Tata Venture - UV or MPV?

Opening

Recently, Tata Motors has launched its new Tata Venture. Even though the Venture operates in the Utility sector, the main attraction of Venture is indeed its styling – it comes with an appearance which grabs attention and indeed, one can’t help appreciate the new Utility vehicle from Tata.

One might even wonder why it was introduced in the commercial vehicle section when the Tata Venture has all the good impressions of passenger MUV.

We took the Tata Venture for a drive and see if it lives out to its first impressions. Here is our analysis of the same.

Appearance Exterior

As they say, the first impression is the best impression. True to this, the Tata Venture attracts its customers with glossy styling. The positioning of the windshield glass covers almost half of the front portion, while a chrome insert has been given to the strip covering front grill with the center mounted Tata Emblem. The car has clear headlights which have been nicely positioned. Body colored bumpers with fog lamp option have been provided.

The driver side door has been provided with tinted glass, while middle row and rear row window have been integrated with single tinted glass and come with the option to open the window for ventilation as required. The rear side door can be opened from left side of the vehicle only. The right side is integrated and cannot be used like that of Maruti Suzuki Omni.

As per the front portion, rear portion has also been taken care well with nice tinted glass, glossy finish of the panel, and bigger tail lamps that cover almost 75 percent of height.

In simple words, Tata Venture gives the impression of a shorter version of a luxury bus.

Appearance Interior

Once we sit in the driver seat, one tends to have a nice feeling of comfort with wider seats and good amount of leg room. The fit and finish of the Dash is fine and gives a fair impression. In the EX model which we checked out, dual tone medium graphite and shadow are available where as the top end Tata Venture GX features dual tone barley beige and shadow grey, so that the interior should be much better in GX variant.

The steering system in the Tata Venture is of the collapsible type and it’s an added safety feature apart from the confidence boosting crash tested body panel all over. One more feature is the openable cover provided in middle portion of the covering provided between driver and co driver seats. This gives direct access to the oil dipstick, so as to check oil levels easily when required.

Also, one can notice the thick insulation covering provided to assure a good cooling effect inside with AC ON. The dashboard has options for music system fitment, control knobs, simple and effective instrument cluster and double glove box. One is lockable and other opens by feather touch and is meant for goggles etc. Digital clock is provided in middle portion of the dash.

AC vents are provided on dashboard, in roof near center row and third row. This is an important feature of Venture with which one can be assured of good Air Conditioning effect in all seats of the vehicle. Apart from this, there are many other comfort features such as Front power windows, cup holders placed behind the driver and co driver seats, seat belt for all row seats etc.

To access the Tata Venture’s third row, one has to use the simple tilt opening of split seat of second row. There is good lot of space available for storage behind the third row seats, which assures comfortable seating with putting luggage at rear of the third row. The tail gate can be lifted open like that of Omni, which is easy to handle and gives access to luggage.

Performance Drive

The Tata Venture comes with a 4-cylinder diesel with 1405 cc capacity. In the base Tata Venture CV variant, the engine delivers a power output of 50PS@4500 rpm as it comes with the 475 IDI NA engine version.

In the EX and GX variant, a 475IDI Turbo diesel engine has been used and the power output is 71PS@4500 rpm. The torque output is the same for all variants at 135NM@2500rpm. Mileage claimed is 15.42 KMPL

Mechanical steering has been used in CX variant and power steering in EX and GX variants. For the CX variant the seating capacity for 7 or 8 including driver, while in EX, GX variants 5, 7, and 8 seater options are available.

Color options include Ivory white, Arctic White, Champaign Gold, Lunar Silver, and Glossy Black. On road price of CX variant is about Rs 5.5 lacs (at present not available for sale), while for EX variant is Rs 5,81,920/-, and GX is Rs 6,47,035/-

Key Features of CX variant: Manual steering, No AC, Option for music system, Child lock, collapsible steering etc.

Key Features of EX variant: features of CX variant along with Power steering, and AC.

Key Features of GX Variant: HVAC roof integrated duct Dual AC, Power steering, Music system with CD, MP3Player, 4 Speakers, Rear windshield washer with wiper, Front power windows, door open roof light ON, Vanity mirror, tachometer, Engine immobilizer, front fog lamp, Body color bumper, door handles, outer mirror etc.

Entering Venture is quite easy thanks to the wide opening door. Once seated one can experience the wide seats and also exact positioning of steering that is comfortable even for tall persons. There is good enough legroom and comfortable usage of pedals. Gear lever is also given a fine finish. Overall, one feels the usual comfort of a car. A simple cranking is enough to start the vehicle and easy to operate pedals ensure smoother movement of the vehicle.

The Tata Venture has the power steering option in EX and GX variants. The variant which we drove was an EX variant and had power steering. As mentioned in specification, it has a small turning circle radius of 4.5M. True to this, steering is very smooth and one can confidently take sharp U turn in heavy traffic conditions of the city. The vehicle can be comfortably driven up to around 140KMPH which is quite a good enough speed to go even in long drives. The AC is very effective and starts giving cooling effect fast. The fact that vents are provided to all row seats, ensures comfort to all passengers. The engine noise is minimum and one can appreciate the effort involved in providing insulation and hence comfort.

Tech Specs

Technical Specifications
Make	Tata
Model	Venture
Variant	CX	EX	GX
Engine	475 IDI NA Diesel	475IDI Turbo Diesel	475IDI Turbo Diesel
Enine capacity	1405/4	1405/4	1405/4
Power in PS/RPM	50/4500	71/4500	71/4500
Torque in Nm/RPM	135/2500	135/2500	135/2500
GearBox	5/M	5/M	5/M
Dimesions in MM
Length	3950	3950	3950
Width	1565	1565	1565
Height	1858	1858	1858
Ground clearence	160	160	160
Tyre rating	165 R14 LT PR	165 R14 LT PR	165 R14 LT PR
Fuel Tank Capacity	33	33	33
Average Mileage in KMPL	15.42	15.42	15.42
Gross Weight (Kg)	1990	1990	1990
Turning circle radius	4.5M	4.5M	4.5M

Features

Features	CX	EX	GX
Seating capacity	7,8	5,7,8	5,7,8
Steering	Manual	Power	Power
HVAC	No	Yes	Yes
Music system with 4 speakers	No	No	Yes
Front Power window	No	No	Yes
Third row seats flat folding	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rear utility cover	No	No	Yes
Digital Clock	Yes	Yes	Yes
Roof Lamps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Door Open Roof light ON	No	No	Yes
Vanity mirror	No	No	Yes
Inner grab handle	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tachometer	No	No	Yes
Two Glove box	Yes	Yes	Yes
Collapsible steering	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reverse Guide System	No	No	Yes
Front crash reinforcement	Yes	Yes	Yes
SideImpact protection beam	Yes	Yes	Yes
High Mount Stop Lamp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Engine Immobiliser	No	No	Yes
Front Fog Lamp	No	No	Yes
Injection moulded passenger cabin trim	No	Yes	Yes
Body colour bumper	No	No	Yes
External Antena	No	Yes	No
Body coloured door handle,outer mirror	No	No	Yes

Competition All Specs

Specifications	Tata Venture	Tata Venture	Tata Venture
Variant	CX	EX	GX
Engine	475 IDI NA Diesel	475IDI Turbo Diesel	475IDI Turbo Diesel
Enine capacity	1405/4	1405/4	1405/4
Power in PS/RPM	50/4500	71/4500	71/4500
Torque in Nm/RPM	135/2500	135/2500	135/2500
GearBox	5/M	5/M	5/M
Dimesions in MM
Length	3950	3950	3950
Width	1565	1565	1565
Height	1858	1858	1858
Ground clearence	160	160	160
Tyre rating	165 R14 LT PR	165 R14 LT PR	165 R14 LT PR
Fuel Tank Capacity	33	33	33
Average Mileage in KMPL	15.42	15.42	15.42
Gross Weight (Kg)	1990	1990	1990
Turning circle radius	4.5M	4.5M	4.5M
Features
Music system with 4 speakers	No	No	Yes
Front Power window	No	No	Yes
Third row seats flat folding	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rear utility cover	No	No	Yes
Digital Clock	Yes	Yes	Yes
Roof Lamps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Door Open Roof light ON	No	No	Yes
Vanity mirror	No	No	Yes
Inner grab handle	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tachometer	No	No	Yes
Two Glove box	Yes	Yes	Yes
Seating capacity	7,8	5,7,8	5,7,8
Steering	Manual	Power	Power
HVAC	No	Yes	Yes
Collapsible steering	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reverse Guide System	No	No	Yes
Front crash reinforcement	Yes	Yes	Yes
SideImpact protection beam	Yes	Yes	Yes
High Mount Stop Lamp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Engine Immobiliser	No	No	Yes
Front Fog Lamp	No	No	Yes
Injection moulded passenger cabin trim	No	Yes	Yes
Body colour bumper	No	No	Yes
External Antena	No	Yes	No
Body coloured door handle,outer mirror	No	No	Yes

Conclusion

Being a unique 4 cylinder diesel version compact MUV, there is not much competition for Venture. Though Maruti Suzuki EECO seems to be considered as competition in terms of seating and comfort, it won’t suit as EECO is petrol version whereas Venture is diesel version.

Tata Venture is a bold initiative from Tata Motors. It has all the ingredients to make it a preferred MUV. The advantages are the good styling, fit and finish, and good lot of features for the comfort of the passengers. Points like power steering, minimum turning circle radius of 4.5M, AC vents for all row seats assure comfort to all passengers. Moreover, as it’s a diesel version, there is huge saving in fuel costs.

The only thing in the Venture that makes one think, is the price which seems to bit high for investment. However, target customers could be the taxi people for whom investment won’t be difficult when the profits are assured. It’s surely a good option worth considering for the people willing to have comfort of a van along with savings in terms of cost per km and enjoy long drives with family.