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-   -   Tata Hexa : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/181903-tata-hexa-official-review-332.html)

It's a real shame that such a quality product is being ignored and buried by the company and it's representatives, through sheer incompetence! Recently went for a ghats road trip over four days with an Innova Crysta and a Renault Captur. All in the group were bowled over by the ride comfort and sheer ease with which Hexa handled the flood affected roads and off-roading bits of the trip. No wonder, those who own are unwilling to give up despite TML's lack of love for the model.

Dude! This is exactly what made me angry at the TML. When you go all blazing for a top most trim, you would expect everything. But I was breaking my head over XT and XTA. Should I choose XT just because it has ESP or should I compromise and just go for XTA.

Finally I settled down with XTA, now with 40k on odo, I don't miss ESP. My non aggressive and linear driving style on the highway has helped me forget ESP. However, one important thing to be kept in mind is that this is a big SUV and not a sedan. Look at this moron who was zig zagging aggressively on NICE road and landed up like this.:Frustrati

When idiots are behind the wheel, ESP is of no use as they are intentionally doing zig-zag driving and not by accident.

Tata should introduce XZ and XZA in Hexa with additional safety and convenience features, instead they are neglecting the product.

No amount of ""safety features"" fitted in cars will help if the driver behind the wheel is the cause of bad driving. Seat belts, air bags, ABS, ESP are all meant to prevent physics/electronics taking over a bad situation.....But what can these driver aids do if the driver himself invites trouble ??? Like zig zagging in a 2500 Kg Hexa at speed ???

Unfortunate but this I have seen with many driving the self driven cars. Technology can identify overspeeding but not rash driving and dangerous driving.

With just 164 copies sold in July i am sure bean counters inside Tata motors are finding it hard to justify investments in Hexa. With the company's resources already stretched it would make sense to invest in a product like the Nexon rather than a 'niche' product like Hexa. The best we can hope is that Hexa remains alive post BS-6.

I witnessed a Swift toppling over on a perfectly good 6 laned road simply because the driver was overspeeding. That was the day when I realized - such fools can roll a F1 car over, forget a Swift and totally keep out of your mind a body-on-frame Utility Vehicle. Even advanced ESP systems would have a limit till when they can keep fools safe.

So well said, Sir. I travel over 30,000 Kms every year by car, and have seen my share of fools. There is a talk of road safety & devices which help in case of an accident etc., but no one seems to look at the fundamental issue, viz. HOW TO AVOID ACCIDENTS !!!! Trucks, for example, habitually drive in the right lane of a divided highway, and no one seems to bother. Even slower cars stick to the right lane....In any other country, they would be criminally prosecuted !!!

As mentioned in the above posts, it would depend on your driving style and personal preferences. I went through the same dilemma while purchasing my XMA. XUV W7 AT which was my other option had ESP. I convinced myself to go for Hexa since I could not come to terms with other gremlins of XUV like those weird door handles and poor suspension.

I am now at 20k kms and there have been situations where I felt an ESP equipped car would have handled better. When the Varicor 400 puts everything it has got on those rear wheels, it can get scary if you are not mindful of the surface. Since it is a rear wheel drive, it is very easy to make Hexa drift. You just have to floor the throttle in a gravelly road or even in a smooth parking lot surface.Another time, when I was entering the main road from a pocket road, I floored the throttle with too much steering angle and it skidded. I agree in all times, it was my foolish behaviour , but an ESP equipped car would have detected wheel slip and reduced throttle long before I took my feet off the accelerator.

That said, If I could go back one and half years, I would still choose Hexa because the other factors outweigh the lack of ESP in my case.

Thanks to the folks at Auto Punditz, August 2019 factory dispatches for Hexa stood at 136 units.

Despite Hexa being such a well sorted, well priced, and a capable product having best in class diesel automatic version, it is not finding enough buyers, who is at fault? Is it the perceptions of the buyers about Tata product, or the product or the company? Is it the product placement or the marketing, who/what is at fault?

Keeping aside all the issues with Tata Motors and its image, it must be appreciated for its efforts. It is the company that never failed to try new things, that always strived to give us something new.

• 1988, it gave us the first pickup truck of India Tata-206.
• 1991, it gave us the first SUV Tata Sierra, it is also the first car in India to come with power-windows, air-conditioner, and adjustable-steering.
• 1992, India's first station wagon Tata Estate was introduced.
• 1998, introduced Tata Safari much before Mahindra Scorpio which was Mahindra's first indigenous effort.
• 1998, India's first ingeniously developed diesel hatchback Indica was introduced.
• 2008, first sub 4 meter sedan of India Indigo CS was introduced.
• 2008, Tata Nano was introduced. Though it was a failure, it was a painstaking & landmark effort by Tata to say the least. The motivating reason for Tatas behind Nano was to migrate 2-wheeler users who load their whole family(triple riding etc) to an inexpensive 4-wheeler which is comparatively safer.
• Thanks to Ravi Kant and Girish Wagh, in 2005, first of its kind in India Tata Ace was introduced. It went on to create a new segment and brought a lot of changes in goods transportation in India.
• 2018, India's first affordable enthusiast hatcback & sedan twins, Tiago JTP & Tigor JTP were introduced. Note that for VW and Fiat it is just bringing products from their global portfolio but for Indian OEMs it involves new development which doesn't justify the investment. Though there is room for improvement, unlike Maruti and Toyota which just did cosmetic changes and slapped "Sports" monikers on their products, it was a proper sports tuning effort by Tata.

Note: Add or suggest changes to the facts & figures if necessary.

Thanks to all the contributors on this thread. I have nearly decided on Hexa XT 4x4. Automatic rejected due to the lack of safety equipment. I am evaluating it against the Innova. Sadly no manual available for test drive at all. Few questions:

1. Does the gear on manual get easier to operate after some time? Is it because of habit or it actually eases? Is the gear shifting required in the city low, as reported in the reviews?
2. Coming from XUV500, will gearbox be significantly more uncomfortable or a minor change?
3. Steering on my TD auto was hard. How much worse will be manual and 4x4 manual steering?
4. Have people faced issues like clutch wear etc? I had a Manza for 1.25l KMS and it needed replacement at 60k. I drive alright and my xuv clutch worked well till 95k.
5. Power on manual - is in-gear acceleration significantly lower on the manual? 0-100 doesn't matter much. I see conflicting data on the net.

On another note, Tata has dug the grave for this amazing vehicle. No marketing, no attempt to sell at the dealer level, no enhancements and killing the features instead.

Discounts are only around 1L right now - something that has been the norm for Hexa and is nothing special. Auto companies are indulging in low discounts to ensure market doesn't pick up and they get the sops.

Innova over Hexa ??? Suggest do some more research....!!

1. Nope it does not ease with time. That's what even i thought and you will see a few messages of mine here on this forum saying that the gear shifts smoothen out with time. However, for all practical purposes, i would like to ask you to assume that the gear shifts to 1st and 2nd will always be notchy and it will seem to become easier with time due to habit.
2. XUV has a smoother gearbox which vibrates a bit less. Hexa being an RWD will have a few vibrations passing through to the stick. As said earlier, the gear throws are going to be lengthier and notchy as well. I have come to like it infact and it does give you a good feel and feedback.
3. Steering is light and i have observed a few cars to have a tighter steering as well. It all depends how they service your car and if they address the steering issue.
4. No clue but at 37k kms as of now, there's no issue regarding the clutch.
5. Acceleration is a bit low in manual and you feel it when you drive an auto back to back. Maybe that's because gear shifts are quick in auto while you take time to shift through the gears in manual.

Didn't get it. You mean how can I prefer Innova over Hexa? Or why I am not going in with Hexa as final decision? Thanks for responding though.

As a Tata owner, I do think he has done enough research :) Tata indeed needs to improve their Sales/Marketing/Service strategies. A good product with bad service can become a terrible experience.