[Stratos]

Tata Indigo LS-Diesel Review (3000 Kms)

A small and not so deep review of my Tata Indigo LS. To start of with, me and my parents decided to buy it simply seeing its comfort levels and fuel efficiency, especially that amazing leg space in the front and the rear since all of us are tall. Initially, we had decided to buy the LX model but I don’t trust those electrical windows so much. So got this LS which comes with Body coloured bumpers and power steering. Colour of the car is Jazz Blue. Fitted a manual Central locking system too and a Blaupankt C31 Long Beach stereo. Inside, its very comfortable and 3 normal sized adults can easity occupy the rear seat without any problem.

Lets talk about the tech specs of the car. The 1.4 litre engine taken from the Indica has improved a lot due in respect of the sluggishness, thanks to the turbocharger. Power increased by a 9-10 bhp more. But one thing for sure, that the car needs more power because a little sluggishness is still felt when the A/C is switched on. May be the turbocharger is a low end one so it cant boost that much more bhp from the Indica`s power plant. Suspension, well its very good. Takes some of the worst roads comfortably.
The steering is pretty responsive and suits the car of that size. The boot, well its amazingly big and is pretty useful for long trips.

Now it has completed 3000kms. It worked very fine without any faults. Fuel economy that I got on my first visit to Pune when the car had completed around 200 kms was around 15kms/litre with the A/C on for sometime, which was good. But as I have heard, the fuel efficiency improves as the car completes around 5000 kms so that doesn’t bother me. Then on my next trip to Surat, I got a fuel efficiency of 16.92, which was amazing. The turbocharger has too much of a lag which takes a lot of time to disappear. But once the lag goes the car leaves all that underpowered-ness behind and cruises. The handling, well its pretty much good though the car has some amount of body roll which is experienced while taking curves at certain speeds. Then there is understeer, but as I had tried it on the Bandra Reclamation road when I took the curve at around 70-80 km/hr there was no understeer but when the same curve was taken at 100km/hr, the car had a major understeer and large amount of body roll.

The major problem I faced was with the wheel rims. They are pretty delicate and even a small hit bents the sidewall a little and the wheel cap is thrown out. This happened twice.
Secondly, the headlamp bulbs that Tata provides which are 60 watt, fail to provide adequate illumination at night. I guess that’s the normal stock bulb that they give with the Indica too. Then there are the gaps between the doors and the body, hood and the body, which are so big that a full-grown cockroach can easily enter.

The 14-inch wheels are adequate to take the weight of the car and that’s again a good improvement over the Indica which no doubt needs 14-inch wheels too.

Finally, the price. The car is no doubt one the best VFM cars around. You can get the LS version for around 5.08lacs Ex-Mumbai and the LX version for approx. 5.5lacs Ex-Mumbai. Ofcourse, there is a question of the fit and finish of the car as compared to its competitors but it isn’t that bad either. Service is excellent. Thanks to the well equiped service centers.

This was my first ever review i have written on any car. So if i have missed anything...sorry

[GTO]

Excellent review Stratos, we will await a long-termer once you cross the 10000/20000 km mark.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]But one thing for sure, that the car needs more power because a little sluggishness is still felt when the A/C is switched on. May be the turbocharger is a low end one so it cant boost that much more bhp from the Indica`s power plant.

An intercooler will solve all those problems. Tata will surely offer it as a stopgap before the CRDi engines come in .

GTO

[Dippy]

Great short term review of the Indigo pal. It is surely a great VFM package.

Dippy

[Revvmaster]

Great review pal. The indigo is one very good VFM package and if u have elderly people at home, they'll love the space at the rear, that seat and easy ingress and egress.

Revv

[RJK]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Secondly, the headlamp bulbs that Tata provides which are 60 watt, fail to provide adequate illumination at night

Agree with you 100% Stratos. The visibility is very poor at night with slight rains.
& oh btw....good review

[Rehaan]

Hey Stratos,

Great review pal.
Why dont you put up those pics u have of your car?
About the turbocharger being a "low end one", well it is quite a small turbo, and that has probably been designed that way to maximize the durability of the engine, as the more pressure the turbo puts out the shorter your engine life

Pic of the Indigo engine...look at the end of the large black intake, you can see the silver snail.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Secondly, the headlamp bulbs that Tata provides which are 60 watt, fail to provide adequate illumination at night.

I think all cars with halogen housings are sold with 60/55watt bulbs... (possibly due to it being a law)
So if you feel the performance of the headlights is lower than an average 60/55bulb, it could be two things,
1. The bulbs are of bad quality, the same wattage (60/55) bulbs made by a good manufacturer will show a noticeable difference. (try the +60 bulbs of the same wattage...apparently there is quite a difference)
2. The indigo has a badly designed reflector (which i dont really think is the case?)

cheers
R

ps - i wonder how much more bhp an indigo with some ECU mods could churn out

[Stratos]

Some Pics of my car!
Decent Design there!
Pic1

Pic2

Pic3

[adityapd]

Stratos,

Your car looks amazing dude ..awesome gloss( or is it due to the angel of the shots ? ) hehehe...but seriously one of the best looking indigos i've seen..btw what's this color called ?

Do u polish it regularly..say once a month or so ? Looks wise i like the Indigo Marina better....coz an indigo by itself feels like an indica with a happazardly attahced boot ( no hard feelings) and hence the estate look of the marina does some justice to it...

Btw i've seen a lot of marinas on their routine testing rounds on the telco road here in pune...any idea about the launch date

Agree with you that overall the indigo is a great car...quite room and fairly comfortable for long journeys...

cheers

~A

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (adityapd @ Aug. 06 2004,11:21)]...but seriously one of the best looking indigos i've seen..btw what's this color called ?

hehe.. thanx.. the name of the colour is Jazz Blue.

[lamborghini]

hey stratos..
nice review....
about time i ghave my corollas review....
the glossy efect is due to the polished surface of thecar and the reflection of the sun on it
am i right

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (lamborghini @ Aug. 06 2004,19:08)]reflection of the sun..

Reflection of the Sky i Guess!!!

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Stratos @ Aug. 07 2004,00:06)]Reflection of the Sky i Guess!!!

Stratos use Carnauba cleaner wax with swirl remover. Product name BLUE CORAL. From Pennzoil. Best I've seen so far.
Your car will shine like... well, you know..

By the way great review. Travelled few hundred km weeks back in an Indigo. Loved the back seat and the AC.

[SLK]

ya.. nice review... and a good car too.....
I travelled a few 100Kms... .. was good and comfortable,
The only thing that bothered me was that whenever on hard acceleration the turbo came on.... there was a buzzz.. from the engine. that indigo had done some 30k I guess.

Just wanted to ask one thing, what is the ideally achievable top speed in Indigo.... Indica is 120km/h (we did 140+ in indica, but that takes a hours).

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (SLK @ Aug. 07 2004,11:39)]Just wanted to ask one thing, what is the ideally achievable top speed in Indigo.... *Indica is 120km/h (we did 140+ in indica, but that takes a hours).

Well..I have been upto 140km/hr. But i heard it can go upto 155km/hr easily.

[.anshuman]

1.about the diesel vehicles the performance and efficiency keeps on improving till 30,00kms,ive squeezeed 16.29kmpl city driving without ac
2.tata cars(not suvs)have problems with suspension that damages rims,u wont beleive i have replaced 3 alloy rims from my tyre dealer due to prob and the alignment needs to be checked if u love your car.
3.there is a lot of turbo lag in indigo but the midrange and topend is quite punchy,but still i love palio d's flat torque curve
4.tata needs to improve problem solving abilities of their mechanics