Tata Punch Kaziranga edition replaces my 2016 Tiago: 1st Impressions

I felt the engine to be the biggest weak link in this otherwise very good package.

BHPian CarguyNish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Dear BHPians,

Happy to share that I took delivery of my Tata Punch on May 13th.

The variant is Kaziranga Creative MT in a unique shade of Grassland Beige with Gloss Black Roof.

I had booked the car on April 18th after test driving one - drove both MT and AMT and found the latter to be jerky, laggy and not that good except for the fact that gear shifts happen automatically.

With no choices, I had to settle for the manual which felt much better.

I also traded my 2016 Tata Tiago Diesel for Rs 3.25 lakhs.

Most of the variants in Punch Line-up have waiting of 3 - 5 months, but mine being a limited version and since it's based on the top-end Creative variant, managed to get it quicker.

Initial Impressions are good.

The car is well built, the interiors are appealing, seats are much more comfortable and are placed high. The driving position is SUV like, ingress/egress is very good due to large doors and 90-degree opening.

AC is simply fantastic, easily the best in an under 10 lakh car. It cools in no time no matter the weather outside. Rear AC vents are not missed in this one. Front AC are effective even for rear passengers.

Drive experience has been average, to say the least. In fact, I felt the engine to be the biggest weak link in this otherwise very good package. The engine has a typical 3 cyl character, vibrations are felt at idle and in initial gears. It has a weak bottom end, you need to rev it a bit to get moving. 3rd gear is better and the 4th and 5th gears are very smooth. Overtaking needs planning, so yeah an iTurbo Engine from Altroz would have made it perform better.

Ride quality is very good, takes bumps and potholes with ease without transmitting to the cabin. In fact, the ride is similar to the Tiago I had been using these years. Handling is also safe and predictable, high speed manners are very mature and brilliant, to say the least, doesn't feel like a small car/micro SUV. The steering also weighs up well as speed increases.

Overall a very good car.

Tata should offer the iTurbo Engine on higher variants at a premium, that way the car dynamics will be justified. Also, an EV version will make it both powerful and efficient. I don't know why Tata is not able to launch it when they have the platform ready for it.

Will be creating an ownership report soon with detailed pictures of this Limited Edition.

Thank You

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