TATA LPT 1116

Despite its top-spec positioning, the Tata LPT 1116 has a very spartan looking interior cabin, which is devoid of features, and at the same time, lacks good levels of fit and finish as well, which leaves a scope for improvement.

The large two-spoke steering wheel has been lifted from the smaller LPT 613, however, there is a significantly different looking instrument console behind it. Shaped in an inverted trapezoidal manner, it consists of squared shaped dials for various readouts on the go.

The dashboard tapers down in an inward manner, which does make the cabin feel spacious with food legroom. However, apart from that, the centre console feels drab but gets rectangular AC vents with a very basic radio-equipped music system.

Sitting at the top of the LPT lineup, it is quite natural that the Tata LPT 1116 has a dominating road presence with large dimensions. What lets down is the fact that it has a very basic design which is too normal and generic to look at. The entire design is based on the smaller LPT 613, however, there are subtle tweaks which give it its own identity.

The flat and rectangular windshield with rounded upper edges and a black panel below it on which the wipers are placed make the LPT 1116 look wide from the front. Adding to the wide appeal of the LPT 1116 are the large rear view mirrors placed adjacent to the windshield. The rest of the front fascia consists of a wide and flat body coloured panel in the middle of which it has got coloured floral graphics.

Below this flat panel comes the grille area, which is entirely finished in black plastic and extends to the side profile of the cabin as well. This entire panel, like in the LPT 613, has a rectangular grille with horizontal slats at the front and rectangular headlamps with rectangular turn indicators placed beside them. The front bumper here does get small rectangular fog lamps.

The side door panels of the Tata LPT 1116 too come with lower body cladding which are the extended form of the front grille on sideways. Also, the floral graphics mimicking that of the front fascia are present on the side door panels as well.

The Tata LPT 1116 is built on a ladder type frame with rivetted/bolted cross members. The suspension setup is a combination of semi elliptical leaf springs at both the front and rear, with the latter getting auxiliary springs in addition, along with hydraulic double acting telescopic forks at both front and rear. In terms of brakes, the Tata LPT 1116 gets dual circuit full air S-CAM brakes on both the ends.

The Tata LPT 1116 shares its 5.7-litre inline six-cylinder water cooled diesel engine with the smaller Tata LPT 613. However, here it is in a different state of tune, which makes higher performance output numbers – 160 PS of maximum power output and 550 Nm of maximum torque output. The engine is coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

There is another area of concern when it comes to lack of something in the Tata LPT 1116, and it is the list of safety features. The Tata LPT 1116 is equipped with only manual central locking and misses out on modern safety features like airbag and ABS.

With a large loading bay as well as sturdy chassis and suspension setup along with a powerful and tractable diesel engine, the Tata LPT 1116 emerges out as a potent full-size truck which serves versatile load-carrying purposes. However, despite its premium top-spec positioning, the LPT 1116 lacks a lot when it comes to styling and list of features, with the basic appeal of it making it feel a bit low rent and not so premium.