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Tata Nano is stealing the limelight and media space at the moment as it is the latest sizzling topic to shoot up the TRPs. Tata’s Singur plant and Mamata Banerjee have been all over the place, and not for the right reasons. Whatever the outcome may be, Mamata Banerjee surely has achieved a fair amount of publicity! Enough is being shown and written concerning Singur and Tata, so I will better zip my mouth now and speak about what this write-up is all about.

There was a vision, that of one Mr Ratan Tata, to develop a car for the masses. And boy he delivered! A car that, as is known today, changed or atleast contributed substantially towards changing the face of small-car segment in India. The car I speak of is the very loved, and hated alike, Tata Indica. Tata Indica is in its tenth year of production and has enjoyed its time in Indian automotive industry. Indica also received many face-jobs and tweaks in different departments to bring up the overall quality and drive experience throughout its lifespan thus far. Tata has been a good learner and it shows from what the company has been populating the market with. Initial refinement and gearbox issues of the Indica made Tata work continuously on the car to give us a better product time and over again. The same level of engineering march towards quality can be seen in all the other offerings, ranging from the Indigo to Grande Sumo and Safari.

Today marks an important day both for Tata Motors and Indian automotive world. It took over four years of meticulous development, but we Indians will finally be able to drive what has been awaited by the masses since it was showcased at the Auto Expo in New Delhi earlier this year. Oh, hang on… no, I am not talking about the Nano. Instead, what I am talking about is the Vista, Tata Indica Vista. Eminent media persons were present at an event which was a perfectly understated yet classy affair. Mr Rajiv Dubey who addressed the gathering talked intimately about the Indica as a brand and went on to share things about its latest avatar; Indica Vista. Now that I have done brilliantly at keeping the information about Indica Vista guarded from you, allow me to apologize and give you the details as well as a short drive impression of the car.

Indica Vista shares literally nothing with the current Indica. In flesh, the Indica Vista looks quite muscular owing to the large petal shaped headlamps that complement the in-yer-face element that the grille section carries. The overall character of the front end is dominating and gives the Indica Vista a ‘good-looking’ tag. The rear however remains more or less similar to the existing Indica. Looking at the way designers at Tata have gone bonkers with the front, we would have liked an equally aggressive looking behind. But largely, Indica Vista is a car that will appeal to mostly everyone. Dimensionally, Indica Vista is larger than the existing Indica and that adds to the overall comfort factor. Indica Vista is nearly 3.8m long and 1.7m wide while it sports a wheelbase of 2470mm. I also quite liked the raised kink on the hood and the crease lines running just below the beltline on the sides.

The biggest surprise however, is on the inside. Interior quality is several notches higher and there is a soft feel grain structure (much like that in Ford Fiesta) on the top end versions which proudly sits on the dashboard as well as the door pads. The two-tone interior of the car makes for a pleasing environment and the quality of the knobs and switches seemed much better than what we are used to finding in Tata offerings. The plastic at the lower section of the dash felt a little cheap however and the story of how well it stands the test of abusive use will only unfold after an evaluative road-test report. There’s also a 2-DIN audio system with USB port to take care of your music needs. Comfort has not been compromised in any way whatsoever. The seats felt reasonably well bolstered on the short drive that we went for and the lumber support adjustment makes for a great tool to have to enhance the driving experience. Thoughtful features like storage console under the seat add to the practicality quotient.

Fiat developed it, Maruti powered its Swift with it, and now Tata is copying the act with Indica Vista. The 1.3L Quadrajet common rail diesel engine that finds itself under the hood of Indica Vista produces 75BHP and operates at 1400 bar pressure with four injectors working every cycle to generate 190Nm of turning force, which is rather impressive. There is also a 1.2L CVCP Safire petrol engine on offer, which is being manufactured at the Ranjangaon plant. CVCP is acronym for continuous variable cam phaser that enables the timing of the cam lift to that of crankshaft to be changed while the engine is running. Simply put, variable cam phasing changes the timing of cam lift. This helps in broadening the torque curve hence aiding drivability. There is also an option of the existing 1.4L turbocharged intercooled TDi engine but the way the 1.3 Quadrajet pulled our weights, I am doubtful about people choosing the 1.4L mill. The suspension has been beefed up too and now sports a semi-independent, new twist-beam suspension with gas filled shock absorbers. Quadrajet gets 175/65 R14 tubeless tyres that lay print on the road while 1.2 petrol stands on 175/70 R13s.

Now the bottom-line; price! Tata Indica Vista will be available in seven variants and is priced from 3.49 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the 1.2L Safire at the low end going up to 4.88 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the top end 1.3L Quadrajet. There will be an option of ABS and airbags in domestic market that the Indica Vista will come with at the time of its international debut. Some might feel that the price is at the pinching end of the spectrum, but I personally feel that it is not all that steeply priced, for the very product that Indica has become in the form of Indica Vista. Consider this; rather than having to compete against the Maruti Suzuki Alto and Fiat Palio, Indica Vista will now be looked at as a premium product vis-a-vis current Indica and will take the fight to the i10s and Wagon-Rs, which are more or less priced in similar bracket. There will be seven colours to choose from and the car will be offered with a segment best 24 months/75,000km warranty.

We took the Indica Vista 1.3L Quadrajet for a short stint and came back smiling. As said, interior is now leagues ahead of the existing model, so I will not blabber about it now, but the way she responded to throttle feed was quite impressive. Thought we could not go around corner-craving in the packed Mumbai traffic, we did get an open stretch of road to experience the character of Fiat’s motor in this Tata car. The engine pulls without a hiccup even when driving in third at speeds as low as 15kmph and you do not get any lag or reluctance. I deliberately shifted into fifth while doing a mere 35 clicks on the speedo and though a little slow and engine being audible, progress was smooth and the engine did not feel bogged down at all. Ride quality is its strong point and the Indica Vista should lead the segment on that front, I think. The air con was already working when I got into the car, so the cabin was already pretty pleasant and the effectiveness of the air con cannot be reached at right now, so await a detailed test report from us to read more about the drive characteristics of Indica Vista.

About 9.1 lakh Indicas have been sold since its launch in 1998 and over 1.127 million cars have rolled off the platform. Even after eight long years since its launch, Indica was selling in good numbers and actually recorded its highest sales in 2006-07, selling 144,690 units. Going by this trend, we are only but sure that if the Indica, being the unrefined product that it was, could sell in such good numbers, Indica Vista has a good future ahead!