Review. Review on Tata Indigo CS

I am happy to post this review by gaining confidence from the good feedback you have given for Unicorn and CB Twister reviews. It encourages me to write more... Here is an attempt to give a simple and comprehensive review of my family's Indigo CS

Introduction:

CS stands for a Compact Sedan. Yes, Indigo CS is the best choice for you, if you are looking out for a budget sedan within  price tag of 5.2 lakhs. Indigo CS, thus enjoys the tax of only small car, as it’s length comes a little below (3988), 4 meters. In short, it is a sedan with a price of a hatchback.

Styling:

What’s new outside?

All Tata Indicas and Indigos do share lots of body parts and design, but Tata has managed to improve Indigo CS in styling department. The front grill with a smile and a tata logo at the middle does not have the twin chrome grills that the present Indicas have.

The headlamp has dual lights which are placed just like one a little ahead than the other with a turn indicator at the top. If you could soup it up with neon lights, it would enhance the beauty and also increase your visibility. Additional fog lamps comes only with LX version.

The side chromes that has a plastic guard runs quite decently through out the doors. The top end has a silvery line over this guard, adding to the looks.

The back of the car, is where Indigo CS stands distinct from its counterparts. It has an all new sliced pair of tail lamps with a new ball like turn indicators, and the smart bracket shaped Red area embedding the reverse pair of lamps and the turn indicators. I would prefer this design rather than the boxy Indigo tail lamps. Cheers to Tata R &D team.

Needless to say the smooth curve that Indigo CS has, which makes it look more appealing than the rather conventional Indigo, whose shape was just an extent ion on Indica.Tata saves your money by providing plastic alloy like looks to all the 4 wheels, which makes your cars distinct from the Indigos.

What’s Inside?

The first thing, I could notice is the chrome line running on the main spoke of the steering with the Tata logo embedded over it. Although, I did not like it much, still, its subjective view. The instrument cluster is plain and simple. Just two dials on the panel, one for the speed, other for the rpm and a digital odometer with two trip meters (A & B). The small rods on the sides to turn on the turn indicators, and also the one for the viper are quite handy when I drove.

The power windows buttons have been put just before the area from where gear rod emerges. This is pretty useful, because even if the driver , who should be carefully driving, could not access the windows, the co-driver could easily assist him in this.

Tata has done nothing with the shapes of dash boards, nor with the A/C vents and switches. It inherits all from the old Indicas. The plastic quality and finish are also same and could have been improved. But where does Tata cars score more? It is in the interior space. Indigo CS do have lots of room for the second row of the car. The length of the back seat is a little extra than the hatch back indica.You can put your speakers on the dashboards, also on the front doors and of course, just behind the back seat. You know what, considering the shape of all the Indicas and Indigos, acoustic effects are excellent, thanks to its design.

Performance and Handling:

After considering all the 5 options we had to choose with Indigo CS, I chose the TDI LX model. What made me to chose TDI? Well, DICOR was a new technology and a little bit dearer too, when compared to TDI.

After driving Indica for a couple of years, our family needed an upgrade, especially in the boot area and pickup. So, I went for the Indigo CS. This car satisfied me more than I expected. The acceleration of the 1.4 Diesel engine was impressive, provided you don’t shift gears below 4 rpms.

My thrilling experience I had was the short time Indigo CS took to reach 100 km mark and also the exciting 140 + speed. I felt a little bit insecure, to push the throttle beyond that. Even for the 140 speed, the whole body vibrated and the handling was not comfortable. You got to be much more alert at high speeds with this car.

Driving in city traffic is altogether a different story. The front disc brakes give me more confidence in the bumper to bumper traffic. The clutch lever is not so smooth, as you have in a Suzuki or Fiat, so it caused knee pains a couple of times when I was driving in heavy traffic. The seat’s design, though comfortable for long drives, do needs improvement for a better thigh support and if possible, why can’t Tata give the option to adjust the height of the driver seat?

Engine Specs:

The 1.4 liter Direct Injection Common Rail, 16-valve DOHC diesel engine pushes out 70 PS @ 4000 rpm and 140 Nm @ 1800-3000 rpm. These figures give a smooth acceleration combined with a decent mileage. I got an impress 15kmpl on city traffic and a little above 17 on driving highways.

Verdict:

If you would save your money from tax and buy a sedan, go for Indigo CS. And to those who have the idea of buying a mid range hatch back, you can also consider CS because of it’s low maintenance, large  boot space and the 1.4 litre turbo charged engine with an attractive pricing.