[lalith_ka]

Greetings to all,

I own Tata Indigo TDi LS variant, which became part of my family on 28th October, 2005. It came with a price of 5.3L on road.

Add-ons:
1. Lucas TVS 90/100 headlamps (blue light) later switched to Philips.
2. Pioneer MP3 player with 5 way speakers.

I had bought this car hoping that I would be doing lot of highway driving, which I continue to do even now. Never really had any serious problems with the car except for sligher higher engine noise than similar dated tata indigo's and few rattling noises within the passenger cabin esp from the dashboard. Apart from all these minor issues, car has lived upto the expectations interms for drivability, fuel economy and comfort.

This car is good to drive in city, let it be taking U or doing a sharp turn is not a problem at all. On weekdays I use my car hardly for 10kms a day but during weekends I havent taken a count of distance travelled.

Highway driving has always been a pleasure with Indigo, I have ripped the car for 10.5 hours of non-stop drive from bangalore to hyderabad (580 kms to be precise). This happend way back in December 2005, when I was travelling to Bhilai for my engagement, I had to catch a train from hyderabad, as I had missed one from bangalore. Trust me I never had even a iota of strain or stress doing that. Car is great interms of maneuverability and handling. I have a reason to praise for Indigo's handling, rear right tyre went flat (curse the nail) near Kurnool on my way back to bangalore. I was cruising at 130 when it happened. Car went bit off the straight line, but I didnt have problems in controlling it. Thankfully front tyre didnt give way, otherwise I wouldnt be there today to give this report .

I had two minor city accidents, firstly when a LPG cylinder tempo rammed into my car from back, I trashed the licenseless driver and made his owner pay for the damages. Second incident was when a Marunti 800 drunk/licenseless - 'learner' banged my car in a cross road which resulted in the suspension bend. I managed to extract 8k from the driver to get my car fixed. Luckily rear struts costed only 6k + labour, I had to pay 1k from my pocket.


Regarding diesel I have always been particular. I usually drop in at SHELL(old madras road) or HP (airport road) stations. I have been using System D frequently, it has helped in the reduction of black smoke emission from the exhaust.

One tip I would like to share with all Tata Indigo TDi owners, run the engine in idle for 5 mins after cranking (i know it sounds crazy and more than what manual reads), I bet it helps to reduce vibrations and heats up the engine. I make it a practice as my city usage is quite low.

I would like to know from fellow Indigo owners, is there any K&N filter available for Indigo.

Suggestion to Tata, it would be great if Turbo charges kicks off bit early then what its currently. I believe Tata uses KKK turbo charger for Indigo, these chargers are not that efficient, I wish they have better alternatives.

In summary, Tata Indigo TDi LS has proved to be a great buy for me. I have read articles about its drawbacks, but I would say in short, "what you pay is what you get". This car is good value for money and I bet it can give a good run for money as compared to petrol cars of similar price tag.

[sajo]

Nice review lalith! Great to know another happy Tata customer out there. How has the service experience with the dealer been so far?

[GTO]

Good review, Lalith. We also picked up an Indigo recently and I agree with you on the niggling problems and turbo-lag. But the turbo-lag is not that significant and its easy to work around it.

Butttttttttttttt what the Indigo offers at the price is fantastic. The ride quality, comfort, air-con and ability to take abuse is fantastic. Yup, I am a happy owner too (though I dont get a chance to drive it much).

[pawan_pullarwar]

what mileage did you get out of your car. Please tell me city and highway with ac mileage.

[Stratos]

Nice report Lalit. I found the Indigos overall handling much better than that of the Indica. I have the LS IDI Diesel from 2004. There has been no serious problem in any case at all. The only thing that annoys me is that the rims are very delicate and tend to bend if you go hard over a pot hole. Have you ever faced these? It still gives fuel efficiency of upto 18.5 kmpl sometimes on the highway. The over all visibility and comfort level inside the cars helps to relax on pretty long drives too!

Like you guys said, "Happy to own the Indigo?" - Definately!

[lalith_ka]

Service experience has been decent, but they can be better. I have found them to be bit laid back, but if you pesterer them, they do the job well. Car has always been serviced by Concorde Motors, Bangalore.

I agree with GTO regarding Turbo lag, but as a end user I would like the power to be readily available instead of waiting till rpm kicks of till 2000 rpm.

Regarding ability to take abuse, I have taken the car till vythiri resort in Kerala (trust me roads are pathetic), and Indigo climbs with ease.

[lalith_ka]

Regarding mileage, let me tell you about Highway first. Last week I had travelled 800 odd kms, all of highway and very meagre city drive and I got close to 18.5 kmpl, I believe if driven in 100-110 kmph range you might sqeeze out 19 too.

Indigo in city gives around 15, which I have been getting since day 1.

Trust me if you do cost comparison with a similar size petrol car, Indigo will make you happy.

[sajo]

I agree witht the service personnel being a little bit laid back.Will pester them (a lot) next time. Our Indigo (Petrol) will be going in for a power steering pump issue this week. Anybody else facing issues with the power steering? (Fluid leaking off leading to a creaky pump).

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sajo

I agree witht the service personnel being a little bit laid back.Will pester them (a lot) next time. Our Indigo (Petrol) will be going in for a power steering pump issue this week. Anybody else facing issues with the power steering? (Fluid leaking off leading to a creaky pump).

Its a leak in the rubber parts. Cost of replacement is < 400rs.
The reason is that the pipes are very improperly placed. So a stone hit from the tires can rupture the lines.
Even a hit on a very tall speedbreaker can do the same damage.

[lalith_ka]

It's been a year since my last review on Tata Indigo, since then I have managed to clock only 8K kms on the odometer.

Add-ons on the car:
1. K&N Stock replacement air filter
2. Bosch wipers
3. Mats .

For past 6 months, I have battered the car. I will stick to my earlier statement of Indigo being highly maneurable and easy to play on. Indigo is easy on curves and stable on straight line at high speeds too. I had touched 150kmph(not sure about odo error) and had to brake really hard, surprisingly car held on the line, no faltering. This happened on my way from Chennai-Bangalore GQ. Indigo fares well in this aspect of being highly maneurable.

Moving over to pickup. I find Indigo having laid back attitude, one literally has to stand over the accelerator to make it go. Thanks to K&N air filter, Indigo generates good power. I had not mentioned about the K&N air filter to my wife, she was like, "what have I done to the car, it seems smooth and powerful". I can bet that K&N stock replacement filter helps. My initial observation was that there was dip in the fuel efficiency, contrary to what is claimed. Later I found that I was enjoying the improved power so much that I was revving the engine too much, I believe that would have been the reason of mileage drop. I dont find the drop after altering my driving habit.

Tata's have done good job on this car's suspension. Even bad potholes are subdued easily. I stay close to Ryan International School, Brookefields, Bangalore and 0.5km approach road to the school is pathetic. My Indigo sails peaceably over the pot holes. Suspension is praiseworthy.

Space, nothing to complain about. Both front and back seat space are ample. After sitting in Indigo, I feel even Getz,Accent,Scorpio,Fusion etc cramped (Reason for comparison being, my friends own these cars).

I am hacked off about Indigo w.r.t engine noise inside the passenger cabin. I have no clue what needs to be done to lower that. Not too sure opening the dashboard and gluing 'Dynamats' would help.

Apart from all these, I enjoy driving this car. I missed out on the fuel efficiency. I have been consistently getting 14-15 in city for ages now (touchwood). On highways, Indigo gives anything between 18-20 depending on the driving condition. If cruising beyond 120kmph, I have noticed lowered mileage (upto 17 only). Anyway, calculating kmpl is very immanent. Unless car manufactures come up with a precise device, no way we can come to an correct figure.

That's about update on Tata Indigo TDi LS. (Oct 2005 model)

[wanderernomad]

@lalith any idea if i can fix those K&N filters on my DICOR Marina, Aug 07? Any major improvement in performance and what is the price of these?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

@lalith any idea if i can fix those K&N filters on my DICOR Marina, Aug 07? Any major improvement in performance and what is the price of these?

Sure a free air flow will give you better performance, but then its a diesel, and the noise can cause you a headache, esp on highway drives with continuous 110-120kmph driving.
Not to mention you will also void your warranty, unless you plan to change remove K&N and put in stock filter every time you give her for service.

That said, the increase in performance will be atmost a couple of hp.

[wanderernomad]

Hmm not a very rosy picture.

[panky12345]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Sure a free air flow will give you better performance, but then its a diesel, and the noise can cause you a headache, esp on highway drives with continuous 110-120kmph driving.
Not to mention you will also void your warranty, unless you plan to change remove K&N and put in stock filter every time you give her for service.

That said, the increase in performance will be atmost a couple of hp.

even with the stock replacement? Any idea about the cost of stock K & N replacement for Indigo LS TDi? and also if some other stock options are available?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by panky12345

even with the stock replacement? Any idea about the cost of stock K & N replacement for Indigo LS TDi? and also if some other stock options are available?

Yup, you are using a third party part. So Tata can Void your warranty.
Also not that you are in Delhi. Delhi is extremely dusty most of the year.
K&N official website recommends using a shroud when in dusty conditions, and using a shroud will rob the "freeness" of the filter.