[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Absolutely.
My exact reaction the moment I saw this thread and the pictures!
Force Vans anyway are derived from Mercedes. I guess they’re just continuing with the Cryonic Preservation of that DNA, much like Mahindra are, with the Thar.

Mahindra is just trying to annoy Stellantis, make them launch products to claim 'their' Jeep legacy - seems to be working rather well for ; Mahindra of course.

Originally Posted by condor

Not likely. The Urbania looks to be an A/c only line-up, unlike the TT which has openable windows.

Not sure if it was an aftermarket mod but have seen quite a few TTs with sealed windows like that of a Volvo bus, nevertheless its also interesting that not many companies are interested in this segment as such. There is Winger which other than having extensive factory fitted Ambulance options, is not a good vehicle for people transport.

Originally Posted by AntPaul

Does the Urbania use same 2.6L engine as Traveller? Most of the Travellers i have travelled were an NVH disaster at certain rpms(must be when engine is lugged), with whole chassis vibrating aloud. Do not know if this specific to 2.2L or 2.6L engine.

The old non turbo engines were very refined, even more so than some diesel cars of those days. That refinement and good suspension is what made TT the choice of travelers.

The later models are not that good in terms of NVH, there is no separate chassis here to absorb the vibrations either, so the entire body will vibrate if the engine is loud.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Not sure if it was an aftermarket mod but have seen quite a few TTs with sealed windows like that of a Volvo bus, nevertheless its also interesting that not many companies are interested in this segment as such. There is Winger which other than having extensive factory fitted Ambulance options, is not a good vehicle for people transport...The later models are not that good in terms of NVH, there is no separate chassis here to absorb the vibrations either, so the entire body will vibrate if the engine is loud

Those sealed windows are factory fitment I believe which was offered for some models. (Super?)

Have travelled in Travellers only a couple of times. Once an ordinary medium size one (guess 3500) and the second time in the humungous 26. The 3500 was pretty average, given that I have more travel experience in Coasters and Civilians. But the 26. A fresh model with barely a few thousand kilomtres of mileage. The whole thing vibrated like anything, and the body weirdly groaning on rough roads.

[Adorablejim]

Originally Posted by saikarthik

Interesting to see the MWB variant priced less than the SWB! Wonder what's the thought behind this, is it the popcorn strategy in movie theatres - make one product look more VFM than other, but here the price is actually less than the base variant.

GST for Long and Medium Wheelbase variants is 28% while for the Short Wheelbase variant is 43%.

Hence the price of the SWB variant is more than the MWB variant

[COMMUTER]

I hope they prove their sanity by launching some kind of a bare bone variant which is properly priced quickly. The pricing had popped my dream bubble and Force's future. I will go back to keeping the Isuzu S Cab as my aspirational next car again in the meantime!

[PrasannaDhana]

I just bought (yesterday ) this 41 seater new school bus for 21 lakhs OTR after a good 3 lakh discount(pretty normal in all CV purchases). I hoped the Urbania SWB would be 15/16 lakhs OTR, and boy, was I wrong!!



I currently own 2 tempo travellers, both 15 seaters, the last one being bought in 2016 for 10 lakhs OTR. I was hoping to get the SWB as the occasional staff tour van. 15 lakhs would have been a good price OTR.

This pricing is a joke! Sorry Force, your products don't deserve that premium positioning.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

I just bought (yesterday ) this 41 seater new school bus for 21 lakhs OTR after a good 3 lakh discount(pretty normal in all CV purchases). I hoped the Urbania SWB would be 15/16 lakhs OTR, and boy, was I wrong!!... I was hoping to get the SWB as the occasional staff tour van. 15 lakhs would have been a good price OTR....This pricing is a joke! Sorry Force, your products don't deserve that premium positioning.

True, we (the school I work in) had bought two SML Isuzu buses 43 and 51 seaters, for 23-24 lakhs and we were talking about how ridiculously the Urbania is priced. Even if we factor in the generational difference between the body designs.

We have a Winger that was used for staff transport and recently converted into a school bus. And it has started to deteriorate even with proper maintenance. Was eyeing one of the Urbania models, alas with this pricing would be better off maintaining the old vehicles.

[mpadiki]

Traveller can be bought as a private vehicle, straight from the showroom... however only the 3050 and 3350... priced ex 20.3L... so a 28 for this is premium but not preposterous.

However, the only issue I see is the initial issues with the vehicle... ground-up as they claim.

[apachelongbow]

https://youtu.be/tQaYScQTHTI

. A neat and useful review, albeit in Hindi. The urbania seems similar to the Ford Transit and appears to be a neat urban van. Fit and finish and features are quite nice. Integration of abs, ebd, hill hold assist, gear shift indicator, mood lighting and a reverse camera are a big help. The leg space is also quire good.

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by condor

...

Yes, but you can not register it as a white-board/ private passing vehicle.

...

Just curious why it is so. Is it because there are different standards/specs (like safety, fuel etc) for private and commercial vehicles?

[locusjag]

You can definitely register this as a privately owned and operated vehicle. There is at least one forum member from Kerala who has posted about buying & registering the older Tempo Traveler for his family. I believe he said that the Kerala RTO had insisted upon restricting seating capacity to 10 + 1 and the seats had to be lessened from the commercial configuration of I believe 14 or 12 seats, not including the driver.

[sandeepmdas]

As mentioned by many TBHPians, I too agree that the pricing is too steep for a Force product AND the Urbania might not deserve that much of big ones. Many part of cabin equipment that they showcased in the website and video are already available in the (Traveller) retro-fitment market for years. Example, the USB charging ports.

However, I am pretty sure that the Urbania will definitely succeed in the market.

It is only a matter of time before the educated/snob commuters would demand the Urbania over the ubiquitous Traveler. Just like they did with the Innova over Sumo/Qualis/Tavera to the point that all other MUVs are now third-rated options for pickup-drop and office commute. And the Urbania is slotted exactly for this segment of urban, well-to-do folk.

The Kia Carnival could have dethroned the Innova, but it didn't of course. This piece of history is not applicable for Force; pricewise, neither Toyota nor MB is playing in this segment, and Force is the "Toyota" here.

That said, Force could have launched a barebone variant too, so that operators can customize it to certain extent just like they do with the Traveler. This may affect the Traveller very much perhaps and that could be the reason.

[SmartCat]

Proper road test of Force Urbania

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTyibRdL9cM

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

s!
Force Vans anyway are derived from Mercedes. I guess they’re just continuing with the Cryonic Preservation of that DNA, much like Mahindra are, with the Thar.

Force motors previously Bajaj Tempo has an old relationship with the Germans.
The original Hanseat of yesteryears as well as the Viking came from the original Tempo collaboration.
Later Benz bought over Tempo, and continued with giving them the matador. Few years down sometime in the late 80s they had bought old dies from Mercedes for the traveler, they even used the name Tempo traveler initially, but had drop Tempo later when initial production under royalty and technical guidance ended.
They still make engines for Benz, so they could just have bought the old dies from them again.

Rahul

[condor]

Saw the Urbania SWB model yesterday in metal. Finish looks good, but was not proportionate. Too tall for the length, and body was swaying a bit as it started to move away (road surface can the root cause, but didnt expect that movement)

[Guru_Shikhar]

Found the Force Traveller on test on Mumbai Bengluru highway between Wakad and Pashan. Was not able to locate exact thread for Force Traveller ( previous thread guided to reach here) hence posting here. Sorry for the image quality as these were captured by my son while I was driving.