[deepakhon]

there was a time when one of my ex-colleagues was in telco. according to him, the r&d of tatas was to buy cars from all other manufacturers and rip them till nuts and bolts and study them and imitate them. well, all this is the thing of the past. ofcourse, tatas did r&d on customers also, with their previous generation indicas. looks like things have stabilized now. tata has come a long way from being a nut&bolt-copier to a manufacturer which provides decent cars. one commendable achievement is that they are selling their products in many countries. ofcourse, cityrover was not well recieved in uk, but i guess that is a lesson tata will definitely learn and improve in future.

individual experiences of their customer service has been good to hear. i am happy that tata cares for its customers; unlike fiat india. how i wish i get the same level of commitment from fiat india dealers for my palio! way to go tata. all the best.

[tsk1979]

three actually.
The original V2(2001)
New V2 with super quite cabin and new AC(June 2002, I own this one)
New V2 2004.-The one with farings. The June 2002 was the most significant upgrade and handling improved alot. In 2004 tata again sacrificed a bit of handling to favour ride quality.

[tsk1979]

Huh, that was past. Tata Indigo diesel is now one of the most silent diesels In india. It leaves behind lancer/Ford engines in terms of performance and reliability. Crdi is the only one which is better, but that engine is imported, so parts will be more costly. Of course there is scorpio Crdi, but thats a SUV and a different segment.

[drifter]

Yeah... even i agree indigo is a very quite diesel...especially the vibrations are damped pretty well and at the back seat you just cant make out if its a diesel. That after driving the indigo which belongs to our very own stratos.

Drifter

[tsk1979]

The new 70Bhp ones will be actually fun to drive. 8Bhp is a lot of increase, and for a 1ton car, 70Bhp is actually decent, and will give it 16second 0-100 time, which is great for a diesel. Now only if they plonk in the new 142Bhp Crdi when it comes in 2007, or atleaset the 120PS 2006 Safari engine.

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The new 70Bhp ones will be actually fun to drive. 8Bhp is a lot of increase, and for a 1ton car, 70Bhp is actually decent, and will give it 16second 0-100 time, which is great for a diesel.

Completely agree with you. I test drove the Marina LX 2 days back with the intercooler that is 70 bhp one. It feels more responsive, jerks on Switching on the AC have nearly vanished.

Ps: I loved the way they have provided that wind way/ airintake attached to the hood that touches the intercooler on the engine when the hood is shut. Now.. can we have a scoop??

[tsk1979]

70BHp would mean just 2Bhp less than palio with 100kg more! Some more modifications like air filter and free flow and you can actually have a 80BHp indigo . that would be sweet.

[amitverma]

@tsk1979: what i fail to understand is why everyone just has to compare the indigo with the palio...there isnt any comparo b/w the 2. indigo is a sedan, palio is a hatch...comparing it with the petra would b correct...although not worthwhile...
while everbdy is busy talking abt fit&finish, in my opinion nobody can match the exterior pain finish of indica, esp the silver color...top notch tata

[tsk1979]

I compared more in regards to performance. Petra is a different segment(6+), however Palio Diesel is same price as indigo.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

three actually.
The original V2(2001)
New V2 with super quite cabin and new AC(June 2002, I own this one)
New V2 2004.-The one with farings. The June 2002 was the most significant upgrade and handling improved alot. In 2004 tata again sacrificed a bit of handling to favour ride quality.

There was an intermediate V2 (unannounced of course, true TATA style) along with the Indigo. This came with changed control stalks, similar to the Indigo and was a MAJOR improvement over the initial Indica control stalks. My March 2003 LSi came with the new stalks. This was a visible improvement but there were rumours at the time of more invisible improvements.

Around June 2003, there were advertisements about a new Hitachi chip for the V2 petrol models.

hrag

[tsk1979]

that was the June 2002 V2 with a new ECU. Autocar tested the Petrol version against Palio and found it better in terms of performance and ride/handling. This V2 had stiffer suspension and better mileage.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

that was the June 2002 V2 with a new ECU. Autocar tested the Petrol version against Palio and found it better in terms of performance and ride/handling. This V2 had stiffer suspension and better mileage.

I don't intend to nitpick here but there was a newer ECU in 2003. Apparently, with a mapping to increase FE at the expense of performance. Also, what kind of control stalks does your V2 have?

Yes, the 2002 V2 was better in terms of ride and handling, compared to the 2001 V2. I would go so far as to say - check out a new Indica every 6-8 months and you will find something or the other improved.

I'm not very comfortable with using emoticons and so, if my posts come across as rude, please let me know.

hrag

[tsk1979]

Hehe nothing rude here. 2002V2 diesel/petrol had old stacks, but there was a lot of action on the petrol engine front which autocar really appreciated. The car beat Palio in acceleration and FE tests as well as handling. 2003 again saw major changes. And i agree with you there are changes every 6 months or rather every 2 months! For example the indigo petrol had problem of fuel line getting cut due to rubbing against some clamp. They changed the design pretty soon. My friend who had this problem was unable to get the spare fuel pipe because design got changed and there was a shortage of old style. But a phone to Tata Customer care took care of the problem and they also admonished Concorde bangalore of being rude to customer and not giving a quick fix.