Hi everybody,
Here’s my bit.
1) IN BRIEF
2) BACKGROUND
3) POSITIVES
4) NEGATIVES
5) INDICA with CNG
1) IN BRIEF
One Liner to describe Indica : Value for Money
Positives: Space, Reasonable Mileage, Value For Money, Great for CNG Fitment, Robust, Silent Engine
Negatives: Build Quality (Quality of material and finishing), Gearshift, Placement of controls , Worst Sales Experience - A-One Motors, New Delhi, Taxi Image, slightly sluggish
2) BACKGROUND
I am a car enthusiast - in as much that I regularly read auto magazines and drive pretty well. I previously owned the Honda city – old version – my dream car. I recently purchased a new indica xeta – primarily as a city runaround. I travel upto 60 kilometres daily hence I was looking for a car which would be best suited on CNG…
Indica was the best choice, as you will see in the CNG Section. Sine I purchased the car about 3 weeks back, I’ve driven the car in Delhi. Have made three long trips on the car:
1) Delhi – Dehradun – 238 kms …on petrol (return – 476km)
2) Delhi - Bareilly – 255 KM….on petrol(return – 560 km)
3) Delhi – Dehradun - 238 km …on CNG – Only one way (return – 476km)
Here’s my experience with the car:
3) POSITIVES
Space: There’s no doubting it, that the space is phenomenal. Plus with the foldable rear seats, you can use your car as a luggage carrier. In fact the leg space is more than adequate. That’s because the seating is slightly higher than other cars (I owned the Honda city), hence your legs don’t need so much of the extra space up forward. In fact my brother who is 6`2” finds indica as the only car which his legs are comfortably adjusted.
Reasonable mileage: In the City the petrol mileage was 11.5 with AC – without AC should increase to 12.5. In the highway –
1) Delhi – Dehradun – 238 kms …on petrol (return – 476km) – 13.5 with AC
2) Delhi - Bareilly – 255 KM….on petrol(return – 560 km) – 14.7 without AC
3) Delhi – Dehradun - 238 km …on CNG (return – 476km) – around 17.6 on CNG (conservative Estimate)….
There is a 12.5 KG cylinder. I drove 220 KM on CNG. CNG is never filled full.
After I emptied the cylinder on del-Dehradun …and filled it back in del –they filled only 9.6 kg. By that mileage comes to 22.9 per kg of CNG.
Mileage is phenomenal on CNG.!!!!!!!!
Value for Money: The cars to consider in this range were pretty much: Alto, Santro and Wagon R. Fiat Palio was briefly considered.
Let me try and give a value for money rating to these cars:
Alto : 8.5
Santro : 7.5
Wagon R : 7.7
Palio: 7.8
Xeta: 8.7
Why is the Xeta great value for Money: firstly - a 1400 CC engine in this range: Both Alto and Wagon R are sub 1000 CC in my knowledge. Im not sure about Wagon R and palio though. And in terms of Power, Xeta punches a good 77 BHP. In terms of money – it is the second cheapest. Only alto being cheaper.
How tata has made this car value for money is by putting cheap quality stuff where it doenst matter much – and putting good quality stuff where it matters. For eg the steel used in the body is great – much thicker than Santro or Wagon R or Alto. However the front dashboard quality is really pathetic, so is the quality of the switches etc.
But I needed a run around so this worked great for me.
Great for CNG Fitment: In the four cars under consideration, Again my rating would be as follows for CNG Fitment:
1) Xeta: 8.8
2) Wagon R: 8.7
3) Alto: 8.2
4) Santro: 8.2
Look at the reasons why:
1) CNG Fitment usually reduces the pickup of the car. In a larger CC engine this effect is very reduced. If we were to put CNG in alto, the effect would be very very marked.
2) Space for CNG Cylinder: Again in space there is no comparison – Xeta: Although the practical diff is not much here. The best part about the CNG Tank fitment in Xeta is that the tank fits snugly below the parcel tray in the rear, giving a clean look to the car.
3) Service and repair – I’m not sure How this works, but I thought that since so many Indicas in Del are running on CNG – all taxis – the local mechanics should also be pretty good at handling CNG Indicas.
Ideally Tata should do a slight remodeling and fit CNG in the factory itself......reduce the petrol tank to abt 20 ltrs – fit CNG Tank into the body.!!! We will still have reasonable space to keep 2-3 bags below the parcel tray in the rear.
Robust: The Car is definitely robust. Three reasons:
1) In the potholed roads near meerut, the car felt ambassadorish …that can be the best compliment ever in terms of robustness.
2) When I close the bonnet hatch – the sound feels very solid – not the ringing of thin metal which I felt in Maruti 800 or Honda City – old. Maybe the smaller bonnet size helps.
3) At high speeds – driven upto 110 – the car doesn’t shake or rattle…or even slight vibrations ….very silent and smooth.
Silent Engine: If you keep the windows closed, you will not hear the engine at all. In fact I’ve turned the ignition on a running motor a couple of times at traffic lights. Now I keep a watch on the odometer to check if the engine is running.
cont in part 2