Tata Bolt, A Hatchback Like No Other….

 I will start this write up with one simple fact. Tata Motors is not known for the best products in the passenger car segment.  This legacy perception still carries on since the days of the Indica, the first passenger car from Tata Motors, which was plagued with problems on output power as well as mileage.

To be fair, Tata Motors has always tried to front lead and create a whole new segment via its passenger vehicles – Indica (small car segment) and Safari (SUV segment) specifically for the Indian market. Somehow, they met with limited success in understanding the pulse of the Indian consumer.

15 years after the Indica, In 2013-14, Tata Motors embarked on a mission – Project Falcon, to overcome the inherent limitation in TaMo’s passenger cars – Design & Styling. However, having one look at the Zest & Bolt, anyone will say that they score home runs on all fronts– Design, Performance, Mileage & Pricing.

Zest, launched in late 2014, had some initial production constraints, was well accepted by consumers. Bolt, promises to be better, and will mark the beginning of the Tata Motors Era in passenger cars. Both these are equipped with the Revetron engine (more on this later)  –  Reminds me of how Pulsar with its path breaking DTSi engine coupled with competitive pricing, performance and mileage changed the fortunes of Bajaj and soon became every Biker’s dream machine. Déjà vu. Competitors should be afraid.. very very afraid…

I was super excited on 14^th January 2015 – Had set out to TCS Neptune, Thane to check out the Tata Bolt. I had dreamt of taking a Selfie with the Bolt. But met with a rude shock – Pics were not allowed inside the company premises for security reasons.  🙁

Anyways, I was completely bowled over by the Bolt. The design was sexy, neither too manly neither feminine. It was just right. Suited for a working professional as well as the girl next door.

One of my cousin, a car enthusiast warned me that it is completely normal to get taken away due to the media coverage, chutzpah and marketing blitzkrieg surrounding new car launches for big brands. I decided to do some objective ground level research and fact finding – Talking to car enthusiasts, dealers, existing car owners amongst my friends and online websites too – A first for me, as a beauty/fashion blogger. I nevertheless decided to take up this challenge.

Have penned down key points of my analysis in the table below, basically arrived at after comparing Bolt with two of the best-selling premium hatchbacks in the country – Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Grand i10. The below table will tell you almost everything you need to know before zeroing in on a hatchback. Of course, everything cannot be spoon-fed, you will have to go find out the nitty gritties on your own. 😎  I sincerely hope this table helps.

Bolt looks like a clear winner – whether it is performance, value for money or safety, Tata has once again proved that when push comes to shove, no one can beat it on value offerings, which is what we consumers want,  😉

In case you are wondering if this is the end of this post, well, it’s not. The icing on the cake is still to come. Apart from the above comparison matrix, there are some super cool features that clearly belong to Gen 2020. Earlier this week, I also had the luxury of taking this beast out for a test drive in the suburbs of Mumbai and came across some features, Features I loved in the new Bolt, which will blow your mind away…. Here goes…

Driving Mode

We commute to office, weekend getaways, inter city congested areas, etc. It becomes difficult to balance or change our driving styles to suit the commute with optimum performance and mileage. TaMo has had smart engineers working on this problem and has come up with a semi-automated solution. It lets us choose from 3 options to select the drive mode: Sport, Eco & City. Sport is for that adrenaline rush for highway drives, Eco for the best fuel efficiency and city to make the bumper to bumper traffic seem less taxing for the engine and us.

I did some research on it and basically, what this does is controls the flow of fuel to the engine when we use the accelerator. Simple but useful application of the laws of science.

Safety

We always say, “Kitna deti hai?” and “Kitne ki hai?” However, safety is one aspect which we tend to overlook. However, India has among the worst road accident records in the world. Just to add one more line for those who are still not convinced, Safety may not be for us, it is for the ones who care about us.

Bolt is laden with safety features –

• Anti Lock Braking System is the most advanced globally. It comes with Electronic brake-force distribution, which distributes the brake force thus eliminating force concentration risk and gives better control to the driver. It also comes laden with Corner stability control which improves safety while taking steep turns/tight corners.
• Dual front Air bags. Double Protection. I needn’t say more.
• Speed sensitive door locks. Auto door locking when the vehicle’s speed increases. No more worrying about what your kid is upto on the backseat. You can drive in peace knowing that he is as safe as he is within the four walls of your home.

Comfort

• Space will always be an issue when I make a buying decision. Because making 5 people sit cramped doesn’t make sense neither does making my hubby saying yes to a hatchback (He was already apprehensive about the hatchback visit). I can safely say this is the first hatchback he loved. Because it is big. Enough to make a 6’3 tall guy feel at ease.
• Seats are plush and comfortable. Doesn’t feel cheap. But comfortable and cozy.
• Smart Steering – When you are cruising, then the steering becomes more sturdy. When you slow down, it becomes more sensitive. Also, the active return function makes sure that the steering wheel comes back to close to original position when left on its own.

Design

• This has to be seen to be realised. The Interiors are nicely spruced up and feel different. Black with a tinge of grey. Not one of those colors or materials which will easily get dirty.
• Headlamps look suave and are smoked, IMHO, better than those fitted in Grand i10 or Suzuki Swift.
• BTW, Bolt also comes with an in car entertainment system with 8 speakers 😮 . No more comments. Now listen to yo yo honey singh’s songs on full blast while commuting.
• Tail lamps are tall, slim and sexy. Flame tail lamps, as TaMo calls it.

Dhoom machale

• Running the risk of repeating myself, What is amazing in this revolutionary engine is it delivers a torque of 140 nm @ only 1,500 rpm, leaving everybody behind by miles and miles….
• Again, inspite of the power, it gives a mileage in late teens which is only slightly less than that of the Swift, which again is brilliant to say the least.

Watch the Tata Bolt TVC here..

Phew…. I am now done with my longest blog post (Long because I am now a super fan of Tata Bolt, else I would not have cared much to elaborate in such detail).

No prizes for guessing the moral of the story – Get. Set. Bolt……  😛 😆 😮 😎

P.S: This post is a part of the Get. Set. Bolt. activity at BlogAdda.

Images from Google.