[ankit.jhamb]

i agree,as said earlier by some members.indica is a very stable car at high speeds.

[amit_mechengg]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The engines on the Indica are generally reliable and have been known to go on comfortably for over 150,000 kms if well maintained.

It is noisy and the gearshift quality is bad, but as far as reliability is concerned these cars have kept running quite well.

my relatives own 3 indicas. two of them are running great. out of the two the turbo on one indica had failed when it was new.later on we didnt face much problems. but the third indica has stalled at many occasions. once due to overheating and due to many other reasons.

also tatas receive many problems on indicas. the ratio of problems per 100 vehicles is much more.

but rest all indica is the best package one can get at that VFM. Tatas have upgraded a lot. now they are bringing the state of art FIAT engines in indicas. So now the indica will be unbeatable.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

my relatives own 3 indicas. two of them are running great. out of the two the turbo on one indica had failed when it was new.later on we didnt face much problems. but the third indica has stalled at many occasions. once due to overheating and due to many other reasons.

Similarly, my friends own a Taxi fleet back home where I have a small interest myself. That business owns scores of Indica/go vehicles, a few Siena Weekends and 2 Palio Ds.

Other than minor issues (a/c mostly, belt noises, belt failure etc), none of the Indi-series vehicles have stalled on the highway or had a breakdown. Of the two Palio Ds, one is out of commission and is being used as a spare parts vehicle and the Sienas are sent out only for short airport trips.

Yes there have been many Indica related problems reported, but I wouldnt agree that they need Fiat engines to be reliable. You may hear about more issues about a vehicle that sells 100,000+ every year and less about vehicles that have hardly done 30,000 over 5 years - that does not mean that the latter is more reliable than the former.

[adityamunshi]

I have owned three indicas. Ive driven over 180000 kms in all of them combined and none had an engine problem.

The first one (DLE 2000, 1.26 Lakh Kms) developed an overheating problem but only after 100K kms. The engine was fine when i sold it off at 1.26 lakh kms

The second one (DLS 2004 60K kms) has had no major problems yet, except an occasional starting problem which TASC are struggling to fix.

The third one (DLG 2007 4K) No problems so far.

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

my relatives own 3 indicas. two of them are running great. out of the two the turbo on one indica had failed when it was new.later on we didnt face much problems. but the third indica has stalled at many occasions. once due to overheating and due to many other reasons.

also tatas receive many problems on indicas. the ratio of problems per 100 vehicles is much more.

but rest all indica is the best package one can get at that VFM. Tatas have upgraded a lot. now they are bringing the state of art FIAT engines in indicas. So now the indica will be unbeatable.

I saw this title and thought, here we go again!

Indica might be a good car for the highways, but its not the best.

better ones-
Palio 1.6 good, strong sheet metal, good handling, great ride, fun to drive
palio 1.2- less peppy engine- but still very good for the highways.
swift diesel- great handling, brilliant acceleration ,great mileage
agreed the sheet metal is not as thick as the indica's or the palio's, but the objective is not to ram 2 cars and see which one gets more damaged, the objective is to stay away from accidents. and if there is an accident, the car should minimise the impact on its passengers. the swift does that well.
Swift Petrol- brilliant handler, rev happy engine, only thing that lets it down on the highway is the choice of fuel(same goes for the palios)
Getz CRDi- do I have to say any more about this little monster?

have not driven the santros, so cant comment. but judging by the way they are driven, they settle down well on highways.

the alto VX1.1- now discontinued, but still..... what a car!!!

My previous favorite on the highway-M800 MPFI, the initial batch that put out 45 bhp. eager, responsive engine, great mileage, flickable, and small enough to squeeze through gaps,excellent visibility. all you had to do was bolt on the zen brake boosters and upgrade the tyres and you were good to go.

My complaints aginst the indica,
body roll, sluggish off the line(even the turbos), and its mostly poorly driven taxis that you see on the highways. they are poor standard bearers for a great effort from tata.

[greenhorn]

at that budget, nothing beats the indica on highways. When you drive it , there is that solid feel to that car , and it feels planted.And you feel confident about sustaining the speeds too, especially the turbo

On the other hand, the car's stealth hood and heavy controls are a nuisance when you're maneuvering it in city traffic.

@ rippergeo, have you TD'd the DiCOR yet?

[someshb]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

at that budget, nothing beats the indica on highways. When you drive it , there is that solid feel to that car , and it feels planted.And you feel confident about sustaining the speeds too, especially the turbo

On the other hand, the car's stealth hood and heavy controls are a nuisance when you're maneuvering it in city traffic.

Palio, Getz, Swift - i dont consider them as small cars, they are compact but certainly not the economic class.

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

I saw this title and thought, here we go again!

Indica might be a good car for the highways, but its not the best.

better ones-
Palio 1.6 good, strong sheet metal, good handling, great ride, fun to drive
palio 1.2- less peppy engine- but still very good for the highways.
swift diesel- great handling, brilliant acceleration ,great mileage
agreed the sheet metal is not as thick as the indica's or the palio's, but the objective is not to ram 2 cars and see which one gets more damaged, the objective is to stay away from accidents. and if there is an accident, the car should minimise the impact on its passengers. the swift does that well.
Swift Petrol- brilliant handler, rev happy engine, only thing that lets it down on the highway is the choice of fuel(same goes for the palios)
Getz CRDi- do I have to say any more about this little monster?

have not driven the santros, so cant comment. but judging by the way they are driven, they settle down well on highways.

the alto VX1.1- now discontinued, but still..... what a car!!!

My previous favorite on the highway-M800 MPFI, the initial batch that put out 45 bhp. eager, responsive engine, great mileage, flickable, and small enough to squeeze through gaps,excellent visibility. all you had to do was bolt on the zen brake boosters and upgrade the tyres and you were good to go.

My complaints aginst the indica,
body roll, sluggish off the line(even the turbos), and its mostly poorly driven taxis that you see on the highways. they are poor standard bearers for a great effort from tata.

pal,

if you think a palio 1.2 or the M800 is better than an indica in terms of sluggishness and "go" factor, i would have to question the very basis of your post. i've driven delhi-mumbai in a 1.2 palio and trust me....its not fun, waiting and waiting for any decent kind of momentum to build up. and indica turbo is far more relaxed at high speeds and reaches there faster.

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by Jr Godzilla

crashing at 90kmph and walking out without a scratch is 2 different things buddy, so call your self blessed by God or darn lucky.

??? Different in what regards sir??
I thought a crash at that speed *usually* means some injury.
yes, I do consider myself lucky to have escaped unhurt from it!

[tsk1979]

On highways indica is indeed a very confidence inspiring car.
It very stable, and obstacles on road hardly unfaze it.

[headers]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

ya indica is very comfortabe and big in space. also the sheet metal is very strong and can easily withstand impacts and keep the passengers safe, much more than other costlier cars do.

But the engine it is very unreliable. u have to pray to god before going on long drives. u never know when ur engine will stall and for what reason. u will be completely clueless. i hope when they put fiat engines the indica will be the best ride.

you must be kidding..or just one plain unlucky ...

The indica has the most reliable engine which is why the taxi and fleet operators go for it by the dozen. It is also one of the cheaper cars to run and maintain. The only other cars preferred by Taxi operators are the Toyota Innova and the Chevrolet Tavera again cos of their reliable engines.

The downside of the Indica is that it lacks the finnese, fit and finish of a GETZ or a Ford Fiesta etc..

The Swift D though an amazing car has the same lousy build quality problems associated with cars from the MUL stable.

[dockap]

i have a indica dlx whic is 3 years old and i am very happy with it except for the power the car is really good -excellent legroom,comfy seats and most of all very very good ride quality just eats up all the potholes and speedbrakers

[bblost]

Originally Posted by someshb

How about braking hard from 100 kmph when you spot multiple humps / big pot holes suddenly and going over them at over 70 kmph, that really sounds scary for WagonR or a Santro.

Actually did a hard brake at that speed on NH-5 when a Safari was over taking me from the left and a biker darted across from the extrem left off the road to the extreme right.
First the Safari braked hard.
Then I braked hard.

Then we both cursed hard, I did and I am sure the Safari guy did too.

The biker on his 100 cc went his way not even knowing how close he to being face to face with the tar road.

But yes I would not want to hit a bump or pothole at a high speed on my Wagon. Hell I dont want to hit one unless I am sitting in a Tank.


But please this thread is not about Wagons.
I only wanted to express my opinion that a Wagon has IMHO no stability issues.

Originally Posted by hell_rider

pal,

if you think a palio 1.2 or the M800 is better than an indica in terms of sluggishness and "go" factor, i would have to question the very basis of your post. i've driven delhi-mumbai in a 1.2 palio and trust me....its not fun, waiting and waiting for any decent kind of momentum to build up. and indica turbo is far more relaxed at high speeds and reaches there faster.

the palio 1.2, if you read my post, has a less peppy engine, but still very good for the highways, because of the virtues it shares with the 1.6- ie great build, good sheet metal, strong chassis,good handling and the ability to suck up the potholes with ease.

with regards to the engine of the 1.2- it behaves like any other petrol, it produces power at its peak. if in the right gear, the palio 1.2 will outrun an indica (also in its appropriate gear).

unless the indicas I drove were in seriously bad shape.

And the 45 bhp M800
I know its a tin can, and when I drove it in 2002, it was way faster than any indica available at that time.power to weight ratio was the key.
and like I said, it was my favourite, but not anymore. used to drive from mangalore to cochin, 450kms of nightmarish kerala highways in 7hrs flat on working days during the daytime.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

@ rippergeo, have you TD'd the DiCOR yet?

I drove the turbo diesel, is that the same as the DiCOR? if it is, then I'm not impressed.


for the numbers.....0-100kmph(source- overdrive jan 2008)

indica DLX 25.7
M800 MPFI 38bhp 20.8
Palio 1.1 58bhp 20.7
indica DLX turbo 17.7
swift Vdi 13.2
swift VXi 12.9
fiat palio 1.6 12.3

before I get flamed saying that 0-100 isnt everything, 0-100 is a good way of measuring the acceleration of a car.
roll on timings are better for highway behaviour, but dont have ready numbers.

maybe someone can prove me wrong if the roll on timings are put up.

I dont have the numbers for the 45 bhp M800
and the palio 1.2 was 72bhp was'nt it? dont have the numbers for that either. can some one help?

for the budget, the indica is almost unbeatable, but that was'nt the title of the thread was it?
I know the indica is good, but saying that it is the best hatch for the highways is stretching it.

PS Getz CRDi 0-100 - 11 secs

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

I drove the turbo diesel, is that the same as the DiCOR? if it is, then I'm not impressed.

nope, from what i've read from those who TD'd it, the dicor is a lot more refined