Tata Bolt review, road test

If the exteriors don’t manage to convince you that the Bolt is a new Tata, then the interiors certainly will, because apart from the spacious cabin, the Bolt doesn’t share much with the Vista.

In fact, the all-new dashboard is similar to the Zest’s but, instead of the sedan’s dual-tone scheme, the hatchback gets a sportier all-black look. If you’re familiar with the Vista, you’ll find a big step-up in quality, especially with the switchgear and some nicely damped buttons on the centre console. However, some plastics, such as those on the mirror casing and door pockets, have rough edges. Also, the rear seatbelt’s retracting mechanism on our test car went bust after a few uses, which is more worrying as it’s a sign that Tata’s well-known quality niggles still persist.

Typical of Tata hatchbacks, you walk into the cabin and sit relatively higher up in the driver’s seat. The front seats are generous and plush but feel a touch too soft, and lack of support for the lower back can lead to aches after a long drive. While finding a good driving position is easy, taller drivers may find the tilt adjustable steering blocking a chunk of the instrument cluster. Other ergonomic irritants are a narrow footwell which leaves little place to rest your left foot and the ‘Multi-Drive’ row of buttons which are set too low.

The Bolt’s strength, however, lies in the spacious rear bench. The ample legroom rivals many mid-size sedans and thanks to the wide cabin, passengers seated three abreast here won’t have to jostle for shoulder room. Surprisingly though, while the front seats feel too soft, the rear bench feels a bit too firm. Tata needs to give the Bolt’s seats consistent foam density.

For convenience, there’s just a single cup holder in the front and an open stowage in front of the gear lever to hold your phone. The top trim also gets a storage tray under the front passenger’s seat – useful to hide valuables when parked. That said, the lack of bottle holders and slim door pockets hampers practicality and even the 210-litre boot isn’t particularly large; in fact, it’s around 10 percent smaller than the Vista’s.

Equipment, though, is what the Bolt has in abundance. The top XT trim gets a Harman-sourced touchscreen interface that also doubles up as the screen for climate control. In the Bolt, this infotainment screen gets an upgraded firmware (vis-à-vis the Zest) that adds GPS navigation through an Android phone. For better readability, the screen’s contrast has been tweaked as well, but that hasn’t done much to improve legibility in direct sunlight. Thankfully, you won’t have to strain your eyes much as the infotainment system can read aloud text messages and supports voice commands for dialling. Surprisingly though, there isn’t a CD player but it supports most modern audio sources such as Bluetooth, USB, iPods and aux. Sound quality from the eight-speaker (four mid-range drivers and four tweeters) set-up sounds great; most customers won’t be tempted to spring for an audio upgrade.