Tata Bolt Review and Test Drive

[Akash1886]

Tata Bolt Review: Tata Bolt price tag is between Rs.4.45 – 7.00 Lakh (Ex.showroom, Delhi). It officially launched in India on 22nd Jan 2015.​

Buddies, Here's the 1st Test Drive Review For TATA BOLT for T.A.I.

So, finally got hold of the Test Drive Vehicle of the soon-launching TATA BOLT today at the Delhi Dealership i.e Concord Motors. I have driven the TATA BOLT XT (Petrol) with Revotron Engine.





Colors Offered in TATA BOLT are same as TATA Zest and projector headlamps are "Not" standard in all variants.

Here is the list of Variants with features:

Base Variant is the BOLT XE with following features:

* Air conditioning

* Heater

* Power Steering

* Body Color Bumper and Door Handles

* Turn indicators integrated in ORVMs

Above XE is the XM, It Includes:

All features of XE + All Power Windows, Harman Music System, ABS+EBD and CSC, Rear and Front Fog Lamps.

Then after XM comes XMS

This includes all features of XM + Driver side seat height adjuster + Dual Front Airbags.

Finally, comes XT; which is fully loaded! It includes all features of XMS + Harman Touchscreen, Rear Wiper, Defogger, GPS, Video Playback, Voice Command, Automatic Climate Control and 15 inch Alloys.

The pricing of the car is yet to be disclosed. Official literature will be given after launch.









What I Liked:

* Minimal Cabin Noise

* On acceleration the sound remains modulated.

* Corner Stability is awesome.

* Good Ground Clearance.

* Immobilizer Function.

* The Drive Modes i.e CITY, ECO and Sports. I drove in all 3 of them.

- CITY: The Vehicle will start in CITY mode that gives a pleasant feel of driving. Calm and Composed ride.

- ECO: The car felt average in this mode, it is the mode which shall give maximum FE. Since its designed for extracting best FE so don't expect it to fly on roads.

- Sport: An all together high performance mode. One can definitely feel the thrust of acceleration when the car is in this mode. In this mode, one can't think that BOLT is inspired from Vista etc.

* The power steering is light so there wont be any fatigue while driving.

* Braking is also precise thanks to ABS+EBD and CSC.

* Wipers have good cleaning radius.

* ORVM has good viewing space and internally adjustable.









What could be Better!

* The rear suspension, feels jerky when the car is driven over a small pothole.

* At speed bumps too if the car crosses over them between 20-30 km/h the jerk can be felt.

* The door fabric in all variants could be better.

* Absence of Driver Airbag in XE and XM variant.

* Just a 10 km round-trip test drive given.

* Horn could have been better.





My Opinion: Overall, its a positive effort by TATA to break the Indica image with BOLT. This car is much ahead of its earlier cousins i.e Indica and Vista. I just hope, that this car should not get into commercial segment else all efforts to change the perceptions will be of no use.

Hope you all like this feedback and post your views and queries.

Regards

Akash

 

[Bump_that]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

No orage interior ? Is the interior all black or like zest two tone combo ? Nice review sir :)

 

[vijay]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Good crisp review aakash.
Share some interiors images if you have, specially the dash.When you had shared the earlier experience at a mall for bolt, how difference did you find taking the quality of plastics of two vehicles.
Does the shift in modes take same time as we have seen on zest for petrol in bolt?
ORVM looks a tad smaller then the previous vista.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Akash1886]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

No orage interior ? Is the interior all black or like zest two tone combo ? Nice review sir :)

Thanks dear, Orange interiors will not be provided at present. The interior is all black.

Good crisp review aakash.
Share some interiors images if you have, specially the dash.When you had shared the earlier experience at a mall for bolt, how difference did you find taking the quality of plastics of two vehicles.
Does the shift in modes take same time as we have seen on zest for petrol in bolt?
ORVM looks a tad smaller then the previous vista.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Vijay, I have also shared interior pics of the display BOLT in same thread of BOLT and Zest Coverage. Actually the display model at Mall and those at the dealership were very different. The car I saw in Mall was the media car and those of dealership were the allocated ones. Interiors were much better in Dealership cars. As of the shifting modes, there are buttons in Dashboard for ECO and Sports. Press them and enjoy! The difference in different modes can be felt immediately specially from ECO to SPORT. I too had the same impression when I saw ORVM but after adjusting it I found it ok to view.

Regards

Akash

 

[vijay]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Buddy i think you couldnt get my query, i am asking about changeover in shifts while driving, say you are into eco mode and shifting to sports, how much difference you can feel the car takes over to give that shift.Is there a jerk that you feel while shifts?
Havent driven zest or bolt petrol so asking for these details from you.

 

[Akash1886]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

i am asking about changeover in shifts while driving, say you are into eco mode and shifting to sports, how much difference you can feel the car takes over to give that shift.Is there a jerk that you feel while shifts?

Ok, the time lap taken in shift over is around 2 seconds only, if shifting from ECO to Sports then one can feel the sudden acceleration thrust but no jerk as such. Even from CITY to ECO mode, the shifting is really smooth.

Regards

Akash

 

[Lameassonwheels]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Very informative and crisp review Akash !. The front looks great, the rear reminds a Figo somewhere. Wish it had a better front grill, this one looks lifted straight from old Indica. Can you please add more interior pics if you have.

 

[Akash1886]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Very informative and crisp review Akash Can you please add more interior pics if you have.

Buddy, thanks! You may check interior pics in BOLT and Zest Coverage thread. There are pics in good quality too of the display BOLT.

Regards

Akash

 

[incarnation]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Good review Akash. its short and to the point.keep up the good work. all the pics were helpful.I have driven the same Revtron on zest, however in zest i felt the gear shifting was not that smooth in revtron may be a problem with the vehicle i drove i dont know, hows it in bolt.

 

[Akash1886]

Re: Tata Bolt XT: Test Drive Review

Good review Akash. I have driven the same Revtron on zest, however in zest i felt the gear shifting was not that smooth in revtron may be a problem with the vehicle i drove i dont know, hows it in bolt.

Thanks Nitin, Happy you all liked my effort!

BOLT has smooth gear shift. The driving modes are really awesome and specially the Sports mode. I am saying sports mode because in that mode the car performs really well. The Clutch also worked smoothly. Overall, its a nice car with improved looks & technology.

Regards

Akash

 

[krishnavamshi24]

Wow Bolt is a competitive product, only if it were launched under different brand name. It would have beena different ball game

 

[vikyjoshi]

Now this is something really Astounding. I literally blew my head off.

Mileage for Bolt Quadraject at 29kmpl
Mileage for bolt Revotron 44kmpl

That too on tata bolt facebook page.

 

[furious_driver]

Now this is something really Astounding. I literally blew my head off.

Mileage for Bolt Quadraject at 29kmpl
Mileage for bolt Revotron 44kmpl

That too on tata bolt facebook page.

View attachment 174097

View attachment 174098

That too after driven by a girl? Either she must be an excellent driver or she used an excellent driver to achieve this! Or are they bluffing? Too confused. Or it could be the other way around. They might have given it by mistake where instead of petrol mileage they might have given diesel and vice versa. It makes sense!

 

[kasscon]

This is totally unbelievable... 44kmpl is a dream average. How would these guys be able to achieve.. Any idea??

 

[Akash1886]

Going by the figures, I really would like to know, on which stretch of road have these people driven in Maharashtra? Making a guess, In Pune and Mumbai, where traffic is quite dense and largely one can see bumper to bumper traffic mostly, how can such a high efficiency be possible? If ARAI does claim it then for once I can accept, considering their testing conditions but a common driver attaining such high figures in regular conditions is nothing less than a surprise. Is TATA getting these FE figures registered in Record Books? Secondly, is it a way to promote a slow selling vehicle like BOLT?

Regards

Akash