[chaitanyakrish]

Hello BHPians,

I had to get some cupboards transported from a carpenter shop to my home yesterday.

To experience how does it feel like inside a mini truck, I requested the carpenter to allow me to sit in the truck along with him.

Similar observations can be made while driving a lorry/bus/van etc as they all are of similar design with a different size.

Here are few observations from my side, which will help to understand limitations of these vehicles.

1. ORVMs are small which gives a very narrow field of view. And the driver is mostly using right side ORVM and he completely closed the left one.

2. IRVM is not usable as there's a container attached to the truck in the rear, which blocks the view.

3. As there is no bonnet, whenever other vehicle or a pedestrian or a biker comes close, they will be right in front of us. This gave me jitters as I'm used to see other vehicles at least with a gap of bonnet length of the car.

4. As there's no bonnet, whenever the truck had to take a turn, he used to go almost till the end of lane and turn.

5. Seat belts are available but they're in unusable condition.

6. Rear door is kept open as one of his assistant is sitting in the rear container. The rear door swung open, when the driver had to apply brakes due to a biker.

Lessons Learnt :

1. Drivers are mostly using right side ORVM, so drive carefully while on their left side.

2. Rear view is completely blocked, so never tailgate so closely as they cannot see us and we never know when they would brake ( hopefully brake lights are functional )

3. As there is no bonnet, they can come very close while taking a turn or stopping at signals or while tailgating us. So, be watchful of them, in case of faulty brakes, they can easily hit.

4. Rear door can swung open any time, need to be watchful. One hit can knock a biker off and cause severe damage.

5. As they don't have bonnet, whenever they're making a turn, they liberally occupy opposite lane. I used to observe this, when I am driving a car and when they approach me from the opposite side.

Please share your views.

[VALLABHA]

Very well written. Excellent observations made and points covered..

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

4. As there's no bonnet, whenever the truck had to take a turn, he used to go almost till the end of lane and turn.

I think it's not merely the absence of bonnet. The wide turns a truck driver makes is to accommodate the path between the front wheels and rear wheels. The longer the truck, the wider the turns, the truck drivers ought to make.

[condor]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

2. Rear view is completely blocked, so never tailgate so closely as they cannot see us and we never know when they would brake

Have the experience of driving a pickup truck with a box at the back, and have seen this first hand. This lack of rear view is a problem for drivers who use them - especially when you want to turn.

But then even in a mild emergency where one has to brake, how many drivers see the rear view mirror before applying brakes ?

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by VALLABHA

The wide turns a truck driver makes is to accommodate the path between the front wheels and rear wheels.

True. The long wheelbase is also a factor which requires the truck driver to make a wide turn.

Sitting in the truck gave me a good vantage point to understand these vehicles.

Originally Posted by condor

But then even in a mild emergency where one has to brake, how many drivers see the rear view mirror before applying brakes ?

true, ideally its the tailgating vehicle's responsibility not to follow so close, but in an emergency, we cannot prevent a rear-end as not many drivers follow 3-second distance.

In a normal circumstance without an emergency, IRVM is always required.

[condor]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

True. The long wheelbase is also a factor which requires the truck driver to make a wide turn.

Sitting in the truck gave me a good vantage point to understand these vehicles.

That turning space is why one should Never Ever pass another vehicle on the inside of a turn - dont be on the left of a vehicle turning left, and similarly not to be on the right of a vehicle turning right. A very very basic knowledge that Most people miss.

Speaking of getting a vantage point, try driving a 13 seater Force Cruiser/Toofan in Bangalore traffic - places like JC road and such. Again, first hand experience, that too in one which didnt have power steering . Btw, a tractor with trailer is pending for me and will do it sometime.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Hello BHPians,
To experience how does it feel like inside a mini truck, I requested the carpenter to allow me to sit in the truck along with him.

I have driven extensively the 1Ton ACE during its testing phase. Your most observations are quite good and relevant. Thanks for that.

The biggest gripe i was having is with the 2 cy. ace which are plenty on the roads. They have pathetic pick up under load (or say overload). It is always pain to see so many ace on the roads, zipping , squeezing, blocking the way but not moving with the pace. So much wastage of fuel (+long queue) during that movement on narrow city roads.

[SanSabh]

3. As there is no bonnet, they can come very close while taking a turn or stopping at signals or while tailgating us. So, be watchful of them, in case of faulty brakes, they can easily hit.

4. Rear door can swung open any time, need to be watchful. One hit can knock a biker off and cause severe damage.

@chaitanyakrish, I don't know if you are of the Maruti Omni Van vintage, but this very unsafe aspect of driving it was vastly improved, nay, transcended and made divinely exhilarating by the seat of the pants experience!
A friend of mine landed up in hospital after driving into a black buffalo crossing the highway at night
Another friend who didn't even know how to drive asked me to help him take delivery of his much anticipated van, because he'd been told to get that specific vehicle by his big cousin. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed driving out into Connaught Place, and many other places subsequently
A senior of mine just finally parted company with his van a few years ago
The Ace is nowhere near that van in driving quality, but you get my point - the experience takes a little getting used to, and it's highly unsafe, but...

[chaitanyakrish]

As these trucks, mini vans etc which ply on Indian roads, do not have pedestrian safety protection unlike cars, its very essential to be watchful always.

Here's a recent incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrU05ACsHgU

[yashg]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Rear door can swung open any time, need to be watchful. One hit can knock a biker off and cause severe damage.

My wife was nearly hit on the head by the door that swung open from a mini truck passing by while we were chatting on the side of a narrow lane. She barely escaped due to my friend's alertness. Those doors are dangerous and can cause serious damage.

[GeeTee TSI]

I wonder why Tata Motors doesn't inject some poke into the Ace with a turbo. It goes about as slow as a milk float with the slightest gradient, disrupting the flow of traffic.

The cargo box in these vehicles is another anomaly, disproportionately tall for its width. Aren't there norms limiting the dimensions of the cargo compartment in relation to the chassis dimensions?

[Bibendum90949]

I own a Tata Venture, the derivative of Tata Ace. I picked it up only very recently and have now clocked close to 2500 kms with it. I own an Omni too but this is a totally different flavour being a BOF vehicle. The commonality with RWD remains. I can relate to few of the points discussed above with regards to it's turning etc.

I'm sharing few of my learnings/observations in this short span. Some points may not be related to the subject of the thread which talks about passenger view. My observations are from the point of view of the driver.

Thought i'll still share them if it helps.

- It can really squeeze through tight spots since the wheels are placed almost at the front end, being a van. 180° turns are a breeze.

- The view is so very commanding that it helps to drive it effortlessly in traffic and highways alike. More often, you can get the view ahead over the vehicle in front.

- The front seats are such great vantage points that you get to enjoy the scenery much much more than in a car. One is sitting quite high up and looking down, thanks to it's large glass house. Imagine driving through a bridge over a beautiful river. The view you get is unmatched.

- Yes i've observed how other motorists get a little jittery since one tends to stop very close owing to the unobstructed view.

- During cornering in slow speed, one has to be careful not to allow the steering wheel to have a free run to self center. That will make the vehicle unsettle a bit. Instead the hands to be still on the wheel to prevent it and modulate the free spin back to the centre. It's totally different from what we do with cars where we allow the steering wheel to self centre after a corner(slow speeds). This to be kept in mind while doing sweeping curves too. It helps immensely that it comes equipped with a hydraulic power steering.

- I feel owing to the commanding view all around, chances of driver missing out an obstruction is quite unlikely.

- While backing up, a whole two wheeler or a kid can be hidden from the field of vision of the IRVM and ORVM. Luckily i've the factory fitted reverse parking sensors. I may go in for a camera too since the odd tree branches and protruding objects from building/shops etc can be a potential hazard.

- One has to employ ultra defensive driving techniques on highways, especially single carriage ways. Safety is almost non existent for the front seat passengers.

- It's quite susceptible to getting unsettled on open highways under cross winds. Things worsen if the van is not loaded enough.


Despite all the shortcomings, it's super joy to drive, the reason why I ended up buying it after driving a friend's Venture. This is the mini form one can get of driving a truck.

Few pictures of my old school basic people mover. Lot of cosmetic work left to be done.

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

I wonder why Tata Motors doesn't inject some poke into the Ace with a turbo. It goes about as slow as milk float with the slightest gradient, disrupting the flow of traffic.

The cargo box in these vehicles are another anomaly, disproportionately tall for its width. Aren't there norms limiting the dimensions of the cargo compartment in relation to the chassis dimensions?

There was a turbo version named Tata SuperAce Mint. It used Indigo’s 1.3 Turbo Diesel engine and is super fast for a mini truck. I have driven it a lot myself since my brother owned one for his factory. Unfortunately it’s not as reliable as the small non turbo version , hence didn’t sell well in the market. Ours is parked for over three years after running a mere 40 K kms and keeping it running was proving out to be too expensive. My brother bought a Bolero pickup after that.

[vivek2652]

Back in 2018, I had the chance to drive my uncle's tata ace (petrol) for approximately 25 km. I have the habit of quickly going to the higher gear but I was unable to shift to 3rd(It was a hilly region). The engine made a lot of noise (a 2-cylinder engine) and I had to remain in 1st and 2nd for most of the time. (We were not carrying a heavy load). The engine of the Tata ace is quite underpowered but it is still better than buying a three-wheeler if your loading capacity is not much and for safety, comfort and convenience reasons.
Later on, my uncle bought a Mahindra bolero maxi truck.
P.S Your observations are spot on.