But let’s get on with the nitty-gritty here. On the road, the Zest was quite a revelation. Its suspension set-up is quite good and it soaks up bumps very well indeed. The cabin insulation is also very good and it made the journey out of town and back rather enjoyable. The safety features are also the reason behind this. Apart from adjustable head-rests front and rear, something we always appreciate, there’s the matter of ABS with EBD and airbags. While dual airbags are available only in the top-end XT, the anti-lock braking system features even in the XMS variant. Great move.
Furthermore, the ABS is a Gen-9 Bosch unit and features corner stability control, which brakes the inner wheel in a bend, allowing you to corner tighter; to put things in perspective, that’s something the Volvo S60 made its début with. The handling is quite good, and although the weather wasn’t at its best, we did throw the car into a few corners to see how it fared. It felt quite balanced, but its height is evident especially in cornering manoeuvres like these. The 185-section tyres have good grip, but had the car been a bit more planted, it would have really reaped some praise.
Going through the gears, another change is obvious. The gearbox too has been improved. The shifts are more precise and it doesn’t feel as rubbery. The ratios too allow for easier city drives. However, the star here is the Revotron engine, which has its own brand ambassador in Narain Karthikeyan. The 1.2-litre four-cylinder motor uses a turbocharger to boost performance. The result? Ninety PS at 5,000 RPM and 140 Nm of torque at a considerably low 1,750 to 3,500 RPM, although it did feel a bit strained at the top. While its performance in the city is decent, the SOHC, two-valve set-up begs an upgrade to four to let the motor breathe better when driving spiritedly. The turbo-whistle from the motor is very encouraging in the winding mountain roads and it makes you want to push further.
Another big addition comes in the form of driving modes. With ‘Eco’ and ‘Sport’ modes available at the touch of a button, the Zest changes its driving characteristics to be more efficient or more urgent, as the driver seeks. In ‘Sport’, the motor sounds a bit more sonorous, while in ‘Eco’, you can feel the ignition maps trying to hold back drops to improve numbers. The car is more relaxed, but it comes down to the driving. If you put your foot down, the efficiency is going to go down with it. Even so, a figure of 10 km/l in the city and 16 km/l on the highway isn’t too bad considering the level of kit on offer.
Down to the big number then: the price. When we first spent some time with the Zest before its launch, we expected a price of Rs 6-9 lakh. Then Tata Motors launched it from Rs 4.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the entry-level Revotron XE model, going up to Rs 6.18 lakh for the top-end XT, (OTR, Pune). These numbers and those features have led to a waiting period for the Zest as you read this, and an order of over 10,000 Zests within the first few weeks of launch. A lot of people seem to have chosen to add Zest to their lives, quite literally.
