Not too many carmakers around the world can afford this luxury, but Tata has been consistently refining its hatch since the time it was launched. With a turbo-intercooler combo, which also does Indigo and Marina duty, the Indica V2 Turbo wants to be a model that can put its hands up each time a buyer looks for a personally-driven small diesel. It’s also aimed at wiping the ‘taxi market’ taint off the Indica.
The exhaust-driven turbine completely changes the character of the car. With an extra 14.5bhp on board, the 1405cc 475DL motor now puts out an adequate 68bhp. But the highlight is the torque figures, up 4.3kgm to 13kgm. What’s more, the Indica has jumped from a naturally aspirated motor straight to the inter-cooled turbo unit and has skipped the standard turbo (without intercooler) motor, which powered the Indigo and Marina when they were originally launched. The reason is that it is easier to meet the new Stage III emission norms with an intercooler. While that’s great for planet earth, it’s great for the driver as well. The intercooler reduces the engine intake air temperature. The lower the temperature, the denser the air and denser means more power. Simple.
But you have to drive the Indica Turbo to believe how much quicker it is than its naturally aspirated sibling. There’s a spring in its step, it’s lively and actually fun to drive and when you see the acceleration figures you can understand why. The turbo is almost a second faster to 60kph, at the 100kph mark the gap extends to a whopping seven seconds and by the time it reaches 120kph, the regular Indica is left in a different time zone – 17 seconds behind. Yes, the Indica turbo is shockingly quick for a cheap diesel hatch. Not only does it leave the Palio D behind for dead on the drag strip, it comprehensively beats its bigger and more expensive stablemates, the Indigo and Marina. But that’s not surprising as they are distinctly heavier. What is surprising that the Indica Turbo is quicker than the Fiesta diesel, the new oil-burning kid on the block.
In real world driving, the Indica Turbo has decent driveability as well, despite the initial turbo-lag that is typical of most turbo engines. The engine is more responsive than the normal breathing Indica, and that healthy stomp on the accelerator is no longer required. Helping its cause are shorter first and second gears which make it quick off the line. But when faced with inclines with a full load and with the air-con running, the turbo lag is quite annoying and the Indica Turbo requires a lot more input from the accelerator pedal. Get past 2000rpm and it’s a different beast. It’s much stronger and it almost doesn’t feel like a diesel and that’s saying a lot.
Refinement, a perennial Tata issue, has been upped and the V2 Turbo feels a lot more refined especially at idle. As revs rise, the engine becomes significantly noisy and takes on a coarse edge above 4000rpm. This is a very rev-happy motor and sails past 5000rpm with ease, pretty good for a diesel.
At cruising speeds, the V2 Turbo is pretty silent and keeping a steady three-digit pace hardly requires effort. Fourth and fifth gears are taller so the V2 turbo feels relaxed where the regular Indica was screaming its guts out. 100kph in fifth gear equates to around 2750rpm, a point at which the turbo is nicely spooled up. Overtaking is astonishingly easy and the Indica’s new-found grunt makes it a terrific highway car with the turbo on song.
Compared to the V2 Turbo, Fiat’s 1910cc diesel puts out a modest 63bhp but there’s a lot more usable and accessible 12.2kgm of torque. It’s significantly more responsive and hence easier to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The uncomplicated motor is slightly less refined than the Tata’s unit and sounds and feels gravelly throughout its rev range.
The naturally aspirated two-valve single-cam mill, which tolerates poor quality fuel, is boomy at idle, but things smoothen out once the revs build up. The ‘drive-by-wire’ system aids throttle responses, improving driveability. Another user-friendly aspect is the motor’s thick torque band and linear power delivery. But while the Palio has no problems holding decent speeds — the short gearing doesn’t allow for relaxed cruising, though — power tapers off rapidly towards the top end of the rev band, and it’s best to keep the engine at low revs. This is not a rapid cruiser like the V2 Turbo.