Drove all over India - performed very well. Review on Tata Marina

Ibought LS Dec 04. Drove it all over India and it has never let me down. I love travelling and driving to the holiday sites. I started by driving it to Kerala from Hyd. I drove it almost all over Kerala and found it easy to handle and fun to drive. I then drove it to Mumbai and did the 750+ kms in 10 hours flat. Touched top speed of 155 kms on the Mumbai - Pune expressway. Drove it back from Mumbai via Aurangabad to Hyd.

The stretch of road from Aurangabad to Hyd is not in the best of shapes but never had a problem. Drove it from Hyd to Goa via Sholapur - Bijapur - Belgaum. Karnataka roads are in extremely bad shape specially from Bijapur to Belgaum but the Marina did very well. The 3 link suspension really helps. Then drove it from Hyd to Rohtang pass (Himachal) via Nagpur, Sagar, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra, Delhi, Simla, Manali. Performed brilliantly. The patch of road from Lakhnadon to Jhansi was extremely bad (this was last year Sept 2005). The suspension again kept us in good shape. Climbed the steeps of Simla, Manali, and then Rohtang very well. Recently drove it from delhi to Mussorie, and then upto Joshimath (Uttaranchal). Then drove it from Delhi uptil Ajmer via Jaipur and then back via Bharatpur and Agra. Performed extremely well each time including the Ghats.

Did a trip from Delhi all the way to close to Udhampur in Jammu and then onto Dalhousie, Dharamshala, Chandigarh back to Delhi. Got hit couple of times by landslides - sides and front on hits. Car stalled but started on ignition. The body seems to be a bit thin (Tata's way to keep weight down and thus mileage up) and suffers dents easily. Recently did a trip from Hyderabad to Mahableshwar to Pune to Mumbai and back to Hyderabad. Brake linings gave some problems and tyres heated up. The puncture repair patches came off due to heat. Got repaired spending just Rs 800/-. Coolant leakage issues recently - changed the entire set. Of late slightly higher sound from engine. Overtaking is an issue if AC is on and if turbo has not set in yet (sets in after 2000 rpm). Need to floor the gas pedal to derive more power to overtake. Performs like a petrol vehicle after the turbo kicks in. Could give the Honda citys, the Skodas, the Vernas too some tough competition on the Mumbai-Pune expressway and also the Jaipur-Delhi stretch. The wind shield is a little brittle and cracked recently due to an accidental close head hit given by my 2 year old nephew. The nephew showed no sign of discomfort though

Just a couple of things to add on. The AC cooling is bad at higher outside temperatures especially when caught in traffic. The car keeps shutting down and needs to be restarted again and again. Overtaking is not a problem and once the turbo sets in performs as good as a petrol vehicle. Overall pretty satisfied. Great value for money. And a great looking car inspite of some quality gaps. I dont miss an SUV much due to space and ride quality