Tata Punch was launched in India back on October 18, 2021. We drove the SUV with manual and AMT option.
& more questions will be answered in this drive review.
Tata Punch is built on ALFA platform and scored perfect 5 stars rating joining Nexon and Altroz in the elite list. Only petrol engine is on offer with choice of manual and AMT gearbox. It is available in 4 variants – Pure, Adventure, Accomplished and Creative, each variant offered with custom packs, which brings in additional set of features.
The styling of Tata Punch is in coherence with latest Tata Cars. With a Harrier like front fascia, it does look contemporary. Twin arrow design can be seen on the front piano black grille and lower bumper which features large air dams. Headlamp unit is below the DRLs with a projector setup while the round fog lamps can be seen on the black lower bumper.
Side body cladding not only enhances the SUV stance but at the same time protects the sides as well. Character lines runs across the sides and the rear as well. 16-inch diamond cut alloys does sync with the overall design of the car.
Rear door handle is mounted on the C-Pillar. Blacked out bumper occupies most of the estate at rear. The tail lamps also sports trim arrow pattern and retain most of the details from its concept version.
| Tata Punch | Maruti Ignis | Mahindra KUV100NXT | Tata Nexon | Nissan Magnite | Renault Kiger | |
| Length | 3827 mm | 3700 mm | 3700 mm | 3993 mm | 3994 mm | 3991 mm |
| Width | 1742 mm | 1690 mm | 1735 mm | 1811 mm | 1758 mm | 1750 mm |
| Height | 1615 mm | 1595 mm | 1655 mm | 1606 mm | 1572 mm | 1605 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2445 mm | 2435 mm | 2385 mm | 2498 mm | 2500 mm | 2500 mm |
| Boot Space | 187 mm | 180 mm | 170 mm | 209 mm | 336 L | 405 L |
| Fuel Tank Capacity | 5 m | 4.7 m | 5.05 m | 5.1 m | 40 L | 40 L |
| Ground clearance | 37 L | 32 L | 35 L | 44 L | 205 mm | 205 mm |
| Turning Radius | 319 L | 260 L | 243 L | 350 L | 5 m | 5.02 m |
| Kerb Weight | 1000 – 1035 kg | 840 – 865 kg | – | 1179 – 1315 kg | 939 – 1039 kg | 1,012 kg |
| Water wading capacity | 370 mm | – | – | 300 mm | – | – |
In terms of dimensions, Tata Punch falls in between Maruti Ignis, Mahindra KUV100NXT and sub compact SUVs like Nexon, Magnite and Kiger albeit it is taller than most of these cars.
Tata Punch rides on 16-inch diamond alloy wheels (195/60). Spare tyre is a space saver and is of 15-inches.
Stepping inside, you will be greeted by stylish cabin theme. The layered dashboard design looks pretty nice while the rectangular vents works well with the dash layout. Dashtop infotainment system, part digital instrument panel and flat bottomed steering wheel are a direct lift from Altroz.
Quality of material used inside the cabin is pretty good except for the plastic cover for 12V power outlet.
2 Tata Smart keys are available with 4 switches – lock, follow me home headlamp, boot open and unlock switch.
Request sensor is available only on driver side. With a click on this sensor, you can lock & unlock he car. Also without even unlocking the car, you can access the boot, with keys in vicinity.
Driver seat can be adjusted manually in 6 ways. Option of driver seat height adjustment is from accomplished variant.
Flat bottomed leather wrapped steering wheel with audio, calling, voice command controls on right side and cruise, MID switches on right side. It has got only tilt adjustment.
Now after Harrier and Altroz, Punch features 7-inch TFT instrument cluster although Altroz premium hatchback now features analog unit. RPM meter and MID are digital.
MID displays information like tyre direction, average speed, digital clock, average & instant fuel consumption, range, power & torque figures
Front and rear doors have plastic armrest, although you can install leather wrapped aftermarket.
Driver and co driver doors also gets the convenience of puddle lamp.
As we have discusses above that front doors have puddle lamps but on the inside, cabin light is available in front. For boot, there is a halogen light as well.
1 USB charger and 2 12V power socket are provided in the front row.
Small and big storage spaces are just in abundance in any Tata car and same is the case with Punch. Bottle holder, map holder as well as umbrella holders have been given in front door.
Rear doors have space for bottles and map pocket is smaller than front door.
In place of rear air con, we have got some space to keep our smartphones.
Along with mobile holder space, seat back pocket can hold some stuff behind driver and co driver seat.
Under the handbrake, two small bottles can be placed and Punch has wallet or mobile space even under climate control unit.
Massive size practical cooled glovebox is illuminated and has dedicated pen, card holder as well as laptop/tablet space.
AC in Tata Punch is a bone chiller. It cools the small cabin within few seconds only removing the requirement for ac vents for rear occupants.
As you adjust the temperature or flow, infotainment system displays the information and can also
Tata offers 7-inch Harman touchscreen infotainment system devoid of any physical controls. It can operated with touch or steering controls. Features are android auto, Apple Carplay, bluetooth, radio, 4 speakers + 2 tweeters.
In Punch, infotainment system even displays driving score, based on your driving.
iRA connected car technology can control multiple function and is limited to Creative Top Model with iRA Pack.
Touch response is similar to other Tata cars while in daylight, it offers pretty good visibility.
Rear Camera view is wide enough and adaptive guidelines, which moves according to the direction os steering, eases the job.
Tata Punch packs in 4 speakers and 2 tweeters (Harman Sound System). We have tested out the sound output and it was impressive. To enrich the experience even further, you can try out for aftermarket tweeters for rear.
Coming to rear, big size adjustable headrests are offered. Headroom, legroom and underthigh support is more than adequate.
Thanks to 90 degree door opening, ingress and egress in front and rear seats is a breeze. Front seats hold you very well. Underthigh support is pretty good as well. Headrest position is on point.
Flat rear floor ensures that if you squeeze in third medium sized passenger, he/she would be comfortable for city errands.
Apart from stylish exterior and nicely laid out interior, the micro SUV has a long list of features:
Tata Punch is available with just petrol engine. It is likely to be be offered with turbo petrol engine which will be introduced in second half of this year.
There is more than sufficient gap between the three pedals. A big size clutch footrest adds to the comfort further.
While driving, bonnet remains visible which ensures hassle free movement in the city. Like other Tata cars, big size ORVMs provides really wide viewing area.
Driving the 1.2 litre petrol engine with manual gearbox, it picks up nicely and does feel responsive. The mid range is flat and the rpms takes time to climb up. For most of the people, the power on offer will be fine.
While the 5 speed manual certainly offers better drivability than the AMT counterpart, at the same time, the former has just a bit higher noise and vibration levels but they are not bothersome and gets vocal only when you go past 4,000 rpm.
Claimed efficiency of Manual and AMT is more or less same while the real difference coming in city driving. In open roads too, manual was around 1 kmpl more fuel efficiency than the automatic trim.
| Petrol MT | Petrol AMT | |
| ARAI Fuel Efficiency | 18.97 kmpl | 18.82 kmpl |
| City | 11.4 – 12.5 kmpl | 10.5 – 11.5 kmpl |
| Highway | 16 – 17.5 kmpl | 15.5 – 16.5 kmpl |
Tata Punch manual has shorter gear throws while the shifts are decently smooth. Clutch is light and doesn’t require much effort.
While in the the AMT, the gear shifts are not lighting quick and it does take it own time to shift cogs. Also, if we drive in a bit enthusiastic manner then you will feel the gear slotting.
The steering wheel remains light at low speeds and has nice heft along with good feedback as you drive on the highways. The unit is consistent responding well to quick lane change while not being overly sharp like the one the Altroz. Hurl it in the corners, the SUV maintains its composure. Driving on open roads, Tata Punch feels confident and remains planted.
Braking efficiency is excellent in Tata Punch and it handles and rides like a much bigger car. It maturely handles all the undulations in the road.
This feature is standard in Punch. At times of abrupt braking, Brake Sway Control functions before the ABS and prevents the car further from moving forward/backward or sideways.
This mode is offered only with AMT gearbox. This feature helps in soft roading conditions, which basically senses when the vehicle is stuck in slush or mud and prompts the driver to activate this feature via the notification on the infotainment system, and guide the driver out of the situation.
Tata Motors have ticked all the right boxes with their Punch micro SUV – it has modern styling, pleasant interiors, is loaded to the brim. While what we would have liked is better performance from the engine but it does the job. Since its launch, the micro SUV has managed to eat up the sales of hatchbacks of the same price range along with the SUVs which do cost a bit premium.