Tata Aria ride quality, handling and driving dynamics
The Aria employs a Double Wishbone Coil Spring over Shock absorber setup up front. At the rear you have a 5 Link set-up with coil springs and shock absorbers. Tata have tried to get the right mix of a comfortable ride and good driving dynamics. And should we say, the Aria impresses with its ride quality and body behavior. I was a little apprehensive about the dynamic ability of the Aria, having experienced the Safari making its enormous weight evident to me at every corner previously. The Aria is a giant leap forward though. On a straight road, the car feels absolutely planted and steady even at speeds more than 150km/h. There isn’t any overly soft, wallow-y feel that you associate with most Indian SUVs. It feels steady, sure footed and responds well to sudden steering inputs without wobbling like a boat. Of course, it’s still not a sporty sedan, and with all its weight and size a double lane change maneuver is not advisable at or above 100 km/h as I found out. If you try to dial in very sharp steering inputs at high speeds, the Aria may get slightly scary. However, the overall feel is reassuring and makes the Aria a reliable highway cruiser.
If you have driven a Safari, and dared to push it hard around corners, you’d most likely know the very essence of the term ‘body roll’. The Aria in an enormous leap forward, in that department. Even with all its weight, it behaves fairly well around corners. It’s still not as controlled, predictable and lithe as, say the Outlander or the CR-V, but it’s not too far away either, going by its sheer size and weight. As long as you know that the Aria, at the end of it is a people mover, and has its focus more on comfort than driving dynamics, you’d appreciate its virtues as a decent handler. The moment you start pushing it towards the extremities, you’ll disappoint yourself, at your own fault.
While the handling of the Aria is appreciable for its size, the ride quality is downright impressive. The Aria would take in its stride and flatten out whatever undulations the fabled Indian potholed roads may have to throw at it as a challenge. The 235/65 R17 tyres provide great primary suspension, and are complimented equally well by the secondary suspension setup which makes the ride cushy and smooth over even the roughest of roads. There is no unsolicited stiffness, no jarring thuds, only a pliant ride, in a cabin which is surprisingly quiet and refined for an indigenously developed car. There is plenty of ground clearance too, to let you maraud the surface beneath you without having to worry about damaging something under the body.
All in all, the Aria is a really appreciable effort from Tata Motors as regards ride and handling. They have got the balance between good ride and predictable handling well. It’s unfair to compare it with lighter, smaller and more expensive vehicles like the CR-V on the dynamic front, but it still towers above all else in terms of ride quality. While we would all like to see the Aria behave a wee bit better around the corners, we don’t think we have any real reason to complain about. The engineers at Tata Motors sure deserve a pat on their back for a job well done.
<<<Back to Table of Contents | Tata Aria interiors and features>>>