Answering criticism or just staying with the basic principle of ‘constant upgradation’ is Tata Engineering which has brought out a vastly re-engineered Indica V2 with a raft of mods under the skin. But is it enough to take on the present flavour-of-the-moment big hatch, the Fiat Palio 1.2? Adil Jal Darukhanawala and Aspi Bhathena take these two battlers to the limit to see how they measure up face-to-face.
Time was the measure by means of which progress and revisions were assessed in the Indian automobile industry as regards product upgradation in the days gone by. The ubiquitous politico-tool and babu-car par excellence, the Hindustan Ambassador, I remember, made waves when its Mk II variant was released. It was years after that we long suffering Indians got a Mk III version and then another - no pain no gain seems to be the perfect description here! It was as if someone were playing a really long playing record slower than its 331/3 rpm design speed warranted.

Fast forward to the India of the 21st century and the rate of progress demanded by the market has changed perceptibly. The speed of the long playing record if adhered to could be suicidal and companies are much attuned to T4 speeds of information and data transfer. It’s not just the one means to do business, it is the only one to ensure survival! And no one exemplifies this better than Tata Engineering which has left no stone unturned in its learning curve as it goes about steadfastly in the car business. An absolute greenhorn in terms of experience as compared to the rest of the players in the market, it is however the one who has shown the gumption and the determination to make good, even in the face of severe adversity.

Last month we got the chance to take to the wheel of the new-for-2002 Indica V2 and were stunned by the dynamics of the car. Aspi Bhathena and yours truly tried both diesel and petrol versions and were floored by the grin-inducing behaviour and performance of the car. Surely this couldn’t be true, we thought aloud, almost in unison, but the V2 just wouldn’t let us jettison such notions. The next best thing therefore, was to badger the Telco marketing department to loan us an example to test and try out, not just on its own but also against the one rival closest to the Indica in size, in looks and proportions, and in large engine capacity. Also when the car in question is the Fiat Palio (presently the most shouted about car on the Indian firmament), we knew that this would be the crucial test to see whether Tata Engineering’s ERC team had done enough to help the Indica close the gap to its Italian rival.