We had a very good experience of Hexa with family on 15 Jan 2017 at Hexa Experience Center, BKC, Mumbai. We had both off-road and on-road experience.
Hats off to Tata for pulling off such a worthy competitor to Innova, XUV500 and Crysta now. Some immediate ticks that come to mind after experiencing it:
1. A long distance comfort tourer
2. A full-fledged family tourer with the middle bench option
3. Plenty of luggage storage space, absolutely unmatched boot space with all seats up
4. Plenty of power and torque on demand to tackle most of terrains
5. AWD option to take head on some of notorious terrains
If I was in market for a family long distance tourer that can take the family to most of places, lets say on Ladakh sojourn again and come out unscathed without a worry to tackle those terrains, it would be this one.
Having said that, there are definitely some plus and minuses that could be spotted at first glance and first short drive experience. I had a short drive of the MT AWD only at the center.
1. Power and torque seem good both on paper and on road too.
But, I am not sure how the delivery of the same is sorted out at different driving conditions in traffic.
Taking off from standstill at start or at signals thereafter, it seemed to lag a bit at takeoff. Maybe inertia for such a heavy behemoth? After takeoff, delivery was fantastic on tap on demand.
On straight roads, it will be difficult to judge now who could beat whom amongst Hexa, Crysta and XUV500.
The engine too doesn't make too much din compared to Crysta, though it makes its presence felt sometimes.
Definitely need to experience it again in longer relaxed drive and on many aspects.
2. Maneuverability is damn good too.
Especially speaking for such a heavy behemoth, once on prowl in heavy traffic, as experienced in the main curvy artery of BKC, it does make one forget what a heavy creature it is.
It was effortlessly sliding between the lanes through the gaps in that decently busy auto/taxi/bus/cars/2 wheelers traffic, which I deliberately experimented, again without making the weight felt. It did not make me feel much different from the Innova/Crysta.
Bottom-line, it is an extremely chuck-able in the daily heavy traffic, giving car like feel.
3. Body Roll is definitely felt.
There are a couple of decent curves on BKC road and I did deliberately try throwing it around the corners at speeds on the rightmost lane and the body weight and its roll could certainly be felt. One can imagine the speeds cannot be in 3 digits in that road in those corners but decently high. Even at the driver's place, I could feel the weight taking its roll, but not uncontrollable. The effect was even more at the rear bench where family was seated. This is where Innova/Crysta still keeps the lead. On the similar and more difficult JVLR Powai IIT downhill road towards Gandhi Nagar Flyover junction, I can throw the Innova without worry and it wouldn't make me feel anything, though a bit of roll may be felt in rear seats. A similar feeling I had while at it in XUV500 on this same road as Innova but bit less body roll than Hexa I guess, however, with under-steering felt.
4. Ground Clearance seems damn good.
Something that was already good is really good now as experienced in the off-road experience. Although Crysta and XUV500 could not be much behind in combination with their respective wheelbases.
5. Articulation is damn good.
Specially for such a heavy elephant that it looks like and a Van/CrossOver at that as experienced in the off-road experience. Sitting inside it does feel if one will topple but it keeps its cool and takes you through. XUV500 and Crysta will never be able to take on this. The 40 degress banking was something to experience near-toppling which though not related to articulation, XUV500 and Crysta may not match up.
6. Nice interiors.
Yes, they are definitely nice and make you feel good once inside and seems Tata has made all possible efforts to woo the market trend and with heavily laden features. Quite up there with Crysta and XUV500.
But, how good is the quality is something I am not sure having seen older Tatas.
Even after 11 years, the beige interiors of my Innova with a plain wet cloth wipe come out shining clean and neat, making it feel it is fresh out of showroom, especially dashboard and all surrounding panels; the carpet and the roof liners, however, do need some shampooing
7. Space and Comfort is very good.
Yup, feels to me like more than, let alone XUV500, but Crysta too in each row. This is whether you stretch legs in front row or middle row with the seats at their minimum or maximum positions either way. The under thigh support also is pretty good in both front and middle rows.
8. Boot is damn spacious.
Much more than any other can carry in this segment with full family touring with all rows up.
9. Ergonomics ?!
There are a few things that bug me.
a. Seats are very comfortable but the Crysta-like and even my Innova-like I own you feeling is still not there for me. It has got to do with how they hug you or not and make your base seat nicely owning your seats. Feel pretty much there with XUV500.
b. Underthigh support though very good, feel could have been better atleast in middle row.
c. Middle row seat back reclination is very less unlike I can flatten my Innova seatback and be leisurely or even make a bed out of it sometimes for relaxation when needed.
d. 3rd row is spacious sure. But the underthigh support and seating seems a bit not up to mark with knees coming up compared to my Innova as I have sometimes travelled long distances in that row too.
e. 3rd row legs accomodations under middle row seat backs is cramped to say the least. It is difficult to adjust and be comfortable in there, unlike I can easily stretch both legs under middle row seats in my Innova and 3 people (body build and height appropriately considered) can comfortably put their foot down with decent under thigh support.
f. 3rd row seats don't recline and offer a fixed reclination which may or may not be comfortable for all sorts of people, rather I feel, they could have been a little more upright and could have been more comfortable to majority.
g. 3rd row seats not reclining and not being able to make a bit upright from their slant angle also means quite some volume of valuable boot space is made useless, although usable volume still tops others.
h. 3rd row seats don't fold down completely. The seats remain a bit slant even after folding down. These can be troublesome (or could get damaged) to host heavy airport suitcases. Innova has famous ditch, un-levelled floor after folding up the 3rd row seats.
i. Puny LCD screen size is a total eyesore, did not try how useful/usable it is though. That seems like a glaringly obvious negligence. It just makes it feel that way as soon as you get seated and look around. Even XUV500's screen looks nice in comparison.
j. Armrest and box is something doesn't appeal, seems a bit out of place unlike my spacious and comfortable Innova Armrest and box.
10. Finishing ?!
Guess, somethings Tata will not heed to look at finer bits still.
Though, overall a nice making, there are still some places which make you feel, why couldn't they just do it nice, forget extra-ordinary.
a. The dashboard lower parts and edges, the seat back finishings seem like afterthoughts and just slapped on for the sake of it. It is an eye sore especially the lowly quality seatback for the middle and 3rd row. The plastic quality is something has to be learnt from Toyota. Even our first gen Etios has not so great looking plastics, but the quality I can vouch for anytime, the Innova plastics are way above.
b. There are some hidden edges and really dangerous which if not take care of could be harmful. I could not take pics, but are the metallic edges supporting the weather strips on windows exposed? Because I did see and some unsuspecting handling you are bound to cut your hand. It is that bad.
c. There is place on door frame where I saw rough edges and it is similar situation at some other places. Although I cannot exactly recall now but maybe not harmful like above.
11. Pricing damn good.
Yup, after learning the pricing, it seems to beat all with what it offers. Earlier, I was told the top end will hover around 18L on-road Mumbai. But I would definitely want my vehicle not to make me lose peace of mind at the cost of low pricing, if at all it comes to that in future.
It really needs to be seen how well Tata can learn from Aria experience and give that much more confidence and pleasurable experience to the newbies.
I would sit on fence and see how many panels and components fall through and even if so, how good TASS proves itself before I can even think or advocate anybody.
Whatever, the package is seemingly tough, clad with go anywhere attitude and can be a solid bomb either way.
Some pics I could take:
Off-Roading:
Internals:
![Tata Hexa : Official Review-wp_20170115_027.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/official-new-car-reviews/1597580d1690489574t-tata-hexa-official-review-wp_20170115_027.jpg)