Even hatchbacks like this Tata Bolt can climb stairs, but should you do it?

You might have seen SUVs climbing stairs. Even we have covered quite a few of them. We have covered a Mahindra Thar, Toyota Fortuner and Force Gurkha climbing upstairs. Well, here we have a video of a hatchback that is climbing stairs.  In the video, we see a Tata Bolt which is a hatchback going up a staircase.

The video is quite old as it was uploaded in 2015 and the Bolt itself is now discontinued by Tata Motors. The video is uploaded by Somnath Chikane on his YouTube channel. Bolt was able to climb up the stairs quite easily. At first, it did stutter as it had some issue putting its power down because the stairs have less traction when compared to the tarmac but once it started going it travelled up the stairs without any effort.

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Should you do it?

Climbing upstairs is not at all advisable in a vehicle. Especially, in a front-wheel-drive car. This is because these vehicles are made for daily usage, not for tough and off-road use. The suspension is not meant to handle such kind of travel. This is why you see the Bolt bouncing so much while going up. Usually for off-roading leaf springs are preferred because they can take a rough beating.

Then there are the off-roading angles. The SUVs are designed in such a way that they have a good approach angle, breakover angle and departure angle. The SUVs often have short overhangs so that the tyres are the first thing that comes in contact when the SUV starts climbing. In the video, we can see that the bumper of the Bolt almost touched the first stair. This would have damaged the bumper and other parts like the radiator are also at risk. Ground clearance is also another factor. SUVs have a high ground clearance which helps them in avoiding the rocks that are on the road. The ground clearance of the Bolt has been just 165 mm which is normal for a city hatchback. When compared, the ground clearance of Mahindra Thar is 226 mm.

Tata Bolt

Tata Bolt was the evolution of Tata Indica which was a huge success in our market. It was known for space on offer as it could seat 5 occupants at once easily. It was offered with a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 1.3-litre diesel engine. The petrol engine produced 88.7 bhp of max power and 140 Nm of peak torque while the diesel engine produced 74 bhp of max power and 190 Nm of peak torque. The Bolt competes against other hatchbacks like Maruti Suzuki Celerio, WagonR, Hyundai Grand i10, Datsun redi-Go, Hyundai Santro and Renault Kwid.

Tata Tiago

The Bolt was replaced with the Tiago which finally ditched the design elements of the ageing Indica as Tiago was an all-new car. It is also one of the safest hatchbacks that you can buy in our country. It is offered now only with a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 86 PS and 113 Nm. You get the Tiago with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 5-speed AMT.

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