A new upcoming hatchback from Tata Motors is Tata Zica. We were fortunate to drive this latest product from Tata Motors in Goa. Well we have enjoyed a ride of 50+ kilometers on this vehicle and there is too much to say about this car in the Tata Zica Review.
This car is set to launch in the first week of 2016. It is a unique car from the company when we look at their portfolio. So let us talk about all the details of Zica.
Design
The first look of the car is very important. The word elegant is the best to describe the design of this hatchback. Let us have a look at the various aspects according to exterior and interior parts of the automobile.
Exterior
This is where people look at the car. In the front view of the car we get to see the hexagon grill in glossy black. There is a Tata emblem which looks stylish. The headlamps are looking nice. There are fog lamps below the headlamps and there is also a lower grill. From the front, this car is surely an attention seeker. There are integrated indicators for the rear view mirrors. There is also a shoulderline which goes till the tail lamps. You can see this in the sideview of the car. If we talk about the gap between the tyres and the wheels it did seem to be perfect for Zica.
On the rear view there are tail lamps and the boot lid is angular. The bumper of the car is also good. Overall length of the car is 3746mm. The height of the car is 1535 mm. On the external side, the door knobs are having an amazing arrow type design. This makes it look elegant. As said earlier the shoulderline in the sideview till the tail lamp looks nice.
Interior
This is what you see when you are inside the car. Get inside this hatchback and you will be surprised with the impressive interiors and much to talk about. The finishing in the cabin looks good. There were times where I used to feel that I have entered a sedan or what? They have made sure to keep space for your devices. Like in front of the gear lever there is space for keeping a smartphone with ease.
As there is charging near to it, so keeping a smartphone there is a smart move.(Unless you don`t need GPS navigation). Just behind the handbrake lever there are two cup holders. Also you can keep a couple of half litre bottles in the door pads. There is also a cool glovebox which is useful for keeping water to be cooled.
Infotainment System
The user can easily sync his smartphone with this system and run navigation signs on the small screen. Apart from this, step by step audio commands can be heard using the car`s speakers. So there is no need to continuously look at the screen for navigation. This is one of the best systems I have seen in an entry level hatchback. The user can load the songs using the smartphone`s playlist and play it in the car or use the Jukecar App.
So you can directly connect your smartphone and play the music from it directly in the car. This hatchback is using Harman speakers. The sound quality amazed me everytime. The bass, treble and voice was crystal clear. I enjoyed the drive with my favourite songs and it is always great to have good speakers in the car. This infotainment system is also useful when you get calls on your smartphone. So you are like handsfree talking to your dear ones while driving.
When you sit on the driver seat it feels the same as when you sit at the passenger seat. Though sitting on the driver`s seat is like sitting on a commanding position. Most of the activities can be done from the driver seat. Example is handling the door lock system. Also there are a lot of indicators which gives important information to the driver. The Average of the vehicle in km/l. Apart from the odometer, RPM gauge and fuel gauge there is also much information for the driver.
On the steering wheel itself the driver is able to tweak volume up/down or mute the infotainment system. Headlamps of the car can also be operated with easy switch system. There is a switch for the eco mode as well. Other information like current time and the trip distance can also be seen on the display which is sandwiched between the RPM and odometer gauges. Also the driver is able to see in an indicator if all the doors of the hatchback are properly closed or not. The air conditioner`s air vents for the driver and co-passenger are placed at the right place.
Though there is no separate air vent for the rear seated passengers, but due to the central air conditioning system it wasn’t a problem as such for the rear seated passengers. For opening the doors from inside, the door knobs look premium due to its unique design and finishing. The seats are comfortable. There is a decent headroom for everyone in Zica. Legroom for the rear seats was surprisingly good. The engineers from Tata Motors seem to have built the interiors thinking about the User Experience a lot. The boot space of Zica is 242 litres. This is enough boot space for carrying limited luggage for all the people in the car. The overall interiors of the car impressed me for sure.
Performance
There are two 3 cylinder engines for this car. Revotorq and Revotron are the names of these engines. Revotorq is for 1.05 litre diesel version and Revotron is used for my favourable 1.2 litre Petrol version. This hatchback is carrying a 1047cc engine. This is a bit heavy hatchback, especially the diesel version as it weighs 1080kg. So while driving the diesel car the acceleration at times was fine. Tata Zica is fun to drive above 1900 rpm for sure. This will make the car feel sturdy and catch up speeds with ease.
The petrol version of the car is more favourable while comparing both. Driving the petrol version was fun indeed. There is a 5 speed manual transmission in Zica. There are two modes to drive. One is City and another is Eco Mode. So if you want to drive in economy(to get better average) you can use the Eco Mode. Though when you start the hatchback it starts with the City Mode by default. It is fun to drive on City mode though.
While steering it does feel light and was able to perform a U-turn with a single hand. Driving the petrol car was fun and it performs best in good speeds. Once started, the car surely gives a good momentum and is like a companion for long drives. Talking about the suspension it worked fine. No dangerous jerks, it went smoothly. We drove this car on the Goa roads and it did give an overall good performance.
Safety
When we talk about safety of a car, the first thing pops up our mind are the Airbags. So yes there are dual front airbags in Zica. There is also ABS with EBD. Though some of the features will be available in higher variants. There is a Corner Stability Control System while maneuvering the car in the turns. There are other features like the clutch lock and speed sensing auto door locks. The Zica also gives indications for low fuel, driver seatbelt, doors open(if any) and gear shift indicator. All these features help in the overall safety.
Final Verdict
Tata Zica impressed us with the classy interiors, infotainment system and the performance. The price of the hatchback is not yet revealed. Though the price of petrol version will be around INR 4 lakh and diesel version will be around INR 5 lakh. A very strong hatchback in this price range, favourable for youngsters will be launched in first week of January 2016. Let us know your thoughts about Zica in comments below.
Nikhil Narkhede
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looks good. price please! cool review. wanna test drive this car