2023 Tata Nexon Facelift Review

Took me a while, but here is a simplified comparison of features across all variants. Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes, it was very confusing because the launch, reviews, brochure and website all had some conflicting information at times. Please point out of any corrections, if required!

Since the brochure and the variant list is quite confusing hopefully this makes it for an easier read and decision making for all of you who are interested in the new 2023 Nexon facelift.

Click the PDF for a full resolution file.

Attached Files

2023 Nexon Facelift - Variants Comparison.pdf (114.0 KB, 241 views)

The Altroz 0-100 kmph time is more to do with the engine output and less to do with the DCA gearbox. The power to weight and torque to weight ratios for that car directly translate into inferior acceleration and lower top speed.

The Nexon on the other hand has decent engine output and the gearbox tuning will likely work for it.

Great review!

Over all a great step up in terms of aesthetics. Nexon Always deserved a better instrument cluster, and the new one is great.

Anyway, like it has been discussed enough, the headlamps can't match the current ones: one common lamp for low and high beam isn't enough for everyone.

Thumb press horn pads will be sorely missed. Current Tata owners love the existing steering wheel. I really like smaller steering wheels, and thumb press horn pads.

The irony is that the more expensive diesel does not get a sub woofer!

The changes are what the Nexon community has genuinely been asking for. Such as, LED headlmps, Improved MID, Infotainment system and 360 Camera along with a proper Automatic Gearbox.
If its priced appropriately, it will keep on selling well.
I am wondering if the 360 camera and Infotainment by any chance are going to be electronically compatible with existing Gen of Nexon (I sincerely miss these two features).

The Altroz 0-100 timing had to do with both the engine and the gearbox. It is possible that the engine plays a bigger role but the gearbox does play a significant role. While to the best of my knowledge, there is no official 0-100 timing for the Altroz NA MT from the reputed channels, there are a few videos which show the timing to be around 14 seconds. If we assume the timing to be 15 seconds, the DCA is a whole 2 seconds slower(10%-15%).

Even if we put aside the figures, the DCA was criticised for its lethargic shifting of gears and the same criticism has been made for the Nexon DCA.


No amount of extra power can compensate for badly tuned gearbox. 2 cars with the same power output but with different gearboxes will perform differently. The Nexon with the same petrol engine but with a faster responding gearbox will perform better than the current Nexon DCA. More importantly, multiple reviews have criticised the 'shift timing' of the Nexon's DCA and I'd rather rely on these reviews.

Great review as always!

As good as the Nexon looks, I feel there are just too many individual panels on the body in some places which does not make the car look clean.

Take example of this. In order to increase the width of the black wheel arch cladding they have an additional panel on the door. Expect this to come off in case of a minor brush in traffic.


The tail lamps looked a bit misaligned with the strip running across the hatch. Hope this is just a one-off case, but if it is not, how does one correct it at first service as they always promise?

I can already see the steering wheel getting scratches as most of the drivers will be wearing rings on their fingers. There will be a false perception of this car ageing much faster due to this.

This fashion of adding tiny, touch sensitive buttons for critical functions is a bit irritating. Can anybody tell if there is a haptic feedback for door lock/unlock or hazard light switch ?
The hazard and door unlock switches should be big and have a tactile feel, something one can flip using his muscle memory without taking eyes off the road.

Some questions experts can answer: I am a bit confused on Tata's automatic transmission strategy. why did Tata go that extra mile of co-developing a complex dual clutch automatic instead of using a traditional torque convertor on sub-4 meter cars ? Long term reliability of DCA is yet to be proven, plus it is not as good as Kia/Hyundai DCT or VW's DSG. The Harrier/Safari are not using DCA as they already have a good TC transmission from Hyundai. Is this transmission relatively cost efficient to replace jerky AMTs in future ? What is the long term plan for DCA considering its limited use in a segment which has strong alternative of EVs in next few years ?

Does TC GBs work on small engines and torque figures? It's usually CVT or AMT.
Since day 1 of AMT launch in Nexon, all forums have butchered to it the maximum and yet Nexon survived the online onslaught.
Now when DCT has come, we still have apprehension? If the NA are doing wonders, why OEMs go with Turbos or Dual Turbos? That's how industry evolves. Now DCA is on many cars and as usual, we horror stories of Tata here, so how much such stories are heard here on DCA?

If VW didn't succeed, none can? TML made 4/%* cars on 20 year old platforms but Kia/Hyundai couldn't.

A 2000CC NA petrol 4 speed TC GB corolla was driven by me for more than 1L kms and it barely matches the competition then. Anything less than that, TC is big no.
Most importantly, TCs are reliable and old school but has very bad fuel efficiency.

Huh?! By "previous generation diesels", are we referring to BS IV? Meaning, no worrying about DPF getting clogged, no need to hit the highways regularly ensuring higher exhaust temperatures to burn soot, or none of those regen related headaches? Or is this more of information provided by some over-enthusiastic TATA's marketing team hyping their implementation?

Booked petrol Fearless+S DCA pristine white yesterday.

I am not looking for crazy performance, just need a family friendly safe car that's easy and fun to drive in the city and occasionally on highway.

Many reviewers are showing poor fuel efficiency figures on DCA gearbox. Should I be worried? Should I change to Creative + Diesel MT instead, which should cost around the same? But then I presume diesel MT is not that convenient than petrol DCA.

As long as you buy the top most variant, Fearless +S, both Diesel and Petrol in its Automatic versions (AMT/DCA), you will get the 9-speaker JBL system with subwoofer.

Great review.

Did the Tata team mention that the review cars are pre production units?

If not, then I really hope these glitches are fixed before the car hits the showrooms.

Ideally, they should have paid extra attention before the media drive.

Such lack of quality checks do more harm than good.

Yes, no DPF. You can ride without the fear of clogging. As I mentioned in another post, just run any car for a minimum of 1000 kms a month in a mixed 50:50 city-highway cycle and you can enjoy your car for years to come.

It really depends on a lot of things, your driving pattern, the way you drive, the place you drive, etc. How much efficiency are you expecting? I would only expect around 10-12 kmpl in city driving conditions and 14-15 kmpl on highways for a car of that size and with similar power output. I usually see 8-10kmpl in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

My friend and I have the same car, Kia Sonet 1.0 DCT. We drove the same route last week, and my car was literally following his car. Both cars had the same load, tyre pressure, and mostly everything. After 60 kilometers of driving, my car was showing 13.2 kmpl efficiency, while his car only managed 10.5 kmpl. The way we drive is the main factor.

The dual-clutch transmissions don't really affect the efficiency much, unlike torque converters. You should get close to what the AMT and Manual variants are getting. I think you shouldn't sacrifice convenience for efficiency if you've already decided on a petrol variant.

Thank you for the clarification. May be it's just the buyer's remorse that having me second thoughts. You are correct in the assessment of convenience over slight loss of efficiency. Cheers.

Does anyone notice that for a recent review of a car, there seems to be too much of niggles noticed across almost all reviews. Even for TATA's niggle prone Harrier/Safari, the reviews had only a couple or more niggles to report. But in this case, which happens to be a facelift of TATA's most solid current car seems to have too much of niggles or negative points. From misaligned panels to ergonomic blunders to something as basic as braking. Looks like TATA rushed through the whole launch.

Positives

1. Futuristic styling. Eventhough the bodyshell and shape betrays its age and in some angles it feels like a mod job on the old Nexon, one has to give it to TATA for making the Nexon look so futuristic.

2. The features. Especially love the digital instrument cluster which shows navigation maps of Google Maps as well. If it ain't showing navigation maps, then digital instrument clusters are just gimmicky IMO. Also the dynamic animation of lights on lock/unlock is just C-O-O-L !!! A couple of years ago wouldn't even dream of such fancy stuff under 20 lakhs.

3. For all the weird variant spread and colour/feature/powertrain allocation, have to commend TATA on making the sunroof optional and not a forced one. The Creative+ and Fearless variants are decently loaded without sunroof and iRA connected features. Would have been cool if they offered a Fearless+ without sunroof and iRA since one misses out on stuff like ventilated front seats, leatherette seats and the more premium audio system.

4. Safety features from base itself!!!

Negatives

1. QC issues are given in a new TATA. But panel gaps even in something like the steering wheel that we face everyday? Reminds of me of the misaligned flared wheelarch/skirting of the 2004 facelift of the Indica V2.

2. Ergonomic blunders. IMHO, a single thing that shows whether a car is well though out or planned is the placement of the hazard light switch. Not only is it capacitive touch here, the placement is bad enough and they have placed other buttons nearby. Many would open the boot my mistake when all they wanted was to engage the hazard lights. Hope the illuminated logo on the steering wheel can be switched off.

3. Lack of storage spaces in the centre console. Weirdly the lower variants may end up having more useable storage spaces than the ones with the centre arm rest. And it just shows the next point.

4. The roots of the X1 platform continues to show up here and there. The Altroz and Punch based on the newer Alfa platform have far better ergonomics. Something like a useable dead pedal placement or legs not hitting the centre console. The wide side sills make ingress/egress a bit of a bother. They couldn't even do something as basic as the sun visor being useful in the side position(nothing to do with platform, but shows the lack of thought). Yes, the X1 platform has been solid and versatile, but the basic architecture is dated when we look at newer products like Altroz and Punch.

5. No diesel in the Smart variant. Could have been such a good workhorse, especially since the safety features are standard. Also lame of TATA to give the ageing 5 speed gearbox in the Smart variant, especially when the pre facelift had a 6 speed from base variant itself.