Tata has made a comeback into the premium hatchback market with a car that does its name justice, the Tata Bolt. With previous models like the Indica Vista, Tata had been struggling to get a hold of the hatchback market but all that could change with the Tata Bolt.

The car comes in two variants; the one we got was the Revotron 1.2 litre turbocharged MPFI petrol engine with multi drive modes; the other variant of this car is powered by a Quadrajet 1.3 liter diesel engine. The turbocharged 1.2 liter petrol engine puts out 90bhp at 5000rpm and 140 nm of torque at 1500-4000rpm.

The Exterior The first thing you notice about a car is its exterior and Tata Bolt manages to impress at first glance. And while the Bolt still carries some styling cues from the Vista, most of its built is based on the Tata Zest. With chrome accents on all four sides and eye-catching smoked projector lights—the car has a sleek premium look. It is available in five shades:Venetian red, pristine white, platinum silver, dune beige and sky grey.

The Interiors

The all-black dash board is well designed but lacks the quality of its Japanese and Korean counterparts. In the centre of the dash is a big Harman touchscreen infotainment system. The infotainment system, as the name suggests, is used for playing music, controlling the temperature in the car, GPS enabled maps, among others.  The steering wheel has a range of buttons as well which lets you control the volume, changes tracks, answer, reject, and end calls, activate voice control, and the likes. The seats are comfortable and have ample leg room even for the back seats.The glove box is spacious and can fit a range of things. A few thing that are lacking, however, are cup holders and bigger storage boxes; there is only one cup holder at the centre of the car, near the gear shifter, which can fit only one small bottle.

The Performance

The car has three modes: eco mode, city mode and sports mode. The car is set to city mode every time you start it up. The city mode strikes the perfect balance between outright performance and fuel economy.

When you put the car in eco mode you can feel a decrease in the initial pull and the  power delivery, but can count on it guzzling considerably less fuel.

The sports mode truly brings the car alive. You can feel the increased responsiveness and an increase in the rpm when you floor the gas pedal.

The Handling

The steering is light which makes it easy to manoeuvre the car through tight city traffic and while reversing. The car is stable while gaining high speed as well, thanks to the long wheelbase. The soft suspension setup soaks up small bumps with ease and there is minimal body roll.

Safety

The Tata Bolt has two airbags for the driver and the front-seat passenger. It also features ABS (Antilock Brake system) with EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution) which makes braking that much safer!

The Verdict

The overall performance of the car is pretty great—it does not let down. It is priced at Rs 23,95,000 for the base model and Rs 29,25,000 for the top spec Revotron 1.2 litre petrol engine, and Rs 28,35,000 for the base and Rs 32,45,000 for the top spec Quadrajet 1.3 litre diesel engine. If you are in the market looking for a premium hatchback that packs a punch, then you should definitely consider the Tata Bolt.