[Digital Vampire]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Huh!!! A courtsey car?! In hyderabad? Who services your car mate? And was it a free service? I mean, was it a within warranty service? I do not think Autofin at least does anything of the sort here (gotta ask the next time though...)!

Yes.. it was the 4th free service

Malik Cars gave me a nifty little Matiz for my day time use when the car went for the service. And that too without asking for it...lol

[hell_rider]

Hello All,

Mileage till date : Little over 6500 kms

Even before the car was due for its service, I got a call from the dealer, Om Sai Motors, enquiring about the car and any niggles I might be having. Having mentioned a couple, I was requested to bring it in for a free pre-1'st service check up and tune-up. The niggles mentioned in my initial report were taken care of, absolutely free of charge. Was quite impressed with the pro-activeness of the dealer.

Both times, pre-1'st service visit, and the 1'st service visit itself the car came back distinctly better than it went in. Good job.

Engine tune-up, suspension tune-up/tightening, clutch pedal setting etc etc and all standard procedures done.
Got the anti-rust treatment done during the service. They threw in the engine-coating treatment for free.

Its been under a month since I got the service done, and I have already received a call from the dealer, advising me to drop off the car if I have any niggles.

One constant irritant:
Would like fellow bhpians' input on the problem below.

I normally top-up, drain and top-up. Once the fuel-indicator drops down to 3/4'th full, and I brake, I get a shuddering impact from the back. It is quite disconcerting. This happens especially when I brake at low speeds for e.g. while reversing or basically at 1'st or 2'nd gears. To eliminate doubts of mechanical malfunction, I sat in the car with the engine off and asked my friends to push the car, and then braked. Same noise. The impact is accompanied by the distinct noise of liquid sloshing inside a container. This tells me its the fuel sloshing inside the tank. According to the dealer and my friends, this is normal as diesel is a "heavier" fuel. But I have my doubts. Kindly advise.As is said, the impact is heavy enough for it to be quite unnerving and often takes me my surprise.

Proceeding with the report:

Build Issues:
None as yet. Nothing is squeaking, coming off or getting loose. No wierd noises yet, everything is holding up fine. All buttons, indicators, switchgear, power-windows, rear-de-mister etc. working fine.

Of course apart from the two fog lamps, two rear-view mirrors I had to change and the bumper which is dented thanks to 2 rickshaw drivers and bikers.

Noise Levels:
Same as the day I took delivery. If anything, I perceive it to be a bit smoother. This was my main worry, it being a diesel, that the sound would get really bad. Of course, its still early days, but I am comforted by the insulation built into the car.

Ride Quality / Handling
Car seems to have settled in. The bounciness I mentioned in my initial report has definitely diminished. Now when the car passes over a pot hole, it is more of a muted "thunk". Still nowhere near Palio quality though. All said and done, I believe, the Palio will remain the benchmark for hatches in India for a long long time to come. Every time I make a comparison, I almost always invariably end up comparing it to a Palio.

Tyre squeal has increased considerably, while braking and full U-turns. This is more of a tyre issue I believe. I am running stocks.

Engine, Gearbox, & Turbo

1. Engine is obviously "freer" now and revving up in lower gears is much more smoother.
2. I still have an issue with the 30-40 kmph band in 2'nd gear. Please note, I am NOT talking about turbo-lag. I had mentioned this in my initial report as well. Engine sounds like the speed is too high for 2'nd, but cannot shift to third as it is too low for 3'rd. As a result, even though you are not, it feels like the engine is being pushed. I would have either liked the 2'nd to go longer or the 3'rd to have come down lower.
3. Regularly pull up in 3'rd now. Enjoying the turbo. It is very satisfying, if I may say so. 3'rd gear is easily the most used gear. Engine sounds very relaxed even when pushed to about 60 in 3'rd gear.
4. Gear Shift, according to me the bane of earlier TATAS, thankfully is not an issue at all. Not a single mis-shift. Of course, to be honest, it would also, to an extent be in part due to my getting used to car over this period of time. But point I am making is, its still effortless, precise and gives good feedback.
5. Force required to manipulate the clutch has slightly reduced, but still could be more easy-going according to me. Not a problem in regular traffic. But extended periods of stop and go could get uncomfortable. Once, it took me close to 3.5 hrs to get from Kandivali to Mulund, entirely stop and go, 1'st and 2'nd gear, right till L.B.S. Marg at Kanjur. That day my left leg felt strained and pained.

Long Drive Comfort
I am quite ashamed to say, the only "long-distance" trip I have managed to make is a drive to Lonavla with four other friends. Two-up front and three in the rear. All luggage and alcohol and icebox comfortably stowed away in the boot. Drive was very relaxed at a steady 90. This was way before the 1'st service actually. None of us were cramped at all. Testament to the spaciousness of the car. The car feels like it can cruise along all day like that. Very relaxed highway behavior. Of course, there will definitely be a section who feel it might be underpowered for highway runs, but for my style of driving, never more than 110kmph, power delivery is very much adequate.

Mileage
Surprisingly, the figure continues to hover around the same I had mentioned in my initial report. Between 14 to 15 kmpl. To be fair, post the 1'st service, I pull much harder, bring the turbo into play much more often, i.e. rev upwards of 2500 rpm, but the mileage is still the same. Point I am making is I am not getting the 18-19 kmpl figures others report, but the mileage has stayed the same in spite of a more aggressive driving style. I still have not made an accurate reading after the 1'st service though, but I feel its still the same.

I have stopped using TurboJet. I use normal diesel and add in System D instead.

Note about Bumper and Fog lamps assembly.
There is a thin strip which is stuck on to the inside part of the bumper with industrial adhesive or the like. The mounts for the fog lamps are fixed onto this strip, and the fog lamps installed on these mounts. If you get an impact on your bumper like I did, the strip inside comes off just a bit depending on the force of impact. Once it comes off, it cannot be stuck back flush to the bumper. As a result, the position of the fog lamp mounts also changes slightly. Then no matter what, you can never get the fog lamps back to the original position, i.e. flush with the line of the bumper. The fog lamps will then always be a bit recessed into the bumper. Only solution, replace the bumper.

Query about tyre pressure
Could anyone throw some light on the appropriate tyre pressure. I am running stocks. The specified pressure mentioned on the driver side door is 24 psi for the rear and 28 psi for the front. However, when I do fill up air, the attendant always tells me to fill up to 30 in the rear and around 26 in the front. He says, otherwise my mileage will suffer. Can anyone throw light on this please. Stick to the manufacturer's recommendation or go over it ? 90% of the time, its just me or two of us in the car.

Wrap-up
Am I satisfied? Yes. The car has performed to my expectations this far and has not let me down on any count. It has fulfilled my requirement of four-wheeled transport at an affordable price. Running/fuel costs are damn reasonable. For the money I've paid, I think I am deriving significant value.

One negative point if I had to choose:
The gear ratios in 30-40 in 2'nd gear. If I could change one thing in this car, I would work on this.

One positive point if I had to choose:
Not mileage, not price, not running cost, not turbo-power. Almost definitely the big-car feel inside. Spaciousness is marvelous.

Regards,
hell_rider

[satish_appasani]

Good review on Indica Turbo. If you have first hand experiance with Palio D WRT to engine, pickup topspeed etc, can you please also put your comparisions here.

[rajdoll]

nice write-up hell_rider.

I normally top-up, drain and top-up. Once the fuel-indicator drops down to 3/4'th full, and I brake, I get a shuddering impact from the back. It is quite disconcerting. This happens especially when I brake at low speeds for e.g. while reversing or basically at 1'st or 2'nd gears. To eliminate doubts of mechanical malfunction, I sat in the car with the engine off and asked my friends to push the car, and then braked. Same noise. The impact is accompanied by the distinct noise of liquid sloshing inside a container. This tells me its the fuel sloshing inside the tank. According to the dealer and my friends, this is normal as diesel is a "heavier" fuel. But I have my doubts. Kindly advise.As is said, the impact is heavy enough for it to be quite unnerving and often takes me my surprise.

This seems to be a design flaw with Indica's braking system. I had discussed this problem with them, their response was that it is common in all the Indicas, so all you can do is, Ignore.

Query about tyre pressure
Could anyone throw some light on the appropriate tyre pressure. I am running stocks. The specified pressure mentioned on the driver side door is 24 psi for the rear and 28 psi for the front. However, when I do fill up air, the attendant always tells me to fill up to 30 in the rear and around 26 in the front. He says, otherwise my mileage will suffer. Can anyone throw light on this please. Stick to the manufacturer's recommendation or go over it ? 90% of the time, its just me or two of us in the car.

Did you say 24 psi and 28 psi???
Because for non turbo v2, the standard pressure reuqired is 28psi for rear and 30psi for front and I still put 29 and 31 respectively, so you need to check the manuals again.
Regarding the milage of 14-15, I think, either you must be driving in very heavy traffic everyday or you may look at going a little lighter on that gas pedal.

[Rayden]

Nice writeup hell_rider vbmenu_register("postmenu_236675", true); !!!