Tata Sierra review: A completely new face in a nostalgia package

New Delhi: Before 1991, it was impossible to imagine that an indigenous Indian SUV could be made. Add to this that it would also come with power steering, power windows, air conditioning, a height-adjustable steering wheel, and even a taco meter. All of these were the first available in the Tata Sierra, and that was just the surface of how premium that car was.

It was popular and hit a sweet spot in the Indian market, and back in 1998, when I was three days old, I came back home from the hospital in one of these. While in 2003, the car stopped production, it was a familiar face on the Indian road until the end of that decade. 22 years later, the nameplate is making a comeback, and boy, has it created some interest in the Indian market. Built on the ARGOS platform, at present you have it in diesel and petrol engines, in a 2WD setup, but in the future it will get AWD and CNG as well as an electric version.

Taking it out on a spin, we realised how many people just wanted to look at the car, look at the features or just take a photo with it. It was controlling the traffic, with everyone trying to peek inside the car. With the Sierra, the brand has entered a highly competitive market, and Tata has hit some nice spots to begin with.

At a glance, it somehow doesn’t feel too big nor does it feel too small, and that is one of the nicest things we felt about the Sierra. It is the perfect size to be called a compact SUV and fits in the tight gaps and corners of the city as well. Like most, my first thought was that a Defender frock had been given the Sierra glass panel. At the front, the design details are amazing. 

Quite like the name it takes on, it gets an upright position along with similar-looking alpine windows. However, the design is modern and comes with full-width LED light bars, projector LED headlamps, a glossy black grille section adorned with the Tata logo, and gloss black body cladding. Pixel-inspired LED fog lamps on either side, is borrowed from the Nexon to make it more futuristic-looking.

From the side and the back, Sierra gets the signature wraparound glasshouse, reimagined for a sleek, contemporary look. The profile is uncluttered and squared wheel arches, thick cladding, and sporty 19-inch alloy wheels that elevate its SUV character. Further you get flush door handles with a small LED that lights up when you open the door.

At the rear, you have the LED tail-light bar, chunky proportions, and upright tailgate that resembles the Sierra’s old-school charm and has an essence of the Land Rover Discovery to it. While I am not fan of the minimalistic look in general, I can guarantee that most people have found it to be charming.

It is on the inside that the magic really happens as the Sierra comes with a very ambient setup, and built for passenger quality. Stepping on the inside, the quality of the product does stand out and I personally came impressed with the fit and finish. This was a big difference in my experience from other Tata products. With Sierra, there are no shortcuts taken and attention to details is immense.

The dashboard comes with a layered layout with soft-touch materials, ambient lighting, and a wide floating infotainment display that blends seamlessly with the digital instrument cluster. Slim AC vents, a clutter-free centre console, and neatly integrated controls make the cabin feel airy and premium. We drove the top trim, which is the Accomplished+, so we had the three-screen setup.

While the other two are usual infotainment and digital cluster, the third screen is for passengers to watch videos, and can be paired with up to five headphones and can support a gaming console. You can listen to your individual music through the third screen at your headphones, but we found this tricky to operate and execute.

 Further, you have 12-JBL speakers, with a soundbar at the dashboard that make really sound good. You get the choice to make just the front seats to have music for the back seats to be completely quiet. 

The panoramic screen is one of the biggest in the segment and the cabin feels very light and airy when its opened. At the back you have the flat floor that ensures that there is ample room for three people and Tata emphasize that it is for lounging. You have plenty of storage space for your water bottles and other stuff. However, I did find a problem with phone storage as the space for any size phone at the front is nil except for the wireless charging port.

The wireless charging port is right under the armrest, which is unusual but a handy place to be, and you have fans that keep the phone cool. Sierra includes both USB Type-A and USB Type-C ports for front and rear passengers, and supports 65W. The ambient lighting is a nice touch and overall makes the cabin atmosphere feel upmarket. The seating is comfortable, and the front seat even gets to extend the thigh support to make long journeys better. The seats are hard, but you will like them as well as the dual tone colour that it sport.

The boot is quite spacious and can easily fit the luggage of a family of five. You even get to tuck away the parcel tray, which makes the 620-litre size to completely utilitarian. 

There are a few things against the placement of the door handle which is much away from the occupants and for someone of short frame, it is a task to get out of the car.

The Tata Sierra comes loaded with a rich suite of modern features that stand out in its segment. Apart from the three screens, you have ameneties like wireless phone charging, multi-zone climate control, ventilated front seats (in higher trims), and a panoramic sunroof that opens up the cabin environment.

In terms of the Sierra comes with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and includes features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and 360 degree cameras, six airbags, electronic stability control and hill-hold as standard. I personally found the no seatbelt, no movement feature quite fun. If the driver is without seatbelt, the parking brake remains engaged unless the seatbelt is worn. There is a manual way of pressing the parking brake for a few seconds to make it move but it is an essential safety feature that everyone in the segment can copy.

We drove the new 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, built in-house by Tata and the 1.5-litre diesel engine and unfortunately we didn’t get the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine.

Suspension and Handling

The suspension and the handling were the strongest points for me and the cabin noise and vibration is well constrained. The steering wheel is neither to light nor to heavy and feels commanding when you drive at high speed. The suspension is quite strong which made you conbfident to take the speed breakers with confidence. 

The car is forward leaning by some means and lets not the undulated roads travel to the cabin. Put it around a corner at high speed and the roll over feel is almost absent. The handling is quite connected and while the speed is gradually building in this car, you can carry the heavy speed into the corners well. The perfect shape also means that narrow alleys and tight spaces are easily negotiable.

Braking

As is with most Tata cars I have driven, it is the braking that feels the strongest point across its portfolio, and Sierra carries this tradition quite well. The brakes are alert and sharp, and make for more confidence whilst driving. You get front and back disc brakes along with ABS, EBD and Brake Assist, and electronic stability programs like ESP.

1.5-litre Turbo petrol engine

We got the Tata Sierra 1.5-litre turbo petrol keys first, and this was the one that we drove extensively. Named the Hyperion, this is a fast engine, and though there is an initial, brief turbo lag, once you put your foot down, it is a sprightly car, and even though the engine might not be as fast as the 1.5-litre TSI engine you usually get with the likes of Volkswagen and Skodas, it is still a peppy engine. 

The noise is almost absent, and the throttle response is decent, even if not instantaneous. You get this engine in only the six-speed torque converter, and it is quite well-made. It is zippy in the traffic, and the engine wants to give it all. The unit makes 160 bhp and 255 Nm of torque. This engine is going to the Harrier and Safari petrol, and as a unit, the performance is pretty neat, and there are no complaints of falling short in any way.

1.5-litre diesel engine

Having grown up on diesel engines, it is a powertrain I know more or less well, and the Sierra has been given a pretty decent albeit noisy engine. It is slower to respond, but it can keep up with the traffic pretty fine. The engine doesn’t have a low-end grunt, and the acceleration is far from triggering, but in the Sierra, it performs fine.

The Sierra diesel gets a six-speed manual and a six-speed automatic to navigate through, and the engine makes 118 bhp and 280 Nm of torque, which is quite decent. Of course, between the two, it is the petrol that makes more sense due to the laws that are coming u,p as well as the performance that the petrol delivers.

This car has created the right buzz, and it is coming in a competition with quite a lot of practicality on offer. The car has good ergonomics, performance, and the cabin quality is upmarket too. Yes, there are a few points that are against it in my head. The steering wheel feels great, but the shape is quite controversial. The buttons get in the way, and one issue I faced personally was that the horn-sensitive area is not in my radar.

It is tricky to rest your hands on the steering wheel. There is the door handle issue I mentioned, and I also wish there were more spaces to keep things like keys and mobile phones. The electric boot lid button is tricky to find, and it is best to operate it through the remote. 

On the plus side, this is a Tata car with great fit and finish, and I believe, for the buzz it has created with its amazing features, it will be the one that will be a heavy competition in the market. The screen resolutions, safety features are ample, and the car is quite tough. The car is easy to manoeuvre in the heavy traffic with the amazing 360-degree camera and the good proportions. The petrol is extremely refined and peppy to drive. The seating is comfortable, and I was quite happy with the driving position and height. 

In my view, I would recommend the Sierra in the package and the performance that it delivers.