Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck showcased at the 2012 Indian Auto Expo!

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

With the Tata Ace, Tata Motors spawned an all new segment altogether, of that of the mini pick up truck space. Ever since its launch, the Ace has gone on to conquer milestone after milestone, being India’s best selling mini pick up truck. The Tata Ace has now gotten a comprehensive makeover in the form of the Ace Refresh EX and this model was showcased at the Tata Pavilion during the ongoing 2012 Indian Auto Expo.

The chief differences in the Tata Ace Refresh EX are cosmetic in nature. The front end gets a new headlamp and integrated turn indicator design. The front grille also gets a makeover and the wheels now get smart looking wheel caps. The interiors of the Ace also gets a big makeover, and this time the makeover is quite functional in nature. Redesigned fabric seats and an ergonomic repositioning of the steering to greatly improve driver comfort are the most important feature of the new interiors.

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

The dashboard too sees a redesign. A mobile charging point, a stereo system and a digital clock also make it to the refreshed Ace. Mechanically though, the Tata Ace Refresh EX  remains the same, with the indirect injection twin cylinder, water cooled diesel engine producing 16 Bhp of peak power and 38 Nm of peak torque.

We’ve spotted test mules of the Tata Ace with a direct injection common rail diesel engine and this model can be expected to be launched soon to take on the Mahindra Maxximo, which incidentally features a CRDI diesel engine. The 700cc DICOR engine, essentially a chopped twin cylinder unit of the 1405cc Indica Diesel block, found on the Ace has much more implications as this very engine could be used in the upcoming Tata Nano Diesel.

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

Source: ICB

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel Scooped; Same Engine to be used in Tata Nano Diesel!

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel

Nearly a year ago, we learnt that the Tata Nano Diesel could deliver a phenomenal 40 Kmpl. Naysayers had no option but to believe the unbelievable when a Bosch official involved in development of the fuel injection system for the Nano Diesel came along and made the following statement,

We have worked with Tata Motors for Nano’s petrol version and we are working with it for the diesel version too. The car has a two-cylinder, 700cc engine which develops healthy power without compromising on fuel economy. Although official test figures have not been revealed, we expect it to run 40 km on one litre of diesel.

Today, we have with us yet another scoop, this time of the Tata Ace DICOR diesel, but a scoop that could have more than a bearing on the upcoming Nano Diesel. ICB, has swooped another biggie hereby snapping up on-test Tata Ace DICOR diesel mini pick up trucks even as the drivers of these test vehicle stopped for a chai(tea) break.

While the DICOR (tata speak for common rail direct injection) turbo diesel engine for the Tata Ace was always in the pipeline, we have reliably learnt that a very similar engine will be what will power the upcoming Tata Nano diesel, the variant that could quite literally put the bang back in the Nano’s sales, doing what the V2 did to the Indica many summers ago. And this is why this scoop has more to it than just a new engine job on India’s largest selling mini pick up truck.

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel Mini Pick up Truck

From details ICB has managed to gather on the DICOR engine, the twin cylinder engine has been chopped off the 475 engine range, which in other words is the 1,405cc Indica engine. This has been done to keep development costs to the bare minimum while also ensuring that the spare parts remain common to that of the Indica’s engine for easy serviceability. The common rail direct injection system has been developed by Bosch. So, this engine on the Nano Diesel is something India will be keenly looking forward to.

Coming back to the Tata Ace DICOR, the mini pick up truck will use a 700cc twin cylinder engine whose power and torque output will be much lesser than the Nano diesel. The same goes for NVH levels too, which are expected to be higher than on the Nano due to the Ace being an out and out commercial vehicle. However, fuel economy could get a huge boost and with that, the Tata Ace DICOR might knock the wind off a certain Mahindra Maxximo mini pick up’s sales, which already is in the doldrums.

Source: ICB