• Published On: 12 April 2017
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Tata Motors’ Racemo is the first sportscar for the company. It looks nothing like what we’d have expected. And that’s a good thing.

When Tata Motors first revealed the Racemo, it took the automotive world by surprise. The fact that such shocking design came from Tata Motors – a company better known for trucks, cheap cars and all things unexciting – makes it an even more exciting prospect. It’s the perception the manufacturer is desperate to change with its newly launched Tamo sub-brand, under which the Racemo has been launched.

Oddly enough, the Racemo was never meant to go into production - it was initially conceived in digital form to target kids between the ages of 12 and 14 who spend most of their free time playing video games. It was a virtual car created for the digital racing world.

A very small team was involved at Tata Motors’ Turin design studio and the brief was to design a car with no constraints, since it was never meant to be real world car. However, the design team went a step beyond and made a physical model to show Tata’s top management. They were so impressed that Project Futuro got the green light and the initial budget of ₹10 crore for the prototype. While mass-volume cars will continue under the Tata badge, the Tamo sub-brand will spawn, low-volume, high-tech cars and the Racemo is the first of the new cutting-edge breed.

The Racemo is built on a patented multi-material sandwich structure coined ‘Moflex’ by Tata Motors. This production method also allows faster readiness for new vehicles, gives great freedom in design and is extremely cost-effective for low volumes. This allows Tata to produce exciting looking cars at an affordable price.

                              

On the outside
The wide front grille of the Racemo has a hint of the Tata family look, while the complex-looking rear, with its split and sculpted flying buttresses, seems to have been inspired by the BMW i8. The butterfly doors also add greatly to the wow factor. The ordinary looking headlights take a bit away from an otherwise stunningly designed car.

                              

The cabin comes with three high-resolution screens and looks straight out of a video game. The button-festooned steering wheel has large, bright red paddleshifters behind them and the red accents are carried over to the switchgear, the pull straps for the door and the massive air con vents which look like the exhaust of a fighter jet.

                              

It will also feature connected car technologies from Tata’s new partnership with Microsoft. This tech will feature advanced navigation, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring and over-the-air updates using Microsoft cloud-based technologies. The vehicle owner will interact with these tech bits via the three screens in the instrument area. On the safety front, the Racemo has disc brakes with ABS and EBD all around. The body is built with integrated crash safety protection with driver and passenger airbags that meet the upcoming Indian regulations.

Under the hood sits a 1.2 turbo-petrol which Tata claims can produce 190hp at 6,500rpm but, according to sources, early simulations and tests don’t see it revving beyond 5,500rpm. The six-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) is another grouse -  AMTs are best suited to budget cars, but for a sportscar, it doesn’t shift fast enough. The front of the car has 205/50 R17 tubeless radials, while the rear is shod with chunkier 235/45 R18 tubeless radials to match the rear-biased weight distribution of 58:42.

This isn’t the first time that Tata Motors has had a crack at the sportscar segment. At the 2000 Geneva motor show, Tata unveiled the Aria concept roadster, which was followed by a coupé version in 2001. The Racemo, though, will make it to showrooms. With ingredients of a bona fide sportscar, and the vast resources of Tata Motors backing it, the affordable Racemo could have a ready market abroad as seen by the response at the Geneva motor show. With looks that kill and an estimated price of ₹25 lakh, the Racemo could not just be the most desirable Tata but the most desirable car for the money.