Tata Zest long term review, final report

Weak points? The seats don’t provide a lot of support on long drives. Also, finding an ideal driving position was difficult, as I found the steering a bit too raked for my liking.

I am not a big fan of the 1.2 turbo-petrol Revotron. It doesn’t respond well when you put the hammer down and while it does feel quick when the turbo kicks in, it doesn’t have that spikey power delivery you’d expect from a turbo which I actually like. And it doesn’t sound good either. In traffic, it feels a touch sluggish, but the most irritating part is a slight jerkiness or hesitation at low revs. Most annoying is the Revotron’s tendency to stall just when you engage the clutch, which makes you pile on more revs than usual.

‘Sport’ was the default setting on the multi-drive mode, especially during our 1,700km round trip to Udaipur — the other modes didn’t offer enough grunt for quick overtaking. This resulted in more fuel stops and higher bills which were questioned by the office accountant as the accompanying Xcent petrol consumed 28.5 percent less!

I did end up using Eco mode, but only once, in a bid to stretch a precious few litres in the hunt for a petrol pump. In this mode, the engine feels like it has gone into limp mode, the only consolation being a slight improvement in fuel consumption. For the record, our Zest gave us around 12kpl over the 1,700m it was with us.

I am happy to report that after 7,232km on the clock, the Zest has performed flawlessly. Living with the Tata compact sedan, quality niggles seem a thing of the past. Except for a few squeaks from some of the body panels, there has been nothing to complain about and in its short time with us, the Zest has given me the confidence to drive long distances without a worry. For a Tata, that’s a huge achievement.

SELVIN JOSE