Force TRIP - A short drive

Skyline GT-R · 21st October 2011, 00:00

About a year back; I had seen the Force Trip when it was being tested inside the Force Motors Akurdi plant. Thought it was a practical VFM design & never felt the need to drive one.

Fast forward to 20/10/11; I am at Radhia Motors Force One Calicut dealers showroom for routine visit. Dropped into the stockyard & saw the FORCE TRIP lying there with keys in it. The child in me woke up & urged me to steal a drive.

The Trip is derived from Minidor with many improvements (mainly 2 wheels in front). I guess it still shares some basic body panels. The Engine is a Single cylinder Diesel mill displacing 500CC thumping out around 13 bhp. Fuel tank capacity is about 20 litres.

The engine needs to be started with a complex action of pulling the decompression pull switch, then turning the key & releasing the decomp switch at the right time.

The clutch is not very hard keeping in mind the segment it belongs to. But the gearshift is not very smooth to slot in. Later found out that it gets better with higher engine rpm/higher gears.

The brakes are adequate considering the topspeed it is going to achieve. I did not push it but guess it cannot go beyond 70 kmph.

The steering effort required is similar to an Omni (Trip is Rear engine / RWD)

The space provided is enormous considering there is no front passenger seat.

Tyre size is 145R12C.

There were no rattles/noises (maybe because this was a new vehicle & never ever overloaded/abused)

The drive was very short & the main drawbacks were the noise + vibration of the single cylinder engine & the frequent downshifts required at lower rpms.

Attaching some images taken in my colleagues Xperia.

Disclaimer: I work for FML, but not connected to the CV division & not involved in selling the CV range.

Technocrat · 21st October 2011, 00:12

Thanks for sharing this report

This looks a lot like the Tata Ace, how does it fare against it?

Skyline GT-R · 21st October 2011, 00:37

Honestly, I am not into CVs much. I drove Trip today because i did not have anything to do for some time.

But i have noticed that ACE engine is less noisier. I think ACE has 2 cyl engine.

Also noticed that ACE sells more.

Maybe that is why FML CV guys always swear at TATA CV guys after we have a couple of drinks together.

libranof1987 · 21st October 2011, 09:11

TRIP would be intended for the intra-city segment taxi/goods carrier segment, right?

Will the 500cc engine be able to pull it off? No wonder we find our goods carrier grunting it out on inclines and belting out tons of smoke!

Btw, why no co-driver seat?

One observation I have from Ace and now Trip : the height of the vehicle is considerable and the wheel diameter is terribly small. The Centre of Gravity must be very high; wouldn't that affect drivability?

S5157 · 21st October 2011, 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

The engine needs to be started with a complex action of pulling the decompression pull switch, then turning the key & releasing the decomp switch at the right time.

This seems to be very crude way of starting the vehicle. Does all the CV's in this categaory needs the same procedure?

avingodb · 21st October 2011, 09:52

Looking at the 5th picture from top, side profile of the vehicle is really disappointing . looks like parts were put together by no more than trial and error method. Even the headlights and indicators look like add ons!
Why do they undervalue the aesthetic value that rural customers would put into their possessions?

ghodlur · 21st October 2011, 10:57

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raj_5004 · 21st October 2011, 16:23

How much does this cost?

why a single cylinder engine? even a nano comes with 2 cylinders!

I can see its a 6+1 seater, is the puny 500 cc engine enough for this kind of load? can it tackle steep inclines with 6 passengers?

the dashboard looks like a half hearted attempt. Why that cheap 3rd brake light on the top?

finally, why it does not have a front passenger seat?

Is it really a cheap vehicle? if yes, then fine.

Skyline GT-R · 21st October 2011, 23:57

I think the maximum permissible seating does allow for a front passenger seat.

Tyre size for Tata Ace & Force Trip are same.

It can manage any incline but on lower gears. I did not drive it on full load but that is the general character of single cylinder diesel engines. Sorry the engine is 500+ CC therefore technically we can call it 600CC engine.

Comparing this engine to Nano's is like comparing pineapples to oranges.

I guess 3rd brake light is now mandatory.

It costs just below 3 lacs i guess.

CoG will affect the stability but this vehicle is not meant to carve mountain roads. It is no frills, reliable, fuel efficient conveyance for rural/semi urban applications.

Ashley2 · 22nd October 2011, 00:12

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