[amolpol]

Originally Posted by svdath

I have been using the Aria Pure for now about 10 months. In the city it gives me about 9.5Kmpl [bumper-to-to-bunmper traffic]. On the highway, i have seen it varying from a 13Kmpl on Blr-Mys highway to 16Kmpl on the GQ roads. Couple of things that i have observed is that the MID is dead accurate and the FE drops considerably on roads where there are too many slow downs to be done like the BLR-Mys highway

13kmpl is quite good, I'm happy to know it actually delivers more than the Safari which is what I expected too. It may just have been the new car then, or my spirited driving style or both.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by revv_maniac

@ dkamath, unni.ak - Did you guys find the torque delivery to be on the tamer side than the safari as amolpol posted ?

I thought its a more refined unit with electronic gadgetry taking care of the power delivery (better ECU than safari). Does it struggle in Ghats in 2nd gear? I seriously found Aria to be my next S(M)UV as an upgrade from a petrol swift for touring purposes and lots of Ghat section thrown in. Is it game or not to pull effortlessly.

Thanks ,
Chaos

Hi, If you see my write-up, I did mention & experience the same. But, be aware that myself and amolpol come from the Safari experience and may be, needs to learn driving the ARIA.
If you are talking about SWIFT to ARIA, am sure, you will be pleasantly surprised and you should NOT see any struggle in such sections.

So, drive yourself and then, conclude.

Prem.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by amolpol

13kmpl is quite good, I'm happy to know it actually delivers more than the Safari which is what I expected too. It may just have been the new car then, or my spirited driving style or both.

Aria is more Aerodynamic compared to Safari. That itself your give you a better mileage. Of course there are other things like better tuned engine, newer Turbo etc.

[mercedised]

It's not surprising for me that the Aria could return 16+ mileage figures. I have achieved a maximum of 19 Kmpl from my Safari 3.0L with speeds of 70-80 kmph. And Regularly get around 15-16 kmpl, on highways ofcourse. In cities I rarely get above 11 kmpl. So incase of Aria with sedate driving 17-18 kmpl could easily be achieved.

[lohithrao]

Good report guys, am sure it will help prospective buyers a lot!

Sadly could not make it to this event.

but i must say a great move by Prerana/Tata! so much of positive feedback for sure will help in getting some numbers!

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by revv_maniac

@ dkamath, unni.ak - Did you guys find the torque delivery to be on the tamer side than the safari as amolpol posted ?

I've not driven a Safari in recent times for long distance to comment on this. Although, I did not find anything lacking or tame about the torque delivery. Felt it to be more than adequate.

[dkamath]

Originally Posted by revv_maniac

@ dkamath, unni.ak - Did you guys find the torque delivery to be on the tamer side than the safari as amolpol posted ?

Hi, for this, let me try explaining how I regularly drive the Safari on the highways, which I also did with the Aria. I usually drive with the engine rpm between 1700-1800rpm. When in 5th gear, and on having to slow down to around 1000rpm or so, the Safari regains it's speed without having to downshift, while on the Aria, I found I had to downshift, as the engine didn't look like it was gaining speed on accelerating again. But this apart, the Aria handled surely a lot better than the Safari. On the drive to Madikeri, with a lot of winding roads, I found the Aria was near perfect in maintaining it's line (was observing this with the continuous white line marking the lane), while on the Safari, it's more bus/truck-like, and the vehicle drifts into the other lane (understeer?).

[anujmishra]

Today it was first day I got Pearl White Aria and for me whole day it was city drive. Excellent vehicle in all aspect. Fit and finish is top notch to the best luxurious quality. Best thing is braking, AC & comfort it delivers. Torque delivery is adequate and smooth compared to Safari. Gearshift is very much comparable to sedans and hatch & very smooth.

My wife and my son very happy with it. My son is missing footrest to climb to the second row .

Tomorrow it will be highway drive for me to some nearby place. Still we are deciding among Hogenakkal, Sivanasamundram or Lepakshi. Would sum up highway experience as well and then put some customary photographs here.

[anujmishra]

Today (5th August, 2012) it was day for me to take Aria to highway. We planned to visit nearly place Lepakshi in AP. It is 130 Kms from my place.

I can say that Aria 4X2 is excellent highway performer. Of course, my reference point is Tata Safari on handling part. It behaved much planted on highway. There was very less sound intrusion inside the cabin on highway and drive was very comfortable.

AC was equally good and silent. Sometimes, I had to increase the fan speed to 2 during afternoon. On patchy roads it behaved better and no or very little jerk felt inside the cabin.

I am equally impressed with small-small features of Aria.

a. Lane changing switch. It actually blink indicators for few more seconds after you leave the stalk.
b. Intermittent rear wiper
c. MID and real time AVG display. etc.

However, I found steering vibrating a lot at the speed of 120 KMPH on highway. It may be the because bad alignment and balancing of tyres.

Few photos of my today's trip

[somubj]

I was also a part of the "Experience the Aria" program and drove the 4x4 variant of the car for two days - in the city and on highway.


Most of the points have already been detailed by the group, so I will not post any pictures or thorough info. Here is my point of view about the car:



Note: I currently drive a safari.


Positives:

• Wonderful highway cruiser. It just clings to the road at high speed and gives extreme confidence at higher speeds, turns, etc.

• Spacious. Enough leg space for front and middle rows. Last row sitting is for kids.

• Lighter steering.

• Smooth clutch and gearbox, almost like a hatchback. Gearshifts are perfect.
• Projector headlamps are good, night driving posed no issues.
• Powerful ac and decent climate control.
• Decent turning radius, much better than safari.
• Minimal engine noise in the cabin.
• Aerodynamic design.

Negatives:

• Car is underpowered. At multiple instances, I could feel that the car was stalling until the turbo kicked in. Put it in AWD mode and it’s even worse, especially in the 2nd and 3rd gear. Takes the fun away while driving in traffic. Safari does much better.
• No ipod support.
• Music system display is ridiculous, indescribably pathetic for a car of this segment. I think it could have suited an Indica.
• Ingress is odd (not sure if others noticed it as well), you can “walk in” but need to stoop a little to avoid your head hitting the door panel.

Mixed:

• Suspensions are good, a little on the stiffer side but very comfortable compared to safari.
• Interior quality is good, again compared to safari. Some plastic panels looked and felt of cheap quality.
• Sound quality of music player is decent, good mid bass.
• There were some vibrations/noises but other than that it is a silent car.

During the discussion with the Product design team and the marketing folks, there were some points that came across as a huge disconnect between what they think of Aria and what the customers think and perhaps this was one of the reasons why Tata took this initiative. Few quotes and my opinion:

• This is our top line product and we have ensured that it is top notch.

Well, if it is, then why there are so many complaints about the product. Customers that you are targeting are not someone who is upgrading from a hatchback to a SUV, but most likely, customers who currently own a sedan or an entry level SUV. They will not be pleased with your efforts.

Also, until Aria was launched, Safari was your top end product and still it rattled like crazy and you could do nothing about that till date. I am not saying that you should be penalized for mistakes from the past, but then there were no corrective measures which does not instigate confidence in Tata.

• It is not competing against the xylo or innova, but cars like outlander, etc.

These products are refined to a greater extent and definitely look better and perform better.


Did I find it better than the safari?

Definitely “yes” in terms of handling and comfort, but not in terms of low speed performance or looks. Aria is an average looking car, not a head turner.


Will I buy an Aria?

“No”, all this while I could not convince myself that I will spend this much money on an underpowered average looking car which has just one USP – comfort and that too is limited. I found Aria to be overpriced for what it had to offer.


What could have justified the price of the car?

Perhaps an automatic gearbox, a better ICE setup and sunroof should have made it a lucrative package.

Overall it is a good effort from Tata but not properly priced and publicized. Backed by poor after sales service of course.

[laluks]

Hey Guys, I had my share too. I was given an Aria 4x4 Prestige for two days. Thank You Lukey and Prerana Motors for this wonderful opportunity.







How I looked at the experience is from a very neutral point of view. A SUV for my family - never thought about it, since we never felt the need for one. So when I was invited to be a part of this experience, I was quite happy to get to feel one as mine for a couple of days. This could help me in understanding and evaluating whether I would need one.

I have driven a Scorpio for 200 Kilometres plus and a Safari for around 20 kilometers before. That's my only experience with SUVs in my roughly 4 Lakh plus Kilometres of driving experience. I am a sedan guy, I love the comfort and I love the handling and speed. I have taken my Civic and Swift to difficult territories (as evident from my travelogues) and have never felt the SUV need as yet to take on battered roads. But hey, I can use that extra real estate inside the car!

So with no prior preconceived notions, me and my family took the Aria for a spin as we would do with our other cars. We normally plan the drive and any destination within 800KMs normally can be qualified for a weekend destination if we just visit only one Point of Interest at the location.


Dudh Sagar falls in Goa fitted the bill very nicely. 600+ Kilometers one way. The destination gave us
1. Good Highways
2. Bit of twisty ghat roads
3. Battered and bruised roads
4. Muddy terrain
5. Lot of heavy rains
6. Night drives
7. Foggy drives

The Aria was delivered on time on Friday evening. Took it for a small spin in the layout, felt comfortable and drivable.

The vehicle - Aria 4x4 prestige with 4650KM on the odo. I was happy that the vehicle is out of its running in period.



My observation for the vehicle is as a normal end user who would want to buy one for the family, so please don't expect torque delivery,transfer case, timing, etc..etc..jargons!!

Saturday 11th August we started the drive at 01:00AM in the morning. Put the headlamps to auto and wiper to auto. Took the highway to Belgaum and drove out. Kept speeds low as it was night. Reached Belgaum by 07:00AM. We had to refill a bit before reaching Hubli. Drank about 45litres.

Observation -
1 . Very drivable like a sedan
2 . Good visibility all around the car
3 . Nice throw of lights from the headlamps
4 . Ride quality is good, not very stiff or bouncy
5 . Turning at normal speeds was good
6 . I am yet to figure out a good seating position - one annoying observation is that the hand rest is attached to the driver seat, so it moves up and down with the seat height adjustment. So at a higher position of the seat with my left hand on the hand rest, the gear was not reachable, and i had to fold the hand rest away.
7 . Steering felt very vague, I felt was most often under steered.
8 . Gave a mileage of 9.7KMPL till here, not bad for such a heavy vehicle
9 . Range as shown by the meter was total of 570KMS. Since I did not now how much was in the tank previously the range and KMPL calculation was planned to be done again.


We moved on towards Castle Rock and DudhSagar via some narrow winding battered ghat roads. Some 250 odd kilometres up and down in this kind of roads. Heavy rains through out and thick fogs in the evening.







Observation

1. Steering was very much under steered. I need to consciously turn a lot to get the real turn on ground - blame it on the point a shoot steering of the Civic which has pampered me!
2 . Never felt the need for more power nor felt it lacking
3 . The rain sensing wiper is a great help, however the raindrops on the sensor makes it start. But the sensor is placed down and sometimes a bit of more water needs to be on it to start. So I found myself switching on it manually quite a few times.
4 . Noise inside the cabin when we rev then engine was minimal, no complaints
5 . Turning radius was very good for a car of this size
6 . Easy visibility all around made for some good help in tight parking situations
7 . The seats were not very comfortable for me, I always tried changing positions to get that optimal one. Never found it, resulting in both legs becoming heavy and paining after the drive, plus the right had getting a lot of heavy work out. Back support was optimal.
8 . Family shared the same opinion. The last row of seat was very uncomfortable and bouncy.
9 . The A pillar is huge, and obstructs a lot from the view while you turn.
10. Filled up the tank again, this time the mileage worked to be 10.7KMPL. Not bad considering bad roads, ghats, lower gears etc.

All in all around 850Kms for the first day, with mixed feelings.

We stayed at Belgaum for the night and returned on Sunday. We started at 1 PM and reached Bangalore by 8.30PM.

Observation -
1 . Car can take higher speeds like a sedan, in fact inside the car we never felt any discomfort at those speeds
2 . The only noise was from the tyres which was deafening
3 . Not a single rattling or squeaking, was surprised at the build quality
4 . Cornering above certain high speeds makes you to slow down because of the height and fear
5 . The range was calculated on this drive - It was 565KM to a tankful
6 . If speeds are in economical range I believe it can easily be 600KM range for a tankful.
7 . By now I got used to the car and tried a quick turn, and impulsive one - the steering behaved just the opposite - It was over steering then. So my inference would be the calibration parameters of the EPS needs to be a bit tuned further.
8 . Took it to a slushy area to see the 4x4 (I have no prior experience in 4x4). With 4x2, I saw me sliding mostly. but with 4x4 and the less acceleration I came out as expected.
9 . 13.5KMPL for this drive, a non stop one from Belgaum to Banagalore. (Based on the diesel filled at Belgaum and distance to empty at Bangalore)


By 09:30PM we reached home and parked the Aria. 1400KMs of experience.


We had an aching body which was noticeable. On comparison with our similar drives in the Civic for over 1600Km in the same duration - this raised a concern in us.

My conclusions from the experience

1 . Very good vehicle in terms of drive ability and handling
2 . Very nice turning radius for the car of this size
3 . Capable of very nice speeds like a sedan
4 . Good overall exterior design
5 . Ergonomics inside the car is weak, seats could be improved for comfort
6 . Adequate Power - infact I am in love with this car just for this
7 . Range of 570KM for a tankful and 11.6KMPL for the whole drive.


Looking forward for more fun! But she has to go back


A travelogue on Dudh Sagar is coming up in the travelogue section shortly .

[sushrutha]

I too was part of EXPERIENCE THE ARIA Program.


I'll make my experience very brief as most of them have shared their experience & comments which I feel are almost similar to what I experienced.
I was delivered with Pearl white, Pride variant ARIA with just 1060Kms onboard.
I drove the Aria for almost 700kms.



Some small & significants points
Side rearview Mirrors - Excelent View, super wide
Headlights - Highbeam has an excellent throw, low beam projectors are just adequate.
Turning radius is very good.
Front looks bulky and nice, but rear look of the vehicle is very bland.
Good ride quality, anyday better than scorpio.
MID - error, at night in BLR the MID was showing outside temperature as 37d C, meanwhile my Civic was displaying 24d C..(I have a pic of it) but later the guage showed correct temp (this happend twice).
Fuelgauge (DTE in MID & Analog unit) is very very much sensitive to inclines. But rest of the MID is very much accurate.
shuddering of rear windscreen wiper, it was juddering to glory, heck it's a new car
dead pedal ... Oh I surely missed one.
Visibility from A pillar is slightly obstructing.
Head unit display on pure variant. - Pathetic to say the least,Cost cutting is so evident it looks like as if its made for a Cheap car. Even after reducing the contrast, the blue illumination was a bit bright for night driving,
Underpowered - I had been to Yercaud, It's a hilly terrain, I had parked ARIA in an incline, Twice I could very much experience the low power below 1,200RPM.
Anything below the turbo is almost dead in Stop n go incline(but on a flat surface the torque is adequate), one has to increase the RPM then move on. Once the turbo kicks in it's just GO GO GO ..

Average mileage I got was 10.5KMPL ( according to MID and also my calculation) - this was combined mileage of CITY n Highway.

Perception ... Why 20Lakhs ? Most of them with whomesoever I discussed about ARIA, everybody asks me as why it costs so much for a TATA vehicle ?
Tata, please do reduce the Aria price by a couple of Lakhs, you surely have a winner here.
Else put a J - LR badge & sell it at the same price, it will be chart topping.



Thanks to Srihari & Prerana Motors It was really an wonderful experience.


Myself with the ARIA

[SmartCat]

I have a question regarding traction control in the 4x4 Pride Variant, and how it affects the Aria in slushy roads.

From what I know, traction control works by cutting power to the wheel that is slipping or losing grip. So isn't it counter-productive to have traction control in a 4WD vehicle? Especially, since one can't switch off traction control in Aria?

I think the Aria 4x4 Pride will keep stalling on a slushy road (like the one going to Ladakh, for example) and not make much progress, while any 2WD car (or an Aria without traction control) will not have any issues.

[SmartCat]

The decade old Tata Safari 4x4 top end model sells for Rs. 16.4 lacs on road in Bangalore. The top end Aria 4x4 sells for Rs. 19.9 Lacs. A Rs. 3.5 Lacs premium for a technologically superior spacious product packed to the brim with features is quite reasonable.

But nobody has every called the Safari an overpriced SUV. Reason? There is a base version of the Safari @ Rs. 10 Lacs (on road, Bangalore), with lots of options in between the base and the top end version.

Only way the Aria can get around the perception that it is overpriced is by selling a 2WD variant with just AC and power-steering and stripping it off everything else. And then add more variants for every Rs. 1 Lac. That's pretty much how Toyota has managed to give an impression that Innova is an amazing VFM product.

The top end Toyota Innova costs Rs. 17 Lacs on-road Bangalore, by the way. And there is nothing much going for it in terms of engine specs, features or space when compared to the Aria (intentionally not bringing in brand, reliability & after sales service into the picture here )

[svdath]

Originally Posted by smartcat

The decade old Tata Safari 4x4 top end model sells for Rs. 16.4 lacs on road in Bangalore. The top end Aria 4x4 sells for Rs. 19.9 Lacs. A Rs. 3.5 Lacs premium for a technologically superior spacious product packed to the brim with features is quite reasonable.

But nobody has every called the Safari an overpriced SUV. Reason? There is a base version of the Safari @ Rs. 10 Lacs (on road, Bangalore), with lots of options in between the base and the top end version.

Only way the Aria can get around the perception that it is overpriced is by selling a 2WD variant with just AC and power-steering and stripping it off everything else. And then add more variants for every Rs. 1 Lac. That's pretty much how Toyota has managed to give an impression that Innova is an amazing VFM product.

The top end Toyota Innova costs Rs. 17 Lacs on-road Bangalore, by the way. And there is nothing much going for it in terms of engine specs, features or space when compared to the Aria (intentionally not bringing in brand, reliability & after sales service into the picture here )

I completely agree to this after owning the Aria now for almost a year [just about 15 days to go for a year ]. The vehicle has been amazing. I have added the RD Dieseltronic on it and am having fun on highways. On the mileage front, i get about 9.5kmpl in city and around 13-16kmpl based on how i drive on highways. On the highway, its an amazing cruiser. Reminds me of the Opel Astra days. The big meaty wheels do add to the comfort.

The only downside of Aria is the pricing. I am one of those people who bought the 2WD Pure version as soon as it was launched. If they can get the vehicle to priced at 10L on-road, Bangalore for base model [Pure or a further stripped down version]and increase for every variant up, my guess it would give XUV a run for money.