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2020 Tata Nexon, A detailed review
Performance 4.0 of 5.0
Comfort 4.0 of 5.0
Interior 4.0 of 5.0
Exterior 4.0 of 5.0
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2020 Tata Nexon, A detailed review


The Compact SUV segment is bursting with competition today. Everyone wants a high-riding car with beefy looks, but don’t want it to be huge & cumbersome. This segment was kicked-off by the largely unknown Premier Rio and was later made hugely successful by the Ford Ecosport. The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza was an immediate blockbuster in sales which made every manufacturer jump in to the arena of Compact SUVs.

          Tata Motors had already showcased their Tata Nexon compact SUV in a near-production guise at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo with hugely positive response. The first iteration of the Nexon was actually launched by September 2017 and since then, the Nexon has been appreciated for it’s solid build quality, space & comfort, ride quality and handling. It also had a “Love-it or Hate-it” kind of design which made the Nexon to stand out and make itself a very serious threat to the Brezza. People who didn’t used to consider any Tata car, started noticing the Nexon. In 2019, the Nexon even scored a full 5-star rating at the Global NCAP crash tests, which made it the safest India-made car then. The Nexon till-date managed to sell an average of 4000 units per month, which made it the second-best seller for Tata Motors after the Tiago.

          Fast forward to 2020 and Tata Motors have launched an updated Tata Nexon with a major face-lift. The Nexon was an amazing product to begin with and the Nexon V2 seems even better. The car gets a more Land Rover-like front end with lots of new features and the much-craved Sunroof on the top end variant. The top-spec XZ+(O) variant also boasted of new Smartphone-based connected car tech too. There have been improvements on overall quality, fit & finish, safety and even the new BS6-compliant powertrains.

The updated Nexon brings the following new premium features on the XZ+(O) variant:

  • Electric Sunroof
  • XPRESS cool function
  • Auto headlamps & Wipers
  • Cruise control
  • Tire pressure monitoring
  • Leather wrap steering wheel & gear knob
  • Natural voice commands
  • What3words Navigation
  • Connected car safety features

All these improvements and feature additions have made the Nexon an even more cool and desirable compact SUV; adding up to the strengths of the Nexon which are as follows:

POSITIVES

  1. The Looks: The Tata Nexon facelift gets a new front end which reminds us of the Land Rover Discovery Sport, giving this compact SUV a butch and beefy appearance. Tata Motors have integrated their new “Tri-arrow design” motif all over the exterior and interior of the new Nexon starting from the lower air-dam grille to the tail lights. Projector headlamps along with the Tri-arrow LED DRLs are standard across all variants. The DRLs also double-up as the hazard lamps on higher variants. The A,B and C pillars are blacked out to give the coupe-like Nexon a squarer look. The rear bumper also receives this square treatment. The new Dual tone alloys on the XZ+, XZ+(S) and XZ+(O) suit the Nexon very well while the lower XE, XM & XZ variants get 16’ steel rims. The Nexon is also available with a contrast white or silver roof color from the XZ+ variant onwards. Silver color roof rails are standard from the XM variant onwards.
  2. Interior quality & design: The cabin of the Tata Nexon provides a classy layout with a clean dashboard, textured materials and convenient touches. On the XZ variant onwards, the dashboard has an Ivory-white colored trim with the Tri-arrow pattern integrated into it running across the width, the door armrests are padded with amazing quality fabrics. Even the lower XE, XM variants get some nice quality touches, with the white finish replaced by a faux-metal finish trim. Almost all the Buttons and switchgear have a quality feel to them. The Sunroof adds to the cabin’s airiness.
  3. Space & Comfort: The Nexon is amazingly comfy and spacious for its size. The front seats are large enough and the rear seats are as good as Sofas in a living room. Seating three people abreast is not an issue despite the extra bolstering for the outer seats. Rear AC vents are available on the XZ variant onwards while the XPRESS cool function rapidly cools the cabin down within a few seconds by automatically increasing the fan speed, reducing the temperature and letting the warm air out by rolling down the driver window by itself. Tilt adjustable steering wheel is available as standard from the entry level XE variant itself whereas a height adjustable driver seat along with a Grand center-console is available from the XZ+ variant onwards. Front and rear seat armrests are available only from the XZ+ variant onwards as well.
  4. Practicality: With 350 liters of extendable, square boot space and more than enough storage spaces inside the cabin including umbrella holders, a chiller glovebox, cup holders, bottle holders and a center-console storage bin, the Nexon is extremely practical. Split-folding rear seats are available only from the XZ+ variant onwards.
  5. Safety & build quality: The Nexon has a strong safety record with a 5-star GNCAP rating and various customer experience reviews as well. The new Nexon has been made even safer by adding more safety tech. Tata has made the following safety features as standard across all variants of the Nexon:
  • Dual airbags
  • ABS with EBD
  • ISOFIX child seat mounts
  • Corner Stability Control
  • Electronic Stability Program
  • Traction Control
  • Hill Hold control
  • Roll Over Mitigation
  • Electronic Brake Pre-fill
  • Emergency Brake Assist
  • Brake Disc Wiping
  • Pre-tensioner equipped seatbelts
  • Rear Parking sensors

                    Additionally, Front Cornering fog lamps with rear wash/wipe & defogger are available only on the XZ+ variant onwards.

  1. Ride & Handling: The Tata Nexon is highly impressive in the Ride & handling department. The Suspension at the rear even though being a semi-independent unit, is very absorbent and keeps the car planted even at higher speeds. The Electronic Power steering system is easy to twirl at city speeds, while being reasonably sharp, consistent and confidence-inspiring at higher speeds.
  2. Powertrains: The updated Tata Nexon comes with updated BS6 compliant Turbo-petrol & Turbo-diesel engines. The 1.2L Revotron petrol now produces max power of 120PS, a 10PS improvement over the BS4 version and is much smoother than before. The torque figure remains the same at 170NM though. The 1.5L Revotorq diesel produces 110PS and 260NM as before. The Nexon has been tuned with focus on drivability and the midrange acceleration is really strong & linear. The 6-speed manual gearbox is slicker than before, while customers also have the option of a 6-speed Automated Manual transmission available on the XM, XZ+, XZ+(S) & XZ+(O) variants. The AMT too is impressively smooth and adequately responsive in any drive mode.
  3. Multi drive modes: The Nexon is available with multiple drive modes, ECO, CITY & SPORT which alter the max power output and engine response for different types of driving conditions and styles. On the AMT variants, these drive modes alter the gear-shift timing and response too. Slotting into manual mode will automatically switch the car into sport mode.
  4. Infotainment Experience: The Tata Nexon is available with an 7” HARMAN-sourced touch-screen infotainment system complemented by 8 speakers from the XZ variant onwards. Media options, Climate control, Phone contacts and calls can be controlled by Voice recognition system using either English or Hindi. The system UI is far smoother and simpler to use than before. Android Auto, Apple Carplay & Reverse camera are available from the XZ variant onwards. Tata has also introduced new connected-car features, known as the IRA-connect on the Nexon which can be accessed using the smartphone. Features of this app include:
  • Vehicle Diagnostic report
  • Geo-fencing
  • Car Locator
  • Driving analytics
  • Intrusion alert
  • Remote horn and light control

What3words is an app which works in conjunction with Android Auto and helps you navigate to your desired destination which can be entered as 3 simple code words. This app has a precision of upto 3m. You also get the option of controlling & monitoring the media and Climate control through your smart-phone when you are inside the Nexon using the CONNECTNEXT app. The XM variant is available with a 3.5” non-touch screen Harman system with 4 speakers. Be it any variant of the Nexon, the audio experience is fantastic; even better on the top spec variants.

While the Nexon has its long list of positives, it also has a few weaknesses, just like any other car.

NEGATIVES:

  1. Rear looks: Though the Nexon looks like a proper, butch SUV now, the rear looks are still quite polarizing with the big X-shaped design element and the small tail lamps.
  2. Consistency in quality: Although overall quality has been improved significantly, there is still some room for improvement. The cabin has quite a lot of hard surfaces; the door-pads are comprised of largely hard plastics, few panel-gaps are still inconsistent. Fit and finish could be a little more consistent.
  3. Lack of a proper Auto transmission: Though the AMT works fine for almost everyone and every driving condition, only a proper Dual-clutch or torque converter transmission for the Petrol variant could satisfy those who are looking for a sophisticated driving experience.
  4. Interior lighting: Though the Nexon is available with an LED light for the interior, the light itself is located in the front part of the cabin, making it useless and inaccessible for rear seat passengers. A more central placement like the Tiago could be more practical.
  5. Service: Like any brand, Tata Motors also have their fair share of good customer-friendly dealers and not-so-good ones. But being a company which already didn’t have a good history in terms of overall service experience, we expect Tata to really pull up their socks and tighten up their sleeves when it comes to service.

 

Conclusion: Tata Motors as of now is one among the most rapidly developing automotive brand names in India and the Nexon is a product of great importance to them. The prices for this new Nexon is competitive, to say it best. In fact, there is a variant for every kind of customer in the Compact SUV market. Prices for the Petrol manual range start from Rs.6.95L for the XE variant and goes all the way up to Rs. 10.4L for the new XZ+(O) whereas the Petrol AMT range starts from Rs.8.3L for the XMA and goes upto Rs.11L for the new XZA+(O) variant. The Diesel manual range starts from Rs.8.45L for the XE and goes upto Rs.11.9L for the XZ+(O) whereas the Diesel AMT range starts from Rs.9.8L for the XMA and goes upto Rs.12.5L for the XZA+(O). (Rs.20,000 extra for optional dual tone roof from the XZ+ variant onwards). (All prices ex-showroom)

At this price, the Nexon is a cool-looking, spacious, comfortable, extremely safe, feature loaded Compact SUV; A combination that makes it the best all-rounder family choice in its segment. All it needs is a little ironing out to eliminate the minor inconsistencies and QC issues.

When it comes to service, you can see more than a few dealerships improving drastically with stricter norms, but on the whole, especially in the North, Tata needs to work harder to improve the customer experience. Find a good dealer with good customer reviews and experienced personnel and you will be happy for years. As for the Nexon, it is easily one among the best cars in the current Indian market.                                                                          




Category :
Compact SUV

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