Tata Punch is one of the top selling cars for Tata and from past few months it has been top overall selling car as well. Punch is a very attractive offering from Tata according to price and the same reflects in its sales numbers as well.
We have curated some positives and negatives about Tata Punch from our personal experience which could help you decide if you can go with Tata Punch as you next car or not.
Advantages –
- Driving dynamics – Driving dynamics of Tata Punch are great. Handling is very communicative and steering gets heavy and sporty at higher speeds. High weight of Tata Punch makes Punch feel more planted on the Roads and high-speed stability of the car is great. You will have a great time driving it down the highways.
- 5 start safety rating – You will never feel safe inside it. You can feel the weight of the car while driving it. Panels are made of thick metal and you can feel the weight in the door shut thuds.
- Decent fuel efficiency – Fuel economy from the 1.2 NA Revetron engine from Tata is decent as long as you keep your foot light. You can expect a fuel economy of around 15 in the city and around 20+ on the highways.
- Big car feels in lower budget – Size of the Punch seems visually at par with cars like Venue, Sonet and previous gen Vitara Brezza. Price of the punch is very comparable to the Wagon R and it’s a much better and sensible option when compared to its Japanese counterparts.
- Great Ground clearance – Ground clearance of 187mm and shorter wheelbase, makes bit a capable car which can go very well on the bad roads. Tata punch has really good suspension which helps in tackling bad roads. Punch also has a water wading capacity 370mm which can help in tackling the water filled roads in monsoon.
Negatives –
- Auto engine on off – Auto engine on off doesn’t work very accurately. When you press the clutch engine takes good 2-3 seconds to turn on back again. In start and stop traffic situation cars gets fully shut off sometimes because of lag in auto on off system, then the car requires full ignition key swipe to turn on back again. The car sometimes shuts off the engine on neutral gear even when it’s in motion, this locks the steering and breaks of the car which can be dangerous. The auto on off system turns on again and again with each start, there’s no way possible to turn it off permanently. This in our opinion the biggest disadvantage of Tata punch.
- Spongy brakes – Brakes of Tata Punch are not best in the segment. Brake bite is very soft and braking feels spongy at times. The car takes more time to stop because of its heavy weight and weak brakes. Tata really needs to make changes to the braking system as brakes are not very confidence aspiring.
- Locking system – Lock lever with single pull can fully open the door in moving car. This is particularly very dangerous while travelling with the kids.
- Service experience – With a lot of Tata cars sold and limited-service centers available, service centers are always overcrowded and this causes long servicing times. We have heard about issues in Tata cars which the service centers are not able resolve but thankfully we have never run into such situation.