[mail.jaiswal]

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.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by mail.jaiswal

I have a Ford Figo 2011 diesel titanium (With a tuning box giving approx. 75-80 hp)

May be this is one of the the reasons for your engine review findings.

Originally Posted by mail.jaiswal

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).

- Old Figo weighs 1130 Kg and Nexon 1305 Kg. BHP difference may be huge but when compared to your remapped Figo BHP/Ton difference comes ~ 15 BHP only.

- Which mode you were driving (Eco/City/Sports)?. I think by default mode is set to 'City'.

[mail.jaiswal]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

- Old Figo weighs 1130 Kg and Nexon 1305 Kg. BHP difference may be huge but when compared to your remapped Figo BHP/Ton difference comes ~ 15 BHP only.

- Which mode you were driving (Eco/City/Sports)?. I think by default mode is set to 'City'.

Drove it in all the modes. Sport was the most peppy as most people have confirmed. Dont get me wrong, but i found the power surge to be similar in my Figo as in the Nexon.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by mail.jaiswal

Test drove the Diesel Nexon (XZ+) today and hence penning down my thoughts below.
[/b]

Nice write up! Figo is a great car and this comparison was interesting to read.
However, it would be even interesting if you could do a similar comparison with other cars in this segment. Its just my feeling that this would present a lopsided view to the readers and would be complete if you could bring about the differences in cars similar to the Nexon, especially with regards to your Figo!

Regarding the power which you felt was similar to the Figo, you're just speaking in terms of straight line acceleration afaik. The most important difference will be felt when both cars are driven with full load. And also in ghats where you need all the torque there is to offer. Heck i feel that the swift/ritz accelerates better than the XUV! Doesn't mean the latter has more power only theoretically. Its how relaxed the engine feels and how easily it pulls through slush or slopes that also matter.

[heydj]

Over the weekend saw Nexon in blue on Delhi - Jaipur highway. For me this was the first time I observed Nexon on road, might have seen earlier but it never registered, maybe its the color effect.

On first place it looked quite nice from rear & side profile but was not able to catch name of the brand so on overtaking looked in rear view mirror and saw Tata logo. Impressed with the looks, if I was in market for SUV and if Nexon came in AT then would have definitely included it in car selection.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by mail.jaiswal

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. ... [/b]

I drive a 2013 Figo D currently and test drove the Nexon D recently. The Figo has strong acceleration, but across a very narrow power band, whereas in the Nexon the torque curve is quite flat and it pulls all the way to 4000 rpm. I quite liked the engine actually, especially in sport mode. The engine is quite free revving too.

It could be that the tuning box has changed the characteristics of your Figo, but I would suggest another test drive to see if you feel the same. While I liked the Nexon overall, I didn't feel that connect with the car. I will need a few more test drives to get there I suppose !

[mail.jaiswal]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

I drive a 2013 Figo D currently and test drove the Nexon D recently. The Figo has strong acceleration, but across a very narrow power band, whereas in the Nexon the torque curve is quite flat and it pulls all the way to 4000 rpm. I quite liked the engine actually, especially in sport mode. The engine is quite free revving too.

It could be that the tuning box has changed the characteristics of your Figo, but I would suggest another test drive to see if you feel the same. While I liked the Nexon overall, I didn't feel that connect with the car. I will need a few more test drives to get there I suppose !

Agree. It may be due to the Tuning box. Also, the Test drive was for around 5-10 kms. would have to do a longer TD, to understand the Nexon's engine better.

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Nice write up! Figo is a great car and this comparison was interesting to read.
However, it would be even interesting if you could do a similar comparison with other cars in this segment. Its just my feeling that this would present a lopsided view to the readers and would be complete if you could bring about the differences in cars similar to the Nexon, especially with regards to your Figo!

Regarding the power which you felt was similar to the Figo, you're just speaking in terms of straight line acceleration afaik. The most important difference will be felt when both cars are driven with full load. And also in ghats where you need all the torque there is to offer. Heck i feel that the swift/ritz accelerates better than the XUV! Doesn't mean the latter has more power only theoretically. Its how relaxed the engine feels and how easily it pulls through slush or slopes that also matter.

Abhi, I agree. its completely limited to my experience with the Figo. I havent driven the other cars so cant comment on them. While Nexon may be miles ahead of similar segment car, my write up was only meant to share my opinions on the car in comparison to the Figo. I am sure it would be more exhaustive if I had driven the Ecosport, Brezza and WRV. hopefully will do that in the near future. For now, I am awaiting the AMT in the Nexon.

[nsbhagwat]

Team,

Team BHP being given image credit by NDTV Car & Bike for the news article on Nexon AMT powered by petrol and Diesel engine.

https://auto.ndtv.com/news/tata-nexo...h-2018-1775123

Regards
Nikhil

[KA18]

It's been almost two months that the Nexon has been launched.
I had requested for a test drive on the launch date, which I am yet to get.

I had received many calls from Tata Motors stating that they will be arranging a Test drive soon. Guess they do not need our business so soon.

Yesterday morning, the sales executive from Auto Matrix (the local dealer outlet) called to inform that a display vehicle has arrived and I could come over and see it, but no test drive would be available.

In the afternoon, just before I planned to leave, I called him and he told me come later as he had to get the vehicle washed and it would take some time.

I was running late for my office and already pissed off at their nonchalant attitude and told him curtly that I am no longer interested in their products.

I was ready to see it as it is. He sheepishly agreed to me coming over.

I did not understand how he could call me over to see the vehicle if it is not ready yet.

I see a lot of unprofessionalism in the way queries and customers are handled.

Well, I went ahead to see the 'dirty' vehicle.

Here's my impression:

The one on display was the Seattle Silver color, XZ+ variant.

The first thing that I noticed was the so-called ceramic strip. I asked him what the material used was, whether it was plastic and he said confidently that it was real ceramic and not plastic.

It did not feel like real ceramic and this caught my eye, just near the rear view mirror :



Here's a close-up of that:


Which meant they were painted on plastic. The quality of paint is good though the finishing is not.

Ingress into the driver seat was a bit difficult as I had to stoop to get into the car. This can be a bit uncomfortable unless one is used to it. Also the seat should be at it's lowest setting to get into easily. It was a squeeze when I tried to get inside keeping at it's highest setting. (I am 5'9").
Egress was not a problem.

Seats were firm enough and did not feel too soft.
My Chevy Beat's seats feel more softer.

Keyhole cap looks cheap.

Fit and finish of plastic is inconsistent.

Also, some easter eggs like these:



Up close:



Some material, which looked like the back of a rexine sheet was protruding. This was quite visible whenever one looks at the steering, which is not something I prefer.

Space is good for 4 Adults only. 5th adult would be terribly uncomfortable.

The cup holder on the rear armrest did not come out (as mentioned elsewhere) and it was firmly attached.

The rear air vent is purely a 2-speed blower and is not related to the air-con in any way. Since the cabin is not so huge, it makes little difference to have an blower for the rear seats.

Overall quality is good.

The music output is clear. We paired one of the phones via Bluetooth and connection was easy. We could check only one track though as there were no music files on the phone.

The floating display felt small, but adequate.
Reversing Cam display was hazy but just enough for the purpose. Low light and night times may be difficult though.

The rear appeared weird in pictures, but I felt it is quite neatly done.





The front is well designed. Reminded me of the Tata Xenon somewhat.



The side profile appears muscular:


Engine bay looks clean and uncluttered:


The vehicle did not start easily with the start-stop button and there was a key symbol displayed on the speedo console. It had to be unlocked a couple of times to get it started.

Seattle silver looks good on the Nexon.

I am saving my verdict for later as I am yet to have a test drive.

Just hope that TATA manages to iron out the niggles.

In my opinion, XM appears more value for money compared to the XZ+

I felt my 2010 Chevy Beat was put together better. I never noticed anything out of place.

Disclaimer: All the above observations and opinions are mine solely.

[mail.jaiswal]

Originally Posted by KA18

Ingress into the driver seat was a bit difficult as I had to stoop to get into the car. This can be a bit uncomfortable unless one is used to it. Also the seat should be at it's lowest setting to get into easily. It was a squeeze when I tried to get inside keeping at it's highest setting. (I am 5'9").
Egress was not a problem.

Seats were firm enough and did not feel too soft.
My Chevy Beat's seats feel more softer.

I totally agree. I penned down similar thoughts in my observations a few days ago. Ingress did seem surprising especially after the taller stance.

Awaiting your test drive update to know whether you have the same experience as mine or different.

[nikhn]

Yesterday evening I saw a Nexon test drive car with the rear right parking LED light fused. At first I thought it was just the sunlight falling at an angle on the rear, creating an effect of lighting up only the rear left parking light. But then the registration plate lights were on and so were the headlights.

Surprising to me that a relatively new test drive car had its light not working. Speaks about the quality used. Also, since it was the parking Light which is LED, it cannot be replaced without replacing the entire light assembly. Now that would be quite expensive I feel.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by nikhn

Surprising to me that a relatively new test drive car had its light not working. Speaks about the quality used. Also, since it was the parking Light which is LED, it cannot be replaced without replacing the entire light assembly. Now that would be quite expensive I feel.

Wow! You guessed about the quality of the light just by a glance! Good going there!
For all you know it could have received a whack from behind by another car or just a loose connector.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by akshay380

Wow! You guessed about the quality of the light just by a glance! Good going there!
For all you know it could have received a whack from behind by another car or just a loose connector.

Exactly my thoughts. I've seen several high end German cars with tail lights not working, even after sale. But no one says anything about them.

On another team-bhp thread this week, an oil seal on a Jeep Compass failed within days after a sale, which was later fixed by the svc center, but it amused me to note the forgiving note of the thread. Again on team-bhp, I read about a Jeep Compass with a repainted door sold to a customer which he later happened to discover by chance. Upon complaining, the dealer replaced the door, and here too praises went off for FCA/Jeep for making good a defect!

But in the case of Tata, people stand in line to bash it on the basis of one off-chance observation!

[condor]

Originally Posted by vharihar

On another team-bhp thread this week, an oil seal on a Jeep Compass failed within days after a sale, ..

Looks like there are quite a few reports of issues on the Compasses.

btw, the Nexon's also from the same production line as the Compass.

[Nissan1180]

Originally Posted by KA18

It's been almost two months that the Nexon has been launched.
I had requested for a test drive on the launch date, which I am yet to get.

From what you've mentioned, the car was not ready and the dealership communicated that to you. You expressed a threat to them, and they obliged by allowing you to see the car. How is that unprofessional? It would have been bad if they called you and did not have a test drive car to offer. If I was short of time, I'd have waited for another week and requested a test drive car at my doorstep. I've emailed them at 11 PM IST and they responded almost immediately confirming a test drive. Also, The seats on any old car would be softer.

I do not think that the things which you label as examples of "inconsistent fit and finish" are abnormal in any way. Please test drive the Ciaz or the City and see how those areas are finished. I'm saying this after experiencing all of them. Someone already posted pics of the key hole slot in other cars in the segment on this thread- the Nexon is actually better finished.

Ceramic is a brittle material. That's why the company uses plastic with a ceramic coating. It is not a simple piece of painted plastic (like the bumper). Again, while that piece of plastic is badly finished, it's just a piece of plastic and will be replaced for prospective customers. For all you know, the dealer probably wanted a bit of time to set these things right before presenting the car to customers.