Quote:
Originally Posted by nijelj . It seems there is a batch of 50 Hexa's being delivered to Zoomcar
Looks like I will rent a Zoomcar Hexa for my next trip. |
So I took myself on my offer and rented the Hexa for last weekend.
For some background, Among UVs, I have extensively driven my family longtimer, the 2006 Innova diesel. I currently own a Nano and a Zest petrol. Our family has been accustomed to Tata passenger cars since 1994 (Tata estate) and I have also had an Indica Diesel for 6 years/1 lakh Kms. I am a Tata Fan (trying very hard not to be a Fan-boy)
Zoomcar experience: Booking went smoothly. A little costly for me. The booking amount based on time that I required the vehicle for was 13.5k for 42.5hrs and free 645kms. Extra kms would charged at 15rs/km. Plus 1500rs as deposit. I was excitedly waiting for the pickup time. Two hours before pickup I get this message. "Please note that as per recent Government regulations, your allocated car has a speed governor that limits the speed to 80 km/hr. This initiative has been taken keeping your safety in mind." Heart sunk, I console myself since it is for my safety.
Although Zoomcar could benefit by
1. Lesser wear and tear of cars
2. more chances of user NOT making it back on time, which costs 300rs per extra hour
3. less fuel used for same Kms. After my riding, the display was showing 700kms Distance to Empty after a full tank
4. Surely they would get a better deal from the insurance companies since they now have the speed governor.
But no I think they have done this 'initiative' and told me about it at the last minute, 'for my safety'. Their site has no mention of this. Infact they have mentioned 125kmph as a limit after which there is a fine.
The vehicle
A Hexa XE which has run 900kms was assigned to me. I looked it over for scratches and dents. It was clean and everything was in place. As I get in, nostalgia sweeps over me. You see, we had bought a brand new Tata estate way back in 1994 and the Tata-large-car's-new-car-smell is still exactly the same!
I understood the basics, lights on off etc. The documents were explained to me. The trip reading was read out to the attendant, a photo taken with me in front of the car and I was good to go. The music system was easy to adapt to since I already have the Zest. At home, I strapped in the child seats for the kids, some luggage and went to sleep. Early next morning we started at 330am to Udupi.
Navigating out of the city, we did not experience the speed limiter. It was once we reached the open highway that the limiter cut in. It's lifeless after 79kmph. A debate started in my head about this regulation. Yes it made my overtake maneuvers that much more planned but what the hell. I was operating within the law, but what the hell!. The SUV presence helped vehicles moving at 78kmph on the right lane give way for me, as I menacingly over took them slowly, deliberately, inch by inch. That is until they got bored and pressed their accelerators and 'Zoom'ed off into the horizon.
Regarding Engine and Driveability : I was a more than little underwhelmed by the car. It was a base version,yes, but I am not worried about creature comforts. It was the engine and driveability that got to me. At second gear, if you took a hump, reducing speed to below 15kmph, to get your speed up, it would take 5-6 secs. No kidding, I literally counted the seconds! The turbo lag is so pronounced! After these seconds you get a pull so powerful that it lasts until the 80kmph speed limiter. This made for some careful driving because I had nausea prone passengers. At one point of time, I was actually yearning for my Nano. I thought this was a Variable geometry turbo but definitely this did not behave like one. Later I read in this thread that there was a patch to take care of the turbo flutter noise, which helped with turbo-lag. For sure, this patch was not there.
Regarding driving dynamics: The steering felt good and not too difficult at slow speeds. I drove it over big rumblers/hump hybrids at a fairly good speed and experienced the vehicle losing its composure slightly. On the curves, I got wheel squeal at 60kmph. Otherwise it was soaking up the potholes and did well over the broken roads between Mangalore to Bangalore.
Regarding comfort, interior: In the thread experiences, most noted that the arm rest was too short. But I felt it was perfect, because it could support my elbow and slightly more while in gears 1,3 and 4. Anyway in gear 5 I do not keep my hand over the gear shifter. Either both hands on the steering wheel or I would rest my elbow on the rest and the palm on my lap. The gear slotting was ok.
I did not find the cubby holes in the central console convenient for storing the regular 5.5” phone. The door pockets are too deep, so at toll booths, I was doing stomach crunches to reach the wallet at the bottom of it.
The third row was the least favorite spot for everyone. The person sitting there complained that they could not sit there comfortably. I was not able to easily slide the :60 seat forward to help with the legroom. Also the method to change the recline on the second row seat was not known to me, initially. In the Innova there is a lever on the side of the seat back that helps with the recline. Here it is the seat shoulder handle (that is used to tilt the seat forward) which sets the recline. The :40 seat was not locking at the base, so I asked the passenger there to wear her seatbelt at all times. I later found out that the pull cord used to unlock the seat was the culprit. The stitching that made the loop of the cord was already frayed, this meant that after pulling once, the cord would not fully go back in, thus not resetting the lock. I had to manually push the stitched area back in through the hole, for the seat to lock.
But everybody liked the second row and the co-driver seat.
I had installed my dashcam on the windshield behind and left of the rear view mirror. Due to the scissor action of the wipers, the unwiped area coincided with the field of view of the cam.
Summary
Later my dad had called me to find out, if the vehicle was good. I had to tell him that Tata will still have to improve. It's the driveability that put me down the most and turned me off of the Hexa. After spending close to 15k, a mediocre performance was heart-breaking. Alas, if only I had read about the software patch earlier, I would have given the vehicle the benefit of doubt. Ah well, opportunity lost. Dad will most probably buy another Toyota. And my transition to a tata fan-boy will be that harder.