Tata Indigo Manza : Test Drive & Review

[rajivn]

Wow. Great Review GTO. None of the What you won't like you listed is a major showstopper for most customers looking for a entry level family sedan. In all, its a well rounded car which will satisfy most needs of average Joe. People who wouldnt be impressed by Manza are the ones looking for killer performance, looks and snob value. For everyone else theres Manza.

[kalpeshc]

n00b here.

The braking capability that you've mentioned where it stopped from 130 without swerving - would it be applicable only to ABS or even an entry level petrol have similar braking capability. The non-swerving is a feature of ABS or otherwise?

[DigitalDragon]

I am speechless. Simply "AWSOME" review GTO ! Somebody has said old wine tastes batter; yes, very true.

My hunt is on for a all-rounder sedan and I feel Manza is well within the boundary. I would like to add few of my personal observations:

I checked the odometer at night, with the backlight on. It just looked beautiful -the combi of white and red, though the overall size is smaller. Again personal choice, but i feel there is a RICH look in the ODO.

I am quite surprised on the outside temperature display. I have my own doubt now whether that is really working or some calibration problem. I checked in the evening in Bangalore, showed 35* C. SOmebody else in the forum also mentioned of the same temp and now your review also shows the same 35* C.

Somewhere in the review you mentioned the AC was working perfectly at 2/3 positions. How about the noise ? Did you, by any chance, check for the noise, also in 4th position ?

Any alloy suggestion ? I am sure with a 15" 10 spoke chrome, the looks part will be compensated to certain extent.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by jkdas

The review proves it not noisy but good.

No diesel cabin has pin drop silence. The Manza has its NVH in line with the rest of the C segment, and even lower than some.

GTO; did you try lifting the bonnet?

Oh believe me, that damn bonnet is so heavy! Even the boot lid was relatively heavier.

Originally Posted by ethereal

I shall like to thank all the Members of Team BHP, who have contributed in whatever way to this forum, becoz of this I could bargain on Newly Lauched Car, where normally nothing else is offered. I shall update once again, when I get a call for delivery.

Congrats! We do hope you will create, and maintain, a thorough ownership thread that is of help to others.

Originally Posted by royalcruiser

i had one question - in the older Indicas and Indigos the position of the accelerator, brake, clutch was rather high and i used to find it uncomfortable also leading to fatigue over longer drives. Has this been taken care of in the Manza?

Originally Posted by Bala.V

One important factor which GTO mentioned is the lack of leg space between the clutch and the console to rest the left feet.

I didn't really find the pedal position awkward (though the wheel wheel is narrow and gap between pedals is lesser), but what I do miss is a dead pedal. Considering this car's mile-munching cruising capability, a dead pedal would have been a boon on long drives.

Originally Posted by muni

2.3 Million Kms I suppose , the lakh part you must have overlooked.

Oops! Corrected, thanks. Though my review has had 2.3 million / 23 lakh kms listed from the time of release.

Fantastic review as usual and you have built quite a reputation here and am sure many people who visit your reviews are bound to be influenced.

I realise the responsibility and try to cover any new car in the most detailed manner. Each and every pro & con, whether small or large. Over and above this, Manza ownership reviews will start flowing in soon!

Your review is the best the Tata Manza can ask for without being biased. I like the balance and objectivity of the review and being an Indigo owner yourself , you have been able to clearly differentiate the levels of improvement and the scope for improvement.

Thanks

The biege is still prone to dust and needs sustained care and cleaning.

I get my beige-interior'ed car detailed twice every year. Result Here. Beige requires more maintenance for sure, but its easy to keep it clean with the right amount of care. Of course, one has to have the inclination and extra time.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Tata has finally grown up and now i see it putting good competition to the likes of MUL.

Not only is this car a giant leap ahead of the previous Indigo, but it is substantially improved over the Vista hatchback too!

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

The braking capability that you've mentioned where it stopped from 130 without swerving - would it be applicable only to ABS or even an entry level petrol have similar braking capability. The non-swerving is a feature of ABS or otherwise?

Without any doubt, the ABS (and thus, no wheels locking) contributed to the excellent braking capability of our test car. As an informed Team-BHPian, you should only consider the ABS-equipped variant of any car you plan to buy.

Originally Posted by DigitalDragon

I checked the odometer at night, with the backlight on. It just looked beautiful -the combi of white and red, though the overall size is smaller. Again personal choice, but i feel there is a RICH look in the ODO.

Sure is. While I was initially taken aback at the small size, 2 hours of driving and it was totally cool. The dials look classy.

I checked in the evening in Bangalore, showed 35* C. SOmebody else in the forum also mentioned of the same temp and now your review also shows the same 35* C.

Only on Team-BHP will anyone read such detailed observations. Take a look at the first picture of the interiors post (entire dashboard). Temp shows 32* there.

Somewhere in the review you mentioned the AC was working perfectly at 2/3 positions. How about the noise ? Did you, by any chance, check for the noise, also in 4th position ?

Umm, sounded like any regular blower does at top position. 2 was not bothersome at all, 3 made some noise.

[prasanth]

The Vista is not sold to the taxi market, nor will the Manza be. Not at least, initially.

I'm sure I have seen lots of them vista taxis. If thats the case in my city im sure loads of them are getting registered in other states.

Well if its just for the initial few months then what difference does it make to the taxi image?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by royalcruiser

....in the older Indicas and Indigos the position of the accelerator, brake, clutch was rather high and i used to find it uncomfortable also leading to fatigue over longer drives. Has this been taken care of in the Manza?

Though the pedal position didn't cause any discomfort - i did also occasionally feel that the accelerator and brake were a little too close together as the right-side of my foot touched the accelerator when i stepped on the brakes.

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

The braking capability that you've mentioned where it stopped from 130 without swerving - would it be applicable only to ABS or even an entry level petrol have similar braking capability. The non-swerving is a feature of ABS or otherwise?

Kalpeshc, even without the ABS engaging at all, the car was very well behaved under braking and with good brake response.
ABS only kicks in during those extreme/panic situations where you would otherwise lock up your wheels.

cya
R

[GTO]

Guys, uploading some misc. pictures of interest (which weren't included on the 1st page report):

Not only is it a heck of a lot of fun to have a test-track all to yourself, but its also a safer way to check the emergency braking / handling capability of a car:







Some misc exterior shots:








Closeup of the small audio display:


Passenger Airbag:


Left shot covering the dash area:

[rpmx1000]

Three Cheers , Awesome review GTO! Reads like a fast thriller paperback..
As usual extremely thorough.I'd say Tata has thought this through and through.
Makes me want to buy it! Surely a bull-dozire
Could'nt resist this:

The Manza does not look like a hatchback on which a boot was stuck on, as an after-thought.

Makes me want to believe you read (and were influenced by) my posts through before you deleted them (Request to mods: Please don't edit this to retain some liveliness, except the bracketed sentence)

Honoured to see Tata learn from their erstwhile partners (reference to the C220 here ). S-class Seating angle at a tenth the price - too much!

Hope this car has a longer wait-list than the abominable undzireable contraption
Maruti has inflicted on hapless car-buying janta.

What about the petrol ? For some reason I don't fancy buying the one fitted with the
VGT'ed national engine.Is the price difference worth it (Foot in mouth Q for me..This after having influenced
many friend's car-buying decisions to go for the diesel?).

[msharma_79]

Goes without saying that Big boss has nailed it again, Excellent review.I dont want to sound too melodramatic when I say that I as a Tata product owner finally can proudly say tata is not just a Taxi and truck maker.Seriously guys these are good cars and top of these are INDIAN CARS.

I have been waiting for this car and timing is just about right when I have finally sold my xeta.

But one thing GTO I need to know about the steering wheel. Are they still continuing with hydraulic ones or they have shifted EPS?

Again Great Job tata and Bhpians.

[-NUT-case]

A very good test report. GTO has got most, if not all of the + and - points spot on. I had the chance to TD a diesel manza a couple of days back. Some points about it.

1. I found the under thigh support a little out of place as i found the edge of the seat pressing against the back of my thighs a little too much (maybe because of my short legs lol). Could be a little uncomfortable for long drives. Recently did a 2000 km drive in my santro (From chennai to kanyakumari to ernakulam and back to chennai) and was as fresh as a daisy at the end of it. Function over form.

2. Another member had said the clutch is a little hard and is in 2 stages . Arn't all clutches in 2 stages , the play part and then the activation part. Also i found the clutch of the manza better than that of linea.

3.A centre ADJUSTABLE arm rest , yes . In the TD linea i had put down the arm rest at a signal after i had engaged the hand brake. When the light went green i could not disengage HB because the arm rest was in the way and as usual our very impatient indian drivers started honking to high heaven the second they noticed i was in a new car.

4.The rubber usb cover was torn in the 3 day old display manza and i noticed a photo of another torn cover in the forum.

5. About the electrical quality, the TD car that had only 400 km in the odo did not have a working horn and i was told it was because of some blown fuse .

6. About the ride quality. I noticed that small potholes casued the rear shocks to kind of recoil and cause a shudder in the car . It could have been due to improper tire pressure.

7.The groud clearance of 160 i think is needed as a lot of linea owners are having problems of the bottom, scrapping speed breakers even with only 2 passengers.

8. I hope the plastic quality is better than the linea because i found in the linea, various bits and pieces of display cars in several showrooms broken. (Glove box latch,Fuel lid latch,boot latch,Chrome strip,Front bumper skirt, The whole button strip in the centre console pushed inside etc).
In the manza i found one of the rear power windows button already brokenin a display car.

9.The turbo lag is more evident in the 1st and 2nd gears if you tend to put pedal to metal . If you feather the accelerator, the car glides ahead smoothly with little fuss, which is a vast improvement over the old indigo. The turbo boost in the 3rd and 4th is shear drool mal.

10. The right side front pillar along with the ORVM tends to casue a blind spot when taking right turns.

I have been pointing out most of the faults because i absolutely love the +ive points of this car and am booking a Aura ABS quad on the 1st of Jan ( to get a 2010 registration). The waiting period is 1 month as it is according to the dealers and that will take us into december if we can trust what the dealer says and most probably will be even more delayed going by the experience with linea and punto as they were launched.

One piece of advice i would like is about the wheels. Am planning an upgrade as i want them to look bigger as i am sure it will improve appearance. Which is better , 15' Alloy with 185 65 tires or a 16' Alloy with 195 55 tires. Hope my post was not too long.

[adits]

Originally Posted by rpmx1000

What about the petrol ? For some reason I don't fancy buying the one fitted with the
VGT'ed national engine.Is the price difference worth it (Foot in mouth Q for me..This after having influenced
many friend's car-buying decisions to go for the diesel?).

AFAIK, the price difference between same spec petrol an diesel models is around 70-80K OTR. So I guess the standard calculations on cost-effectiveness of a diesel apply.

Originally Posted by GTO

Brief report on the 1.4 Petrol:

Unlike the 1.3 diesel which Tata has retuned, the 1.4 petrol feels nearly the same as in the Linea. This unit is rated at 89 BHP @ 6,000 rpms and 116 NM of torque at 4,750 rpms. The 1.4's power delivery is more linear than in the 1.3 MJD (which has turbolag) and urban driveability is good. The 2nd gear pulls clean and is a vital tool within the city. As in the Fiats, this is a motor that needs to be worked to perform. It's smooth and revv-happy (fuel cut-off at 6,600 rpms) and is fun to work through the gears. Yup, the engine has that Italian growl at high rpms too (non-enthusiasts can get annoyed). However, it is the 1.3 diesel that is most relevant to the Manza. Both engines have an identical horsepower output, while the diesel has about 70% more torque. I would anyday recommend the diesel Manza over the petrol. For its superior torque, fuel-efficiency and expectedly better resale. Consider the petrol Manza only if your running is too low to warrant a diesel.

I have not yet TD'd the petrol manza and for now will go with what GTO has said

[DigitalDragon]

Originally Posted by GTO

Only on Team-BHP will anyone read such detailed observations. Take a look at the first picture of the interiors post (entire dashboard). Temp shows 32* there.

Thanks GTO! I can see varied temps here in different pictures. Stand relieved.

Waiting for a petrol detail review though. Anybody game ?

Originally Posted by msharma_79

But one thing GTO I need to know about the steering wheel. Are they still continuing with hydraulic ones or they have shifted EPS?

This is hydraulic. Even GTO has mentioned of the same in the review.

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

7.The groud clearance of 160 i think is needed as a lot of linea owners are having problems of the bottom, scrapping speed breakers even with only 2 passengers.

The GC is not 160 but 165 mm.

[royalcruiser]

Originally Posted by GTO

I didn't really find the pedal position awkward (though the wheel wheel is narrow and gap between pedals is lesser), but what I do miss is a dead pedal. Considering this car's mile-munching cruising capability, a dead pedal would have been a boon on long drives.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Though the pedal position didn't cause any discomfort - i did also occasionally feel that the accelerator and brake were a little too close together as the right-side of my foot touched the accelerator when i stepped on the brakes.

Good, thanks! I guess it will take a bit of getting used to with the close positioning - but with such improvements a dead pedal should've also been considered. Guess I'm being greedy, but then a front armrest could also have been thrown in with the inside cabin being so spacious would have added to the driving pleasure

[Bala.V]

Petrol Manza not available for TD with any of the dealers in Hyderabad.
Would like to see a review of petrol in terms of performance from Team-BHP experts.

[DigitalDragon]

Originally Posted by GTO

Inexplicable!! Screenshot captured on 29/10/2009. Tata's website still shows the discontinued Indigo, and not a mention of the Manza (on the main Tata cars page):

They had updated the website and in fact by 18th Oct, if i remember it correctly. I have been referring to the website quite frequently. Requires a bit of search though. Here is the link :

Indigo Manza

and a snapshot: