Test drive: The Tata Bolt

The Tata Zest surprised everyone with its feature laden cabin and unprecedented finish for a Tata car The sub4 metre sedanhas been received rather well by the market and is selling in healthy numbers Tata Motors in the meantime much in the SwiftDzireAmazeBrio fashion have introduced the Bolt a hatchback version of the sub4 metre Zest Like its bigger sibling the Bolt comes packed with features and has a few exclusive tricks up its sleeve too Should the likes of the Swift and Elite i20 be worried We found out on a pleasantly wintry day in UdaipurPrice to be announcedDesign and stylingThe Bolt shares its platform with the Zest so the basic design right up to the Cpillar remains mostly unaltered Small detailshowever have been added to lend the Bolt some differentiating elements To start with the lower strip of the radiator grillelining has been finished in a piano black material as opposed to the chrome finish seen on the Zest The Bolt also features visually more striking lsquosmokedrsquo black headlampsThe daytime running lamps which made an appearance on the Zest have been given a miss thoughThe dashboard is identical to the Zest sedan except for the blackonly trim PicsAmit ChhanganiThe sides of the car get new 8spoke 15inch alloy wheels for the top variant different from the one on the production Zest in design The CPillar has been finished in black for a lsquofloating roofrsquo effect though we arenrsquot very fond of the faded white vertical stripes on the black stickers A plain black treatment would have looked a bit betterThe fabulous HarmanKardon infotainment system features the new appdriven satellite navigation and video playback via SD cardThe maximum stylistic changes over the Zest thanks to the vanished boot can be witnessed at the rear The lsquoflame effectrsquo combination taillamps feature LED mimicking illumination though the light sources are conventional bulbs Below the windscreen the Tata emblem occupies the surface above the registration plate and is flanked by lsquoBoltrsquo and variant badgingThe Bolt isnrsquot really a standout car in terms of looks It is however a smartlystyled and wellfinished car which holds itsown in the company of other hatchbacks sold in its price bracketThe instrument console now gets CITY ECO and SPORT mode indicators in blue green and amber lights respectivelyEngine and performanceThe Bolt will be available with two engine options a 12 Revotron petrol and a 13 litre diesel mdash both engines are the same as the ones on the Zest We drove the petrol powered Bolt for the prelaunch media drive The 1193cc turbo petrol engine is good for 90 PS of peak power at 5000 RPM with peak torque rated at 140 Nm between 15004000 RPMThe legroom and support at the backseat is commendable The headroom for taller passengers isnrsquot generous thoughOn the move the cityfriendly character of the Revotron unit comes to the fore instantly The first three of the five gears arerelatively short and make for the carrsquos exceptional driveability The fourth gear however is spaced wide probably for betterefficiency on the highway So while the Bolt will accelerate with reassurance in the first three gears on single carriage ways yoursquolllikely have to shift down a cog if yoursquore looking for a quick overtake in the fourth gearAs seen earlier on the Zest there are three drive modes to choose from Default mode is City offering a balance betweenfuel efficiency good driveability and power Sport mode focuses solely on going faster while the Eco mode witnesses a drop inperformance and improvement in fuel efficiencyThe Bolt Revotron like the Zest revels in slow to medium city speeds It loves pottering around in higher gears without a sign of splutter Itrsquos uncannily smooth and should lead the fuel efficiency ratings in the real world thanks to its forced induction and incredible tractabilityCabin and featuresThe Bolt shares its interior with the bigger Zest albeit with a few positive changes To start with the Bolt does away with the beige colour option for the dashboard The interior is available only with an allblack trim The rest of the cabin in terms ofmaterials layout features ergonomics and comfort is pretty much same as the Zest And thatrsquos a great thing for theZest offers an interior which is clearly more upmarket than most of its competitors which of late are skimping heavily onmaterials quality and equipment to match a priceSome changes have been made to the features though All of which are a step up over the Zest To start with the fabulousHarman sourced central touch screen infotainment system is now equipped with a navigation feature powered via a MapMyIndia smartphone appTalking of the Harman system the eightspeaker touch screen unit is without doubt the best sounding in the segment The Bolt also offers video playback on the touchscreen via an SD card another feature which is exclusive to the hatchback as of now Other interesting features include an SMS readout function and HVAC controls using the touchscreenThe ECO SPORT and CITY modes are now represented on the instrument cluster with green blue and amber colours respectively An audio chime works as an indicator every time you switch modesThe Bolt is one of the most spacious and comfortable cars in the segment Lack of small storage spaces including bottle holders is a problem though The wind noise at higher speeds could also have been filtered out better The boot space at 210 litre is also surpassed by many competitorsRide and handlingThe Bolt being about 2030 kg lighter than the Zest depending on the variant along with Tatarsquos intent to make it a bitmore dynamic in character than the familyoriented Zest sits on a slightly tweaked rear suspension The Bolt feels a tad bitstiffer than the Zest though itrsquos not stiff in isolation The straight line stability even at high speeds is impressive with the steering feeling medially weightedDynamically the Bolt isnrsquot a pointandshoot device At more than usual speedstaking tough corners requires constant corrections midway with a fair bit of roll thrown in The Bolt however is a comfortable spacious car offering a fantastic ride quality which is as good as if not better than the best in the segment This Tata hatchback isnrsquot a driverrsquos dream but a family guy looking for comfort and practicality will appreciate itSumming it upThe prices for the Bolt have not been announced yet and that would be the sin gle most important aspect defining theVFM proposition of this car However a quick postdrive survey conducted by Tata about the pricing suggests that theIndian carmaker not only wants to place the big wellequipped Bolt slam bang in the big volumes Swift Grand i10 categoryit wants to undercut them by a fair margin If that happens the Bolt would make an extremely compelling case for itself If a Rs 45 ndash 6 lakh petrol and diesel variants included hatchback is what yoursquore looking for the Bolt is an option that you cannotskip before making the final callTechnical specsTata BoltEngine12 litre 4 cylinder turbo petrolPower90PS 5000 rpmTorque140Nm 15004000 rpm