Sometime back, Tata revealed that they are working on an all-new flagship SUV, codenamed Q501. This will be on offer in both 5 and 7 seat variants and is expected to take on the likes of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour. What you didn’t know is that it will share a lot of stuff with the Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Wait, what?
Yes, you read it right. The Q501 will share a lot of parts with the Land Rover Discovery Sport, which is Land Rover’s baby SUV. Not only will it share the same platform, but it will also share suspension components as well as other structural components. This means that a lot of what is underneath the Q501, will be from Land Rover.
More so, the company is now using Discovery Sport shells to test the new Q501. How do we know that this isn’t a Discovery Sport? A few give away factors. For starters, the vehicle is running the same steel rims that are on offer on the Hexa’s base XE trim.
In addition to that, the vehicle is fitted with a single exhaust tip which seems to be hanging, instead of the dual exhaust tip which is on offer on the actual Discovery Sport. What is also visible in the picture is the spare wheel, which is located below the bumper.
The Discovery Sport doesn’t have its spare wheel located in such a position, where it is visible to naked eye. The vehicle also lacks the chrome design elements. By using the Discovery Sport shells, it will seem like a normal Land Rover running on the road to most people, thus enabling them to test the vehicle without much public attention.
While Tata will be using a lot of parts and technical expertise for the Q501, they have made it very clear that the vehicle will not look like a Land Rover. Tata will be using their own ‘Impact Design’ philosophy for the same. We expect the interiors to be all-new as well.
Tata has been loading their vehicles with good infotainment systems, and we expect this to be no different. One spy shot, which showcases the interiors clearly shows that the vehicle has a manual transmission, something that is not on offer on the Land Rover range in India.
The power window switches continue to be on the top of the door, which is where you would find them on the Range Rover too. It will be interesting to see if the company continues to keep it there or moves it below, to the door card as in all other vehicles.
The company is expected to use the same 2.0 liter Multijet turbo diesel engine sourced from Fiat, which will be on offer in the soon to be launched Jeep Compass. We expect similar power outputs, close to 170 Bhp. The vehicle is also expected to come with two-wheel and all-wheel drive variants. It is reported that the vehicle will come with both a manual and an automatic transmission. This will be interesting as the Compass currently is only on offer with a manual transmission (diesel).
The vehicle is expected to reach our shores sometime next year.
Render source: Link
Image source: Thrust zone, TAI
Source: ACI
