Tata’s Falcon 4 and 5 production versions unveiled

Tata today unveiled the facelifted versions of the Vista and Manza that have been re-christened the Bolt and Zest respectively. The new cars are aimed at introducing a whole lot of Tata’s new technologies like the 87bhp, 200Nm 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine (Revtron), the F-Tronic Automatic Manual Transmission (AMT), EPAS (electronic power assisted steering) with ‘Active Return’ and a new ABS. Tata’s Revtron engine has already been in the press as the first turbo petrol engine developed for mass production though enthusiats were disappointed with the low output figures. Tata has claimed that the engine has been tuned with efficiency and driveability in mind though turbo petrols are known for their tunability.

Tata has really thrown its hat into the ring by bringing segment besting features like the HARMAN infotainment system that comes with a 5-inch touch screen and can sync with most smartphones which will give access to calls, videos, music and other application run programs.

The Bolt and the Zest are clearly based on their forebears, the original Indica and the Indigo, though the styling is fresher and more vibrant.

The pre-production prototypes were known as the Falcon 4 and the Falcon 5 and are part of the late Karl Slym’s ‘Horizonnext’ strategy.