Test drive : Optra Magnum tcdi diesel

[cooldude1988765]

I was on the look out for a diesel car/suv from quite sometime now and after i heard about the launch of the optra tcdi, (as they call it) i went for a test drive.
Here goes my first ever report/review extremely shorty though.

The guys at orange motors, banjara hills were pretty helpful. I reached their showroow at 7pm and had a look at the car. The front looked really nice, much better than the old one a bit SRVish. The indicators on the ORVMs looked pretty classy. Everyone knows how an optra looks so i will not describe any further as these were the only two changes I noticed.

Interiors:
I never test drove or sat in any of the petrol optras but i felt the interiors were pretty average. It wasnt uncomfortable or bad but they looked pretty boring. The front seats were pretty comfortable and offered good overall support, not too soft or too hard. The rear seats were great loved the leagroom and headroom (i am 6'4"). Access to the seats(i dont know how else to put it may be entry and exit, if you have no clue what i mean sit in an esteem and you will know) was good you dont have to crawl into the car. The double din alpine HU looked good though the speakers were below average.

Ride and handling:
The ride was amazing, great suspension couldnt test too much of the handling though took a few curves at 80 and the car was pretty composed. Braking was also good no problems at all there. The 195 section tyres might have to be upgraded.

Now the most important part the engine :
Absolutely loved it great acceleration. I dint notice too much of a turbo lag yes it is slightly slow below 1800rpm but i felt as long as you are not racing it is not at all annoying. The torque is beautiful the car can cruise comfortably in 5th gear even at 40 and it readily climbs to higher speeds with great ease i must add. The way you are pushed into your seats after about 2400rpm feels great. Overall a very composed highway cruiser and the best part is it gives you the power whenever you need it, just floor the accelerator, no need to downshift also

The ac was pretty effective though i would have liked climatronic ac and there is no multi information display.
The dealer said he tested the mileage of the test drive car and he got about 15.56 (he used the full tank method). The test drive route has mild trafiic on it and the car has done close to 700kms. He had absolutely no info on the service schedule and said he would get back to me.

The only other diesel cars that i have driven extensively are the esteem diesel and the innova.
Please feel free to ask questions about the car and i will try my best to answer them...

Edit: The car has variable geometry turbo too.( not too sure of this one though)

[muni]

Nice first impressions there. The mileage figure looks impressive.Can you please share the on road prices of the available models.

[sammyboy]

wow dude , that was quick and nice

[cooldude1988765]

The top end is 11.26 lakhs and the middle variant is 10.15. Sorry no idea about the base model

[Karandeep81]

11.26 lakhs ? IMHO at that cost Skoada Octavia makes more sense, as it is a more refined car and with a better FE.

[cooldude1988765]

Originally Posted by Karandeep81

11.26 lakhs ? IMHO at that cost Skoada Octavia makes more sense, as it is a more refined car and with a better FE.

IMO the octavia is still more expensive to buy and maintain atleast here in hyderabad. Not to forget it is not as comfortable and doesnt have half the features like alloys abs and leather seats etc..

[Hellcat]

@ cooldude: A very quick and nice report, thanks for sharing the experience.

[superavi]

Pretty neat review.

Very valid arguments against the 1.9 Octavia. How did the gear shift feel? And where does the power peak? 121 PS sounds great! over 30 more than the Octavia!

Superavi

[cooldude1988765]

The gears slotted smoothly but required some effort. I have no idea where the power peaks but you start getting the insane power (torque) from 2300-2400 rpm

[.anshuman]

i was desperate to read more about engine refinement and performance.

[abhibh]

The only diesel car which i feel has no or minimum turbo lag is fiesta 1.4 tdci. Well they should have kept the cost of the car below 11 for top end as when it enters Octy range most people tend to go for octy due to its image in India...

But Optra is a notch above octy anyday in terms of visibility, suspension and comfort.

[kpzen]

Wow..! Good to see a Test drive report so soon....!
Would have loved to know more about the engine performance as thats the biggest surprise this car has in store..

[TRANSAM]

cooldude good review, though the skoda seems like a better option (except the cost of maint and the rear seat comfort) viz the optra.they are also better built!

[anandpadhye]

Is Optra diesel lauched or did you take an unofficial test drive?

[Dhar's]

Octy seems to have an edge over Optra on the brand image considering that the latter is a GM DAT product. The LT version should have been placed well below 10Lac. 11.5 is way too high.