Tata sumo Victa India, Tata sumo Victa Review
The Sumo Victa doesn’t look different from the old car — much of the detailing has changed, the boxy proportions are the same. The new Victa also include New Land Rover Discovery-style, simplistic clear lens headlamps – not too bad, but flanking a hideous toothy-smiley, cheese grater grille.
Changes at the rear are minimal, the only difference being a taller tail-light cluster. Top-of-the-line models get SUV-like side cladding and jazzy decals, but the car is let down badly by the fit and finish. The panel gaps are depressing, and the doors clang shut, which you don’t expect in a modern car.
The interior has changed completely, and does away with the commercial-vehicle feel that plagued the earlier car. There is a new, dominant centre console, garnished in aluminium-look trim, and the neat row of buttons at the bottom shows the Victa’s richness. Tata has taken heavily from its common parts bin for the cabin, which now features the steering wheel from the Indigo, the gearlever from the Safari and the power-window cluster from the Indica. The seat fabrics are more up-market whiles the front seats also have adjustable lumbar support. These seat backs are hollowed out to increase knee room at the rear. The middle row of seats is split 60:40 and provides access to the rear-most row. Knee and head room in the central and rear most rows is best in the MUV class and now normal sized human beings can contemplate undertaking long journeys in an MUV. The rear most seat can be removed completely to increase storage space to 2160 litres.
The dashboard and most importantly, the reach-rake ratio of the steering wheel have been reworked massively, and this means an MUV that’s a lot, lot more ergonomic to drive than its predecessor.
The Sumo is available with three engines: a 2.0-litre diesel, a turbocharged diesel and the 3.0-litre diesel from the 407 LCV, available only in the super-utilitarian Spacio version.
The standard 2.0-litre has 68bhp, which is hopelessly inadequate for a vehicle of this weight, and makes sluggish performance. However, the Victa has been given better NVH control, meaning it is more refined than before. The Turbo is the most impressive, with 90bhp and 19kgm of torque giving it respectable performance. It is fairly smooth at idle but the Safari-sourced gearbox makes horrible grating noises. There is considerable turbo lag, so driving in the city is not easy, and moving up a slope can be a big challenge.
Above 2000rpm, there is a big step in performance, so you have to keep downshifting to stay in the meat of the power band. The Victa cruises fairly well once you’re at highway speeds. Fuel economy is 9.3 and 12.3kpl respectively.
The 3.0-litre Spacio is clearly a rural transport vehicle, with good torque but terrible refinement, and poor top-end performance. The suspension is unchanged but improved to provide a better ride, which is now more comfortable and absorbent. The quick steering and short wheelbase make the Victa surprisingly nimble for its size, especially in the city.
The top-line GX Turbo version that came kitted to the gills, boasting a roof mounted air-con unit for rear seat passengers (no heater), power steering, power windows front and rear, keyless entry with factory-fitted immobiliser, rear wash/wipe/defogger, tinted glasses, front and rear fog lamps, high mounted stop lamp, day-night mirror, internally adjustable wing mirrors and provision for a four-speaker music system.
However, that same wheelbase and large overhangs make the car quite unstable at speed, especially with the high centre of gravity. The steering can be over-responsive, and the brakes, though having poor feel, are reliable and strong.