[wanderernomad]

First of all this is a new ownership report and if I am posting it under a wrong thread , mods please forgive and relocate it.

Finally the car has come after high drama at the dealership on Monday as the sales guy went back on a lot of his promises and only dire threats and prospects of physical abuse got me the car on Tuesday evening.

The colour is Cevin Grey and the vehicle is presently in stock condition. The frist drive was on the DND Flyway and noticed the following points :-
1) The Engine is responsive but initially seems to die on you in second gear but after about 2-3 seconds really goes off. I have a Scoprio too and found the same trait in that engine as well minus the initial lethargy.
2) Ride is good and even on broken tarmac the car gildes over effortlessly.
3) The gear stick is not very precise and I felt is not very wayward too, on the whole is easy to slot in the gears.
4) There is an awkward sounding noise which seems to be coming from the front left side and is like an idle revving sound. It occurs only when you have dis-engaged the clutch while shifting up through the gears and is more pronounced when shifting from 2-3-4. It is there for about a second or so and dies out the moment the clutch is engaged.
5) Despite the body weight and lines the body roll is almost negligible and the short steering wheel though looks awkward initially manages to keep the car where you want it to be.
5) I noticed that frequesnt gear shifting is required in city traffic at low speeds as I found the car to stall if I tried to pull it out in second with the AC on.
6) The AC is effective and does its job pretty well with the blower speed set at 2.
7) Leg space, shoulder space, knee space is ample and lots of cubby holes to keep your knick knacks in.
8) The wheels could have been of R15 than the stock R14 and @ 6.45 OTR I think TATA should have given tubeless tyres.
9) There is a slight whine when the steering is fully wound in a single direction. I aim to get it checked at the dealer soon to see if its normal. It comes only when the wheel turn is at its maximum.
10) Engine noise is slighlty more audible in between 1200-1800 rpm range but quietens down around 2000 rpm mark.

On the whole the car feels nice, responsive and capable cruiser and will soon check out its highway performance on the hgihway.

[Zappo]

It is ok. Although it is better to start a Long Term Ownership Report after driving the car for at least 1500kms, now that you have started it we will expect you to update it from time to time. You can probably do that at every service and also whenever something major happens. Write all the nuances and behavioral indicators that you will notice as a driver over a period of time.

Also post some pics of your car, both interior and exterior.

[hormaz]

Congrats wanderernomad for your new ride, that dicor is great to drive, my brother-in-law has 1 too, sat in it, very spacious.

[wanderernomad]

Thank you. I will keep updating this report. I will also be posting the pics very soon and also the behavioural aspects as the car ages. Please post any do's n dont's and also possible suggestions on the odd noises etc that I might hear along the way.
Can I get/purchase team-bhp bumper stickers / logos for the new car, if they are available?

[wanderernomad]

Got the second tank full today. Gives around 15kmpl. Total mileage is about 650 kms right now. The above is all city with half of it in bumper to bumper with 100% AC. This weekend will be going for a trip to Shimla and lets see what does it return on the hgihway.

[abhilashvk]

Got the second tank full today. Gives around 15kmpl. Total mileage is about 650 kms right now. The above is all city with half of it in bumper to bumper with 100% AC

WoW thats a cool mileage. And congrats on your new car.Do post your highway figures.

[musicmanaman]

Please keep updating us on how the car is progressing, Marina is one car that I have always liked and find it better than the normal Indigo. The mileage figure you are getting as stated above is fantastic 15kmpl is awasom. Did you test drive both the TDI and Dicor side by side before buying and found the Dicor better?

Shall watch this post closely and some pictures are sure welcome.

[vnabhi]

I presume it is a diesel car---not sure about Indigo models. Anyways, 15kmpl is a very decent figure for city driving with AC on.
What is the difference between TDI and Dicor?

[wanderernomad]

@music [quote=musicmanaman;546651] Did you test drive both the TDI and Dicor side by side before buying and found the Dicor better?

Yes I did and even better ti made my younger brother visit the TATA dealer in his town and do the same. We then compared the notes The main differences I found were
1. Lesser engine clatter at idle.
2. Better throttle response.
3. Better FE ( as conveyed by a few customers who had come for their car's service and comparing it with friends who owned TDI).

@vnabhi : Yes it is a Diesel. TDI is a Turbo Charged Direct Injection engine which has separate fuel injectors for each cylinder while in a DICOR engine the fuel is injected through a common rail via electronic chips which optimizes fuel intake. Though no great expert in it you may want to search out here or google the same. Ill also try that and in case come up with something in simple english, will post.

[abhibh]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Yes it is a Diesel. TDI is a Turbo Charged Direct Injection engine which has separate fuel injectors for each cylinder while in a DICOR engine the fuel is injected through a common rail via electronic chips which optimizes fuel intake. Though no great expert in it you may want to search out here or google the same. Ill also try that and in case come up with something in simple english, will post.

TDi by TATA is not direct injection. Its still an indirect injection engine with Intercooler.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-vs-tdi-3.html

[abhilashvk]

Yes, as abhibh added, TDi is just the old Indigo with a turbo charger. However DICOR is the common rail engine. One thing that amazes me is that both the engines have a difference of only 2 to 4 bhp.

[musicmanaman]

wanderernomad, thanks for the update, I had been reading a lot about the Dicor vs the TDI and to the best of my knowledge till the last couple of weeks all were stating that the Dicor had more work to be put in by TATA and it's noiser than the TDI, however after reading your comments I assum they have sorted out the initial problems of the Dicor, please keep us posted as much as you can about how the car ages. vbmenu_register("postmenu_534102", true);

[wanderernomad]

Just came back after a long long drive in the hills and the mileage now reads as 2000 K. On the wet hill roads I was impressed with the handling of the car. The following observations were noted:
1. The car needs to be kept in the right gear to keep the rpms @ around 1800 to make it cruise uphill.
2. Frequent down shifting is required in case you have to slow down a bit and then accelerate as roll over in the same gear makes overtaking impossible.
3. The car has great stability around corners and maintains its line with a tad oversteer. Otherwise if you know your way around curves the car can be pushed and it wont disappoint you.(i managed some curves on the kalka simla road at around 60 kmph without twitching an eyebrow).
4. Brakes (my personal opinion though) still feel mushy and didnot inspire any great confidence at high speeds especially downhill.

Now the general information.
1. The car accelerates great on highways and on my way back touched 150 kmph mark quite easily and frequently and still felt glued to the ground.
2. The average FE going towards Shimla was 16.85 as never went above 100 kmph mark but on the return journey it hovered around 15.5 due to a lot of spirited driving. The figures are with 100% AC and 40% highway(plain), 40% hills, 20% city with traffic jams.
3. Engine noise is acceptable for a diesel and is smooth after 18oo rpm mark.

Got the first service done at the TATA showroom in Solan and the first thing which is noticeable is that bad service is I think the most common trait that binds our service centres together these days. The guys were polite almost to a fault but it didnot help matters that 1. they scraped my new car on the rear bumper, 2 had scratch marks of a sharp object on the hatch door, 3. the car vacuum left many a things unsaid about neatness 4. took an awful long time to finish the job.

But overall I think the car is pretty well behaved and has the grunt if you know which buttons to push and at what time....just the way I like my women..err..my cars I mean.

Will post the car pics in my garage by Saturday.

@abhibh : regret the error. I stand corrected.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

4. Brakes (my personal opinion though) still feel mushy and didnot inspire any great confidence at high speeds especially downhill.

A good set of tyres can go a long way in helping with that problem.

[joshisd]

Hi Wanderernomad,
Thanks for sharing detailed info on your Marina. I am very interested go for Marina myself, and am looking to buy TDI version.
Could you please share your views on TDI as you would have evaluated the same when you bought Dicor version?
My current concern with Marina is about long term reliability (3-5 yrs, 60000kms).

Thanks