Tata Aria -3 Review

The Aria’s crossover design is an attempt to combine the attributes of a car, MPV and SUV into one package. Also, the Aria’s hydroformed chassis, the first for an Indian car, is lighter and stronger than a conventional frame.

The Aria is underpinned by an all-new front suspension not seen before on a Tata vehicle. The rear suspension is similar to the Safari’s five-link design but rear discs brakes are standard.

The Aria gets a new all-wheel-drive (AWD) system from Divgi Warner that acts ‘on demand’ like in most soft-roaders and automatically switches from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive when it senses slippery conditions. Traction and control and ESP are standard on the top-end Aria to add to the car’s surefootedness.

Tata has tried to make it lighter but at 2220kg the Aria is still heavy.

There’s a GPS-based navigation system, cruise control, Bluetooth pairing for five phones, reversing camera and screen, sliding second row seats, electrically retractable rearview mirrors, glovebox chiller and even rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlights. Plastic quality is much improved, pieces of trim fit together better, the rotary headlight switch feels solid and even the stalks are nice and chunky. However, quality standards still lag behind other Rs 15 lakh cars, the Innova included, and it’s easy to spot quality blemishes. Like all Tata cars, the seats feel slightly hard but this is better for long drives.There is plenty of space for front seat passengers, and the addition

of armrests makes sitting on the large seats even more comfortable. The smaller Mahindra Xylo or even Tata’s own Sumo have much more comfortable third rows. That said, there is decent space in the rear for luggage, with all seats in place.



The Aria gets the same longitudinally mounted 2.2-litre 138bhp Dicor motor as in the Safari. The broad torque spread of this 16-valve engine with a variable geometry turbo is quite impressive. What the Aria lacks is a bit of low-end punch but that’s more to do with the tall gearing than a lack of flexibility. The Aria is pretty good when it comes to in-gear acceleration too. The Aria is a happy cruiser and at 100kph, the motor is turning over lazily at 2100rpm, which makes this big crossover well suited for long- distance journeys.


At one extreme, Tata Motors has the Nano, the world’s cheapest car which showcases frugal engineering at its best. At the other it has the Aria crossover, a bold attempt at taking the low-brow Tata Motors brand upmarket.

There’s a lot to like about the Tata Aria. It manages to give a sense of luxury with good refinement levels and a long list of features and gizmos.
At least until Tata launches a two-wheel drive at a far more competitive price.

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Tata Pixel Is The New Car Concept

Tata Motors has unveiled its next-generation city car concept, the Pixel. Unveiled at the 81st Geneva Motor Show by Ratan Tata, Pixel is a city car concept mainly developed for the European markets.

The rear-engined Pixel is powered by a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder turbo charged diesel motor. The Tata Pixel is a reflection of Tata Motors’ idea of what such a car should be.

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