The obsession with sunroofs in India is now well-established. It might make little sense, but the fact remains that to buy a top-spec version of any car these days, you will have to get it with not just a sunroof, but a panoramic sunroof at that. I was pleasantly surprised that Hyundai is not offering a sunroof of any sort on the diesel-engine variants of the facelifted Alcazar. But if you were to get the petrol Alcazar, a top-spec diesel-engine variant of the Creta, or even the top-spec AX7 model of the Mahindra Thar ROXX, you get a panoramic sunroof.
I will admit that on cloudy days, the large glass area on top makes the car a lot brighter and makes it feel more spacious. But on sunny days, it can make the car unbearably hot and bright, making occupants feel like they’re in an oven. Worse still, on some cars, because the curtain that covers the sunroof is very thin — like on the Grand Vitara and Urban Cruiser Hyryder —you are almost certain to get a pounding headache. And as any resident of North India is aware, during the winter when you could potentially open the sunroof on some cars, the outside air is so thick with gunk that you would not dare do that.
But again, sunroofs, particularly panoramic sunroofs, are what Indian buyers want, which brings me to the new Tata Curvv, especially the versions equipped with the petrol and diesel engines. I recently spent a great day driving these new cars from India’s third-largest carmaker. And its biggest selling point is its unique ‘Coupe-SUV’ styling and the fact that it comes with a panoramic sunroof. But therein lies the rub.
You see, Tata Motors has put a thick curtain to cover the sunroof, which, when deployed, does cut out the bright light. Which is great. But there is a price to pay for that — a distinct lack of headroom. Now, at 178 centimetres, I do not consider myself particularly tall, but while driving, I did sense a palpable lack of headroom.
Now, if I was to go flying off a dip or bump on the road, as some viral videos on social media recently illustrated vehicles doing so on the newly-laid Delhi-Mumbai expressway, I would almost certainly bump my head against the roof or glass if I was caught unawares. And given that there are so many poorly marked speed breakers out there, this can happen to anyone.
Also read: Why it’s the best time to buy a car since 2019—deep discounts not the only factor
A crying shame
To be sure, this did not happen to me while driving the Curvv, but I couldn’t escape the feeling that it could happen, especially while driving through the narrow village roads of Goa. Worse still, when I sat on the rear seats of the car, I felt even more cramped for headroom.
And you know what? That is a crying shame because the Tata Curvv, especially with the new Hyperion turbocharged petrol engine with direct injection, was a great car to drive. The engine felt responsive and had a very meaty mid-range, so the acceleration was impressive to say the least. While some could argue that this engine is less powerful at 125PS of power than those from the competition such as Skoda-Volkswagen (150PS) and Hyundai-Kia (160PS), evaluating cars isn’t a game of top trumps.
The way the petrol with the manual gearbox responded made driving a lot of fun. And at Rs 17.49 lakh ex-showroom for the Accomplished Plus A variant, it was extremely good value given the level of equipment on the car, including Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, a 360-degree camera, wireless Apple Carplay, Android Auto, and more. But I will admit that I was not a fan of the burgundy-coloured interiors, although that is my personal opinion, call me a traditionalist if you want.
Also read: Five-door Mahindra Thar ROXX is big, comfortable SUV. Just don’t throw it into corners
A new experience
In addition, the new Atlas platform from Tata Motors, which is completely different from the one the Curvv.EV is based on, handled very well, feeling agile around the tight and twisty sections on the ghat stretches in Goa. When you coupled that with the engine — I had a smile on my face — concerns of banging my head vanished from my mind. Then, while powering through the new Manohar Setu over the Zuari where the speed limit is 90 kilometres per hour, it was fantastic.
On an aside, this was the first time I drove myself over the new bridge, and it was a fabulous piece of infrastructure. Those of us who have been to Goa for decades remember how long crossing the Zuari used to take over the narrow two-lane bridge in the past; in bad traffic, it could take an hour. It took me five minutes now.
After driving the petrol, I spent some time with the Diesel automatic, whose equipment level (and interiors) were the same, but this top variant has an ex-showroom price of Rs 18.99 lakh. The main reason for the increased price is not the 1.5-litre Kyrotech engine, which has a similar power output (116PS) to rival vehicles, but the new Dual-Clutch Automatic (DCA). I have explained the various types of automatic transmissions in a previous column, but the DCA core function is to make gear changes super snappy. And this was the first time a Diesel car in a mass segment had a DCA.
Kudos to Tata Motors for doing this, but the gearbox felt a bit jerky at low speeds and did not have the same instant gear changes as I was accustomed to in other dual-clutch vehicles, though those are all petrol engines. The kickdown, which is what one gets when you push the accelerator pedal and the transmission goes down a gear or two, took some time to kick-in. To be sure, the Diesel DCA does have paddle-shifters on the steering, and eventually, I found myself using those to eke out every little bit of power from the car, but after driving the Petrol Hyperion, the Diesel Kyrotech DCA felt rather dull indeed.
Before my conclusions, I would like to mention that there is a Revotron petrol engine model as well, which helps Tata Motors start the Curvv range at just Rs 9.99 lakh. So, what did I think of the Curvv on this first drive? I liked it, especially with the Hyperion engine. Although, I would like to drive the diesel manual and the DCA automatic on the Hyperion engine as well. But the lack of headroom, thanks to the panoramic sunroof, is a problem, and while Tata Motors does have base models of the Curvv without a sunroof or a single-pane sunroof, I wish they could offer these options on the Accomplished specification as well. Because with the panoramic sunroof, this is not a car for tall people. And at the end of the day, that is a pity.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)