way to a partially loaded Bolero which made up easily. Later I realised that since the Storme is a turbo charged engine, It needs to build up rpm to get into the torque band which the N.A. Bolero did not require to. I then used momentum into the turn and kept the revs above 2200rpm and was able to go up smoothly in gear 2. Not sure if this helps.