[nik hill]

Originally Posted by Taronish_E

Managed to spot the Hexa on road. A crew seemed to be filming the car and got these shots while driving at 5 kmph next to it. The Hexa certainly has great road presence and even though I spent 3-5 minutes in its company I can say its definitely more handsome and refined than an Aria!!

Great catch and those alloys look beautiful and menacing at the same time.

[rohit.joshi]

Originally Posted by Taronish_E

Managed to spot the Hexa on road. A crew seemed to be filming the car and got these shots while driving at 5 kmph next to it. The Hexa certainly has great road presence and even though I spent 3-5 minutes in its company I can say its definitely more handsome and refined than an Aria!!

Are those wheels 18 inchers/19 inchers. Hexa@Auto Expo had 19" ones and I am also told that they are not suitable for our Indian roads. If it has 18" then it is a step up(not sure about how the ride quality will be) when compared to XUV which carries 17".

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by rohit.joshi

Are those wheels 18 inchers/19 inchers. Hexa@Auto Expo had 19" ones and I am also told that they are not suitable for our Indian roads. If it has 18" then it is a step up(not sure about how the ride quality will be) when compared to XUV which carries 17".

They must be 19". They look the same Brand as was in the Auto Expo i.e. MRF Wanderers. The design head, Pratap Bose, seems to consider road presence big time with those 19" tyres. (Check 1:52 of the Auto Expo video.)

This spec is currently used in Range Rovers' IIRC. Ride quality is usually better with smaller tyres, no other issue as such AFAIK.
Except ofcourse,

• They'll cost upwards of 20-25k to 33k per tyre every 45k kms! since only a few brands make them, stock availability even at regular decent tyre shops could be low (not a big issue, they'll order them specially if required),
• MRFs usually have harder compound & they're abit noisy on the highway (also generally do NOT provide the same grip & traction like Michelin's with softer compound rubber),
• Other brands with tyres with soft compound rubber that are quieter & more grippy could be pricier! (Maybe someone with more experience throw some light into this).

Maybe they'll have worked on ride quality aspect. I too am eager to know more about the multi terrain suspension setup.

https://youtu.be/O16Tx6k-Uzc

[m3_07]

I continue to be a great fan of sunroof's. I faintly recall that there are few companies that support non-oem installations. It would indeed have been a premium offering in Hexa @ top end.

If a person decides to go for a non-oem sunroof, does it devoid the warranty??

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by m3_07

I continue to be a great fan of sunroof's. I faintly recall that there are few companies that support non-oem installations. It would indeed have been a premium offering in Hexa @ top end.

If a person decides to go for a non-oem sunroof, does it devoid the warranty??

I am not sure if Hexa will have a sunroof option. If the row of overhead bins still exists, it can't allow fitment of a sun roof. Also OEM don't allow retrofitting a sunroof, considering the possibilities of leakages and rust.
My personal take is sunroof is useless for India, apart from the extra heat being sent in, our roads are full of pebbles and stones which fly off trucks and hit roofs, infact the roof of my Storme has a small dent due a flying stone from a dumper, if I had a sunroof, I would have a shattered glass.

[Latheesh]

@apachelongbow - Aria like overhead compartments are not there in Hexa.

[kaviprem]

There is no variant mentioned in the rear of the car !
Is it because its for creating the commercial ?

Prem.

[carbhaari]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

There is no variant mentioned in the rear of the car !
Is it because its for creating the commercial ?

Prem.

IMHO, variant badge has nothing to do with being commercial. But we can be sure only after car is launched.
I think variant badging will be done nearing launch. The way Tata did for Tiago (Zica). The media drive cars in Goa had variant badging.

Other Tata cars at Auto Expo (Nexon and Kite 5) also didn't have variant badge except Zica-Aktiv and Zest. Zest is already in market and for Tiago launch will happen soon.

[PPS]

Caught without camouflage.

Source: https://twitter.com/mynewcarindia

[milin]

The Variant - XT is mentioned on the right side of the Tail Gate

[Shreyans_Jain]

Honestly, there is far too much of the Aria in the overall stance and especially the profile. Which gives me kind of a bad feeling inside.

I really wonder why Tata didn't give it a new body altogether when they were making so many changes anyway. They only need to look at what happened to a fantastic product like the Zest. It never managed to generate the kind of interest it should have simply because of its appearance and the baggage it carried.. In contrast, consider the the Zica/Tiago and especially the Kite sedan, whose looks are a USP.

This is supposed to be a flagship vehicle, the torchbearer for the company. The embodiment of the company finally letting go of its past and turning over a new leaf. As such, they really should have left no stone unturned, especially when the overall market sentiment is just not in their favour. While I must applaud Tata for the sincere effort they have put it, I am afraid this might be a miss nonetheless. I do hope to be proven wrong.

[pamiboy]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Honestly, there is far too much of the Aria in the overall stance and especially the profile. Which gives me kind of a bad feeling inside.

I really wonder why Tata didn't give it a new body altogether when they were making so many changes anyway. They only need to look at what happened to a fantastic product like the Zest. It never managed to generate the kind of interest it should have simply because of its appearance and the baggage it carried.. In contrast, consider the the Zica/Tiago and especially the Kite sedan, whose looks are a USP.

This is supposed to be a flagship vehicle, the torchbearer for the company. The embodiment of the company finally letting go of its past and turning over a new leaf. As such, they really should have left no stone unturned, especially when the overall market sentiment is just not in their favour. While I must applaud Tata for the sincere effort they have put it, I am afraid this might be a miss nonetheless. I do hope to be proven wrong.

My thoughts exactly. Why don't they go the full length and do a proper job? Why the half hearted attempts after spending all the time, effort and money? Why Tata why? Another minivan?
It doesn't give me any confidence to buy this car. To me this simply is a refresh of an aging product that had fallen flat on its face. Too bad this is their flagship model. Let's see what the public thinks when it's time to fork out the money. I'm not holding my breath for this to succeed. Will see what the next generation will look like. On my, then I'll have to wait another decade ?

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by carbhaari

IMHO, variant badge has nothing to do with being commercial...

I guess he meant advertisement.

Originally Posted by milin

The Variant - XT is mentioned on the right side of the Tail Gate

Good catch!

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Honestly, there is far too much of the Aria in the overall stance and especially the profile. Which gives me kind of a bad feeling inside.

I really wonder why Tata didn't give it a new body ...

+100

• Differently tuned engine,
• New 6 Speed manual & possible new 6 speed automatic Gearbox,
• New Self Adjusting Clutch,
• New multi terrain suspension, large 19" tyres,
• New further improved interiors, (hope they provide 2nd row bench seats option though)
• Harmon music system (though they should've tried to provide the 6.5" one from Nexon bin)

They've changed SO much yet I don't understand WHY they'd retain a similar body shell.

It's a ladder on chassis design after all, and they've probably changed sheet metal casting dies for some panels, can't understand why they didn't choose a new design.

Edit : Abit OT, If Toyota did a 2010 again with the Innova (negligible price hike with numerous additional features), then it'll possibly ring the death bell for such a competent product from such a capable company. IMHO unless the price undercuts XUV & current Innova levels by ~15% (apart from better warranty assurance), then there's a pretty dangerous & real threat to Tata Motors' plans.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

They've changed SO much yet I don't understand WHY they'd retain a similar body shell.
It's a ladder on chassis design after all, and they've probably changed sheet metal casting dies for some panels, can't understand why they didn't choose a new design.

The Hexa is a very impressive attempt to hide that the body's structural members are identical to the Aria. Take a look at the image below, and you'd notice that the Hexa has not deviated from that structure at all.

Naturally, these structural and body panels are a massive sunken cost for Tata Motors and they have to try and salvage some of those costs. The machines used for stamping those panels -- especially those for members that use high strength steel -- are incredibly expensive. If it were just a matter of costs, they might have still chosen to do something about it, but making new stamping machines/moulds would have also lead to massive development time.

After doing all of that, there was no way Tata Motors would have been able to price it even remotely competitively (and who knows, they might still bungle the pricing of the Hexa too).

[pamiboy]

I'm just wondering why do all these excuses apply to Tata only? Every other automaker have made duds too but they have woken up in time, cut their losses and moved on with brand new products. Tata simply like to keep flogging dead horses citing development costs. Well they can salvage all they want, but not with my money. I sincerely wish the best for them.