ABC Wednesday - Z. Zx90 reviewed

Last week I had the pleasure of driving the latest offering from the TATA stable – the ZX90. 

I had her with me for 3 days during which I took her to Karla, a distance of around 100kms from Mumbai. 

Blogadda and TATAMOTORS loaned me the car so that I could review it from a traveler’s and a travel photographer’s point of view. Hence, you might not find much of technical details here.

Incidentally I have been owning an Tata Indica for the past 6 years and have been extremely happy with its performance yet when I got in to this beauty, I was pleasantly surprised at all the little and not so little modifications. Firstly the silence within, when I turned on the engine. Had to rev to find out if the engine is on! And the minute I stepped on the pedal, she surged forward showing her power generated with a 1.3L Quadrajet engine that produces 90 hp (93 PS) of peak power and 209 Nm of peak torque! Drove to get her fuelled and ready for the long drive to Karla, as the Driver Information system showed that she would travel only 200kms with the existing fuel in the tank! Loved that feature! She was tanked up courtesy TATA Motors and we were ready to go. Just asked Anirudh from Tata Motors regarding the fuel efficiency (FE) of the car. He just smiled and pointed to the Driver Information System which showed the fuel efficiency on the

 run and also the overall FE. A very useful feature indeed to obtain optimum FE.

Off we drove to Karla on a not so early morning hence got some traffic and soon were on the Mumbai Pune expressway. She performed beautifully! No vibrations or any body roll. Climbing up the ghat was a breeze! Did it in top gear! Touched 140 just to check how she handles. Perfect. No evidence except on the speedo to show the speed. The overall average obtained was 19.2kmpl after driving a total distance of 200kms of which 100kms was on the expressway and 100kms of driving in city traffic.

As far as the space inside is concerned well it is one of the best amongst hatchbacks!  Even the boot seemed deeper than the older version.

The steering wheel and the driver’s seat are adjustable to suit your comfort level. Both the Outer Rear View Mirrors are adjustable from the driver’s seat. I also liked the fact that there is additional lumbar support for the driver which can be adjusted with a lever. A very thoughtful input for the traveler who does the driving him/herself.

The central console has the music system that has additional controls on the steering wheel for convenience. I found it useful to change FM channels on the go. It also has a Bluetooth that can be paired with five mobiles. The microphone is discreetly placed above the rear view mirror and your conversation can be heard by all the occupants in the car via the stereophonic speakers, except for the traffic cop outside.   

I wish there was a dead pedal to rest the foot on long drives. Else for the price it is a steal with all bells and whistles!

This review is part of the Product Reviews Program at Blogadda

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