[Dr.Suraj]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Team,

Bringing you yet another Team-BHP Exclusive!

Here are the first pictures of the Kite5 sedan in it's production-ready form

Attachment 1588347

Interior pics coming up very, very soon.


(A big thank you to my birdies for sharing this)

I think the big problem here is the angle.

The design is the same as what was seen earlier. From the rear 3/4th this car will look the same pretty stance too. This dead straight profile is not doing it justice. Might not be a perfectly finished product either.

3 things :

1. I see a black dot in the centre of the chrome strip - request sensor or a camera (a la Baleno!) - eitherways it would be a first for a Tata
(now that it's confirmed Nexon has the keyless entry system)

2. Awaiting interior pics. I don't think any surprises here - ditto Tiago + ACC

3. Still awaiting that 'segment first feature'

[Sac]

Originally Posted by Dr.Suraj

I think the big problem here is the angle.

The design is the same as what was seen earlier. From the rear 3/4th this car will look the same pretty stance too. This dead straight profile is not doing it justice. Might not be a perfectly finished product either.

On top of that, even the photograph is tilted towards the back. To compensate, I just took the same photograph and made the tyres align to the horizontal and tried to enhance the photo to bring out the feature lines (partially successful ). This definitely is a looker and a head turner.

[saion666]

What was that dialogue from godfather3, 'just when i thought i was out they pull me back in'.

Welcome back Tata, you were just drifting away with Tiago and Hexa.

[Theyota]

Looks ugly, outdated, like cheap Chinese crap! Alloys look after market. Boot looks like an afterthought. Horrible design language, lacks maturity. I hope and wish that the Indian market proves me wrong. I want Tata Motors to succeed.

[ksameer1234]

I find it amusing how the same car which was hailed for its design earlier this year is being now panned so heavily for design. Going by the earlier response from everyone, I had also come to like the car. Now, I am in a quandary!

Having seen the camouflaged test mules very closely in person, I found everything to be identical to Tiago except for the boot part and even that did not feel out of place.

For a car that will probably be around 50k more than Tiago, I am sure the value proposition will be so strong that people would ignore the fact that the car doesn't look like coming out of Pininfarina studio!!

[harry10]

I will reserve my judgement till I see the media drive cars in full glory. These pics don't give a complete picture. For now Tiago is still my second car preference but I can sway towards kite 5 if it offers better vfm.
Can anyone tell me what is the boot size in kite 5? In Tiago I guess it's around 242 lt.

[DCEite]

What a disappointment those pics are!

The Kite "sedan" looks nothing more than a stretched version of the Tiago itself. I do not think a price increase of over 50k over Tiago is justified at all here, unless there is a mammoth increase in boot space and / or a significant bump in engine specifications.

Compact sedans like Xcent or Amaze made much more sense over their hatchback siblings partially because a much more proper 3 box design and more importantly, a significant increase in boot space.

But this doesn't look to be the case with this Sedan.. err.. notchback.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by harry10

Can anyone tell me what is the boot size in kite 5? In Tiago I guess it's around 242 lt.

I think boot space is ~ 400 litres.

[dbaapps]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I think boot space is ~ 400 litres.

The Kite 5 boot size is 420 Liters to be exact ,which is highest in the compact segment .

[Dr.Suraj]

Originally Posted by DCEite

What a disappointment those pics are!

The Kite "sedan" looks nothing more than a stretched version of the Tiago itself. I do not think a price increase of over 50k over Tiago is justified at all here, unless there is a mammoth increase in boot space and / or a significant bump in engine specifications.

Compact sedans like Xcent or Amaze made much more sense over their hatchback siblings partially because a much more proper 3 box design and more importantly, a significant increase in boot space.

But this doesn't look to be the case with this Sedan.. err.. notchback.

There will be in addition to Tiago

- projector headlamps
- reversing camera
- bigger touchscreen HUD
- automatic climate control

These have been confirmed so far.
There could be some other surprises too.

[narayan]

I don't understand how the Kite is any less disproportionate than ugly ones like the Xcent or Dzire with those stupid names to boot. It's just not possible take a hatch design and make a pretty sedan out of it AND stick to length restrictions. All the sedans that are stretched out hatches and look good are more than 4m ( Vento, Linea etc ). For its price, the Kite should be good value and will put cars like Amaze and Xcent under stress which will look horribly over priced. Of course the Dzire with its Maruti tag will continue its successful run.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by narayan

It's just not possible take a hatch design and make a pretty sedan out of it AND stick to length restrictions.

+1 to that. The only existing example i can think of that looks remotely acceptable to me is the Ameo. But even for Ameo, am stretching my levels of acceptability. The last notchback i really liked was the Accent Viva but that was from ages ago and that wasn't under 4m.

Having said that, i think the Kite looks well rounded. Maybe even better than the Ameo when it comes to integrating the boot. What looks slightly off is the really tall stance that the car seems to get when looked from the side. It is a bit like BMW GT though. The alloys seem seriously overdone though - Tiago ones are much nicer.

[King_pin09]

Quite frankly, TATAs have been churning out some very ridiculous designs in their recent cars (Storme, Zest, Aria, etc) and the kite is no exception. Neither did I expect any ground breaking design from TATA stable nor did they deliver one.
The front and rear portions appear somewhat acceptable when viewed straight-on. It is the side profile that seems awkward and the car fails miserably to impress when viewed from rear quarter angle from where (arguably) the cars usually look their best. A strategy to adopt a concept that suits best for a large car, to this one with compact dimensions, fails in a big way. Where the Tiago impresses with its chic and cute looks that blend smoothly with compact dimensions (something that the Nano also did successfully nearly a decade ago) this one with confused looks sits in a no man’s land.

[teemus]

Originally Posted by King_pin09

Quite frankly, TATAs have been churning out some very ridiculous designs in their recent cars (Storme, Zest, Aria, etc) and the kite is no exception. Neither did I expect any ground breaking design from TATA stable nor did they deliver one.
The front and rear portions appear somewhat acceptable when viewed straight-on. It is the side profile that seems awkward and the car fails miserably to impress when viewed from rear quarter angle from where (arguably) the cars usually look their best. A strategy to adopt a concept that suits best for a large car, to this one with compact dimensions, fails in a big way. Where the Tiago impresses with its chic and cute looks that blend smoothly with compact dimensions (something that the Nano also did successfully nearly a decade ago) this one with confused looks sits in a no man’s land.

I think the car looks fantastic in the rear 3/4th angle (see post 280 on previous page); it's the side profile that needs bashing justifiably.

One question though, everyone here is now saying it's a notchback, is it really? If it's a notchback, then it will be great from functionality point of view but if it is not, then the small boot lid will give a tough competition to the Verito Vibe in worst design for boot opening category.

[King_pin09]

Originally Posted by teemus

I think the car looks fantastic in the rear 3/4th angle (see post 280 on previous page); it's the side profile that needs bashing justifiably.

One question though, everyone here is now saying it's a notchback, is it really? If it's a notchback, then it will be great from functionality point of view but if it is not, then the small boot lid will give a tough competition to the Verito Vibe in worst design for boot opening category.

I should only say that the car looks acceptable from this perspective, but not great. Looks are subjective and no offences meant to your likings, friend .

Just imagine, had the designers been allowed the liberty to stretch the dimensions to their hearts content, this car with the very same design philosophy, would have been a stunner. A wasted opportunity in my opinion.

To me, the comfort and convenience one would have in the next years with a full size sedan outweighs the happiness of saving a few thousand rupees and having a cramped and ugly looking car.