Test drove the Diesel Nexon (XZ+) today and hence penning down my thoughts below.
Disclaimer: I have a Ford Figo 2011 diesel titanium (With a tuning box giving approx. 75-80 hp) and it has been my daily driver since day one. Clocked close to 95+ kms on it and this would be my reference when I compare it with the Nexon. My opinion below is based on my observations and do not intend to down play others. I am not an expert and please take my observations with the pinch of salt.
Got the vehicle through KHT motors after I had requested for a test drive around 20th Oct. Due to delays from the showroom and my unavailability in town, I could test drive it only on 9th Nov morning. Though the overall response rate of Tata has increased in this regard, I believe it still has a way to go. I had requested for a test drive of Hyundai i20 Elite and the advisor was ready to come over the very same evening.
Car came at the promised time (approx. 10 mins late) but still good enough for me. I got the Blue dual tone and the car looked good. I loved the grown-up stance of this Tata car (I think Hexa is a really big car for the city). The Nexon looks quirky and quite a ‘modern’ car. Looks big on the outside and fairly beefed up design from the curves on the outside. The rear looks a little weird with the black (around the ceramic X) doesn’t merge with the overall color of the car (Blue). Though it may look really well on a lasgow Grey. Like others have pointed out, it may grow on me after a while but for now, I don’t like the rear all that much.
Let me talk about the interiors and various parts individually.
Ingress: I bumped my head on my first attempt of getting into the car. Felt weird since I had never bumped my head in a low slung Figo till date and hence wasn’t expecting in a ‘bigger’ car. Tried the ingress a few more times to re-confirm and I was amazed to see that the sloping roofline does make ingress a little uncomfortable. May need getting used to. (for reference my height is 5 9”). Wonder how it would be for taller people
Seating: Once seated, you feel good. High position, adjustable lumber levels, decent headroom. View of the road is good but the A pillar can obstruct few folks. I was at home here since my Figo has a similar A pillar and hence am used to it.
Steering: Nice 3 spoke design but a little small to my liking. Steering feels good to hold and would age well. The steering controls are plastic-y. Though as I mentioned, I don’t have a frame of reference, I believe these are good, but a little premium feel would have helped (like flatter rubberized kind of buttons – Am I sleep talking again?)
Speedo cluster: Speedo cluster is good and fairly well laid out. The needle changes color after crossing a certain RPM threshold. The various drive modes (sport, eco & City) are highlighted as applicable. I may be asking for more but I really hoped that the dash would get more of the futuristic feel to it (All digital display or atleast except the 2 main speedo’s, the rest of the information could have been displayed better in a single display rather than a Display like the ones which come in calculator. I don’t know what’s called but the display such as odo, fuel economy, distance to empty, etc. could have been displayed in a B&W or color display rather than the calculator display that you currently get. Alarms are good as they specify which door is ajar (eg. Rear right door is open).
ICE: floating screen is a good feature but I feel that the screen may be a tad small. I would have liked to go for a bigger screen which is crisper. The Audio is good and have a good output for non-audiophile like me. Those who want to blast music will need to add some more components and Amp.
Buttons: I felt that the buttons below the display are again small. My Figo has bugger buttons and they look and feel better as well. I like the options provided but then may need getting used to. In my Figo, I can press the buttons without looking since they are big and also because I am used to them
Space in the front: The Nexon feels spacious in the front seats and is fairly roomy. Surprisingly, my father who sat in the co-driver’s seat felt the Figo front seat is more spacious since he can stretch his legs and sit in a sloped angle. In his opinion, the Nexon wasn’t as comfortable.
Additional buttons in the center console: you get additional buttons such as rear camera, Boot release, front and back defoggers in the console.
AC: The AC is good and chills well. I felt it was on par with my Figo’s AC which is an absolute chiller. However, I felt that the AC was noisy. It is marginally audible at speed ‘2’ but very clearly audible at ‘7’ which is expected. However, since the Nexon cabin is well insulated, the AC noise does come along and feels noisy. Might just be a personal experience.
NVH: this is where I was most surprised after been following every single post in YouTube and Team-bhp. I was expecting the engine to have less noise in the cabin. Initially when I started the test drive, I was happy as there was minimal engine noise spilling through. Later my dad pointed out that he can hear the AC (at ‘2’ speed) and asked me to switch it off to hear the engine. And indeed, as soon as I switched off the AC, I could clearly hear the engine at low RPMs as well (as low as 1500 RPM). And the noise gets louder as the revs build up. It is a huge improvement over the Figo and the NVH is well contained.
A major grouse that I had in the test car was that I could feel a ‘knocking’ feeling on the clutch pedal. It seemed like something was constantly knocking the clutch from the other side and I was feeling it. Even the Sales guy wasn’t able to give a fair explanation on it. The clutch is fairly light and easy to use compared to my Figo.
Rear visibility: the ORVM’s are big and give a good view but then the IRVM is practically useless due to the less visibility. However, this can be overcome with enabling the rear camera on the screen but this can never replace good old IRVM. This is a limitation in this vehicle for sure.
Rear seat: Very comfortable and spacious. When I first saw the car, I was expecting more space inside, but it feels a little less. Smaller TATA cars such as Vista and Manza used to give incomparable space. wonder where TATA dropped that useful asset against their brand.
Boot: More spacious than my Figo and wide. Though if Boot space is your primary objective, Sedans are better suited for that purpose. The seats have a 60: 40 Split but do not fall completely flat ‘bed’ type. There is a small elevation at the base of the seat backrest. A small observation was that while make the rear seat flat, you need to first pull up the seating cushion and then drop the back-seat support bit. While moving the seating cushion up, I felt that the seat cushioning was very less and felt cheap. I am not sure if other members have tried this or tested it, but while folding the rear bench, the cushioning isn’t great. I am not sure how to explain this further as my knowledge on the exact terms are limited. In lower specs, remote boot release isn’t available and every time one had to open the boot, they would need to open the car, get in and then press the boot release from the center console (not on the XZ+).
Driving: this was the biggest letdown for me since I had heard rave reviews about the engine and the specs on Paper really increased my expectations. From a 68 HP car to a 108 HP car, I was expecting a significant jump in power and acceleration. However, I felt that the acceleration was on par with my Figo. It could be because of the tuning chip or the weight or the car or the tuning of the engine. But in the end, the car felt a lot like my Figo itself in an elevated avatar. The suspension is good and it takes up the road undulations well (guess the bigger wheels do help).
Conclusion: I know I would get a lot of flak about this post but then this is my opinion about the car and my reference is just by 7 year old Figo which has served me well. I have been very excited about the Nexon from day 1 and I felt that it would be a worthy upgrade for me from my Figo. Infact such a long post is testimony that i was very serious about evaluating this car as my next drive. The Nexon does have a lot going for it and I wish it good luck. But for now, I don’t believe that I would be upgrading from my Figo for the Nexon. I believe Tata is headed in the right direction and I have nothing against the brand. I would have picked up this vehicle if I had been content with the power and driving dynamics. Moreover, i also feel that the things I want in a vehicle wont come below 30 lakhs
Once again, if I have given wrong info or hurt anyone’s sentiments, my apologies in advance.