Tata Curvv Petrol, Diesel Review: Making Coupe-SUVs A Mainstream

First the electric and now the petrol and diesel variants, we have sampled the latest Tata offering in town - Curvv. Does it really make sense to buy a coupe-SUV? We try to answer the question in our first drive review:

Curvv stands at a length almost equal to the likes of Creta and Seltos but the cabin is familiar. The layout and equipment draw inspiration from Nexon. A large part of features, space and looks have been discussed in our earlier review of Curvv Electric. 

For the internal combustion variants, the alloy wheel design and the fascia are a little different with a few unique colour schemes to choose from. The coupe design rather comes across as fresh, stylish and youthful language that a section of buyers may prefer. The boot space is cavernous at 500 litres, easily taking up three XL-size bags.  

The cabin is handsomely equipped. Top-of-the-line Curvv gets a free-floating 12.3-inch touchscreen with a host of connected tech, a fully digital driver's display, front seat ventilation and electric adjustment. The touchscreen feedback is decent, and so is the visual output of the 360-degree camera suite which is part of the ADAS package. 

The dual-tone burgundy and black theme dashboard pops out loudly in the higher trims. I prefer the black and ivory on the lower ones instead. There is a panoramic sunroof, wireless charger and air purifier if you choose to pay for the loaded trims. 

The rear seat passengers have dedicated AC vents and USB charging points. Three adults sitting in the rear will find it a squeeze, however, there is a scoop in the roof to liberate good amount of headroom for taller passengers. The quality of plastic is bit inconsistent around the cabin, especially on the door trims and central console. What's also a miss is the lack of storage spaces. The door pockets are shallow and barely would you find space to keep water bottles. 

Tata Motors claims to have developed a new ATLAS platform for the Curvv, which is significantly different from Nexon. There are three engine options in Curvv, two of which are borrowed from Nexon. The 1.2-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine makes 120 horsepower and the 1.5-litre turbo-diesel generates 118 horsepower. What's new and segment-first though is a dual-clutch transmission linked to the diesel mill. Exclusive to the Curvv is a 1.2-litre direct-injection turbo-petrol ‘Hyperion' engine, which makes 125 horsepower and 225 Nm of peak torque. 

Based on the new ATLAS platform, the Curvv comes with three engine options: a 120hp, 170Nm, 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol mill, a 118hp, 1.5-litre diesel unit and Tata's new 1.2-litre direct-injection turbo-petrol ‘Hyperion' engine that produces 125hp and 225Nm. All three engines come with a 6-speed manual as standard, along with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic option. This makes it the only mass-market diesel car in India to offer a dual-clutch auto. We tried out the Hyperion petrol engine with a 6-speed manual and turbo-diesel with a DCA gearbox during the media drives.

Not the most powerful on paper, the Hyperion engine feels peppy and energetic in the mid-range. It is largely refined and the torque rush is neat, allowing the Curvv to hustle through traffic. Expect the engine to return around 12-14 kmpl in real life. The clutch is on the heavier side and will tire your left leg in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The first two gear throws are short which demands quick shifts to keep up with the pace of slow-moving traffic.

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Surprisingly, the diesel with DCA is a practical option. Expect better mileage, decent pulling power and very refined, Tata Motors also says there is a huge amount of inquiry for this engine-gearbox option. The gearbox shifts are quick, jerk-free and respond to pedal inputs rather well. There are paddle shifters as well. There are a lot of tech like active cooling, self-healing and machine learning playing on the backdrop. The engine is lethargic in the beginning. Post 1800-rpm, the torque kicks in and pulls neatly to 3,500 rpm. There are three drive modes - eco, city and sport. The throttle input, steering feedback and gearbox response mildly change in different settings. 

The ride of Curvv is absolutely spot on. Much like the Harrier and Safari, the Curvv tackles road undulations without breaking a sweat. It's composed over bad roads, the springs and dampers do an excellent job of soaking the unevenness of the surface. A healthy 208 mm ground clearance keeps the underbelly clear of tall speed breakers. Curvv is nicely planted on the highways, and thanks to decent sound insulations, not much of noise creeps into the cabin even at triple digit speeds. 

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In the driver's seat, it's a mixed reaction. The steering, which is identical to Harrier and Safari, is a size too large for the size of the cabin of Curvv. There is a slight vagueness while crawling. Nevertheless, it's light and responsive and weighs up with speed. The bite from the all-disc brakes is assuring and feedback on the lever is progressive. Six airbags are standard in the Curvv, along with hill hold, electronic brake and ESP in higher trims. A warranty of 3 years/ 1,00,000 kilometres is also better than most industry players.

Tata Curvv is smartly priced and a lot of variants look extremely value-for-money. As far as technical glitches are concerned, it's something we have to wait and watch. Curvv's forte is design and ride quality. While the latter takes care of itself, it's the coupe-SUV form factor that will divide opinion. Irrespective of which side you are on, Tata Curvv is surely trying to make Coupe-SUVs mainstream.