[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by perty

As suggested by one of the other members on this thread, up shifting earlier helps in increasing mileage.
Earlier, I used to follow the gear shift indicator on the MID to shift gears.
Now, I up-shift to 3rd gear soon after crossing 20 kmph. The up-shift to 4th happens around 35 kmph. This maintains engine RPM around the 1000 mark.
I noticed that the display does not tell me to downshift at these speeds and the instantaneous FE indicator goes well past the halfway mark.
Coasting at 35-45 kmph in 4th gear seems to be the healthiest for FE.

It certainly helps in staying in the rev-range of 1000 to 2000 rpm which is where the engine is at most efficient but I'll suggest not going overboard in shifting early as it may start lugging the engine. At least for a new engine, rpm should ideally stay above 1500 rpm. I found harshness below 1500 rpm while the car had done less than 1000 kms but now with 3000 kms on clock, the harshness has reduced.

And yes, the shift indicator is pretty helpful in the sense that it actually guides in keeping revs between 1000-2000.

Originally Posted by balajisv

Hi Perty, thanks much for the detailed information.
On the contrary, I drive mostly in City mode and use Sports mode for sudden bursts of power.
Eco mode is very sluggish and usually tests my patience! The mode requires the accelerator pedal to be floored hard to move ahead! And this action drives the FE meter to drop to its lowest level!

I will try to use Eco mode more frequently and try to up shift gears quickly. I shall check my FE with this procedure.

On the Zest owners Facebook page, I'm really surprised to see people posting 18-20 kmpl FE for their Revotrons!!

I have tried using Eco mode and find it too unresponsive for my liking. There is always a danger of not having power when needed. City mode provides best balance.

With my Revotron XT, I have observed 20-21 kpl on MID stretching over 50 kms of drive!! I found the key lies in avoiding sudden braking. Of course this only works on highways. For example, on highway or open roads, if I spot a speed hump or find a truck in front whom I'lll have to trail, I take my foot off the gas pedal and let vehicle slow down by engine braking. I observed that my brother carries far more speed to the hump and then uses brakes to slow down. This seems one of the reasons why I consistently register better efficiency than what my brother does.

[anshul_UVA]

Originally Posted by csd42419

I have clocked just 3000 KMS so far with my XMA. I was in the same state like you, driving close to 1lac kms in Bangalore city with Tata Indigo, City and Safari Strome for last 5 years. AMT makes life really easy for 95% of the times. It makes city driving really ease and enjoyable as you can keep the car on “Auto” or “Manual” based on your mood. However, I mentioned 95% because there are few 5% tricky situations where you would repent moving to AMT from a Manual. Especially in bumper to bumper traffic, making small quick movements require proper modulating accelerator (not too hard, not too soft). Also at times when want to move like a snail in traffic with 2nd gear, computer shifts car to 1st gear making you move suddenly. This behavior do not encourage you to be very close to other cars to make quick movement when you want to keep just an inch gap between cars (to stop bikes from cutting between and scratch the bumper ). Reversing in tight spots is also the same story. It either moves very slowly or jumps quickly making it difficult to moderate the accelerator as you could do in manual having clutch to be in complete control.

I too drove Vento DSG recently and it almost takes out that 5% unfriendly behavior that AMT has. Especially, DSG comes with hill assist, it hold the car for 2 seconds before it rolls back briefly before TCU gives auto acceleration and 7 speed gearbox which do not have large gear ratio difference between 1st and 2nd to give jerky movement in slow city traffic.

Besides the minor downsides that I mentioned, when AMT used with manual mode in semi traffic condition it behaves like a poor man’s sports car with effortless quick upshift and downshifts. When compared to my previous cars I take out AMT more often due to its ease to drive and drive pleasure.

Posting this on behalf of a friend who has a Zest XMA and is unable to get a membership to TEAM-BHP.
-------------------------
Thanks ! I’ve run around 2500 KMS on my Zest XMA, and that’s a good summary and exactly what I was mentioning about my experience with XMA. Unfortunately in Bangalore city you’re stuck for 75% of the times in traffic. So I’m suffering the 5% “unfriendly behavior” for 75% of my journey

There is also one more thing - the un-commanded acceleration in auto-crawl mode: When the computer switches to auto-crawl mode in 1st and 2nd gear there is a 2-3 second gap where it doesn’t recognize brake inputs. If you need to brake at that time, say because there is a vehicle in front of you, the computer will continue accelerating the car even though you are pressing the brake!! You have brake really hard and abruptly to avoid hitting the vehicle in front. This behavior of the computer is very surprising and annoying especially in crowded traffic.
The auto-crawl mode itself is highly beneficial – it helps in turning while 2nd gear or smoothly glides over humps in 1st gear.. But the 2-3 second gap where brake inputs are not recognized (or ignored by computer) really builds anxiety while driving.

Prashanth

[csd42419]

Originally Posted by anshul_UVA

Posting this on behalf of a friend who has a Zest XMA and is unable to get a membership to TEAM-BHP.
-------------------------
Thanks ! I’ve run around 2500 KMS on my Zest XMA, and that’s a good summary and exactly what I was mentioning about my experience with XMA. Unfortunately in Bangalore city you’re stuck for 75% of the times in traffic. So I’m suffering the 5% “unfriendly behavior” for 75% of my journey

There is also one more thing - the un-commanded acceleration in auto-crawl mode: When the computer switches to auto-crawl mode in 1st and 2nd gear there is a 2-3 second gap where it doesn’t recognize brake inputs. If you need to brake at that time, say because there is a vehicle in front of you, the computer will continue accelerating the car even though you are pressing the brake!! You have brake really hard and abruptly to avoid hitting the vehicle in front. This behavior of the computer is very surprising and annoying especially in crowded traffic.
The auto-crawl mode itself is highly beneficial – it helps in turning while 2nd gear or smoothly glides over humps in 1st gear.. But the 2-3 second gap where brake inputs are not recognized (or ignored by computer) really builds anxiety while driving.

Prashanth

This is kind of effect when we accelerate and break simultaneously. In few situations in slow city speeds AMT seems to be running in half clutch mode. At times we would wish to break (to avoid a biker or required to slowdown/stop in signal) and AMT would have decided to engage clutch fully to gain torque. This will make the car to move further even after breaking, giving the effect of 1~2 second gap in biting the breaks. This is where it does not encourage us to be too close to other vehicles ahead in city traffic. Hope TATA would consider these feedback and release TCU updates to fix this . I would also wish that car would not engage 1st gear till vehicle is completely halted, the way we would do it in a manual. It’s annoying at times that it brings to 1st gear more often which is not a comfortable gear for smooth slow maneuvers. At least for manual mode I feel it should auto downshift only till 2nd gear and 1st is only engaged by driver.

[itsashishsharma]

Hi friends, mine is also an XMA, though the concern is not about the auto box, but about the suspension. Car is in Mathura, U.P. where we get worst roads in India, yes, I mean it. The otherwise good suspension which absorbs all the undulations better than any other car in this segment is on test on those roads. When it goes over some bad potholes at not too slow speeds, the front suspension makes a big loud unpleasant thud noise. It sounds like something in the suspension is broken. But it continues to work all fine afterwards.
My father has taken the car to TASS but they said they were unable to reproduce the issue, it is, however reproduced frequently whenever the car encounters a sudden pothole at high speed.
Please suggest what to do, if others have faced this issue, please share your vluable views.

[fuelinmyveins]

My zest revotron XMA has just completed 1900 KMS.

Till now I have been nursing my car as per the instruction manual upto 1800Kms.

Following are the problems that I have been facing even after visiting the work shop twice:-

1. Notchy gear shift:-
Clutch adjustment at the workshop worked like a charm but the reverse gear is still cluncky and the car shudders and makes a griniding noise while shifting into reverse.

2. Gear grinding noise speacially in 3RD , 4TH and 5TH gear , beteen 1200-2500 rpm.

The said grinding noise (Krrrrrr...) is very much evident on quiet roads and is accompanied by excessive high frequency vibrations from the gear lever but the workshop refuses to acknowledge the problem because

a) The workshop is located in a very busy area thus suppressing the noise.
b) While on second visit I was able to demonstrate the problem to some extent , it was shrugged off saying that its because 4TH and 5th are overdrive gears, which i fail to belive as a plausible reason.

3. Excessively poor fuel economy
8.5 to 9.5 KMPL even on the express way.

4. In 4TH gear and 5TH gear after 80 KMPH the car seems to hit a wall. Even in sports mode it seems as if the car has lost power and acceleration after that is extremely poor. Overtaking fast moving lorries and buses is extremely difficult and dangerous.

Repeated complaints on the customer care number get redirected to the dealer from whom I purchased the car "AUTOVIKAS".

Inital response and my first visit was very satisfying but now due to persitent niggles and vague responses I'm getting anxious.

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

My zest revotron XMA has just completed 1900 KMS.

...........


Repeated complaints on the customer care number get redirected to the dealer from whom I purchased the car "AUTOVIKAS".

Inital response and my first visit was very satisfying but now due to persitent niggles and vague responses I'm getting anxious.

I am just getting to 1500 kms on my Revotron XT after 6 months, and had exactly the same 'notchy' gear complaints as you did, but my first service visit to workshop last week kind of sorted that out, though it does come sometimes intermittently. I am not sure if this is an issue with clutch not fully engaging sometimes or the gear.

I had a petrol smell issue when accelerating from 1st / 2nd gear, that was sorted out.

I also have low average issues, 9.5 kmpl average until now, this is not fixed, but I havent done any long runs & tried with/without AC measurements to see what the pattern is.

As to acceleration from 4th to 5th gear for overtaking, I consider this normal, these gears are not meant for quick acceleration, you have to downshift to 3rd gear.

My service center has been very responsive & supportive so far, no redirecting of calls to dealer - in my case both are Concorde, Tata owned.

Driving the car is such a pleasure that I am OK with giving them some more rope for these issues as long as no other major problems crop up.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

3. Excessively poor fuel economy
8.5 to 9.5 KMPL even on the express way.

4. In 4TH gear and 5TH gear after 80 KMPH the car seems to hit a wall. Even in sports mode it seems as if the car has lost power and acceleration after that is extremely poor. Overtaking fast moving lorries and buses is extremely difficult and dangerous.

Originally Posted by gsurya

I also have low average issues, 9.5 kmpl average until now, this is not fixed, but I havent done any long runs & tried with/without AC measurements to see what the pattern is.

As to acceleration from 4th to 5th gear for overtaking, I consider this normal, these gears are not meant for quick acceleration, you have to downshift to 3rd gear.

Are the figures in this range when calculated using the tank-to-tank method? That would be most accurate figure and even with a rigorous driving cycle, such low numbers are surprising.

The power band for revotron engine appears to be above 2500 rpm. There seems to be enough power above this band in 4th gear for quick overtakes on highway. To be in that power band in 5th gear will require speeds well above legal limits!! Of course, 3rd gear is most versatile of the lot!

[fuelinmyveins]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Are the figures in this range when calculated using the tank-to-tank method? That would be most accurate figure and even with a rigorous driving cycle, such low numbers are surprising.

The power band for revotron engine appears to be above 2500 rpm. There seems to be enough power above this band in 4th gear for quick overtakes on highway. To be in that power band in 5th gear will require speeds well above legal limits!! Of course, 3rd gear is most versatile of the lot!

Yes the fuel efficiency has been calculated on tank to tank basis that's why it has me worried. Last tank full gave me a range of 390 kms

[bullet_chacha]

Any one got a call for a "software uograde" from the service centre?

[iamdeva]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

Yes the fuel efficiency has been calculated on tank to tank basis that's why it has me worried. Last tank full gave me a range of 390 kms

The fuel efficiency of petrol Zest is not that good for me either. I am consistently getting an average of less than 11. My drive is limited to city roads but still I was expecting a better average. Also the engine stalling issue is still existing and gets worse in bad traffic conditions.

[perty]

A strange problem cropped up in my Zest XMS RT over the weekend.
Friday night was a hellish ride, rains and stand still traffic everywhere. After reaching home, I was able to lock the vehicle properly using the remote.
I pressed the lock button again and saw the indicator flash 4 times (which confirms that the vehicle was locked already). I usually do this if I cant remember if I had locked the car or not.
On Saturday afternoon, the remote locking seemed to have completely failed. I noticed it first when I was unable to lock the car anymore using the key remote.
Manual locking/unlocking of the doors was working fine and the vehicle was starting, though the doors were not automatically locking when the speed exceeded 25kmph while in motion.
Called up the TML helpline and they said that they couldnt send an electrician to take a look as the car was in a movable condition and asked me to take the car to the workshop.
Since it was pretty late in the afternoon on Saturday, I told them that I can only take it on the coming Monday to the workshop.
Somewhat annoyingly, I kept getting calls frequently from them later on, asking for my vechile chassis number so as to enable them to 'book an appointment' for me with the workshop.
Since I did not have the chassis number at hand, I told them to call me back the next day and they didnt trouble me after that (not on Monday either).

On Sunday afternoon, I vaguely remembered seeing some options on the ICE system for enabling/disabling vehicle locking.
Went over to the vehicle to check if I had accidentally switched off the vehicle locking in the console.
On checking, it was ok, i.e. vehicle locking was enabled.
Soon after that, I had to go out and I started the vehicle and voila, it locked when I exceeded 25kmph (which usually happens when the remote locking is healthy).
Stopped by the roadside to check if remote locking is also working and it was ! The keys on the remote were locking and unlocking the car as normal.
For some reason, getting into the vehicle locking menu and getting out of it on the HK unit 'cured' the problem.

By now, I have become used to the HK unit occasionally not giving any sound on the speakers after starting the car.
Switching off the car, pulling out the key and then restarting the car normally cures this problem, but this is the first time that the remote locking has played truant and recovered mysteriously.

The software version shown on the HK unit is dated 12-2014, so it looks like I have the latest known version, although it does easily exhibit buggy behaviour.

[simplyself]

Zest's remote seems not to work after a period ( say about a week or more). One has to manually open the door, and after that it works right.

The HK system does have settings, among others, for head lights, central locking and some other.

Mileage wise, it seems to be okay, returning, regularly 19 plus even after spirited driving.

Drive was always quite good. A couple of days ago it was superlative. I am a slow driver, preferring to do moderate speed of 80-100. I never dipped under 100, the car responding eagerly. Even I was pleasantly surprised, after about 6 lkh km and 13K in Zest.

It returned 19.8, tank full method, and with me in cavalier mood.
Within the city, i felt very comfortable, it surpasses the city bread likes os Santro and the lugger like the erstwhile 4 speed Bolero.

[mayankverma]

Originally Posted by perty

On Saturday afternoon, the remote locking seemed to have completely failed. I noticed it first when I was unable to lock the car anymore using the key remote.

I have similar issue with my key. My bro-in-law took my zest to kashid beach and drowned it in salty water. The key stopped working at that time. When I replaced the battery it worked for a week and then again went dead. I have to use the spare key now. The issue is rapid battery drainage. I will take it to TASS and see if it can be repaired under warranty.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by mayankverma

I have similar issue with my key. My bro-in-law took my zest to kashid beach and drowned it in salty water. The key stopped working at that time. When I replaced the battery it worked for a week and then again went dead. I have to use the spare key now. The issue is rapid battery drainage. I will take it to TASS and see if it can be repaired under warranty.

Sea water is enemy of electronics, Any item such as camera , remote, phone dropped in sea even if dried and found working will only work for few days will eventually fail due to corrosion.

The best course of action in such case is
1. Pull out the battery and do not try to switch on .

2. Wash with distilled water several times , If you can open and see the PCB it is better , wash it multiple times with distilled water and let it dry fully.

3. Buy some Iso-propyle alcohol and dip the item in it in a zip lock pouch.
Iso-propyle alcohol will absorb the moisture. In case you can not find Iso-propyle alcohol , Rice bag is next best thing.

After fully drying the PCB and electronics , put in battery and hope it works

[mayankverma]

Originally Posted by simplyself

Zest's remote seems not to work after a period ( say about a week or more). One has to manually open the door, and after that it works right.

I did not face this issue. The key worked fine until it was drowned.

Mileage wise, it seems to be okay, returning, regularly 19 plus even after spirited driving.

It returned 19.8, tank full method, and with me in cavalier mood.

Are you quoting 19 plus for petrol or diesel? My XT RT returned 18.6 kpl with A/C at 24 deg and speed around 60 kmph(big restraint ) this weekend. Floor the throttle a bit more and it easily drops to 14 kpl.