| Senior - BHPian
Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bangalore
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| Tata Indica Vista - My Review
Folks,
I'm an individual that used an Indica DLS for a little lesser than 3 years and very satisfied by it. I sold it just a month back deciding against getting it to Bangalore [from Chennai]. I'm probably going to compare the Vista to my previous car since it comes from the same stable, only to give an idea of how much Tata has progressed with its car manufacturing efforts.
Before you proceed, please retain in your mind that I am reviewing a New car from Tata and that's it. Never mind what it is called or the platform it replaces and what not.. Let's just called it Vista and nothing else, for the purpose of this review.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to look at the new Vista and also test drive it at Concorde Motors that is near Diary Circle opposite to Christ college, Bangalore. I took with me a colleague and my boss, so I could review the car objectively, and to ensure I don't take a liking towards it, biased-ly [I owned an Indica DLS until end of July '08). The colleague I took with me, Sreenivas, is also a member in this forum.
We reached Concorde Motors by around 2.45pm. We decided to check the car inside the showroom before we took a test drive..
First Look: The look of the car from a full frontal view, blew us off. It didn't look like a hatchback car at all. Impressed. Credit should go to Tata for the car has a very mature and well built look to it, compared to the previous generation of hatchbacks that currently sells as the Indica.
We were given a demo of the car by a sales representative at the showroom, Ms. Sangeetha VM. She explained to us what we'd already read from the brochure, but gave her an ear to see if she'd known about the car, as much as she had to. She did a fairly good job in explaining what was new with the Vista.
Interior: A sea change from the previous car I owned. The central instrument cluster is NOT a distraction at all. All those members who are complaining of a pain in viewing it and giving it extended side glances, are probably over exaggerating [in my opinion only]. The cluster is not difficult to look at or read from, so there is no requirement for having to look at it for extended period that it becomes a danger to drive on the road. Really, how many of you look at the tachometer or Speedo to drive?
The seats were very comfortable and the height adjust is a boon. So is the adjustable Tilt steering. As soon as I got into the driver’s seat, I felt very comfortable in a way I hadn’t experienced in my previous car. Everything I had to reach to [handbrake, switches, power window, steering] fell comfortably in place.
Compared to my previous car [only], the quality of plastics seemed to have improved vastly. It’s what you call, a Sea Change. The dashboard quality was good and so was the steering’s and everything around it. Switches on the power window console seemed to be of poor or compromised make, but that’s where Tata heads to cut cost. Accepted. But the quality of console itself, is good.
The integrated two din audio device is not Alpine quality, of course, but it still looks a decent build. Plastic quality is just about ok [not extremely good] but it works fine. I did not carry any CDs or music devices to test the audio setup, but I got to listen to a radio channel throughout the test drive. Audio quality, through the built-in speakers, sounded decent and fairly ok. It’s not anywhere near the Alpine head unit and JBL speakers I had, but I can still live with the music through this.
Rear seat comfort gets better and space. The lesser said about it the better. It’s a no-contest when anyone discusses the space in a Tata car. The new Vista adds to the space previously available in the previous hatchback car, making it super-spacious. Seating 3 average sized adults in the backseat would only get better.
There is space on the floor gear console to hold 2 cups/bottles and a place for coins and mobile phones under the handbrake device. A nice touch, is adding a power charger unit, next to the right side of the rear seat. The sales executive was educated enough to inform us that this charger point could be to use a spotlight device for reading or for charging a laptop. Right on..
There is no provision for a sunglass holder [something increasingly being added to hatchback cars of late?] but I think I read somewhere that it can be added as an accessory.
Handles above the door are of an improved version. It is probably the same that is found on the Santro. It has a spring action which is different from the fixed handle that was in the previous Tata hatchback.
Glove box sure is deep and spacious, but I don’t know if a 14.1” laptop can be fit into that space. Maybe it can, maybe not. I didn’t try. The AC vents were really well designed and materials used were of good quality too. The switches and rotor dials for the AC were also of good quality and had a ‘I-won’t-come-off’ feel to it. Overall, very good.
I am not sure If I have missed any interior bits from this review, but if I have, well, go check it out, or ask me. I may return with family to show them the car this Saturday or Sunday.
Engine & Gearbox: When Sreenivas turned the engine on, I was still waiting for him to do so. I was in the co drivers seat and I didn’t hear the engine start. It is, in a very unbelievable way, silent. I say unbelievable, because Srini and I had just test driven the Palio MJD, and it was extremely noisy. The multijet was not so noisy on the swift, and it was on the Palio MJD. So, I was blown off by the silent operation of the Quadrajet. 5 stars to Tata for this.
Since my boss and Srini drove the car before I did [not well versed with bangy traffic, so no taking chances] I will state their observations. The gearbox did not have the rubbery feel my previous car had, and the gears slotted perfectly. No problems with the gearbox, except that both my boss and Sreenivas felt the gear was a bit hard. They also added that this could be due to the fact that the demo car is very new
[had just run 260 kms] and will get smoother in due time.
As for me, I found the gearbox excellent. No rubbery feel and slotted well. Wowwie… What a relief.. Slotted perfectly fine.
Exterior: The tyres, I don’t know if they are still puny for this car, but I am sure to upgrade to 15 inchers and a 190/60 or whatever is safe to do so. But, the stock tyres with 175/65 look adequate. 14 inchers do look small. Someone who has more knowledge on tyres can comment; I cannot.
Boot space is similar to the previous Tata hatchback, it is just a little more spacious, not a whole lot. The suspension struts [is that what it is?] seem to be protruding into the luggage bay again, so some precious space lost there, yet again. Crap. Someone mentioned the parcel tray quality has improved. It has. It feels more solid [but not so much that can hold oval speakers].
Tail lights. This has been debated, loved and hated by some and all here. I don’t have any comments to add to it. To each one, his own. I certainly won’t reject the car because of the tail lights. I don’t know if I would be right with this, but in foggy conditions, the highly placed stop brake lights would be a boon if not a requirement. So it’s not silly it is designed this way [Yes, don’t give me the ‘there-is-an-led stop lamp’ thingy cause I know it’s there too].
Btw, my colleagues and I agree the rear looks a lot like Ford Fusion. More well finished, I’d say.
Overall, apart from the introductory comment that the car looks more mature than what it replaces [or continued alongside, whatever], it looks very well finished. I’d join the others in stating that this car is nothing like that the previous Tata cars. It’s great.
Sreenivas even mentioned the suspension is great and comfortable in the short test drive we were allowed. He furthered his comment by saying the suspension was better than the setup in his SX4.
I did not try out the following features available on the top end Quadrajet we test drove, the Aura.
a. Rear Demister
b. Rear Wiper
c. Fog Lamps
Comments & Conclusion: The review may sound very positive and give a rosy picture of the Vista. To be honest, it is so. I have been absolutely unbiased in reviewing this car. I’m someone who has a budget of 6.3L for my next hatchback car [I don’t need a sedan] and my eyes are [it’s safe to say ‘were’ now] set on the Grande Punto. And it’s the car I’ve been wanting to buy for over a year now.
Obviously, there are some negatives too, on the Vista.
1. The ORVM’s are not electronically operated. You still need to use the rotor stick to move the glass to your suited position. A pain, more so now that almost all hatchbacks give an electronic controlled option. Just for ex: a Wagon R has it. Why Tata?
2. The ORVM’s size is reduced. I don’t know yet if this will be a problem in the long run, but length has been reduced, which outwardly seems a negative. Maybe it’s done so breakage percentage reduces during ORVM clashes?
3. No alloy wheels as standard on a 5.69L car? I would have been happier to see alloys provided as a standard.
4. Door pockets size have been considerably reduced. I doubt if 2litre bottles can fit into them anymore. It’s not just good for some very small bottles or papers/magazines/maps.
5. No head rest for the center passenger in the back seat. It would have been nice if it was there. It’s not always that kids sit in between.
There may be more, but I can’t think of more right now [over 24 hrs since the test drive, you see].
Sreenivas and I have been debating on how cheap the fully loaded version of Grande Punto might get here at. Now that Tata and Fiat have made an announcement that they will not compete in similar segments, I doubt a fully loaded GP will get here within 6.30 lakhs… and I won’t and cannot alter my budget. No mid of the line variants either.
The only downside to the Vista, is that for it’s price, it does not even provide ABS. I am not in a hurry to buy and I hope Tata will release another Vista with ABS for about 25K more. If it comes, I will definitely consider buying it. I would like to see a version with ABS and front airbags for 6L on road, but I don’t think that is a possibility. I know I will miss the Punto’s far swankier interiors and options, but I surely gain by buying the Vista. It’s that good a car. But I’m still going to wait as long as I can [only to see what else I can consider before Dec ‘08]. Maybe ABS and Airbags may be out by then and maybe I can afford some additional safety.
The Vista, is such a well rounded and complete car for a hatchback. I expected the top end to launch at 5.5L on road, but around 20K more, it doesn’t hurt much.
Finally, to the one individual who commented that a price of 5.6x lakhs is too much for an Indica… I bet you wouldn’t say so if some Maruti Suzuki launched this car. It’s only because it is called an Indica, is why you draw such a comment to it. The car, is well worth it’s price. Go take a 2nd look at Swift and rethink you’re statement [nothing personal. In the air comments do just no good]
My request is, when any of you go to check out the Vista, please do not look at it as an Indica or have a condescending outlook that it is a souped up taxi... Be objective and rate it as a New Car from Tata. Don't already judge it before you see it, just because it is continued to be called as an 'Indica' Vista.
My boss’s final comments [he drives a Baleno]: I cannot believe this is a Tata car. It put a smile on our faces as we walked back to Srini’s car. Overall, we give a rating of 4.25 stars out of 5, for the Vista.
Kudos, Tata.
[note: me thinks an addition of K&N filter and a Pete’s box makes the Vista a fantastic highway car] |
26th August 2008, 15:29
