Sharing my experiences of my new INDICA V2 DLG TURBO purchased in April 2008

[liberal]

Congrats,

I own a Indica Turbo DLG - December 2005, here are some observations/experiences.

Originally Posted by basab

My observations of the Indica Car are as under:
1. The range of gears of the Indica is not very high, i.e., the gear should be changed in proper range of speeds, otherwise, the performance will considerably decrease. While this hold good for petrol cars as well, however, my observation is that in a diesel car, one needs to be more technically correct while driving.

If you rev till 3000rpm on each gear, you will never go out of the turbo range for best performance. Flip side to this is low fuel average (kms/ltr).To get the best mileage avoid pushing the car to high revvs.

Originally Posted by basab

2. Vibrations of the car are definitely more, when compared to a petrol car.

Vibrations and engine noise will smoothen substantially past 20000kms. I hear Dicor engine vibrates more, did you TD that car?

Originally Posted by basab

3. The driving is getting better by the day. I think some amount of running-in (about 5000 Kms) would be required in the new car, before the engine delivers its optimum performance (Let me know if I am wrong)

I did not bother about running-in with my car. Performance not likely to change with kms run. Car never gave any engine problems till date clocking 30000kms.

Originally Posted by basab

4. The car has got really good power. The moment the Turbo Charger comes into effect ( > 1800 rpm), the drive becomes extremely smooth and the car keeps on pulling.

Below the turbo range, the car is a laggard but over 2000 rpm turbo helps when you overtake or to rip. The turbo lag is pronounced and can get irritating. Anyways, I find this is a much better car than the regular Indica Diesel.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

yup, the second service is @ 10k, but I was advised here to get an oil change at 7.5k, and i got mine changed at 5k

same here, I usually get oil changed every 6000kms -7000kms. I have it done to get a smoother engine as I find it gets coarse after running 5000kms after last oil change.

Take some precautions for a trouble free experience:
1. Ensure you choose the A.S.S carefully or else be prepared to waste time & money maintaining the vehicle.
2. Car may give some problems typical of Tata cars, dont trust the A.S.S blindly on their analysis & recommendations.
3. Take Tata's extended warranty at the earliest, find out whats covered in normal & extended warranty. I paid for suspension work and was asked to get clutch overhaul at my cost within around 10000kms although under warranty.
4. Braking is the weakest point, if your car model is without ABS be careful while braking. Uneven tyre wear is also an issue, get them aligned, balanced & rotated atleast every 10000kms.

[abhinav.s]

Congrats on your new car Basab!! Indica Diesel is a very good VFM car and the turbo version just adds more fun to it.

I own a non-turbo Indica DLG and I get the oil changed every 6000-7000 kms. The car has done close to 45k kms without any major issues with the above oil change intervals.

Once I ran the car all the way till the 10000 km mark without changing the oil and the engine was very coarse and when the mechanic drained the oil it was soot black. The mechanic warned me not to do that and said that its better to get the oil changed every 7000 kms at least. So have been following that schedule ever since and the engine is butter smooth for an indica at least!!!

Have fun and enjoy your new car!!

[deep_bang]

my Nov 2006 Indica Turbo has its first service at 5k and second at 10k. The service intervals are 5k kms apart. It looks like now the service intervals have changed!!

[basab]

Thank you for the advice, Rajesh. Let me know, if you happen to receive any confirmation regarding service schedules from TATA Motors.

[basab]

Originally Posted by liberal

Congrats,

I own a Indica Turbo DLG - December 2005, here are some observations/experiences.



If you rev till 3000rpm on each gear, you will never go out of the turbo range for best performance. Flip side to this is low fuel average (kms/ltr).To get the best mileage avoid pushing the car to high revvs.

Thank you for the suggestion. Tell me friend, is it ok to rev the new car beyond 2500 rpm. I heard that revving the car to high is not good for the injectors, specially the turbo model?

Originally Posted by liberal

Vibrations and engine noise will smoothen substantially past 20000kms. I hear Dicor engine vibrates more, did you TD that car?

I have Test driven a DICOR. The main reasons for not opting for DICOR are: (a) Performance is not known compared to Indica Turbo, which is now well proven; and (b) was informed by the dealership that the few Indica DICORs, which they have been able to sell so far, are not performing too well. However, I must admit that the TD of Indica Dicor was good (better than Turbo)

Originally Posted by liberal

I did not bother about running-in with my car. Performance not likely to change with kms run. Car never gave any engine problems till date clocking 30000kms.



Below the turbo range, the car is a laggard but over 2000 rpm turbo helps when you overtake or to rip. The turbo lag is pronounced and can get irritating. Anyways, I find this is a much better car than the regular Indica Diesel.



same here, I usually get oil changed every 6000kms -7000kms. I have it done to get a smoother engine as I find it gets coarse after running 5000kms after last oil change.
Thanx for the suggestion. I shall also get the oil changed at 5000kms
Take some precautions for a trouble free experience:
1. Ensure you choose the A.S.S carefully or else be prepared to waste time & money maintaining the vehicle.
2. Car may give some problems typical of Tata cars, dont trust the A.S.S blindly on their analysis & recommendations.
3. Take Tata's extended warranty at the earliest, find out whats covered in normal & extended warranty. I paid for suspension work and was asked to get clutch overhaul at my cost within around 10000kms although under warranty.
4. Braking is the weakest point, if your car model is without ABS be careful while braking. Uneven tyre wear is also an issue, get them aligned, balanced & rotated atleast every 10000kms.

Thank you once again for the suggestions. My car is already under extended warranty. What is worrying me as of now is the ambiguity in the service schedules; skipping any one of them (even out of ignorance) may void the warranty.

[liberal]

Originally Posted by basab

is it ok to rev the new car beyond 2500 rpm. I heard that revving the car to high is not good for the injectors, specially the turbo model?

I dont have the answer for this but once I was discussing with the service manager at A.S.S about driving habits with Indica, I was told one should not drive above 80kmpl for longitivity of engine.

Come on I have not spent money on turbo to crawl on open roads. I have fun when roads are clear & safe. On highways have driven above 100kmph till 120kmph (Car has potential to do more) without any problem.

Never cared about revvs but usually do not push beyond 3000rpm.

Further, as you had mentioned in your review A.C is excellent, its one of the best I have come across, never fails to chill escpecially in the summer heat.

[viper_711]

Congrats Buddy - its a real VFM car.
Like the others have said - ensure oil change alongwith oil filter and fuel filter at about 6500-7500 kms instead of the 10000kms as mentioned in the manual.
The manual has the torque and power curve diagram - if you see this, you will realise that there revving beyond 3 to 3.5k rpm is not going to show substantial results.

Regarding the cat-con cleaning - it seems to be a standard dealer tactic to make some money on a free service - if you ask them the reason given will be that you filled bad quality diesel somewhere and hence the cat con needed cleaning. I have been given this explanation a couple of times.

Enjoy your ride and use the forum well to enrich your driving experience.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by basab

Thank u very much friends for ur good wishes. I may admit here that i am totally unaware as to why the catalytic converter was cleaned. Shall ask the mechanic the next time I meet him. Of late, I have noticed that the drive is getting smoother by the day. I am waiting to cross the 5K mark as I am told that the performance would further improve after that. Also, without the AC, I don't face any problems driving in Delhi's bumper-to-bumper traffic. However, with the AC, its difficult to catch up with other cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions.

Friends, I have a small confusion. Can anybody tell me whether the second free service is to be availed after 5000 km or 10,000 Km? The manual says that it should be 10,000. However, the dealer informed that the second service should be availed after 5000?. I have sent an e-mail to TATA Motors, but they have yet to clarify? I look forward to ur suggestions, specially from Indica Owners.

basab - let me answer you in 2 points

1) I got my 1st service in my Indigo CS TDI done a few weeks earlier. When I took delivery I made sure they clean the cat con before me. Its simple and can be done by any mech. Jack up the car - the exhaust manifold 4-2-1 combo rolls down near the gear shifter into the cat con assembly. The mec removed 2 + 2 nut/bolts and the cat con is about 1.5 feet long and weighs about 3-4 kgs. He took it into the car wash-cleaning area and took the AIR-HOSE and stuck it into the catcon for about a minute each - both the in-out sides. Loads of Carbon dust spewed out from both sides. Thats all about Cat Con cleaning. Pity they charge 150Rs for this simple job.!!

2) Try to stick to the manual recomended routine. Unless you drive RASH or RALLY Stuff there is no need to jump start your service schedules. Agreed - You will have to do a Wheel- Alignment job every 5K kms and also may be get the catcon cleaned every 5K Kms - these are simple jobs. During the 5K period just get a checkup done for airfilter cleanliness - if you drive in dusty areas.

Other than these - there is no real need to quesiton the company recomended plans.

[trrk]

Hi viper_711,

A bit off topic, maybe!

> Like the others have said - ensure oil change alongwith oil filter and fuel
> filter at about 6500-7500 kms instead of the 10000kms as mentioned in the
> manual.

I have done oil changes after a 10000kms interval the time span being about 6 months. My Marina LS TDi does mainly in town and intra town trips. The oil level was a mm below the max line and the consistency was smooth, though the colour was black.

Since the service station insisted that I revert to the 7500kms cycle to maintain my warranty, I have gone back to the shorter cycle.