Tata Bolt Review and Test Drive

[pammiblore]

New to this forum and this is my first post :)

Got in a TATA Bolt - Petrol XT (red) this Deepavali, been checking on cars for almost 6 months before finalizing on this. How i arrived at this car is interesting cause it was a instant connect with this car as I like the car to be simple with not much curves around (another example is i love the honda city eariler version than the new fluid design) and this did fit the bill for me and also to some extent the emotional quotient of being "indian" tag took over .

However have driven around my brother's Swift diesel car a lot (say atleast 5K kms) somehow i wasn't really comfortable with the car - the turbo boost was sometime too much for me to handle :) , so Swift was out of question for me as there was one in the family already. I did look at the new baleno, great car but then somehow didn't have the connect as bolt did.

brought the car from AADYA MOTORS - customer relationship was really not great, but since there was so much phone conversation with them i had got used to them and vice versa. Infact told them it doesn't matter how much good car you had - if you don't get customer relation right things will not work out. And not to forget I really did get good offer from them in terms of cooperate bonus and exchange price of darling maruti alto (2008 model).

About the car - well the upgrade from my alto to this car surely is great in relativity. Before I mention what I liked, let me put down something which could have been good in this car - FE in city ride. I haven't driven it on long drives yet (i planning for one in December) so yet to check on long journey FE outside bangalore. And TATA after service support doesn't sound great so far reading in various blogs/forums :) - lets see how that experience would be in this aspect. On the good thing love inbuilt the stereo system which the car offers, the alloys - i like this somewhat grey alloys than silver ones, love the handling and compactness of the car has to offer.

look forward to connect with other bolt owners in Bangalore and of course other car enthusiasts :)

 

[vikyjoshi]

New to this forum and this is my first post :)

Got in a TATA Bolt - Petrol XT (red) this Deepavali, been checking on cars for almost 6 months before finalizing on this. How i arrived at this car is interesting cause it was a instant connect with this car as I like the car to be simple with not much curves around (another example is i love the honda city eariler version than the new fluid design) and this did fit the bill for me and also to some extent the emotional quotient of being "indian" tag took over .

However have driven around my brother's Swift diesel car a lot (say atleast 5K kms) somehow i wasn't really comfortable with the car - the turbo boost was sometime too much for me to handle :) , so Swift was out of question for me as there was one in the family already. I did look at the new baleno, great car but then somehow didn't have the connect as bolt did.

brought the car from AADYA MOTORS - customer relationship was really not great, but since there was so much phone conversation with them i had got used to them and vice versa. Infact told them it doesn't matter how much good car you had - if you don't get customer relation right things will not work out. And not to forget I really did get good offer from them in terms of cooperate bonus and exchange price of darling maruti alto (2008 model).

About the car - well the upgrade from my alto to this car surely is great in relativity. Before I mention what I liked, let me put down something which could have been good in this car - FE in city ride. I haven't driven it on long drives yet (i planning for one in December) so yet to check on long journey FE outside bangalore. And TATA after service support doesn't sound great so far reading in various blogs/forums :) - lets see how that experience would be in this aspect. On the good thing love inbuilt the stereo system which the car offers, the alloys - i like this somewhat grey alloys than silver ones, love the handling and compactness of the car has to offer.

look forward to connect with other bolt owners in Bangalore and of course other car enthusiasts :)

Welcome to TAI community.

Congrats you your new Bolt XT. It surely is a great car and most underated car. I am sure it will give you great pleasure driving the car with awesome interiors and space and ride characteristics.

 

[TheMotorRomeo]

Congrats a TON.
Do update us on all your ownership experiences.
Wish you cherishing drives

 

[roadrunner]

Congratulations on getting your new ride. Many happy memories to you. Do update ownership experience.

 

[pammiblore]

Thanks a lot everyone for the wishes - sure will keep updated on the ride with bolt

Have done 260kms of Bangalore city drive so far and has been pleasant - and as some seek on the millage info :) started off with 9.9kmpl and currently shows at 10.9kmpl always on Eco mode so far - found this mode good enough for the traffic I drive in, even though this mode is sedate , but once the rpm goes up the speed is good enough

 

[TheMotorRomeo]

Thanks a lot everyone for the wishes - sure will keep updated on the ride with bolt

Have done 260kms of Bangalore city drive so far and has been pleasant - and as some seek on the millage info :) started off with 9.9kmpl and currently shows at 10.9kmpl always on Eco mode so far - found this mode good enough for the traffic I drive in, even though this mode is sedate , but once the rpm goes up the speed is good enough

Do measure using the tankful method.
I have read reviews where for Zest/Bolt the MID shows 1-1.5 kmpl less than the real one.
You can confirm that.

 

[abhi4cars]

Do measure using the tankful method.
I have read reviews where for Zest/Bolt the MID shows 1-1.5 kmpl less than the real one.
You can confirm that.

You are correct, the MID shows lesser once the average economy in MID is above 16. When MID is below 15 it is very accurate when compared with Tankful method. Love Tata's honesty here

New to this forum and this is my first post :)

Got in a TATA Bolt - Petrol XT (red) this Deepavali, been checking on cars for almost 6 months before finalizing on this. How i arrived at this car is interesting cause it was a instant connect with this car as I like the car to be simple with not much curves around (another example is i love the honda city eariler version than the new fluid design) and this did fit the bill for me and also to some extent the emotional quotient of being "indian" tag took over .

However have driven around my brother's Swift diesel car a lot (say atleast 5K kms) somehow i wasn't really comfortable with the car - the turbo boost was sometime too much for me to handle :) , so Swift was out of question for me as there was one in the family already. I did look at the new baleno, great car but then somehow didn't have the connect as bolt did.

brought the car from AADYA MOTORS - customer relationship was really not great, but since there was so much phone conversation with them i had got used to them and vice versa. Infact told them it doesn't matter how much good car you had - if you don't get customer relation right things will not work out. And not to forget I really did get good offer from them in terms of cooperate bonus and exchange price of darling maruti alto (2008 model).

About the car - well the upgrade from my alto to this car surely is great in relativity. Before I mention what I liked, let me put down something which could have been good in this car - FE in city ride. I haven't driven it on long drives yet (i planning for one in December) so yet to check on long journey FE outside bangalore. And TATA after service support doesn't sound great so far reading in various blogs/forums :) - lets see how that experience would be in this aspect. On the good thing love inbuilt the stereo system which the car offers, the alloys - i like this somewhat grey alloys than silver ones, love the handling and compactness of the car has to offer.

look forward to connect with other bolt owners in Bangalore and of course other car enthusiasts :)

Congrats mate on your new acquisition. I wish you many happy miles ahead. Based on my own experience I am confident you will have wonderful time with your car

Just a quick question. How do you feel about the headlamps of XT. I know you didn't do highway runs yet but still if you can share your feedback. Also, are you planning for a sunroof

 

[pammiblore]

Do measure using the tankful method.
I have read reviews where for Zest/Bolt the MID shows 1-1.5 kmpl less than the real one.
You can confirm that.

Yes Tank full method - when I got my Bolt delivered I had roughly 8 km worth of Fuel , so assuming it was 1 litre - i had my tank filled (close to 44 litres) in the petrol bunk just couple of meters away from AADYA MOTORS bangalore

so with tank full (45 litres) I have done 260+ kms and the indicator shows I can drive 270+ kms more with current existing fuel

Congrats mate on your new acquisition. I wish you many happy miles ahead. Based on my own experience I am confident you will have wonderful time with your car

Just a quick question. How do you feel about the headlamps of XT. I know you didn't do highway runs yet but still if you can share your feedback. Also, are you planning for a sunroof

Thanks Abhi :)

To be frank I did a night ride only once so far with the rains and yes the headlamps isn't has high as one would expect on normal mode. I had to drive with high beam for most of the distance. I did read your review so I might consider your advice of changing on the lights.

Sunroof i haven't given a thought yet - one of relative suggested I go all black vinyl sticker on the roof . But, I did read here someone doing for ZEST, I am very naive though in this aspects of modifications - do you think this sunroofing cause any structural damage to the car ?

 

[TSIVipul]

Guys, an opportunity to seize, No marketing, I am just spreading awareness of a mouth watering deal.

Any member from Delhi NCR interested in purchasing Bolt can reach the newly opened dealership of Tata Motors in Gurgaon near sector 14.
The dealer is
Arya Motors
Opposite Sector 14, Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, Gurgaon
0124 4558000
9599004393

The dealer is located near Orion Hyundai and Torque Fiat for ease of spotting and it's a new dealership inaugurated hardly 2 weeks back and they are offering some mouth watering deal on Bolt.

Bolt XMS Revotron:

• On road price: INR 6,08,861
• Cash Discount: INR 21,000
• Cash discount welcome bonus: INR 20,000
• Free Zero dep Insurance: INR 20,655

Total discounts: INR 61,655
Effective on road price: INR 5,47,206

Bolt XT Revotron:

• On road price: INR 6,73,285
• Cash Discount: INR 30,000
• Cash discount welcome bonus: INR 20,000
• Free Zero dep Insurance: INR 22,708

Total discounts: INR 72,708
Effective on road price: INR 6,00,577

Being a new dealer, they are giving this exclusive welcome bonus. The staff was really very good and so was the dealership experience. I would suggest the members from Delhi NCR to at least consider this dealer and Bolt for once if they are planning a purchase now.

for 5.4 lac only, one can get ABS + Airbags + Harman music system + Revotron. Add 13k more and you have gold AMC for three years which covers every single expense in maintenance, thin'g can't get sweeter for this money. Additionally, members can get handling charges also waived off which cost INR 7200 and njoy the true festive season celebration.

 

[pammiblore]

Thought will it up here - normally when I leave office (Manyata towards KR Puram with hell lot of traffic), I would park my car which again involves lot of reversing with some half clutch driving .

After having done this, the moment I switch off the ignition, the engine fan goes full blast to reduce engine heat after one minute or so shut downs (I was like is my car parking place has something wrong with vaastu) - having driven maruthi cars earlier which didn't have this feature this was something new, wondered if the engine was still ON. So, spoke to the service engineer and he said it was normal thing and not to worry. I had read about this default behavior in some cars - but some said it could be sensory issue etc etc. So, having spoken to the service guy gave me some consolation on this

 

[furious_driver]

^^ It is a news to me. I have never experienced in any of the cars. Anyways that is good thing, right?

 

[pammiblore]

^^ It is a news to me. I have never experienced in any of the cars. Anyways that is good thing, right?

Yes I am told it is "good thing" to reduce heat and then allow gradual cooling of engine. , there is whole lot of Quoras, Yahoo answers on this topic

Infact i was as suprised as you, spoke to my younger brother - who is usually more into cars than me, he said few petrol cars (like Honda) has them - but I haven't confirmed it with any honda folks/owners though

 

[furious_driver]

Yes I am told it is "good thing" to reduce heat and then allow gradual cooling of engine. , there is whole lot of Quoras, Yahoo answers on this topic

Infact i was as suprised as you, spoke to my younger brother - who is usually more into cars than me, he said few petrol cars (like Honda) has them - but I haven't confirmed it with any honda folks/owners though

In Petrol cars too? That's one more surprise. We have a lot of City owners here, may be we can check it with them.

If it is good, then why we are not seeing in many cars but just in a few?

 

[Ajay Sreedhar]

^^ I actually have observed this on my brio. But this happens when you idle it.But when I switch off the ignition then the fan goes off too.

 

[pammiblore]

In Petrol cars too? That's one more surprise. We have a lot of City owners here, may be we can check it with them.

If it is good, then why we are not seeing in many cars but just in a few?

well this seems to happen only in petrol cars as I am told - The service engineer was acting super cool and super busy to my queries , I will try and check with some mechanics and auto enthusiasts more on this.

Also this bolt petrol is turbo charged as they say - so something do with this ?

Will keep posted on this though