2010 Tata Aria

 Don’t let the transverse engine cover fool you. The Aria gets the same longitudinally mounted 2.2-litre 138bhp Dicor motor as in the Safari. It shares the same G76 gearbox too. However, the minute you fire the engine, you know that lots of work has been done to make the powertrain even better. It’s significantly smoother than before, thanks to a dual mass flywheel which damps vibrations and good sound deadening keeps the cabin quite hushed at most speeds. It’s only at idle that you sense a little bit of shake because of the soft engine mounts. The clutch is quite light and the gearshift too has been improved – it has a nice short throw, feels accurate but isn’t exactly slick and still needs an extra bit of a push.

The broad torque spread of this 16-valve engine with a variable geometry turbo is quite impressive. Unlike most turbo-diesels which are peaky and have a narrow rev band, this Dicor unit has a nice and linear power delivery and can rev quite happily to 4600rpm though it’s best to shift up well before then. 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. Hence, you do need to drop down a gear when revs dip below 2000rpm and in traffic you can get bogged down with turbo-lag, which means more gearshifts than you want

The highway is where the Aria can stretch its legs and come into its own. The punchy mid-range makes overtaking effortless and the Aria can be deceptively quick on open roads.

Flat-out acceleration is quite impressive and 100kph comes up in 15.6 seconds, making the Aria easily quicker than competitors like the Innova. The Aria is pretty good when it comes to in-gear acceleration too. Despite the slight lag and tall gearing, the rush in power is so strong that it makes the Aria quicker than even ◊
∆ the Innova in both the third and fourth gear slogs. So overtaking on the highway is never a problem, even if you feel lazy to execute a downshift. 

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.