Punch Automatic Vs Manual: Which One Should Buyers Consider? Here's All You Need To Know

The Punch at launch gets a 5-speed AMT automatic gearbox and it is Rs 60,000 more expensive over the manual version.

Tata Punch

New Delhi: Now that the Punch has been launched, we will talk about the AMT automatic variant here and our first drive of the car already has covered all the details for the exteriors to the interior features while we will focus on the AMT part of the drive experience.

The Punch at launch gets a 5-speed AMT automatic gearbox and it is Rs 60,000 more expensive over the manual version.

Straight away we will answer whether you should buy one or not over the manual.

We have to first understand the Punch buyer and it would mostly be for city use and for that an automatic easily makes more sense.

The AMT in the Punch shows how much these types of gearboxes have progressed. They are no longer painfully slow or jerky. Compared to other Tata AMTs like the Tiago, this is a huge leap forward and feels smooth in the city.

The creep function works well and driving it in stop-go traffic is as painless as any other automatic. It sort of adds to the useability of the Punch.

At low speeds, you do not see much of a pause between the shifts or a lot of jerks but only when you are pushing it that some amount of pause between the shifts would be seen.

But for prospective buyers that will not matter as for a rather good price, you are getting an automatic small SUV. There is also a hill-hold feature and you can select gears manually via the gear lever.

The AMT gets one another neat trick with a Traction Pro mode which comes via a prompt on the central screen and reduces the front wheels from spinning.

Hence, it is more usable but do keep in mind, it is not an off-road car. However, in terms of mileage AMT is hardly shot on numbers when compared to the manual with 13-14-kmpl real-world figures. The manual gearbox version is obviously the one to buy if you like to be in control and it is the more fun to drive Punch but that's missing the point.

The AMT Punch makes this an affordable automatic SUV that makes sense for our urban jungles while the Rs 60k difference is also worth it in our opinion.

What we like- Punch AMT is smooth at low speeds, decent mileage, and value for money.