Test drove the new Nexon DCA: Why I still prefer the pre-facelift model

The steering wheel is a party trick that was best avoided, sticks out like a sore thumb

BHPian abaliga recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Took a test drive of the Nexon DCA today and here are my impressions:

Likes:

1. DCA has transformed the petrol option, this is now a decent automatic in the segment and is not a deal breaker like the AMT before
2. Stunning looks
3. Feature loaded
4. Nice infotainment

Dislikes:

1. The platform has weird ergonomics, the high floor and low roof combination makes ingress and egress tricky, hard plastics on door pads at the rear and a narrow footwell
2. Fit and finish leaves a lot to be desired. Infact, I feel the first Nexon that came out was better in this regard, things have taken a wrong turn in this aspect
3. The steering wheel is a party trick that was best avoided, here is a picture of the same, sticks out like a sore thumb!

I noticed similar issues on the steering wheel of the new Harrier that was parked in the showroom, It was not just the fit and finish, but the switches for steering controls were not easy to use, scrolling would lead to pressing the button leading to unintended actions, clearly needs immediate attention! The pre-facelift Nexon steering wheel that is still offered on Altroz and Punch are of much higher quality, pressing the horn pad was a different experience on every Nexon I experienced in the showroom, In one case pressing the illuminated or the piano black portion triggered the horn, in another it was working only on the sides and on the test drive car, I could trigger the horn only on pressing the area where the horn symbol was present

• There is something seriously wrong with the indicator clicks, I don't know if it's my mind playing games, but the clicks vary in their intervals, also, the kickback of indicator stalks was way too early than I would have wanted, I had to switch on the indicator again many times as it kicked back mid-turn, looks like the instrument console software needs some tweaking to sort this out
• One of the worst implementations of one-touch window up/down operation I have experienced, same issue exists on Harrier too, one needs to hold on to the power window switch for a few seconds to trigger the one-touch action (both up and down), I feel this is needless over-engineering, should have been simpler like the ones used to be offered on VAG or is being offered on Honda City top end now

The last time I drove the Nexon, it was the diesel from the first batch and I liked that better than this one, Clearly needed a platform change this time around. Punch and Altroz that were parked in the showroom are put together much better than the Nexon, it appears that cars made on the ALFA platform are superior to X1/Omega Arc ones.

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