Tata Winger 15 seater launched to take on Force Traveller

Tata Motors is leaving no stone un-turned to take on competition from all side. It is now entering the areas which have always been competition's forte, with a much higher vigor and experience than ever before. The same aggression is reflecting in the company's sales numbers also month-on-month. On one side in the Pickups space, Tata Xenon Yodha was being introduced in different payload capacities (with variants like Yodha Eco and Yodha Plus) to compete with each variant of the market leader Mahindra Bolero Pickup. Similarly in the vans segment, there seems to be serious plan to take on the market leader Force Motor Traveller.

Tata Winger 15 Seater DICOR

New Tata Winger 15 seater with front door entry and high roof To take away the share of volumes from the segment leader Force Traveller, an altogether new, lengthier Tata Winger 15 seater has been introduced. The vehicle will be powered by a 2.2 Litre DICOR engine producing a power output of 100 HP and a flat torque of 190 Nm. The flat torque helps the Tata Winger in easy movement through traffic conditions with lesser gear shifts, thus reducing driver fatigue. The engine of this new Tata Winger 15 Seater is mated to a 5 speed gearbox and front wheel drive. In the front will be McPherson struts with coil spring and Double Parabolic Leaf Spring in rear. Read More : Tata Motors launches new Ultra range of Trucks The new Tata Winger 15 Seater is an extension of the earlier Winger with 3200 wheelbase. It is to be noted that the 3488 wheelbase already existed in Winger Ambulance stretch that was available as a shell option for custom modification. The new Tata Winger 15-S also comes with bigger 15 inch tyres (195 R15), thus improving the ground clearance to 180 mm. High roof  in new Tata Winger 15S helps in ease of passenger movement. Tata Motors has done away with the side sliding door in this new Winger 15S, and the vehicle therefore comes with front entry and exit, just like Force Traveller. The new Tata Winger 15 Seater with a longer 3488 wheelbase will compete with Force Traveller 3350, Force Traveler 3350 Super on one side and Force Traveller 3700 Super on the higher side. While the 3350 wheelbase Traveller offers option of 9, 12, 13 and 14+D seating capacity, the 3700 wheelbase Force Traveller offers 9, 12, 16 and 17+D seating options.


Force Traveller - The market leader in its segment Key differences between Tata Winger and Force Traveller :

  • Whereas the Tata Winger still gets powered by a front wheel drive, Force Traveller gets a rear wheel drive just like a bus.
  • Another major differentiator also remains the fact that Tata Winger has an independent front suspension (perceived to be requiring regular alignment and maintenance) as against Force Traveller with a rigid leaf spring suspension.

Reviews & Feedback :  We tried to have a first hand experience of this new Tata Winger 15 Seater and here are a few improvement points that would have made it even better:

  • Difficulty in entry : Passenger entry is made by folding the co-driver seat. This entry space is extremely narrow and its difficult for the slightly out of the shape passengers to enter in the new Tata Winger 15 Seater.
  • Leg space crunch : Tall passengers would find it difficult to seat themselves comfortably in the new Tata Winger 15 Seater, due to lesser leg space. The company is planning to introduce a 12 seater variant of the new Tata Winger soon (on this long wheelbase). That step should hopefully resolve leg space crunch.
  • A 6th speed overdrive gearbox would have taken the driving experience to an altogether different level.

Just recently introduced for sales in the market place, the numbers and performance of Winger 15S needs to be closely watched and analyzed as to how much share of the Traveller’s pie does this new Tata Winger take away. But there is no doubt that new Tata Winger Dicor (in all wheelbase options) is gaining acceptance in the market with its sales numbers increasing month on month.