As a blogger, when I had got a chance to attend TATA ZEST’s launch in GOA last year, honestly two things had impressed me most. One, I had loved the interaction with the team of designers and engineers behind the new car. The members of the design team were young in age, high on energy and open to experimentation. Two, I had returned with three vibrant newly coined terms- DriveNext, DesignNext and ConnectNext. They sounded absolutely upbeat and creative and I could bet they were here to stay. These terms not just had a peppy feel around them but they also wrapped up the new TATA strategy of smart looks, connectivity on-the-go and enhanced driving features.
I had returned convinced that TATA, the reliable brand was eager to change its passenger car’s perception and claim its presence in the business. Six months down, the hatchback sibling of sedan has come in full gear to put forward its ‘Horizonext’ strategy smartly and aggressively. Recently opened up for bookings, this new budget car named ‘BOLT’ is firing up the 400+ Tata centers across India.
Read below to know why in my view BOLT definitely makes for BuyNext if you are looking for a budget car with smart looks, powerful engine and value for money. And before you reject my thoughts and say ‘ oh that’s a women telling me about a car like the other baseless notion ‘girls can’t drive’ let me tell you women have a great say and role to play in a new car purchasing decision. Nowadays, women love to buy their own car and because they earn, they love to choose what they want to drive. We all know that Men are fond of cars but rarely does a man buy a car just for himself. Mostly its meant to impress the women in their life or Mum-Dad in the family. When my Dad bought a car, ofcourse Mum and I had all the influencing power on his decision. In fact my hubby asks for my opinion whenever we discuss any new car in the market.
Men and Women fancy and inquire about different features in their cars. Over strong and powerful I love smart and trendy designer look. For me the safety features are a big priority. If I have to choose a car I prefer to research well about my car unlike the hasty men in my life. Human aspects of a car are also very important. So when hubby and I went to check out the new TATA car, we actually looked into different aspects of it.
Below is the excerpt of our conversation about the noticeable features of the car that we discussed on our way back home. (Oh yes, I forgot to mention our offices are in the vicinity of DLF buildings but we did not go together rather we could only manage to check the car at different time of the day.
Standing in Venetian Red color, it stood pretty and smug in BOLT ARENA in the DLF 10A building, Gurgaon when I captured it.
Looks Or Power
I : BOLT looked beautiful, dint it?
The first thing that I talked about was its design, expressions, color, the outer look of the car, yes for me the look definitely matters. The Harmony line makes for the front look of the car. Not to mention the beautiful headlight and tail-lights. The headlamps combined with the projector bulb is a prominent feature of the front. Also the staff there told me that eye-liner structure of the head light has been designed such that it connects with the fog lights seamlessly.
Hubby: I was attracted to the X1 platform but the numbers too, its 5- speed gearbox, 1.2L turbocharged Multi-point fuel injection (MPFi) petrol engine, Revotron 1.2T which delivers fuel efficiency of 17.57 km per liter, 90bhp power and peak torque of 140Nm.
I : The all black interior is nice, the quality of material used made it look nicer. The infotainment system is definitely to look for, the controls buttons in the steering wheel and overall the dashboard has a simple and subtle element to it. For a hatchback it does have comfortable seating, lots of space, immense headroom and legroom.
Hubby: For me the most striking feature was the three modes- multi-drive functions of `Eco’, `City’, and `Sport’. How differently they work? To this I enthusiastically agreed. I could sense he quite liked them and was eager to test them too. Since I had already done the test drive of ZEST, I had enough to tell him more about it.
I told him Eco is meant for high fuel efficiency and Sport for agile and lower efficiency. Yes, the city mode was made for us those driving through the jam everyday but in the between in lesser jams and on highways/expressways one could always switch modes.
I : Harman infotainment system and touchscreen is a cool offering. I asked him, ‘Did you connect your smartphone and checked for its voice integration, SMS read outs, touch operated AC controls features? I did and it all worked out well. I captured the phone call log and I enthusiastically shared the picture below. Also the steering wheel has a turnaround of 90 percent so not much power has to be applied to bring it straight after the turns. (Good for women especially)
Hubby: Eight speakers in total, wow man. The audio output and clarity was good no doubt. It has two unique features as well the video playback and navigation. If you have the video files stored on the SD card, one can play at any time. MapMyIndia app comes in sync for four years of free service. This is well thought of indeed.
The rpm-needle turns red when it crosses the red line.
I : The wheelbase, cabin space, the tall look of the car, 165 mm ground clearance make it a good budget car for a small family. I missed the bottle holders in the inside. The storage space at the back is not much but yes the adjustable back seats are a great plus. One may do as per the luggage and number of people in the car.
Hubby: Yes…Did you notice the design at the rear is eye-catching too? I liked the sharp corners and turnaround of the car at all angles. The C-pillar arms gave it a new look. I could also see a lot of drawbacks of earlier TATA cars in this range have been improved upon through this one.
I : Last but not the least, it promises a warranty of 3 years or 1 lakh kms which none other car that I know is offering.
Hubby: BOLT TATA has also decided to roll out free 24×7 Roadside Assistance service for 3 years and this is very thoughtful step for its customers. Overall, I would say its priced wisely.
We decided that we would suggest some of our colleagues to go and have a look if they were planning to buy a car for themselves. By the way, my neighbors son has already booked the car. He also works at DLF and he had checked out the cars features at Cyber HUB arena. So the marketing strategy is working out and yes BOLT has been designed well by the TATA, now all depends on the performance on the roads and if it meets all that it promises, it can’t go unnoticed.
The blogger is me in Green Jacket
Hubby in the driver seat of the car when he went for his chance
This post is a part of the Get. Set. Bolt. activity at BlogAdda.
