(@mods - i know there is a similar topic in the indian car scene - but i wanted to keep the TD in relevant section)
Yesterday, I accompanied a colleague of mine to scout around for a small car for himself. We had tried out both the Santro and the Wagon-R, and though he found both to his liking, I tried to play devils advocate and we ended up in Nawab motors to try out the new Indica Xeta.
Exteriors
Looks exactly the same as the "refreshingly new Indica V2" - no change over there. My friend was impressed with the looks, while i was like - u better take a non-white/silver colour to distinguish yourself from the cabs
Interiors
This is the place where the changes are most obvious. The indica, no doubt has huge amount of space and now you can split fold the back seat to get more storage space.
The new beige (muddy-brown as per me) interiors look quite good and they lend a sort of refreshing change from the oodles of grey plastic on santros and wagon-rs. The console has a silver panel on the upper models and a white instrument-cluster.
The controls are another matter altogether - I found most of them very awkwardly placed - the power windows on the floor console instead of the door, headlight adjuster hidden someplace - AC controls were tacky and instrument-cluster doesnt look very impressive.
Performance
The 70 ps engine is quite peppy to drive - as good as the wagon-r or santro, but not much better - maybe due to the extra weight it has to lug around - close to a ton. The engine is not as refined though as the jap/koreans - and it starts to scream at around 3k rpm or above - at this point the NVH is significantly higher.
The steering wheel (hydraulic) is also not as responsive and more tough to move than the santro's. Though at higher speeds, it is quite firm, parking the car or squeezing out or traffic jams may get tough for one. Turning radius is also higher than both - around 4.9m - hell, its more than the zen or palio (i think) & the same as NHC or Ikon.
Ride Comfort & Handling
The car feels quite stable at high speeds and is quite comfortable around the corners as well. Though we didnt push it very far on that front, as we were in the city limits.
At low speeds, over bumpy roads, the ride was quite comfortable and rear seat takes the cake over here. It comes with an all independant suspension - borrowed from the indigo, and it is very obvious over the potholes and breakers.
Build-Quality
Okkkkk - here is the touchy part. Though the overall build quality is far better than the Indica diesels that come as our office cabs, it still has quite some way to go over here.
There were some gaps in the floor console - not fitted properly, the controls for A/C and power windows were very tachy. And the plastic door handle felt as it would yank out - it was rattling in the TD car that we got.
The indicator stalks did not mover around with a smooth click as in santro or wagon-r, and the gear-shift, though much improved, was still a notch below santro's.
Pricing
Here is where the Xeta beats the competition by far - the middle version with body-color bumpers, power steering and AC comes for cool 3.30L OTR delhi !
If thats too much, consider the base version for just 2.80L OTR delhi !!
Thats under-cutting the competition by miles.
Verdict
Of course, only time will tell how good a market proposition it is, but if you can ignore the build-quality issues, it is a very good VFM buy. Indica petrol sales should definitely go up with this offering.
Though my friend is still confused, as he likes the space & pricing in Indica, but is not able to decide whether he can ignore the quality issues.