The TATA Zest Experience : The test drive #zestupyourlife

So today is the 27th of July , Sunday when the paranoid me drove a car – not joking. I drove an Automatic car. Not exactly an Automatic but an AMT – a automatic manual transmission from TATA.. The zest in diesel. I am like wooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only I know that how much I was telling Harish that I am having an Injury and would like if I didn’t have to actually drive the car but all things don’t go as per plan many a times. A lot of 3 people in the car alongwith a TATA volunteer to keep a check that we don’t go crash and boom… So we drove off in a blue TATA ZEST , the petrol version first along the predeteremined route map given to us and with people holding markers to tell us where to go. Just like the amazing race style.

Sports mode engaged

From the very start our car was in the Sports mode, just like a person would go in a drag race not that we actually let the car do that. The interiors were good , a plush feel to it. 3 people in a single car and only 1 drives it. The first feature we tried was the voice recognition feature to control the AC. It chills like Antartica. Pushing a button on the steering wheel to make it go active and brought the AC from 18 to 24. An inboard camera was there too but we really didn’t use it. The gear changes were smooth…even I was sitting at the back but I could notice all that. You can actually feel things taking place. It takes time and a bit of adjustment to switch modes from Sports to eco or vice versa . The default mode is City mode. The most fuel effiecient is the Eco and for that burst of energy is the Power one. Power of 90 PS and a torque of 140. Rev up the engine RPM and change mode (eco to sports)…A Ferrari becomes a fighter jet in full afterburners if you ask me to describe it the way I do it best.

Petrol version

Just a word of caution though – Switch off the AC when you do that. Maybe it was the car we got or what but I felt it. A bit of transition feels when the mode is changed and the AC is on.The revotron 1.2 L did its work otherwise. The car went smooth after it picked up speed. Its like a lot of things have been packed at one place – alloy wheels, New signature grille, LED tail lamps, projector head lamps etc. The two things which impressed me the most were the Information on the display infront of the steering wheel and the buttons to control the audio system from there. Just talk and the system does that for you – change AC temp, radio stations, pairing the phone by Bluetooth makes the phone come alive in the car. We can call the system to dial contacts in the phone, read the SMS aloud. For a person of 5`7” the leg space was huge and comfortable. I could like easily stretch my legs. Protection is paramount in the TATA cars and they have carried forward that legacy into this car. Seats belts take care of that . We tried all that in the petrol version. Back to Zuri after the first round.

AMT

The real fun started with the change in the car now. TATA is known for Diesel and they made sure that the hidden power was unleashed here. The Ftronic AMT (automatic manual transmission ) in diesel was wow. It has a shift assisted manual too. The car doesnt move forward untill the seatbelt has been strapped in. One ground rule- Don’t use the LEFT leg. Its an automatic. Only Brake and Accelerator are the things you need to take care of. The Infosystem comes with touch control ( voice recognition is default) in this one. So out on an empty and wide road Ila took over, drive well for 200 metres before she switched places and came back to the passenger side. As for me I was like tempted to get my hands on the wheel inspite of my recent injury. It started to rain and I took over to drive… Initially thinking not to go beyond 300-400 metres as automatics are not something I have drove. But no fear… it was WOW. Press brake, shift gear lever to Automatic and go next on the throttle. The car moves on your wish- the pressure you apply. Forget the modes, I was more focused on driving. Brakes go for sudden stop when applied (powerful) so be careful. The car recognizes your driving style too. The amount of throttle being pushed knows whats the normal speed driven and when you are pushing it to the limit.

From a 300 m thinking of driving to actually driving some 4-5kms past a pit stop was great feeling. I really cant describe this feeling…really cant. The first car was about checking the features of the car and the second automatic was all about checking out the car in reality…the feel, the power everything. Any newbie who wants to drive should get the hands on this diesel automatic version and the rest ones should go for the petrol version.

Me in full concentration

Passing the 2 other test cars

If I can sum up things a bit in this excitement it would look like this-

1. 2 variants- Petrol in manual transmission and Diesel in Automatic.

2. Revtron and Ftronic engines give it all the power they need.

3. Plenty of leg room for a sub 4 m car

4. Safety paramount. Car in automatic doesn’t move until the driver has strapped the seatbelt.

5. 3 modes- City mode default, Eco for economy and Sports for that extra burst of energy ( petrol).

6. The Harman kardon audio system is voice recognition enabled. You speak, it does all the work itself right from changing AC temp., tracks, radio, reading sms on phone, calling contacts from phone etc.

7. Automatic transmission model has a touch control for the system but it’s a bit stiffy.

8. Design features just wow with Alloy wheels, signature grille, LED tail lamps, Projector head lamps etc.

9. One ground rule- In automatic don’t use the left leg.

10. The brakes are damn powerful, the car stops right at the spot. So be careful whose behind you.

11. All info up visible on the front.

12. The car recognizes your driving style and adjusts accordingly when it comes to throttle and power . That’s what I felt while driving in the automatic mode. I was virtually cruising and the car let the automatic gear stay at that level , no screaming to let me know to increase the power. It sets a pattern for gear shift within a particular range.

13. The steering is responsive.

This experience with the car really zesed up my day.. Now I want an automatic and that too a TATA Zest. It might launch in the 5-7 lakh price bracket .