Team-BHP - Tata Nexon : Official Review

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Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4289033)

Check the air pressure :). Dealers are known to play tricks on test-drive cars and I wouldn't be surprised if some are running lower PSIs just to conceal the bumpy low speed ride.

However, a lot of other members who'd driven it had also mentioned that the ride quality is good. Maybe the next time I go for service, if I can get my hands on the car again, I'll be armed with a tyre pressure meter! :D

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Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4289033)

Off-topic: Back in the day, one car dealer had a Petes powerbox installed on his TD car!

That is unprecedented (but not entirely surprising in India) :eek:

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Originally Posted by SAE40 in veins (Post 4288941)

Being familiar with the roads of trivandrum and having driven extensively across Kerala, i can vouch for the fact that the Nexon rides better than a Vento which has its stiff 'handling-tuned' suspension lineage of the Polo though slightly better.

As a matter of fact I love the ride in my vento with its stock suspension setup. It does sound thud thud in some very bad roads, but the overall road manner is good. Its very planted and confidence inspiring.

I had dismissed the bumpiness of the Tiago in low speeds purely due to the price point it is offering and the VFM factor!

But Nexon will be a replacement for my Vento, which is my daily drive vehicle, clocking 60kms a day. So I am looking forward to a ride quality (meaning plush ride along with good road manners ) at least in par with my existing Vento.

Hexa has good ride quality and road manners wrt its size. I have TDed it in both bad/uneven/pothole-filled/ roads and the newly finished NH bypass. I love the way it handled and my family also loved it. Only thing is its price, which is on the extreme end of my budget for a new car. But surely a very VFM car.clap:

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Originally Posted by SAE40 in veins (Post 4288941)

Please go to Trivandrum motors (not the best of Tata dealerships though but still a shade better than the erstwhile 'Mohandas Motors') one of these days when they have a test drive vehicle and pls drive around to find out for yourself. I bet your perceptions will change. :)

There is no Mohandas Motors now!

TD vehicle is still not available in the Trivandrum Motors. I had seen the Nexon in person at the showroom and it looks good. Only thing remaining is to TD the car.

Fantastic review. The effort put in by Teambhp to write a quality review is really commendable. About time automagazines shed their "influenced" verdicts and learnt a thing or two from Teambhp. Coming to Nexon, it's a fantastic car. Tata Motors have thrown in everything it has. The car has good road presence , the looks, the fire-power, the loaded features. And all this at an affordable price. What more can one ask for, other than some hallowed badge, that is? If only they had introduced the AMT at the launch time. The overall looks of the car is unmistakable and bold. Yes, I feel too, that the white strip could have been avoided. Wish it were grey instead of ceramic white. But, then, I think that's nothing the local car decor guy cannot fix. Good to see this car hit the road at looong last. It's been a long time coming. Now, a lot is riding on the shoulders of Nexon for Tata Motors and I hope it succeeds. I don't want to give anyone any patriotic lectures but if our home-grown car is equally competitive, then why not give it a chance?

Thanks for the great review. I usually follow the reviews/videos of almost all Tata cars because we own a Tata Indica Vista Quadrajet 2010 (used by my Dad now) & somewhere deep in my heart I always wish Tata cars should get the required amount of attention & sales as well for the amount of effort they have been putting on their cars in the last few years.

But unfortunately, I don't think most of their recent models were able to really achieve the level of success that Tata Motors would have aimed for. They are coming up with some really good cars; Bolt, Zest, Tiago, Hexa but somewhere they are not being able to gain the trust of the consumers the way Maruti, Hyundai & few other auto makers have done it in India.

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Originally Posted by Aditya (Post 4288258)

Ride & Handling

Tata cars are usually known for their absorbent ride quality, but that's sadly not the case with the Nexon. Tata has traded in ride comfort for a sportier setup, which results in the suspension being stiff. The car also has very high ground clearance, thus the suspension had to be firmed up as a trade-off (we'd have liked 10 mm lesser GC for a little cushier ride). At low speeds on less-than-perfect roads, the ride is jiggly. [SNIP] While Vid6639 says it is not as bad as the EcoSport, it is certainly not as compliant as the WR-V either.

As expected, the 209 mm of ground clearance is fantastic! We didn't scrape the car anywhere.

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Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4288991)

Nope. Even viewed independently, the Nexon's low speed ride isn't satisfactory.

The mods have clearly mentioned the reasons for the ride quality not being upto standards. I would trust their judgement on this. The choice is between GC and Ride quality.

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Originally Posted by Sawyer (Post 4289164)

That to my mind is a significant downer.

Though I agree that a good ride quality is whats expected in default from TATA nowadays. This one needs to be personally assessed.

IMO the car needs to be judged from the perspective of your current ride and also with regards to competition.

Now the mods mentioned it to be between Ecosport and WRV in terms of ride quality. That gives you a fair idea.

If you need the GC Nexon will suit and if its Ride quality then the WRV should help. Other factors notwithstanding.

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Originally Posted by Sawyer (Post 4289164)

Along with the lack of a quality autobox.

Of what I've read its going to be an AMT. I'm not a fan of AMT tech but Iv'e read it should behave better with engines with higher torque. So that needs to be seen too. But yeah will love to see the day when TATA launches all variants at the same time, theres always something left out. Tiago Auto was late, Hexa 4x4 auto is unavailable and now the wait for Nexon autos, just hope they bring it with both engines.

Would like to comment on the ride quality of Nexon as there are many recent posts regarding the same. Having been spoilt by the quality of the Hexa, i was dissapointed in the Nexon. But guess it was my fault as i had set the standards high.

However, would like to add that it is much better than the Ecosport and the Brezza (which i had driven for 22kms with a mix of road conditions). Cannot comment on WRV as i have not yet been in it.

So to readers who are interested, before concluding that the ride quality is a let down at low speeds (which is the only tiny part of the review which i disagree with), its better to get your hands on a good TD car and see for yourself. This car drives smooth with efficiently managed NVH levels!

But, compared to the Hexa as mentioned in the beginning, it is not at par. But then again, it's definitely not a fair comparison! Still looking out for a car that could match the former in terms of suspension and ride quality! (within 40L obviously!)

So finally I got to test drive both the Diesel and petrol today.
In Kannur we have only one Tata dealer, KVR Dreams Vehicles, and they are also good. I had booked a test drive at 12pm today and reached the showroom at around 12pm but the car was not there as a customer took it to his house during TD or something, anyways I had to wait an hour and finally got my hands on the Diesel Nexon and I immdiately forgot the initial disappointment of them making me wait so long, cause the car was very very good. My friend who accompanied me has a 4 years old Swift which was squeking so much and the driving experience was also bad with lots of jerks and the suspension of the Swift was also having a hard time handling all the potholes and undulations of the road and after traveling around in that and then driving the Nexon really made us understand how well the car has been engineered.
The TD of the Diesel was very pleasant, I left somewhat satisfied but I also found few downsides like there was lots of vibrations on the clutch while moving in City traffic and the steering was significantly harder than that in my Tiago also I heard this rattling sounds coming from somewhere near the center of the dash, my Tiago also had this issue and the service center guys fixed it by putting some foam under the central portion of the dash. However the power delivery was excellent and it made driving fun and pleasant though the engine did not feel that revv friendly as I expected. The suspension was also a bit more on the bouncy side compared to my Tiago especially on undulations but it was not too excessive or such a big deal breaker.
The best part of the test drive was when I got the Petrol Nexon and I absolutely loved it. It was much more fun to drive than the Diesel and there were absolutely no vibrations anywhere, the engine also just revved faster and more freely than the Diesel and it felt quicker. I did a small burnout while starting off on an open road and there was some torque steer kinda feeling coming from the steering wheel as it tried to turn to one side. I was actually trying to do a launch and see how well the car gains momentum but it obviously did not work out cause I took my foot off the clutch fast anyways the car just started spinning it's wheels for a second before it got grip. Overall I was very impressed with the Petrol Nexon and I think for 7.5L here for the XM Petrol it's an absolute steal and will be way more fun than all other cars in the price range, like the Ecosport Ecoboost is more than 10.5L and so this engine and gear combo is definitely the best in this price range. I guess things that can be improved would be reducing the vibrations, and also if the gear shifter throw was a bit more shorter it would have been much more nicer. Overall I loved it and I think if it was launched before Tiago and Tigor it would have eaten into it's sales too. My friend too was very impressed as this was his first Tata experience since many years and it just turned all his impressions of Tata around, he just have to convince his family of the same and they will book a Nexon too. Best of luck to Tata.clap:

Yet another amazing review. I was waiting to see the team bhp review before making my next car purchase. The positive review around the ride and performance of the Nexon has put me in a fix. When I test drove the Nexon, I personally like it. But that didn't impress me so much to dump the EcoSport. The EcoSport engine seems more responsive and youthful. When it was launched it looked funky but now it looks mature. And of all, the tailgate mounted spare wheel gives it the SUV character. So I sort of persuaded myself to strike off the Nexon.

I own an EcoSport erstwhile Trend variant and looking to buy the existing EcoSport for a small discount or to wait for the facelift. Reason- no airbags in the existing variant and the option of lease that my company provides that will help me safe tax big time. Now this review has put me seriously thinking of Nexon. It's back in my list and giving me a hard time to take a decision. I was thinking the team bhp review would re affirm my decision to strike off the Nexon from my list but has instead put it back in the list. Kudos to Tata. It has now a strong contender in the urban SUV segment

Excellent review! Thanks to Aditya & Vid6639. Nice details. Worth the wait. Good work, keep it up.:thumbs up

Now I see very contradicting review regarding the ride quality. In my short test drive I also found it satisfactory. May be not too plush but comfortable than most others. The official review has got me thinking for another test drive. As mentioned earlier the only place I felt awkward was a point when I did put my foot down on the accelerator (sport mode) the engine didn’t comply. But since others haven’t reported the same I am ready to give it the benefit of doubt.

Also as per your report the petrol is not bad at all. Good to know that. That is a real game changer for lower mileage customers. Now I need to test drive both petrol and diesel to make a decision.