[wildon]

Nice review, The car looks spacious and interiors seems better than any other TATA cars, but when TATA will learn to get rid of the INDICA style GHOSTS !

[himanshugoswami]

i somehow cant seem to decide if i like the Aria or not.

from some angles it looks quite decent and then from other, pretty pathetic. also, the Aria seems a little confised to me- is it butch (SUV), sleek (MUV) or hwat- currently it seems to be trying too hard to be both, and IMHO it is failing.

Frankly, I am not too optimistic about the Aria's chances in India and more so with whatever we have seen and heard of M&M's upcoming new SUV

[jeeva]

I guess the folks at TATA messed up with the pricing factor.
18L is too much an asking price.
Overall it looks okayish, but the rear side profile inspired from the CRV, looks horrendous.

[VeluM]

Tata has (it seems) decided to strike a balance between being a true 8 seater and a useful but maybe not so comfortable 8 seater. As mentioned, the Xylo luggage space is non-existent when all three rows are used up.

I'm thinking of a typical scenario where I or my family would require all 8 seats. Dropping or picking up a family member from the airport back home in Kerala. It is a family 'event' where we all go and throw in a mini-day-out into the mix. In such a situation, we generally hire a spacio or something, and the bench-seaters are chosen for flexibility or size as the luggage is piled in between the rear two benches.

I would think a rarely-used third row like in the Aria would make sense cos when one has to use it, one still has a decent amount of boot space remaining. My opinion, based on my usage pattern. People who regularly use the last row sans luggage would probably eliminate this from their list, and add a roof-rack to an Innova/Xylo.

AFAIK, the Safari (LX) starts at 7.76L Ex-Showroom, going up to around 13L. Correct me if I am wrong. My impression from the number of versions possible with the Aria (two for each - AWD and 2WD) is that it might be possible to start as low as 10L Ex-Showroom for the base model 2WD, going up to around 16L Ex-Showroom fully-loaded AWD, thereby giving an option to all. I'm sure they won't mind even selling it to the Taxi market in Middle trim 2WD, cos that hasn't really affected the Innova, right? It seems the hatchbacks are the ones primarily affected by the Taxi image.

FS, a well written and pretty comprehensive review, given the circumstances. If you were fore-warned, you would have been fore-armed as well - Camera, notepad, TBHP Plates Aye? Talk about being at the right place at the right time!!!

Fingers crossed on the pricing, and in the mean time, Well-Done-TATA!

[sidindica]

The pricing will be between 11-13 lakhs. At the max 13.5.

[Latheesh]

FS - Thanks for the detailed report.

Scoopmaster came with a target pricing, so TATA have a winner here!!.

[suman]

Flyingspur, an excellent review, thanks for sharing your experience & for covering the important aspects. At the end of the day, it will come down to the pricing & I think TATA will not make the mistake of pricing it anyway near the Endy or the Fortuner. But how much lower than the Endy or Fortuner is the question - I sincerely hope they don't screw up the pricing!

[chennai-indian]

@SIDINDICA,

Max @ 13.5 lakh is if true, fabulous pricing. That is exactly the spot I thought TATA was aiming for - just near the top of Innvoa and less than the SUV's.

[Crazy4Power]

flyingspur, Very nice review.

What I understand that you had gone for TD of Safari LX and ended up doing Aria. Whether u TD safari also. Given you the choice which vehicle do you pick. It will be good if you can put few lines in terms of driving comfort, engine response, space etc for the comparison of Aria with Safari.

Cheers!

Alok

[h@r$h@l]

During my visit to a TATA dealership here few months back I was informed by one of the senior sales guy that the Aria will have an entry level variant starting from approx 9.75L. The variant that has been doing rounds around is the top of the line model expected to be priced around INR 13.XX

I dont know if this is 100% true or just speculation by the dealers.

Only time will tell whats true

[rajeshsundaram]

@flyingspur

Awesome report. Lucky to be part of the pre-launch survey. This is why team-bhp is so special to me.

From what flyingspir have written, the interiors and exterior looks, I'd say the right price is between 11L to 14L covering all sort of Aria variants. If Tata dares to price this piece into the territory of Fortuner or Captiva, then Aria will become a dud like Sumo Grande and Maruti Versa. I hope Tata studies their own case-study and others as well, before pricing Aria.

[kavesh55]

Thanks to flyingspur for covering the test so well. I had tested the vehicle on sunday. I did not post much about it because dont know how Tatas would react. They did not tell me about the sealink pass .
Also the height adjust was electric/manual because the car i drove did not have it, even the surveyor the guy in my case was looking for it.
It will good competition for the innovas (higher end). Tatas will have to get the reliablity issue sorted out and they should have a winner on the hands.

[KRf1]

Awesome scoop review Flying Spur . But I really doubt people paying 12+ lakh for Tata as of now . Hyundai coulddnt sell many Sonatas while the Vitara , Tuscon also flopped .

I do really like the car though . Tata continues to improve with each new product . This feedback session is testament for their effort to get things right from the very first batch of production cars .

[superboy44]

that was a quick and near perfect review flying spur,
you did cover up almost everything one would like to know in an initial review.

i for one really love the way it looks, the front end is quite imposing and the rear three quarters though given the crv treatment is nothing bad.
and its good to hear that they finally managed to get a hold on those panel gaps.
just hope they price it well and not make it the jazz of the muv segment,
at 13 lacs it will be a good alternative to the innova but at 18 it wont have much standing to the much better established rivals.

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Flyingspur, a few questions & comments -

- How does the steering feel at lower speeds and normal highway speeds? (100 kmph, not 140 kmph!) Light, medium or heavy? I have driven the Vista, Manza and the Safari - so if possible, compare the steering feel of the Aria with other Tata vehicles.

I'll tell you what. It fits perfectly between the i20's superlight steering and the 320d's heavy steering, since I drive both regularly. At 100 kmph, it's just alright. Doesn't exactly feel "connected", but you won't feel it's too light. And the overall feel of the Aria from the gearshift to the steering and everything (except the clutch) is far better than other Tata vehicles I've driven, enlisted in an earlier post.

- I hope you mentioned the uselessness of the roof mounted aircraft-style storage boxes too in the feedback form. And I hope you asked them to replace it with a large sunroof (similarly useless, but a lot cooler!).

I didn't fill out any form. Infact I hardly let the surveyor ask questions, because they were all general and layman questions. Instead, I just went on mentioning every point I observed and she was recording it on a dictaphone.

And no. In hindsight, I should have mentioned a sunroof as a better option. There was none.

- No dead pedal means immediate elimination from my "buy list".

+1. No dead pedal means no show. Maybe I'm spoilt, but I've been driving since ~5 years now and when I started off, all our cars except the Indica (which I hardly drive) had a dead pedal. Too used to it.

- Civic type wipers offer better visibility under rainy conditions - the wiper clears out the raindrops from top right hand side of the windscreen (which the normal windscreen is unable to).

Thanks. Didn't really occur to me.

- Are the dashboard/door plastics soft-touch?

The doors are nicely padded. Not much plastic around to feel cheap.

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Excellent review there.

Thank you!

Even though the front looks futuristic, the sides and back are a big let down. But then in this segment, its the functionality rather than looks that matter and from your review, they seem to have got that spot on more or less.

The Xylo proves that, yes.

But the crucial make or break will be the pricing. Let's hope they get it right to compete with the Xylo.

THey could get away with a bit of a premium, actually. This car deserves it.

Originally Posted by dadu

Very nice review, its good that TATA is taking pre-launch TD feedback on ARIA and will hopefully work on it.

Thanks dadu.

Originally Posted by wildon

Nice review, The car looks spacious and interiors seems better than any other TATA cars, but when TATA will learn to get rid of the INDICA style GHOSTS !

This car is so far removed from the "Indica ghosts", it's amazing.

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

i somehow cant seem to decide if i like the Aria or not.

from some angles it looks quite decent and then from other, pretty pathetic. also, the Aria seems a little confised to me- is it butch (SUV), sleek (MUV) or what- currently it seems to be trying too hard to be both, and IMHO it is failing.

Frankly, I am not too optimistic about the Aria's chances in India and more so with whatever we have seen and heard of M&M's upcoming new SUV

Actually I'm not too optimistic about M&M's SUV. But to be honest I'd like to see both Indian companies do well with these offerings.

Originally Posted by VeluM

My impression from the number of versions possible with the Aria (two for each - AWD and 2WD) is that it might be possible to start as low as 10L Ex-Showroom for the base model 2WD, going up to around 16L Ex-Showroom fully-loaded AWD, thereby giving an option to all. I'm sure they won't mind even selling it to the Taxi market in Middle trim 2WD, cos that hasn't really affected the Innova, right? It seems the hatchbacks are the ones primarily affected by the Taxi image.

That's actually a good strategy on pricing. But I would NOT want this to be sold to the Taxi market for at least 3 years.

Originally Posted by VeluM

FS, a well written and pretty comprehensive review, given the circumstances. If you were fore-warned, you would have been fore-armed as well - Camera, notepad, TBHP Plates Aye? Talk about being at the right place at the right time!!!

Aye! BTW no one carried Team-BHP plates to a review They're painstakingly PS'd by our hardworking chaps.

Originally Posted by sidindica

The pricing will be between 11-13 lakhs. At the max 13.5.

If this is true... Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner.

Originally Posted by Latheesh

FS - Thanks for the detailed report.

No sweat. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Originally Posted by suman

Flyingspur, an excellent review, thanks for sharing your experience & for covering the important aspects. At the end of the day, it will come down to the pricing & I think TATA will not make the mistake of pricing it anyway near the Endy or the Fortuner. But how much lower than the Endy or Fortuner is the question - I sincerely hope they don't screw up the pricing!

I believe that with this vehicle, what will be most important is how close they can price it to the Innova, and not how far from the SUVs. It's NOT the same thing, believe me These are the typical market perceptions which I feel will make or break the chances of this offering.