If you are wondering, why I am writing my third review in less than 3 days, well it's not because I have got an encouraging response, from my first 2 reviews, with an overall reading of roughly 12,678 people, till date!
It had to be something more.......like the love for cars! So? what does the new Indigo LS has to offer? The LS is the base version, with power-steering and HVAC unit as standard.
I sat in the car and.....well...nothing...other than a sense of deja-vu! Well since the interiors are 80% similar to the iv2 (Indica V2), what did you expect?
The interiors of the petrol version is better, with a white instrument cluster!This version does however have a silver finish to the air-con console in the center, looks quite shabby to say the least!
Once you the start the car..and for all those of you who go on test-drives, do remember to take the first drive with the air-con unit switched off and windows rolled down, to get the real feel of the car.
Like I was saying, once you start the car, you can instinctly feel the difference, with that slow murmur under the hood of the car, which comes back to you in the front, for a brief moment. You know that something is different under the hood, the Indica never growled.....not even slowly!
Yes..i can feel you are getting impatient...so was i! I started the car and felt the murmur under the hood, i touched the gear...wait a minute! The gear was shorter than the ones, in the Indica and shifting it you realised that, TELCO, had given the Indigo, a shorter,slicker gear shift to minimise the throw between each gear. Now which other cars have I seen with a shorter gear-shift...the City,Optra and the Lancerto name a few! Frankly speaking, I preferred the old system any day! Hey, I get nostalgic when it comes to cars!
You floor the accelerator and boom! Thats, when that murmur...turned into a full grown GROWL! Oh yeah! The turbo-charged engine came to life!Don't blink your eyes....you read what I wrote...TURBO-CHARGED!!! The only car in India in its class, to be turbo-charged!If you want to know what that means, well...let me try to be non-technical here.......do you remember when you floored the accelerator in the Indica and you got....well..nowhere?Oh good! you do remember! Well...try the same stunt with this baby..and you better have your seat belts on! The turbo kicks in at the low-revsaround the 1500rpm mark, meaning
that this baby is ready to rock-n-roll at the word go! You get such a
instant boost of power (that is the basic function of the turbo
charger!) making you zoom ahead!
That is the second new thing on the Indigo (if you forgot the first....i bet you did....i told you I hated it!....it was the shorter,slicker gear-shift!), a turbo-charged engine! God I loved it!What else is new?Well a 3-link suspension system in the rear, similar to the Mercedes-C Class to give you that oh.. so.. comfortable ride!
Lets not forget the rear with a spacious 450 litre boot! Or for that matter 14inch wheels for that good grip and handling! There is also the matter of the power-steering..a must in all cities.....improved over the older versions of the TELCO cars. The Air-con
unit, well....in all my happiness (with that turbo-charged engine under
my able command...)...i didn't test it! Yes..yes...i am sorry!The dealer did mention this was also improved upon....but I can't give you my word on that!<p> Now for the mileage bit..since it's basically the same engine..but with a turbo-charger.....expect the same
good fuel efficiency of the Indica, minus a kilometer or two, with
roughly 12-13kmpl in the city and 13.5-14.5kmpl in the highways,with
AirCon on.
More on the car, the interiors.....looked spartan,nothing to write about. It has a tight turning radius of 5mtrs,same as the Honda City and ground clearence at 165m...which is short of the City by 8mm. Before you ask....no...it doesn't come with a music system either!
Yes it has lots
of neat little add-ons like cabin lights at the rear, lights in the
boot, pre-drilled speaker compartments, lots of storage space for your
magazines, water, cd's.There is also the added issue of
reliability, the TELCO team had put this car at the MIRA (motor
industry research association)'s test facility for 7 months in LONDON,
and it still came out with flying colours.I guess....TELCO was
eyeing the European market...since it's small baby the Indica is soon
to hit european shores under the ROVER badge! oh..Rover company is on verge of collapse, so guess al those Indica's and Indigo's are heading to another country soon!
By now TELCO ability
to make reliable, safe cars is quite well know.....especially sworn to
loyalty, by those that have survived serious car-crashes only thanks to
the rigid moncoque steel-frame and crumple zones with side-impact bars. If they were in Santro or Maruti....well...they would be history..and no I ain't joking.Yes I would definitely recommend the car.Can't wait to get my hands on that turbo-charge baby! GROOWWLLL! -----1yr Long Term Test -----------------UPDATE---------
Well its been nearly 5 months since I wrote my initial review on the Indigo LS. Well....as you asked for it, here's the update. First things first, Mileage is as follows, in thecity with the air-con unit on, the mileage is 12.5kms/ltr. In the highways it rises to 14.2kms/ltr. There is also the problem of braking, which feels a tad slippery,when you are travelling with a full load of rear passengers and boot space used up. Unlike the awe-inspiring braking of the Indica. There is also too much feel, from the steering
of the road, though this is considered to be good as these indicate
superior steering set-up akin to the BMW3-series, it takes a while to
get used to.
Air-con unit is mind-blowing. Guarenteed to chill you on the hottest days.Noise levels are lower than Indica. Great seating arrangement and the big boot has come in handy. One grouch, no lights in the engine compartment.
Oh.....all that talk about rear seat space, is true!,but
what they didn't tell you is that if you like driving, and then end up
sitting behind, you are in for a not so good time, I feel the
suspension needs a bit more height adjustment and dampening, to improve
rear passenger comfort....applies, only when you are loaded full-tank
with diesel and three 60kg+ passengers inth rear.Overall it is good Value for money.
Do remember...if you see dust-storm on the road..thats an Indigo....way ahead of you!
-------------------------------------------HOT NEWS--------------------------------------
Incidentally got a call from the dealer at Skoda and got a unofficial test drive of the
SKODA Fabia! Test drive report coming soon! Also got a test drive of the new Indgio
CS(compact sedan)!
