Apr 06, 2011 07:24 PM
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Finally I can lay claims on driving one such car in India which no one would have even thought of or would have rather dismissed it because of its ubiquitousness. That car is theTata Indica eV2 in India and yes it’s a new one. Well almost new.
While I am writing about this, the other article regarding the tie up with Wasan Motors would already be live on the website. Yes, our special association with Wasan Motors now gives us access to cars from all the four manufacturers (Tata, Fiat, Ford and Toyota) at the drop of a hat. First of all, when I reached that spot, I saw both Wasan Ford and Wasan Tata side by side.
Temptations do take over and we could literally check out the cars from both the brands, some which I have actually reviewed or test driven over the months. So finally the car test drive challan filled up by my CEO, since I couldn’t drive due to an injured foot, we were off for the test drive. Since Wasan Tata had only one eV2 at their disposal, we couldn’t have the car for a review. However very soon, there may be a comparison in the offing.
About the looks of this car, yes, they have made some slight modifications. The Tata smiley has gone and now its replaced by a more somber looking face. Unfortunately since this was the lower end version, there wasn’t chrome slats on the grille but only one on the upper end. Head lamps are now clear lens and feature a tear drop design. The air dams are now more prominent as also is the new apple green color that we had on the test car. There are fog lamp inserts and the top end variant gets fog lamps. The bumpers are body colored for the front and rear however the side mirrors are in black and only body colored for the top end LX/GLX version. The major change which one can notice is alloy wheels, yes the same brushed aluminium alloy wheels as seen on the 90Hp Indica Vista. Moreover, the tyre size has increased from 13 to 14 inchers. Underbody paint quality near the wheel arches seemed a bit iffy. Door handles are also body colored on top end version. The high mounted stop lamp and the somewhat toned down tail lamps make sure that one doesn’t mistake this Indica for anything else. The Tata Indica eV2 in India gets rear fog lamps as well, albeit on the higher end version.
Enough of the looks and now time to move into the interiors of this car. Has anything changed? Yes, pretty much. The dashboard is still of the same design however the quality has improved a bit, though not in the Vista league. The glove box handle and lid looked as if they would just fall off. The door map pockets however don’t bruise one’s fingers and seem a bit deeper than the ones on the older Indicas. For the higher end Tata Indica eV2 LX variant, there is a wooden finish central console. There is a two CD music system which has got USB as well as Bluetooth function. Though I couldn’t check out the music quality due to the lack of the option in lower end trims, the prospect of pairing up my phone with the system’s Bluetooth seems wonderful. There is a power outlet which comes in as standard however power windows come in only the LX version. What the Tata Indica eV2 promises is lots of space and that is for any variant that one buys. Front seats are comfortable as also the rear ones for seating three abreast. The slight intrusion of the transmission tunnel can cause a bit of fiddling around with feet at the rear however it isn’t a major irritant. Boot space at 232 liters isn’t great however the inclusion of a parcel tray and 60:40 split rear seats (for the LX) gives some flexibility for this small hatch. Ohh! I forgot to mention that the air conditioner works perfectly fine by cooling up the cabin within 34 seconds. However up the blower setting and you would be greeted with the whoosh noise from the AC vents.
As regards the ride and handling, I would say for sure that this car has pretty good ride quality. However the ground clearance of 165 mm would pose a slight problem in our country’s potholed roads. Not that we encountered any problem during the course of the test drive. One thing while you crank up the engine is the absolute lack of NVH. Yes, this diesel engine is very much silent and though we couldn’t do any top speed runs or spirited driving, I am pretty much sure that this engine would hold its guns even for the top speed blasts. Build quality is also up from the previous Indica V2 and apart from the iffy glove box, there wasn’t any other thing which looked as if it would just fall off. My CEO, who was driving the car said that there was no perceptible change in the way the new Indica behaved but then he was quick to add that the 4 spoked steering wheel felt lot more precise now. Ride quality was also stellar with the two or three pot holes that we encountered, dispatched without even a whimper from the suspension.
The biggest change that has happened is under the hood of this car with it now getting BS4 common rail engine with a cubic capacity of 1396 cc. The power figure is up to 70 Bhp from the 53.5 Bhp earlier. Torque has almost doubled at the 140 Nm being produced now. The transmission is a 5 speed unit which does away with the old rubbery feeling from the Indica V2. It slots in precisely but doesn’t encourage spirited driving though. The clutch feeling is a bit heavy though and the accelerator requires a bit more than a prod to keep on moving smoothly. The diesel variant is the one which gets the tachometer for the eV2 series. Keeping in line with the smoothness of the engine and the general lack of NVH, there is a clutch to start feature given. This clutch to start feature prevents the engine from being cranked again when it is on. Then there is the auto drive assist which helps while climbing gradients. This feature doesn’t stall the car even when one doesn’t press the clutch pedal while climbing up gradients. Brake feel is a lot better than the older Indica however with no ABS or EBD, I am sure that panic braking would cause wheel lockup. As regards safety, there are still no airbags as standard however one can get a Tata Indica eV2 in India fitted with airbags on order. The usual 3 point ELR seat belts, child safety locks, collapsible steering column provide some feeble protection in the event a crash were to happen.
