“Boy! Oh Boy”- I literally had to shove ‘them’ aside as I struggled
to barge in; it was quite a ‘combat’ this….the “red riding hood” in the world
of automobiles had already made a remarkable entry it seems. Ah! I’m not good
at ‘building suspense” and for obvious reasons I won’t make an attempt either-
yes I’m talking about the all new stunning Tata Bolt that has made its presence
felt even before the official ingress; it sure promises to be a sparking debut.
Even when I’m tempted to use a metaphor, it goes without saying that I, in
effect, turned out to be as rhapsodic as the group of aficionado’s who had
flocked in from different parts of the city with a common agenda- to grab a
first-hand view of the brand new Tata Bolt even before it released in the market.
“Mind-blowing” is the word because I overheard the (Avani Riverside Mall, Howrah) mall-supervisors discussing that this
was perhaps the biggest crowd they have witnessed in the last 6 months or so;
that too, mostly concentrated at the ground floor. Staggering indeed! “Are there any Bollywood celebrities around?” –
Haha, well that random little kid standing right beside, perfectly ‘divulged’ my
state of mind…such was the glitz, such was the anticipation, as if something
prodigious was about to be unveiled..!
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The First Look at this wonderful piece of creation by Tata.... © Sammya Brata Photography |
Honestly speaking, I would have never travelled so far from
Calcutta, through the scuttling Dharmatala…traversing the second Hoogly Bridge,
down to the Avani Mall had I not been a apart of elusive “Zest Up Your Life” experience at Goa, it did open the flood-gates
for sure. While we were cruising through the “Goan Greens” in our Zest, I did
rediscover myself; I did realize that I had ‘a thing or two’ for cars…nothing
fancy or extravagant though, the ones that are gratifying both in terms of
price as well as ‘contentment factor’. It goes without saying that Tata Zest
scored a whopping 9/10 in both the segments and its ‘level-led up rendition’ –
the Tata Bolt promised to deliver a lot more. In-fact, my dad happened to read
my ‘zesty’ review post and seemed to be extremely impressed with its all-round
lineaments…I bet that he is already considering the prospect of booking our
first family car by the end of this month. I remember the uncharacteristic trepidation
in voice when he called me right after I posted the review on my blog,
something was “cooking” was sure. He sincerely wanted to come with me for the “Bolt
Preview Visit” but then his colleague’s untimely call held him up for a longer
period than expected; he promised to join me in course….but I knew that’s not
gonna happen. His eyes had lit at the
very prospect of taking a test drive in the all new Bolt; it’s a completely new
experience for him…not to be.
“Why are you dressing up as if you are heading to party?”- Mom
seemed to be quite bemused seeing my ‘illustrious’ garb. I was totally in the
mood for sure.
“I’m going to see THE Bolt mom, as in…’THE Bolt’!!”- I exclaimed,
as I pulled out the army jacket from the closet; it was a cold, murky Sunday in
Calcutta…perhaps not the best weather to go out for a photo-walk, but certainly
a good setting for indoor shoots.
“Is this a variant of what you drive in Goa? Your dad seemed to be
quite interested in that one…and are you going to write about this as well?”-
Oh well! Mom is always on the money, she picks up clues so well.
“Yep…exactly!! Wanna come along?”- I insisted.
“Of course, if you promise to treat me with some chocolate cupcakes
thereafter….”- She grinned-“And when did you start blogging about Cars and
Automobiles?”- She knew that I've been a Food Blogger for the major part of my blogging
tenure…it’s natural that such a digression made her curious.
“Haha, get ready ASAP…you’ll know soon…”- I smirked. So the
Bolt-expedition opened another gateway; I got an unexpected chance to spend an
evening with mom...I'll be honest... it’s been quite a while since our last 'one-on-one-date'. Thanks Blogadda.
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The First Look at this wonderful piece of creation by Tata... © Sammya Brata Photography |
The Zesty Experience- Get.Set.Bolt.....
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| The 5 Zesty Attributes of Bolt that have impressed me.... |
The First
Impression: “Oh my God, this looks so vibrant”- My trance broke as mom’s
characteristic intonation reverberated across the over-crowded mall…yes, she is
talented in a number of ways. LOL.
But then yes, she made perfect sense here…the initial impression that
it generated was indeed very promising; the colour red does send in positive
vibes for sure. The ‘machine’ looked extremely suave from the outer; and I was
already comparing it with the blue hatchback counterpart in Zest that we drove
in Goa. And frankly speaking, there is nothing to choose between the two, the only
difference in this case was perhaps the gracious
grille and the chatoyant stretched headlights
that catches the attention in the very first glance; we do talk about “fog-lights”
these days and with the upcoming tour to Darjeeling in prospect, the inclusion
does make all the more sense. Also appreciate the fact that the customary
Christmas Tree Lamps have been done away with and the contemporary fancy posterior
tail lamps have been included- it’s a refreshing change for sure. The automatic
wipers have also been ameliorated
primarily to facilitate the ease of driving…however, in my opinion, they do contribute
immensely to the overall “squint-factor” as well; Bolt is no exception. The
wheel-base of 2470 mm is commendable as well; the 15-inch Bridge-stone Alloy
wheels serve as the “right shoes to drive on”.. Shoes solve issues, don’t they?
The fact that these alloy wheels grip better on any surface, you do know that this
is quite an engineering marvel…perhaps it’s a glorious collaboration between technology
and vogue; of course with Tata’s ‘idiosyncratic touch’ as the backbone. Must say, super impressed.
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The First Look at this wonderful piece of creation by Tata © Sammya Brata Photography |
The inner anatomy:
“Looks brilliant in the overall perspective…and now, let’s zoom in”- I knew that mom had that
photographic bend of mind; I was expecting this. And frankly speaking, she did
hit the nail hard…it’s almost imperative that the “blistering start” should
transpire into a “consolidation period”; it promised to be a tough examination
for sure. But again, the opening shot after the break was right out of the ‘middle
of the blade’- if the Tata Zest is the perfect “Car on a road-trip”, then the Bolt can safely be termed as the “Holiday
Specialist”; consider a boot space of more than 200 liters that could
further be leveraged with the flexible seating contour…it's surely going to
solve the issues related to “space-crunch” on a longish vacation.
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The Beautiful Exteriors of Tata Bolt...looks delightful indeed © Sammya Brata Photography |
“The dark
interiors look very elegant, and take a look at the space inside…amazing”- She summed it all in a jiffy as
the front door was opened. Yep, the interior is cavernous for sure…in-fact, as
per the demonstrator, it perhaps ranks number 1 in terms of seating space among st all the hatchback counterparts…and that for me is decisive. In case of
long distance travel (or perhaps long hours of travel…especially in metro cities
where we spent more than 60 percent of our travel time in traffic jams) this is
an attribute that makes life simpler for the chauffeur as well as the ride.
Furthermore, the accommodating and flexible nature of driver’s seat (via the
inclusion of an adjustable lever) that caters to the ‘person-specific-height’,
is another innovation ingrained into the system. By the way, there’s a high
possibility that a physician or a gym trainer might have been consulted before
designing the interior because the tilt adjustable feature steering wheel is another
revelation, thereby taking care of the posture and the related ergonomics while
driving. The rugby seats (60:40
split and fold that increases the space inside the car) are extraordinary
inclusions, keeping the coziness factor in mind. The back-seats, with an added
bit of bolstering and sufficient knee space, enhance the degree of luxurious gratification;
come on…we do know that historically, a lot of enchanted stories have ‘brewed
up’ in the back-seat, glad to know that Tata respects the fact ;) I can sense
that some of you are already contemplating the possibility of a candle light dinner
in the back-seat…not a bad idea though! P.S. That, my friend, takes the average
total carrying capacity to 5, which is indeed a very lucrative prospect for
sure.
There’s a lovely
parity between the judiciously designed outer half and it's extremely spacious inside,
that is the perfect example of a 'new flanged creation'- it's like a
technological-prophecy...the confident dynamism is a proclamation in real sense....!!!
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The Beautiful Exteriors of Tata Bolt...looks delightful indeed © Sammya Brata Photography |
The Technology
interface: I wrote in my Zest review post that “Perhaps there's "life" nested in the quiescent piece of
genius that almost molds as if in sync with the driver's thought-process” and
my word… here’s nothing that I would like to change in there. In-fact, driving
as an “experience” has taken long strides forward (as a logic way-forward with the
envisaged three-tier architecture viz. DesignNext, DriveNext and ConnectNext in
Tata Zest) with the addition of a 5-inch
ConnectNext Touchscreen Infotainment System specially designed by the
iconic brand HARMAN™ that facilitates connectivity in almost all forms
including USB drives and Bluetooth integration. The sound system is fantastic
as well; they were playing Pitbull’s “Give
me everything tonight” at that point of time and the sound quality was
amazing. Furthermore, it syncs well with all the modern smartphones, be it
iPhone, Android or Windows…it paves the way for seamless navigation on the
drive. I’d specifically talk about the “MapMyIndia” smartphone app that works
perfectly well in this direction and eases the driver’s job in hunting down
remotest of locations in the city; the voice command recognition technology is
an added cherry to the cake. The only regret I had was that I didn’t get to
know whether the “SMS read out” facility has been included in the Bolt as well…loved
that feature in Zest. There are gadgets that send in live-on-the-drive data to
the chauffeur and the display (clutter-free data) has been
kept to the simplest of level. Overall, the Bolt amalgamates comfort with the bliss of technology to ‘elevate’ your ‘life on the drive’. Verdict: 8.5/10
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: Tata Bolt, amalgamating comfort with the bliss of technology © Sammya Brata Photography |
The Impregnability
Factor: “How safe is it?”-
Was the
lingering question in our mind and it made a lot of sense because of the
regular news of on-road-debacles; it isn’t safe enough to drive freely on the
Indian roads unless and until if you that “virtual insurance” in mind…and that
to some extent is the maker’s responsibility as well. We had to ‘extract’ that mode
of assurance before passing a final verdict….and Tata, like always, had an
answer. “Ma’am, the Bolt comes with a 9th Generation Anti-Lock Braking System that is
specially designed by Bosch that maintains tr-active contact with the pitch when
the driver brakes suddenly…it’s an advanced mode of preventing accidents due to
drift or skid.”- The demonstrator sounded re-assuring with his response. Phew!!!
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: Tata Bolt, the 'esteemed' 15 inch Bridge-stone Alloy Wheels... © Sammya Brata Photography |
Yes,
the ABS should be a proverbial inclusion in all modern day vehicles considering
the deplorable condition of the roads as well as rash driving; it enhances a
drivers control in true sense of the term. The Bolt has disc brakes in the
front and drum brakes in the rear half. The electronic brake force distribution
(preventing wheel lock up) and corner stability control (ensuring better
driving experience in negotiating corners or sharp bends) are the other prime
features from the safety point of view. The Dual SRS Airbags are of course the adversity restrainers that are
fabricated to protect the passengers, ‘to hold them back’ in case of accidental
head-on-impacts. The fact that Tata has designed a comprehensive “protection
system” also proves their adherence to 'social responsibility standards'; they are genuinely concerned about the safety of their buyers…!! Verdict: 9/10
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The interiors...comfortable seating arrangement in the Bolt... © Sammya Brata Photography |
The Core: Oh well, that brings me to the fundamental question…”What could be the rationale behind the coronation
Bolt?”
The answer is pretty much simple; a car that has been modelled on
a hypersonic personality, must a have a strong, durable or rather “Athletic” core. Tada!! ‘Athletic’ is
the key word… and the Revotron 1.2 Turbocharged MPFi engine, with 90PS @ 5000RPM
with a 140 N-m torque (and 4 cylinders) is the ideal explanation. It puts
forward a “Power packed” performance
irrespective of how or where you drive; the multi-point
fuel injection system is a huge boost considering a full throttled ride. It
lives up to its name for sure. The fuel efficiency is presumably amicable as well. I did talk about the 3 modes of driving while reviewing the Zest and understandably they
have all been included in Bolt, with more power to the Sports mode for sure; of
course it meant for a smooth, charismatic, care-free driving experience on the “boulevard
of broken dreams”. The Eco mode is effectively a conservative mode (helps in
crisis situations when you are running low in fuel) while the City mode is, in
effect, a judicious middle-class-by-default-mode-of-operation (not to be taken
literally though: D)..choose as you wish, my friend. Verdict: 8.5/10
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: The First Look at this wonderful piece of creation by Tata © Sammya Brata Photography |
Oh Hello!!!
“Hey!! Did you bring your driving license?”- Mom (yet again) broke
my trance.
DAMN!!! I should have been more careful with this one, the mere
prospect of ‘seeing the Bolt’ was overpowering enough. I could have taken a
test drive then and there itself…that could have completed the entire exercise.
Not to be.
“No worries, Sir…you can book a test drive directly by visiting
our official website. At your service”- The demonstrator turned out to be a savior for sure. I wasn’t done yet, though.
“How about taking a picture with the Bolt? Here’s the camera…”-
And I promptly passed on the camera. That was the plan. ;)
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| Bolt, the Zesty Level Up: First Look at this wonderful piece of creation, and my pose with the beauty ;) © Sammya Brata Photography |
Question for my readers- Now that you have read through my experience, it's time to test your prediction skills. Predict the price of the all new Tata Bolt before it is official released in the market. Send in your guesses in the comments section folks!
* This post is a part of the Get. Set. Bolt. activity at BlogAdda.
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