Tata Super Ace Mint

Compared to the bare bones dashboard of the Tata Ace, the cabin of the Tata Super Ace feels a much better place to be in, if not in terms of premium appeal. The cabin feels well put together with a larger and wider dashboard, which is finished in an all-black theme.

The three-spoke steering wheel as well as the instrument console, which also includes a tachometer here, looks much more decent. The tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel is a nice addition, and so is a digital clock placed right at the top of the dashboard above the centre console.

The curved design for the centre console looks decent and has a provision for a 1-DIN audio system, above which are placed rectangular AC vents and levers for manual AC below it. To increase the practicality of the cabin, the Super Ace gets cup holders in the central tunnel and a closed glove box and open scooped cavity at the passenger side.

Tata has taken the tried and tested styling and stance of the Ace and has evolved into a much bigger vehicle than the former. As a result, the Tata Super Ace has turned out to be what exactly many people were wishing to the Ace at the very first place – a bigger and more usable product.

The evolution of the Tata Super Ace over the smaller Ace can be easily sensed when you look at the vehicle from the front. Like the Ace, a majority of the Super Ace’s front design is covered by a large front windscreen which is curved from upper edges, which adds some amount of aerodynamic appeal to the front profile.

The headlamps are trapezoidal in shape here, with slightly curved design from inwards. The trapezoidal grille in the middle of the headlamps have rounded edges and horizontal slats. All these design cues give it a more mature appearance over the Ace. The front bumper too has got air dams in the middle.

From the sides, the Super Ace looks exactly the same as the smaller Ace, with the trademark curved window waistline and door-mounted hinged rearview mirrors at their place. There are a couple of changes here, such as body decals and slightly more pronounced rounded wheel arches. The rest of the design of the Tata Super Ace has been retained from the smaller Ace, for the loading bay, except that the loading bay is slightly longer than the latter.

The Tata Ace had developed a strong reputation of having a great and unseen combination of rugged underpinnings in a compact-sized truck, and the Super Ace had a long reputation to live up to.

Thankfully, it succeeds in doing so, as the lead springs employed here are even better in their absorption of undulations and sustaining heavy load conditions. Also, it rides on slightly better and bigger 14-inch wheels, however, the body roll is still there, though at higher speeds only.

The Tata Super Ace is powered by a much more powerful and usable diesel engine over that of the Tata Ace. The 1.4-litre four-cylinder diesel engine of the Super Ace is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox that produces 70 PS of maximum power output and 140 Nm of peak torque output.

For an entry-level small pickup truck, the Tata Super Ace misses out on prominent safety features and gets only a lockable cabin for the sake of safety.

The better looking and in-feel cabin, bigger dimensions and better load carrying capacity over the regular Ace does make the Tata Super Ace a justifiable upgrade over the former.