I was quite overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Grande. Somehow it looked smaller at the Expo, but on a Mumbai road, it’s quite big! So why is it that TATA have been touting this one as a city dwellers dream? I soon found out.

Though the Grande is quite bulky, it doesn’t handle like a bull. In fact, the steering is quite light and the Grande comes with a sufficient amount of torque. Hence manoeuvring through traffic isn’t much of a problem. But, the clutch and brake pedals seemed to be fitted a tad high, making constant traffic negotiation a problem for your feet. Tata has aimed this one at the urban family with its emphasis on comfortable city driving. In that, the product is quite successful. It’s very spacious, got loads of features including separate AC ducts for the back rows, all collapsible seats and the very useful third row seating.

The Grande scores well in the looks department as well. You see I’m not what one would call an attractive chap, but once seated in the Grande and I received more attention than I did as a baby in my cradle. And this is not only because the Grande is just a new entrant, but it’s presence is also very commanding with special praises to the colours. The Grande comes in two very attractive tones of bottle green and burnt orange.

There’s a great deal to be said about this one and I’m not going to be doing it in one go, but for now I will end with these first impressions. In a nutshell – she’s got the looks, but there’s more to be said about refinement. More later…