Bought the car TATA INDICA VISTA Terra TDi during end of May 2010. I learned driving my car when it was 22K during November 2010. From then on till date I’m the happiest person to have this car.
Difference between TDi and Quadrajet:
The difference between TDi and Quadrajet is that the later has Fiat engine like Maruthi Swift has. But it costs you at least 90K more and offers you better pick up and along with good A/C performance. Except this everything is same as TDi.
Performance:
The top speed I reached was 158 Kmph. It seems that TATA has locked it to this speed. I always drive the vehicle between 80-90Kmph on highways so as to have good fuel efficiency. I felt that if you cross 100Kmph the FE will fall may be 22Kmpl and if you still exceed say 130Kmph it may fall even more may be 15-16Kmpl. So better not to exceed 90Kmpl acc. to my experience.
Stability:
Nowadays everywhere you find accidents on highways and one interesting fact is that vehicles driven at abnormal speeds lacking stability are always at high risk. I always maintain tyre pressure as 37 Front 33 Rear. Recently I've asked a guy from road side wee shop to check my tyre pressure and asked him to set them with my recommended tyre pressures 37/33 and started to my native and it was heavy rain and its already late so I was almost flying on airspeed. Because of smog at some points I could barely see the hairpin bends. But at every hair pin bend even though I suddenly turned the steering at 100kmph ASA I see the curve the vehicle didn’t lose its stability but at one place the brakes misbehaved strangely on straight road at 120Kmph and stopped after pulling a bit more than normal. 3 days later, during my routine tyre pressure check at a fuel station I was shocked to find the tyre pressure as 40 Front 50 Rare. So, some points to ponder here is I've already crossed 38000Kms and the tyres are almost worn out yet to be changed at 40K and the tyre pressure is very abnormal 40/50 with heavy bad rain added on the top. Sustaining all these bad conditions still the vehicle managed its stability and braking too. What can one expect more out a vehicle which is worth of Rs: 460000/- offering a FE of 25Kmpl on highways at least 18Kmpl in city, GOOD stability, Best leg room when compared with same class of vehicles like Swift, i20, Ford Figo etc?
Even at high speeds of around 130-140Kmph the vehicle doesn't not wobble.
Maintenance and Service charges:
The bad thing with Diesel vehicles is that it should be used in every 2-3 days else Non-usage spoils the engine.
My last service charge with Mr. Manjunath, Kanishka Motors, Bommanahalli which includes all standard things like oil change, Wheel alignment, etc with TYRE puncture+ cleaning the carburetor since it crossed 35000Kms(some tech term used by my service point guy which I can’t recall) costed me Rs: 2700/- Jus just imagine how cheap is the maintenance when compared with other cars. This service station is highly recommended, very friendly too. Ask them what every you like wrt your car they are ready to do it for you. Mr. Manjunath is the contact person there.
Cons:
1. The Front bumper is all fiber and every time I go in any deep ditches, the bumper lock brakes and protrudes out which looks like displaying its broken tooth. So, a permanent solution for it was made by Kanishka motors where they made a hole on the surface and fixed it permanently. I cannot even notice that till they told me that a minute hole was made on it. Thanks a ton for avoiding that disgusting bumper action.
2. A/C is not that good but can’t even say bad too. Just fine.
3. At the start lags a bit but outperforms later.
4. Rarely fuel gauge shows no sign even though the tank is full but later after some time behaves normally.
5. Has same Cargo volume of 232 liters similar to Maruthi Swift which is NOT sufficient for a small family of 3 people.
Pros:
1. EXCELLENT/OUTSTANDING Mileage.
2. VERY good leg room NO OTHER CLASS OF VEHICLES has such a good leg room.
3. GOOD Stability and braking at high speeds.
Tips for best FE: *
1. **Do not switch A/C as soon as you start the vehicle. Run at least a Km and turn it on.
2. Do not turn the A/C on and off very often within 5 mins it damages the compressor
3. Use right gear at right speeds
4. Maintain Tyre pressure according to the road you travel ie city / highway as you quite often use brakes while in city.
Interesting Thing:
One interesting thing I found was I even Own an iPhone which has an app called "SKYGAUGES" which calculates the speed we travel. When the speedometer in the vehicle shows 70 Kmph the app shows only 65 Kmph and on researching I found that as a precautionary measure govt. has purposely directed the manufacturers to display 5kmph more than normal so as to avoid accidents. For people travelling to new places iPhone's google maps are a real boon acc. to me and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I use them all the time when I roam around in Bangalore/Hyderabad/Chennai. Wait for my review on iPhone using AIRTELand AIRCEL Networks soon. Will tell you some things most of them dont know.
Finally, Look wise front face of Tata Indica Vista looks like a BIG car build but the back boot doesn’t seem to be attractive rather seems like a cheap taxi cab. Better Tata considers remodeling the Boot/ hatch back. Most people keep away from this vehicle because of its bad exterior esp. bad hatch back. This opinion of mine was from most of my friends but who knows what it has inside? It is something like don't judge a book by its cover. If someone from TATA is reading this review I could suggest them to improve the quality of the interiors and remodeling the hatch back.
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