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Old 1st March 2007, 22:34   #31
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Indica is the car that has the Diesel and the Petrol units based on the same engine block and since the diesel is turbo-able, I dont see a reason why the petrol cant be Turbo'd without much trouble. That too a Turbo on the 1.4 100bhp engine would take the power upto ....(somewhere very high!!)

Now as they had to detune the "Dicor" and the "twin-cam 16v" engine in the Indigo application as the chasis was found to be not able to withstand the high torque over sustained interval, maybe they could try this on the new bodied indica. But nevertheless, An Indica sport is definitely a yes from customer point of view (so is sport of anything on wheels rather than just a moniker like "1.2 sport").

Palio platform with its existing engine I think has its days numbered cos Fiat has better engines to power the same car (with lower capacity and better responses). So lets just move on and not drag the old engines we liked so much. As for Swift with a Baleno engine, why not, but let the head be a VVTI head.
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Old 1st March 2007, 22:46   #32
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Zen, Esteem, Baleno, OHC
All these cars weigh less than a ton and have engines made of aluminium which are quite light and parts are available off the shelf.

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But a sport Indica will be atleast 50,000 to a lakh Rs. cheaper than the top of the line Swift and will leave a lot of extra cash to soup up for those on a budget....LOL!!
I just hope Tata dont launch the Indica Sport. Already mad cab drivers in Indica think they are Micheal Schumachers with 100bhp it will be total terror.

I dont think a Sports version of the Indica makes sense. Indica's USP has always been its FE and Tata knowing that wont make such a mistake.

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variants hardly sell these days (e.g. Chevy SRV, Lancer Cedia)
Please test drive the SRV and Lancer Cedia and tell me that they are for show then. The Cedia is one of the best cars in its segment, only poor strategy from HM is letting it down. PERIOD.
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Old 1st March 2007, 22:56   #33
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An Indica sport? After seven years of using them, I say, NO THANKS. The gearbox/engine is far too rough around the edges. The engine hates to be revved, and seems to resist that with all its might. I agree that it has become more refined compared to the older models, but the lumpiness still remains.
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Old 1st March 2007, 23:12   #34
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It should be launched. With a turbocharged version of their 1.4L petrol engine. With reworked suspension, steering geometry, driving position, gearbox, dark tints, 15" gunmetal alloys with 185 profile rubber. With performance spoilers. Should be available in only 2 colors: black/yellow combo or inverse (yellow/black) combo
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Old 2nd March 2007, 00:37   #35
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Non turbo 16V version of the 1.4L engine(same as now with new head) churns out 100bhp. So I guess with some tuning and modification it is possible to have a Tata indica sport 100bhp at 4L(ex-delhi).
Nobody would buy it though, because indica turbo diesel is 4.10 and gives better FE. People who are into performance will not look at Tata anyways.
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Old 2nd March 2007, 02:21   #36
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Originally Posted by salil_pawar
*all show no go* variants hardly sell these days (e.g. Chevy SRV, Lancer Cedia)
The Cedia is "All GO and No Show"!!!

Last edited by nitrous : 2nd March 2007 at 02:22.
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Old 2nd March 2007, 02:36   #37
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Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
People who are into performance will not look at Tata anyways.
Totally agree that it IS the biggest hindrance to Tata launching this car. BUT I feel they should launch it. IMO Tata has consistenly been imroving its cars and that also by leaps and bounds.
It will bomb initially (no doubt about it). But I'm sure they will learn and implement. And the day shoudnt be far when performance would also be an adjective attached to Tata Motors.
Wishful thinking? Well maybe OR maybe not...
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Old 2nd March 2007, 08:55   #38
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No friends lets give some room to TATA also although tata products has been not easy to handle.....but ithink Indica is a car very flexible you can make it look like luxury car as well as sports car it has that potential but not as much as to suzuki's and other makers........
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Old 2nd March 2007, 10:24   #39
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If TATA wants to introduce a SPORTS car, they can. But it will just be a pretender with a sporty name along. They need to first improve their ordinary cars (by leaps and bounds). This is one segment where Maruti if it decides one day can make a big impact. (Bring on the Swift Sport Maruti)
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Old 2nd March 2007, 11:56   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theMAG View Post
It should be launched. With a turbocharged version of their 1.4L petrol engine. With reworked suspension, steering geometry, driving position, gearbox, dark tints, 15" gunmetal alloys with 185 profile rubber. With performance spoilers. Should be available in only 2 colors: black/yellow combo or inverse (yellow/black) combo
the_ag you just a all new car is required for the sports, or the current car with everything re-worked
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Old 2nd March 2007, 12:06   #41
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First and foremost, let me swallow my words back that "Cedia is all show no go"

Coming back to the argument about the reputatation factor.
I feel that reputation and image and stuff like that is purely superficial. If a car is good, it usually sells well no matter what the badge on the grille/boot is.

Talking about reputation, Hyundai never had a sporty image but the Tuscani/Tiburon has done quite well in the US. And the main reason was that inspite of the fact that although it was probably not as good as its rivals in terms of performance it sold well because it had a very low sticker price compared to competition.

Somebody said that Indica diesel will cannibalise Indica Sport sales because the diesel has more FE. I think that's a nonsensical comparison.

I visualise Indica sport to be a no compromise machine with all the right bits and pieces with emphasis on peformance, handling and styling and I think FE in the region of 9-10 kmpl will be acceptable.

For those who say Palio 1.6 is a better choice.
Honestly, how many people buy the Palio even after the tieup with Tata? Palio's reputation has been damaged years ago by Fiat. I wonder how many people who love the palio 1.6 (including me) will actually buy a brand new one in real life...

@ BUSA, I never meant that Esteem, Zen, Baleno are not good cars. I just said that they never had a "sporty" reputation initially. It is we who developed it after realising the true potential of these vehicles.
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Old 2nd March 2007, 17:10   #42
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I am not too sure if someone discussed this before or not. TATA 's were always into performance racing (Tata Racing Season 2006) Remember they sponsored Narain for F1. TATA group companies are supporting the team Williams and also Ferrari (Tata Tech and TCS). So I feel, TATA, go ahead and launch it.
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Old 2nd March 2007, 17:27   #43
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I happened to see the Indica Sport from close quarters at one of the earlier Auto Expos. It looked quite nice and it's a pity it was never launched.

Tata will incur little monetary loss if this car fails to sell in decent numbers since the investment required for launching it would be next to nothing. They already have everything, including a 100 BHP version of their 1.4 block. For the Sport, I think they should add a turbo or supercharger to up the BHP to 120. Also, they must remove those stupid plastic wheel arches and claddings that we see in later model Indicas before launch.
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Old 2nd April 2007, 22:19   #44
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guys, i have seen a red colour tata indica, with the same body kit as that of the indica sport in coimbatore many times, when i used to study there and it was registered.. this time when i went to combatore, the same kind of a car, had a temp registeration, like on the test cars, and had a custom exhaust!!!!!

AND IT SOUNDED SWEET!!!!!
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Old 3rd April 2007, 10:32   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nikhilv12 View Post
guys, i have seen a red colour tata indica, with the same body kit as that of the indica sport in coimbatore many times, when i used to study there and it was registered.. this time when i went to combatore, the same kind of a car, had a temp registeration, like on the test cars, and had a custom exhaust!!!!!

AND IT SOUNDED SWEET!!!!!
As far as i can remember, there were a few Indica sports tuned by the tuners at Coimbatore.... Infact, in an interview of Narain Kathikeyan on NDTV a couple of years ago, he had driven one of those (a yellow one) on the Coimbatore race track.... The front end of the car was very aerodynamic almost ground hugging.

(By the way, I am not talking about the Indica Silhouette, if anybody misunderstands)

here are some more pics....






Check out this article written by Aspi Bhathena
Indica - Sedan & Sports

Last edited by salilpawar1 : 3rd April 2007 at 10:49.
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