Dream Carz Road Test Aria

8/6/2019 Dream Carz Road Test Aria

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ITS BIG, HUGE AND MASSIVE, ANDAGILE AND COMFORTABLE ENOUGMAKE CITY COMMUTING A CHILDSSHOULD YOU BE CONSIDERING THNEW TATA ARIA SERIOUSLY THEN?PUNIA HAS THE ANSWER

Photographer:Bobby Roy Chowdhary

DREAMCARZ OCT1062 OCT10

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When you nally get behind the wheel o a vehicle that is oneo the most anticipated launches o a particular year, you arebound to have a long wish-list. The engine has to be powerul

and smooth, interiors unctional and spacious and ride quality onpar with the segment without sacricing on the handling part. Aerhaving the all new TATA Aria or more than an overnight and drivingit all the way rom the hills o Western Ghats to the beaches o WestCoast, this cross-over not only managed to ull all the pointers inmy wish-list but also created a benchmark or other vehicles to lookorward to. Strong statement? Read on...

The news o the vehicle in question here, the TATA Aria has beenaround or years now. For many, the Aria is as important a productor the automotive giant as the Nano, well almost. Developing theworlds rst MUV-SUV cross breed with an all-wheel drive s ystem isby no means a small task. Add to the challenge or the vehicle to meetdemands and needs rom not only the Indian market but internationaltoo means it has to undergo rigorous real world testing around theworld. Fusing dierent demands rom various markets, tuning theengine perectly in order to suit a variety o driving conditions andhaving provisions or providing dierent levels o standard eaturesas per the demands realising all these demands can be a big andchallenging project in itsel. With all these pointers in mind, we took

the keys o our test vehicle and set out on a mission to put theAria through its paces including driving scenarios it would besubjected to. The ample straight o the expressway, hilly roadso Lonavala, congested stretches o NH-17 and Alibaugh as wellas o the road experiences in yet to be explored places.

During our 500km drive, one thing that stuck us more thanoen was the sheer road presence o this vehicle. At 4650mmin length and 1918mm in width, the Aria is just 45mm shorterthan say the Toyota Fortuner though is almost 80mm wider!This should give you a clear indication o how the Aria standsout among the usual crop o vehicles on the road. The Aria hasoodles o in your ace attitude when seen upront. No wonders,we oen saw oncoming trac on the two-laned NH17 giving usway pretty easily. The huge double barrel headlamps are nowbecoming amiliar in the TATA amily with the Manza being thelatest product to sport the same theme. The hood is quite raisedand helps give the ront three quarter a lot o muscle. Inactthis, combined with the fared wheel arches and chunky 235mmsection tyres on huge 17-inch alloy wheels lends the Aria amuscular and beey look. Isnt this the vehicle you have alwaysdreamt o driving to scare away all those puny looks sedans andso called SUVs? The rear o the Aria is pretty well craed too.

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The rear doesnT have many design elemenTs aparT romThe verTical lamp. however, The widTh o The aria alongwiTh chromed dual exhausTs on eiTher end lends amuscular look.


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Tall vertical tail lamps (similar to the Indica) are positioned at theextreme ends which the twin exhausts with a chrome nish hint at thevehicles capabilities but more on that later.

Step inside and it would be hard to tell this is a TATA product. Thequality o plastics, the design theme and list o standard eaturesthat can put to shame a 20odd lakh rupee SUV amazes you. There isacres o room inside or hey well built adults and the seats eel niceand supportive. The steering wheel eels chunky and has controls orthe music system as well as the cruise control again a rst in theprice band this vehicle will be positioned in. The speedometer consolelooks simple though houses all the essential inormation includingmulti-inormation display or uel consumption. We tested the top othe line version that comes with all the bells and whistles includingan in-built navigation system that seemed to pretty ne. The ullyautomatic climate control with vents or all the seven passengerschilled us down in no time though I would have appreciated the an tobe a little silent. There is ample storage space up ront though I soon

ound out a small ergonomic problem keeping two glasses in thespace provided in ront o the gear lever intereres while operatingthe air-con. Secondly, i you charge your mobile phone through theconnection provided, there is no space to keep your phone securely it keeps dropping out rom the little space provided next to thecharger during hard acceleration. The roo mounted utility bins (werethey six or seven!) is a very handy eature and is sure to be used a lotduring weekend drives.

Nevertheless, I wasnt complaining at all or there were other nerpoints to be appreciated. The Aria comes powered by a 2.2-litre direct

injection common rail engine with variable turbinetechnology that manages to churn out 140PS opeak power at 4000rpm. Most importantly it hasa healthy torque o 320Nm which is generatedbetween 1700 to 2700rpm. TATA has worked veryhard on the NVH levels and the diesel clatter iswell under control once the windows are rolledup. Inact, while general driving and cruising, I wasmore than impressed with the overall smoothnesso the engine. Features like a aual mass fywheelwhich helps isolates torsional vibrations romthe powertrain and thereby eliminating bodyboom and annoying driveline rattles helps a lot.Gear shi action isnt really the best o the Rs 14 20 lakh SUVs, but didnt give me a reason tocomplain even while ull throttle upshis duringour perormance runs. The gear ratios are wellspread and its easy to drive the Aria in trac at

low speeds while chugging along in a higher gear.

As the Aria is a heavy vehicle and runs on wide235mm section tyres, expecting the Aria todeliver tyre shredding perormance wouldnt beair. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised when thecross-over managed a sub 15-second timingor our 0-100km/h dash! Inact, I cross-checkedthe reading more than a couple o times on ourtest laptop or verication and each time, the

The Aria isnt really a SUV. Itsa true cross-over yet has morethan enough ground clearance orantics like these - it easily crossedover to the other side o thisstream!


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0-100km/h sprint came out to be between 14.9 to 15.2 seconds!A limited test course didnt allow or the actual top speeds thoughthe car managed an indicated 140km/h pretty easily with probablyanother twenty odd to come. Apart rom the terric perormance,the Aria also scores pretty well in terms o its ballistic mid-rangepunch. The turbo kicks in at around 1750rpm with an intoxicatingwhistle and shoves the car ahead with a great orce. Closing inon gaps in tra c doesnt really call or mathemat ical calculat ions

and until unless you will be driving the vehicle with a ull load oseven people, the 2.2-litre motor wont really give you a reason tocomplain. We repeatedly drove the Aria in both 4x2 as well as 4x4mode and ound its driveability to be on par with our expectations.

The suspension o the Aria is another area where the car excels. Thedouble wishbone ront and the ve link rear with coil springs andhydraulic shock absorbers go a long way in making its occupants eelcomortable. Drive the Aria over roads that dont exist and it seemsto swallow in everything. The recent monsoons have le quite a ewpatches o th e NH-17 in a bad stat e which meant tra c crawledat a snails pace at many places. We in the meantime literally fewpast them with the Aria remained composed and poised over deeppot-holes at triple digit speeds. Further with the assurance o all-wheel drive, ABS and TCS in the back o my mind, pushing the Aria on

broken roads on curvy roads wasnt an iss ue. Inact, it inspiredcondence to urther explore the cross-overs limits somethingthat owners would seldom indulge in. I there is a pay-o or this,then it has to be its cornering abilities. Ocourse, you cannotthrow it into corners recklessly but once you get used to thebody roll, covering pace ast on curvy roads isnt a big issue.High speeds stability is top notch and the electronic work inperect tandem to get the heavy vehicle to a standstill rom

crazy speeds without any drama whatsoever. Steering is on theheavier side or parking speeds though eels much better onceon the move. One irritating part is the positioning o the controlsor the music system which easily umble with your hand whileturning the wheel.

Another eather in the Arias cap comes in the orm o the 4x4torque on demand system. This system supplies the torque invarying proportions between the two axles depending upon theterrain. It also helps in o-road driving as well as stability onwinding roads. We got ample opportunities to test this system(as seen rom the locations in the pictures). There is no driverintervention required though one can switch to 4x2 or savinguel by the press o a button.

TATA has gone a long way in making the Aria one o the saestset o wheels in its segment. It comes equipped with disc brakesall around, ABS with EBD, ESP and TCS and six air-bags on thetop end variant!

The market or cross-over vehicles in India starts at well over

Rs 15 lakh. TATA is surely eyeing this segment with a packagethat has all the ingredients or a success story. The Aria notonly looks good (massive, big, intimidating whatever you maycall it!) with spacious, well craed and practical interiors butalso comes with a long list o standard eatures never beoreseen in this segment. It can also seat ve adults and two kidsin supreme comort with enough space le behind the thirdrow or two medium sized suitcase perect companion orgetaways! Yes, there are little s hortcomings as discussed abovebut as an overall product, the TATA Aria is a huge step orwardin the right direction or the automotive giant. At the time ogoing into print, pricing details were not out but we expect therange to start somewhere in the D segment at which point theAria makes great sense as a premium amily vehicle as well asan enthusiasts personal companion.

The Aria packs in everything you

would desire and wish rom apremium people mover and thenmore. It is powered by an ableengine, looks bold, aggressive andmuscular and is mighty comortablewhile overfowing with goodies.


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Engine Common Rail

Cubic capacity 2179cc

Max power 140PS @ 4000rpm

Max torque 320Nm @ 1700-2700 rpm

Weight 1920 KG

Gearbox 5-speed

L x W x H 4650 x 1918 x 1925

Tyre size 235/65 R17

SPECIFICATIONS

PERFORMANCE

70

1. Acceleration

0-60km/h 5.58s

0-100km/h 14.94s

0-400m 19.38s @ 111.61km/h

2 Roll-ons

Gear Speed Time

3 30-50 4.69

3 50-70 4.01

4 30-50 9.74

4 50-70 5.58

4 70-90 5.96

3 Braking

80-0km/h 2.75s @ 31.3m

100-0km/h 3.44s @ 52.8m

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Dream Carz Road Test Aria