Proud of it !!!

 

Posting in parts. Hope you find the time to read the whole of it and find it useful, We purchased the Tata Indigo Manza Quadrajet Aura ABS model on the 12^th of March 2010 after 5 long weeks of delivery time. We have completed 7000 odd kms till date, much more than what we had anticipated while buying the car. I had zeroed down on this car in Nov 2009 itself, but my wife wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of driving such a big car. So off we went into a 3 months loop to test drive a lot of other cars: Estilo, i10, i10 automatic, Getz, Ritz petrol, Ritz diesel, Swift Diesel etc. At the end of this long exercise and 3 test drives on the Manza diesel alone (from the three different dealers in Bangalore J), we finally booked the Manza in Breeze Blue colour.

 

Exterior Aerodynamically, the car is very well shaped. It has smooth contours from the front till the end rear windshield. The rear is raised a little bit and comes down suddenly giving it a very classy feel like the old Cadillac or some very spacious and high-end cars like Accord/Camry. Interestingly, care has been taken that the rear doesn’t look too boxy like the Logan. From a utility perspective, the design is such that the ratio of inside space to outside space is very high. No bulges like the Swift/Dzire/i20 that are about as wide as the Manza on the outside but have much less shoulder width to offer, esp. at the rear seat. I liked the idea of having side indicator lamps just in front of the ORVMs and not at the extreme end of the ORVM, since it reduces the possibility of something hitting the ORVM and breaking the indicator glass; a very likely event in India. 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

Features: Simply loaded with all the important features. I won’t repeat the list but just mention that the integrated Bluetooth system is an extremely useful feature and more than compensates for some other less important features like lack of climate control or rear AC vents. Not to forget that the AC is very powerful and chills the cabin pretty fast. Music system has nice stereo effect with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters but bass is hollow. Two power sockets, under seat tray, dimming lights, fuel-efficiency and distance to empty indicators, lumbar support and seat height adjustment (only top 2 models) etc are some of the nice features provided in this car. Steering mounted audio controls appear too small to use, but are in fact very comfortable to use and one gets used to them in no time.

Interiors: Beige & gray colours, are a welcome change from the standard black interiors offered in most of the cars. This colour combination makes the car look very bright and airy inside. The overall feel of the car is very upmarket and lavish. In some respects, I find it similar to the Innova with its high seating…say a mini-Innova that is cheaper by about 4 lakhs and more fuel efficient by 4km/l J

Space & Comfort: Simply amazing. Cars which are much more expensive than the Manza cannot give such space and comfort; not the Honda City or Ford Fiesta, not the Linea with restricted headroom at the rear, Corolla might be the closest competitor here. Logan is the only car below 12 lakhs that beats the Manza in shoulder space, but it has lesser legroom. It’s best not to talk about cars like Verna, Accent, Octavia and Dzire that have very cramped rear seats. Also high seats and doors opening widely ensure that ingress/egress is a breeze.

Qualities of plastics used & fit & finish: I have read a lot of negative comments about this aspect. However, personally I found no major problems with this. Its certainly has room for improvement, but not so much that someone will decide against buying a Manza for this reason. For instance the alignment of the trunk lid was not proper and some rainwater leaked into the trunk during the first few showers. Certainly disappointing for a 7lakh + sedan, but a small visit to the Prerana Motors workshop on Old Madras Road, Bangalore has fixed the problem for good. Personally, didn’t find anything wrong with quality of plastics. Plastic gaps are non-uniform with maybe 2mm at one end and 2.5 mm at the other, but this could be a botheration only for the clinically perfect.

 

contd..

 

VFM, Space, Comfort, Safety, Style and Fuel EfficiencyNothing major