Force Tempo Traveller Test drive

[vid6639]

I just thought of posting this since I drive my office bus pretty often.

Exteriors:
Very basic exteriors. Not much to say about it. I think everyone has seen one. The external ORVMS are huge and give good visibility. The tyres are 215/70-15. The newer models come with radials but the older ones have the cross ply's. The doors are very heavy and close with a heavy thud.

Interiors:
It is available as 2 models 14+1 and long wheelbase 17+1. i drove the 14+1 model which is the most popular. The seating can be all individual buckets or 1+2 config. The seats are pretty comfy in the bench config. The buckets take up more space and the legroom decreases. You can fall off to sleep easily on the bench seats while travelling on hosur road.

The drivers seat can be pushed a long way back so tall drivers have no problem. I usually pushed it full back on other cars but for this that was too far. The steering is so big so it will always be in your reach.

The clutch pedal is too far away from the brake and accelerator. The accelerator is organ type floor mounted type. The gears have a very long throw and have huge play when slotted in their positions. The gear shifts are like a M800's only longer throw. The gears are a little different with one down and 2 on top.

The insrumentation is just speedo fuel and temp and other tell tale lights. The interior mirrors are day/night which was surprising since most cars dont have these.

Engine:
It has 2.7L naturally aspirated engine. This engine puts out 68bhp. For the psychotic drivers which these this is more than enough. You will regularly see it hitting 3 digits on empty stretches of hosur road and ring road.

Suspension:
The suspension on the front I dont know but at the rear it is basic leaf springs. They are not too bad and the ride isn't that bad.

Driving Impression:
The clucth is real heavy and needs a lot of effort to press it in. you need to wait for the coil to heat up before cranking it up. Once you crank it up the idling is real bad and it vibrates quite when cold once warm it's better. I doubt there is any NVH as the engine is next to your left leg covered by a plasticky cover.

Once you start moving it's much more smoother. You generally dont need 1st gear at all unless your on full load going up an incline. That's why the 1st gear is on the bottom separately whereas second is on top to the right of 1st. Effectively you have only 4 forward gears.

The initial acceleration is very good in second gear and you dont have to slip the clutch much either. You can easily keep up with the traffic. Pretty impressive for the size and engine. The brakes are power assisted and pretty powerful.

The steering is really heavy since not power steering. It turns many many times lock to lock I couldnt count how many. The advantage is the feedback is more accurate but overtime develops play.

It can touch 80-90kmph pretty easily, beyond that it struggles not for power but for gears as the gearing is too short. your in 5th gear which is effectively 4th since 1st is unusable most of the times.

Ride & Handling:
The ride is ok ok. nothing to write home about. If you sit at the back most bench and you have a mad driver be ready to be thrown off your seats. The other seats are ok and it can absorb all large potholes without worry.

The handling was a surprise to me. It handles very good. I would rate it much better than the sumo which is a much smaller vehicle. The body roll is lesser and feels more together while cornering.

Verdict:
Overall a fun experience. My bus driver lets me drive and I jump at the opportunity. It's a good feeling driving a vehicle this big and seeing all 2 wheelers, autos and cars make way for you.

[ess_a]

Hey vid6639,
Nice review man. In fact we were quite oblivious of this quite common car/bus (whatever!)
My uncle has one of these and I guess its been with him for about 15-18 years or so. Still doing great duty. What the traveller impressed me with was its tight turning radius. U must have noticed. Have seen it taking a complete U-turn in spaces where I thought it would get stuck.
(Although I havent dared drive it, but ur review is tempting me to try it out...)

[vid6639]

Yup the tight turning radius is very advantageous. There is this U-turn in my office and this makes it through like a breeze when our office mahindra bolero has to make a 3-point turn.

Also the visibility is very good, you can see every corner. the ORVM's enables you to see the back rear 2 corners till the bumpers and the front bonnet is so small and very easy to judge.

[shyamhegde]

How did you find the brakes? Coz i see this vehicles in highspeeds on highways and also during nights in cities, scaring speed - i always doubted if they could stop it when they wanted....

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by vid6639

There is this U-turn in my office and this makes it through like a breeze when our office mahindra bolero has to make a 3-point turn.

One of the USP when they started selling this. It has smaller turning circle than Fiat. Not new Fiat but Padmini and such.

[aah78]

now thats a review one doesn't see frequently. a mini-bus!
well written - enjoy!

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

One of the USP when they started selling this. It has smaller turning circle than Fiat. Not new Fiat but Padmini and such.

Even the new Fiats have a large turning radius which make them cumbersome while negotiating U-turns. The turning radius on the Palio is 5.5m.

[Godfather]

Great Writeup..I think this is the first thread on a Minibus review / Driving Experience... Definately something unexpected and fresh on TBHP.

Godfather

[sajo]

Nice one vid! My perceptions about the Force(Tempo) Traveller changed a few years ago, when a distant relative of mine bought one to be converted into a mobile home.From the outside, it appears just like any other commercial Traveller would.They travelled all over India in that one. What was surprising for me (back then) was that it was completely self driven by them, and even my aunt would take turns driving it. I dont know if they still have it, because I am not in touch with them much.

[chanapli]

Nice review Vid6639.

[quote=vid6639;383241Also the visibility is very good, you can see every corner. the ORVM's enables you to see the back rear 2 corners till the bumpers and the front bonnet is so small and very easy to judge.[/quote]

This makes those drivers overconfident and troubles others on road though [ I mean BPO/call centre TT drivers in Blr]

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by shyamhegde

How did you find the brakes? Coz i see this vehicles in highspeeds on highways and also during nights in cities, scaring speed - i always doubted if they could stop it when they wanted....

The brakes are pretty good for this type of vehicle. Again compared to Sumo much better. Also like i mentioned they are power assisted so that helps as well. You need to put more pressure but it stops decently.

The front's are disc brakes and rear drums.

[jyobeb]

Originally Posted by vid6639

I just thought of posting this since I drive my office bus pretty often.

Exteriors:
Very basic exteriors. Not much to say about it. I think everyone has seen one. The external ORVMS are huge and give good visibility. The tyres are 215/70-15. The newer models come with radials but the older ones have the cross ply's. The doors are very heavy and close with a heavy thud.

The Traveller always came with radials 215/14's.

Originally Posted by vid6639

Interiors:
It is available as 2 models 14+1 and long wheelbase 17+1.

There are actually 3 sizes in different wheelbases

Originally Posted by vid6639

Engine:
It has 2.7L naturally aspirated engine. This engine puts out 68bhp.

I think it has a 2.65l engine .

Originally Posted by vid6639

Suspension:
The suspension on the front I dont know but at the rear it is basic leaf springs. They are not too bad and the ride isn't that bad.

It has leaf springs in front too.

Originally Posted by vid6639

The brakes are power assisted and pretty powerful.

The traveller has disk brakes in front.

The traveller is a very easy vehicle to drive. When my car goes tp the workshop, its my regular drive.

[theMAG]

vid,

Very nice review. Altho I must admit I found it amusing being that of a minibus - and I can just picture you at the steering wheel at the same time. You must try a doughnut turn sometime - preferably when its full of passengers.

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by jyobeb

The Traveller always came with radials 215/14's.

Yup 215/14's is right 15 was incorrect. But the JK tyre Jetking tyres are cross ply and not radials. The newer ones come with MRF ZQTS radials.

Originally Posted by jyobeb

There are actually 3 sizes in different wheelbases

As per the force website there are only 2 wheelbase options one long and one minibus. I have seen only those 2 on the road.

...::: Welcome to Force Motors : Products Section :::...

Originally Posted by jyobeb

I think it has a 2.5l engine.

The force site mention 2650cc.

...::: Welcome to Force Motors : Products Section :::...

Originally Posted by jyobeb

It has leaf springs in front too.

Yeah, I wasn't sure havent seen the front suspension just the back.

Originally Posted by jyobeb

The traveller has disk brakes in front.

Yup I mentioned that disc front and rear drums.

Originally Posted by jyobeb

The traveller is a very easy vehicle to drive. When my car goes to the workshop, its my regular drive.

Cool, that must be fun to go to work in a TT.

[rahul_intlad]

Vid, that was a nice review of a very interesting subject.I always respected the tempo traveller,just loved traveling in it but never attempted driving one.

Vid you should maybe try your hand with the B7R's next .