To counter Hyundai Exter which offers a digital instrument cluster as standard, Tata Punch now offers 4-inch MID as standard
Tata Punch rules the sub 4m crossover/SUV territory in India and we recently saw Hyundai Exter pose a direct challenge. The company is set to fortify Punch’s stand with more features as Hyundai products are known to come with fatter brochures. Latest feature addition will be in its instrumentation department.
Tata Punch instrument cluster upgrade
Our dealer sources have confirmed to Rushlane that Tata is offering a 4-inch digital screen as standard fitment across up until Creative trim, which gets a fancier semi-digital setup. Tata Punch is currently being presented in 4 trims – Pure, Adventure, Accomplished and Creative.
While the new CNG variants of Tata Punch introduced a larger 4-inch digital instrument screen that hosts almost all the readouts excluding tachometer, fuel gauge and others. This same instrument setup was seen on pre-facelift Nexon as standard and base Smart trim of facelifted Nexon.
Not only Nexon, Tiago and Tigor (EV and CNG as standard and top-spec ICE trims) offer this instrument setup too. As opposed to the tiny MID sandwiched between two analog dials, the new 4-inch digital setup comes off as new-age and tech-savvy. We would have liked it if Tata made the fancier semi-digital instrument setup seen on Creative trim as standard fitment. But that is not the case.
Creative trim’s larger colour TFT screen opens up quite some screen real estate to show various car-related parameters like power and torque metres, trip computer reading, TPMS reading, music info or radio station, coolant temp, a few telltale lights and more. This display even assists driver in aligning steering wheel straight before taking off.
This new 4-inch MID instrument update on Pure, Adventure and Accomplished trims will make Tata eligible to advertise “fully digital instrument cluster” as standard with Punch, just like Hyundai Exter. But Exter’s setup is fancier. Even though our dealer sources didn’t mention a price hike, there may be a small increment in Tata Punch’s pricing. This update will go live in the coming days.
Tata Punch CNG Engine Specs
Tata Punch will draw power from a 1.2L Revotron 3-cyl NA petrol engine which offers 84 hp power and 113 Nm torque. The company offers CNG with Punch too. In CNG mode, power and torque are reduced to 76 hp and 97 Nm respectively. Punch’s twin cylinder CNG setup is far more appealing and convenient than every other single-cylinder setup on offer in India.
The engine gets mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox unit and an AMT version of it. Where fuel efficiency is concerned, petrol-only Punch will eke out 20.9 km/l (claimed), while Punch iCNG is slated to offer fuel efficiency of 26.99 km/kg of CNG. Punch even gets a 5 star crash safety rating awarded by GNCAP. Something that Exter currently lacks.
Tata Motors is working really hard to keep Punch in line with Exter where features are concerned. In that regard, Punch got a sunroof, an aftermarket dashcam as part of accessory and now, a “fully-digital instrument cluster” as standard fitment. Rear AC vents would make sense on Punch too, Tata Motors?
