Alive n Kicking: I'm Boltified By Tata Bolt

Chandigarh is facing the wrath of extreme weather at present with no sun showing up for many consecutive days. The fog is taking over the tricity leaving the normal life out of gear. I wasn't feeling like getting out of my cozy quilt Sunday morning (11 Jan, 2015) in such weather, but the excitement of enthralling experience of visiting the iconic Bolt Arena at North Country Mall in my city gave me the courage to brave this chilly cold and got me charged up to make a move ;)

On my way to the venue, I was little anxious about what to expect from TATA’s third generation Hatch. Because TATA’s approach of sticking with similar design philosophy has often backfired at them in recent past. Remember Tata’s first Hatch Indica’s launch.... The I.DE.A’s design was like a breath of fresh breeze that ruled Indian market for quite long, but that is clearly outdated now. The revolutionary design of that time is nowhere in public taste.

Eyeball to Eyeball: But reaching the venue, when I was greeted with that fierce blazing red TATA Bolt smiling at me, my doubts just faded away instantly.

Even if the car didn’t bear the TATA badge, any car enthusiast could have easily deduced that it’s from none other than TATA, but with its current design and features miles ahead of its competitors.Bolt has a number of elements that seamlessly work together to create a distinct look-n-feel for the car. Let me take you on a virtual journey of what appealed me the most in Tata's all-new exterior & all-new interior Bolt :)

The stretched Projector Headlamps gave me a long look with a promise to enhance safety during night trips. A modern looking TATA’s signature Smiling Grill fitted so nicely in between the headlamps.

The precisely sculptured air vents give this machine a nice aggressive look with forceful big ORVM with Side Indicators. As always with TATA’s products, the paint job of the car is top class and panels’ gaps are as per industry standards.

Classical Side Lines: I just loved the way pillar “A” gets its shape and whole roof ends very neatly at pillar C, Floating Roof as they call it (by blacking out pillar “C” ). A big glass area and a solid crease right from Pillar “A” to “C” caught my attention.

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Observe the side lines at my back that depict Floating Roof Effect :)

This car stood on Bridgestone rubber R15 175/65 Alloy again which gives her very classy looks.

At the Back: My expectations were running higher..keeping my fingers crossed, I glanced at the back side of the car... Thank God, they have abandoned Christmas Tree tail lamps & adopted a pair of stylish, classy & compact tail lamps to replace those.

Broader rear glasses were the next thing that grabbed my attention to offer extended visibility while parking and reversing the car. The spoiler excellently gels well with Bolt design. The Top-end variant has Rear Defogger and Viper. And I wish this should even be offered by TATA in starting models because this will be an added safety feature specially in Northern regions during shivering cold foggy days/nights.

Super happy with the first impression of Bolt, I occupied the Captain's chair i.e. driver seat and investigated the cabin area minutely to know the INSIDE STORY ;)

Cabin Area: This is where this car scores in flying colours. Just open the door and you are amazed by the space it has to offer. The Cabin is quite airy and has ample shoulder room n knee room.

The interiors of Bolt have been designed tastefully that instantly enveloped me in a luxurious ambiance as I stepped in. The plastic / material used has been an obvious upgrade in terms of the quality that gives the car a very rich feeling. The dark black colour interior complements the fascinating looks of the car.

Most controls including the the knobs, the buttons under the dashboard are precisely placed keeping in mind the exact place where the driver wants them to be. The 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system supported by eight speakers specifically crafted for Tata Bolt by Harman Music System with SD, Bluetooth, USB and aux connectivity is yet another alluring feature of Bolt and first ever introduced in this segment.

The features like Voice Command Recognition and Smartphone Enabled GPS powered by MapMyIndia are the most adorable ones. GPS feature is a must have in today’s world where each of us is bound to explore the unexplored places for leisure or work reasons.

TATA has put the Instrument cluster on right side unlike Vista where it was placed in the center. Instrument cluster excels to impress me for being so very informative and even features an onboard computer to offer real time mileage and distance-to-empty. The attention to the minute details is clearly visible.

In terms of design and ergonomics, the multitasker Tilt Adjustable Steering Wheel with integrated smart controls scores really higher as it fits so easily within my palms.

The comfy Buckets Seats with generous cushioning will turn out to be a blessing during long drives for sure. The Height Adjustment Seats are nothing but icing on the cake.

One thing I was very keen to observe in BOLT i.e. the back seats. If you are spending long hours in the back seat of car, the lack of comfort can spoil the entire experience of travelling. Bolt offers the rear seat that accommodates three adults comfortably with better thigh support so the taller passengers like me would definitely appreciate the back seat comfort of this car.

Not to forget that sliding storage tray just under front passenger seat, a worth mention feature that seems so thoughtful and clever indeed...

Brave Heart: The Heart of this bolt is its state-of-art 1.2-litre turbocharged, multi-point fuel-injected petrol engine that generates 84 BHP @ 5000 RPM with 140 NM torque. Bolt has three power modes to choose from Eco, City or Sport depending upon your mood or requirement. The Eco mode as the name suggests is for better fuel economy, sport for finer performance and city for normal driving. On press of a button only, the engine's computer will alter the specification to match with your driving style and will deliver the output. Yes first such offering in the segment, that truly left me speechless.

I could not stop myself requesting the facilitators at the venue to help me have a closer look of under-the-hood area and appreciated Tata for well-assembled components therein. The long wide hood adds a smart sporty touch to whole car that will be especially adored my youngsters.

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Like most Tata cars are known for interior space and the Bolt is no exception. The boot offers decent space of apprx. 210 ltrs and that is utilized to its maximum capacity as the seats 60:40 split and fold to increase the spacious room. The large boot space has substantially surpassed many cars of its segment while making BOLT a reliable vehicle for long journeys.

In the Lap of Safety: High end model of Bolt is equipped with 9^th generation ABS by Bosch that helps to control car in heavy braking and it also comes with dual airbags, i would prefer four atleast :) So safety is an area which is well thought-out by TATA.

Overall I found Bolt more smart, spacious & safer than its rivals that will definitely invite many customers to respond warmly as it hits the roads. The dynamics go beyond just appealing to my head but actually to my heart also :)

By the time, I finished writing about my pleasant first-hand meeting with TATA BOLT, I'm already Boltified ;)