The Chevrolet Tavera is a car for you if all you want is a vehicle to move people and things from point A to point B in reasonable comfort and if you are not terribly bothered about looks, build quality or driving experience. Over the years, Chevrolet has made several changes to the Tavera such as a better engine that also runs more quietly, an improved suspension setup and so on. With the face-lifted Neo 3 version, the Tavera also gets a new front grille, new alloy wheels, a redesigned front bumper. The Chevrolet Tavera Neo 3 is a renewed attempt on the American auto giant’s part to try and capture a larger section of the potential clientele who own MPVs for personal use rather than as taxis. In order to do this, they have improved the engine, suspension, build quality and tweaked around quite a lot. The car has definitely benefitted from all this and is now far better than before but nonetheless, despite all its strengths, it still does not put up a strong enough fight to defeat its rivals.
Powering the Chevrolet Tavera Neo 3 is a 2.0 litre, 4 cylinder, common rail diesel engine which, with the help of a turbocharger, delivers 106 bhp. The engine is reasonably silent and responds instantly to even a slight flex of your toe. The peak torque arrives only at 2,500 RPM but even at lower revs, the torque is good enough to keep the Tavera on the move without stalling. Whether the vehicle is in bumper to bumper traffic or if it’s doing triple digit speeds on the highway, it drives really well and in a very settled manner. The engine in the older Tavera was from Isuzu and it made this people carrier feel extremely underpowered. It barely managed to reach 100 kph and used to struggle a lot to maintain that speed. But now, with the new engine and a gearbox that still has the long throws but is far lighter than before, the Tavera Neo 3 feels like a much more refined car to drive.
The passenger cabin, however, still looks and feels like the remnant of a time long past. Everything has a very boxy or clunky design and the quality still is not up to the mark. The back row of seats realistically can only accommodate children and one does get to see a lot of panel gaps in this interior. The front and, in the 7 seater version, the middle rows get captain seats which are very comfortable and offer very good support. With the back row up, luggage space goes down significantly but all the passengers will stay cool no matter how hot it is on the outside thanks to an excellent air conditioning unit. The switchgear has also seen an improvement in quality and while it still is nothing to boast of, it no longer is like the twigs found in the previous models of the Tavera.
The Tavera did not have much to dazzle potential customers to begin with but now with a quieter engine, some improvements in quality and refinement, it has made this MPV a better vehicle to ferry people about. Although, since the Chevrolet Tavera Neo 3 prices range from around Rs. 10.5 lakhs to a little over Rs. 13.5 lakhs, do keep in mind that this is a segment where there are lots of alternatives and better choices available to anyone interested in buying such a vehicle.
Natasha John 