With Zest Tata Motors gets serious in petrol car segment

Zest is first new car in four years.

Tata Motors, primarily known as diesel car maker, is now making a fresh foray into the petrol segment with the launch of its new compact sedan Zest. For the first time the Tatas are launching a new car with a superior petrol engine known as Revotron. And the timing is perfect as the price difference between petrol and diesel is narrowing down every month.

The Zest will come with the Revotron 1.2 litre, the first engine from the new family of gasoline engines from Tata Motors and will be India’s first Turbocharged Multi-point Fuel Injection (MPFi) Petrol engine, the company claimed.

The company claimed that the new refined engine is extremely silent. It has also introduced a segment-leading new technology: Multi-Drive Mode that enables switching between SPORT, ECO and CITY mode, along with a superior throttle response. 

The SPORT Mode gives the sharpest throttle response and quickest acceleration from the Zest. The140Nm of torque from the Revotron engine delivers a more dynamic drive, enabling the driver to exploit the full acceleration and driveability of the Zest. In the ECO Mode, performance and throttle response is reduced to maximize fuel economy but with a comfortable drive experience. It is ideal for Highway cruising. In the CITY Mode (the default) Zest balances between performance and economy. Power delivery is smooth and throttle response is linear leading to agile drivability to easily navigate city traffic conditions, the company claimed.

Of course, Zest also comes with a time-tested diesel engine, the 1.3 litre Quadrajet diesel engine coupled with the first-in-class F-Tronic technology-enabled, 5-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), with both Automatic and Sequential mode of gear-shifting, developed in collaboration with Magneti Marelli, Italy. The advantage of AMT is no clutch and no gear shifting, a major boon in crowded city roads. The Zest Diesel AMT (available in two trims) has dual drive modes - City and Sport mode.

Performance:

Equipped with a high boost turbo-charger, the Revotron 1.2T petrol delivers power of 90PS @ 5000 RPM and a peak torque of 140 Nm @ 1750-3500 RPM. The Diesel 1.3L Quadrajet engine produces 90PS of power @ 4000 RPM and 200 Nm of torque @ 1750 -3000 RPM. The Eco modes give the car the ideal-condition fuel efficiency of 17.6 km/litre in petrol and 23 km in diesel. The ex-show room price of the petrol car starts at Rs 4.69 lakh, going up to Rs 6.06 lakh for the top most model. The price of the diesel trims vary from Rs 5.73 lakh to Rs 7.10 lakh.

In a major departure from the past, Zest comes with a  refreshingly new look in terms of styling. With a new forward pouncing stance and well-sculpted body, the design portrays a sense of power and agility. The company has worked closely with HARMAN to design and engineer an acoustic audio and infotainment system, with 5 inch touchscreen Infotainment System, Advance voice command recognition, SMS notification and read outs, Fully Automatic Temperature Controls on the touchscreen, etc.

The writer is a business journalist and a freelance writer writing test drive reports on cars / SUVs for the last 11 years. Can be contacted on dilipmaitra@gmail.com. Pictures by the writer. (Any unauthorised copy and reproduction of images and text are prohibited. Please write for permission.)