What you'll like:
• Extremely neutral family sedan. Well rounded 6 - 7 lakh rupee car
• Fuel-efficient 1.3 diesel engine. Nice gearbox too
• Unreal back seat comfort. Interior space comparable to two segments higher
• Excellent ride quality. Acceptable handling
• Build quality, fit and finish are way improved. No longer a major turnoff
• Respectable level of equipment and safety kit
• Sheer value for money pricing
What you won't:
• Tata needs to prove that it can consistently mass produce niggle-free cars
• Interior fit & finish still have room for improvement. Below average in some areas
• Lack of outright performance
• Inconsistent after-sales network
The original Indigo did well for itself. The Indian market bought 275,000 of them since the time of launch in 2002. Today however, in 2009, the 6 lakh rupee sedan segment is more competitive than ever. Not only are there more sedans jostling for space in this price band, but we also have premium 6 lakh rupee hatchbacks (e.g. Hyundai i20) that the Indian car buyer has taken a soft spot for.
As an owner of a previous-generation Tata Indigo TDi, I am able to comment on exactly where Tata has made progress. And after a test-drive, I walked away impressed. Tata's engineering department has put a lot of thought into this car and it shows. Their Gen I cars were entirely forgettable (Estate especially), Gen II was Tata learning the ropes + maximising the diesel advantage (Indica, Indigo) while the Gen III cars (Manza, Vista, Nano) is Tata Motor’s coming of age. The Manza has undergone 23 lakh kms of testing; that’s over and above the Vista’s 25 lakh kms of testing.
The Manza is assembled on the exact same production line as the Linea, at Tata-Fiat’s Ranjangaon facility. There’s a good and a bad side to that. The good : Paint job quality and exterior fit & finish are superb. Even the panel gaps are largely consistent (though the odd irregularity is present). The bad : Fitment of some rubber parts & interior bits is iffy (more on that later). The sales split between the regular Indigo sedan and the CS has been 50:50. The regular Indigo sedan has been discontinued with the Manza’s launch, yet the Indigo CS, XL and Marina will continue to serve their niche segments.
Walk up to the Manza and the first thing that hits you is that it looks like a proper sedan. The boot is better integrated than in the Indica-Indigo or Swift-Dzire siblings. The Manza does not look like a hatchback on which a boot was stuck on, as an after-thought. Nope, its not going to win any beauty contests either, but the design is par for the C segment. Up at the front, the 4 component headlamp design looks contemporary and totally non-Tata. The bumper, headlamps and grille treatment are different than that of the Vista, Tata’s way of giving the Manza its own identity. Indians love chrome and the Manza has dollops of it! The top-end variant has a chrome lining running around the entire car, the radiator grille has chrome slats, the door handles have chrome and there’s even a thick chrome plate above the rear number plate. One look at the rear and it seems as if Tata was inspired by the Cadillac of the 80's. I like the slightly squarish rear end with thin tall lights. Clean and uncluttered. The maroon colour of our test car, in particular, looks rich (same paint booth as the Linea). Tata’s trying to go a li’l premium with this car. Case in point : Take a close look at the door handles.
The doors obviously don’t shut with that European thud, but neither are they Jap flimsy. Dual tone interiors are standard on all variants, as are the tilt-adjustable steering and 15 inch wheels. The colours are nicely co-ordinated to give the interiors an airy feeling. Where other cars have a dull silver finish on the plastic parts, this car has champagne gold (I prefer the dull silver though). Believe it or not, the dash has soft-touch panelling in the light beige area (seriously!!) and is textured too. The glass area is generous and only adds to the cabin’s bright ambience. Overall upholstery is definitely firmer than the previous gen Indigo’s soft + cushy seat padding. Firmer is better for longer drives, though softer is preferred for the shorter urban runs.
The Vista was anyways a spacious hatch. Tata says they have increased the wheelbase by an additional 50 mm on the Manza. The wheelbase of the Manza is 2,520 mm (Dzire = 2,390 mm). The minute we sat on the back seat, my lower jaw dropped. There is simply no comparison with its direct competitors, we are talking atleast two segments above worth of room in here. The backrest is perfectly reclined and totally laid back; Tata says its angled at 28 degrees (and proudly adds exactly the same as the S Class). The door and center armrests are at just the right height too. I’m 5’10” sitting stretched out on the back seat and there is still a sufficient gap between my head and the roof. Note that the rear seat is placed slightly lower than in the older Indigo and you can’t just slide right in. The front seats have generous travel (fore and aft); this is one of the rare cars where I can sit on the front and completely stretch my legs. And even then, there is decent room available for the back benchers! Get this : In my C220, with me in my typical laid back driving position, no one over 5"7' can fit at the back. In the Manza, I set the driver's seat to my position and jumped right behind. There was still some room left! One of the rare sub-10 lakh cars that can comfortably carry 5 occupants (rear bench wide enough for 3). The transmission tunnel at the back is 2 inches in height. To really enjoy the backseat (center armrest et al) though, two passengers is best at the rear.
This is one of the rare Tata's where you will be able to find a comfortable driving position (no messed up ergonomics). Starting with the driver’s steering rake adjustment that has good range. Thank God for that! No more truck-like steering wheel (previous-gen Indica / Indigo owners will know what I’m talking about). The driving position and all round visibility are good. The driver’s seat also comes with height adjustment which has a fairly wide range to support the shorter as well as taller Indian frames. The front seats offer sufficient support and both, the driver and front passenger, have manual lumbar handles. The lumbar adjustment by itself is only two stages (either in or out, nothing in between). The steering is on the larger side, nice to hold and has integrated controls for the stereo & your mobile phone. Importantly, I am glad that the Manza has its speedometer moved to where it belongs (in front of the driver), unlike the Vista’s center mounted speedometer position. The font of the meters is small; in fact the meters themselves are two sizes smaller than you’d expect them to be (Tata’s hand at style perhaps?). Even the trip meter numeric fonts are small. It took us about 2 – 3 hours of driving to get used to them. On the other hand, the multi-information display has large fonts. They are easy to read, but the MID fonts themselves look like they are borrowed from an 80’s Casio calculator. The indicator stalks are thick, but very clicky & plasticky to use. You do have to stretch your fingers to reach out to them (say, when using the high beam flash). Also, the wheel well is narrow and the pedals are fairly closely placed. No dead pedal on the Manza nor is there room around the clutch to rest your foot. A dead pedal will be sorely missed on long drives. The driver’s door armrest is wide enough to support your entire elbow area.
Some rough edges are evident. For example, the way that the door padding is fitted, or how the dual tone upholstery merges or the paint job of the champagne gold painted plastic parts (tacky paint finish). The rubber beading is poor quality and the way in which it’s been fitted is even poorer. Some plastic parts have sharp edges. The only area that the interior will leave you wanting is on the fit & finish factor. That said, fit and finish are better than in the previous-gen Tata cars and very liveable. Though, there is still a good way to go before Japanese clinically-perfect levels are achieved (or should I say Korean as Hyundai is now the benchmark for quality in this segment). There are some surprisingly nice touches too. The air-con controls are extremely tactile to use, as is the ORVM electric adjustment knob. The dash has soft-touch material and the gear knob is made of good quality material. The 2 din music system is Bluetooth enabled for handsfree mobile phone operation, and can be paired with upto 5 phones. If the car is shared with other family members, you don’t have to mate your phone all over again. The wipers will clean up the windscreen once, after 5 seconds of your switching them off (to clear up any remaining droplets).
The doors auto-lock once you start driving (must-have feature for India). However, I have to warn you : Say the driver’s door is open, you activate the lock and then shut the door, it stays locked! I predict many Manza owners will end up locking their keys inside the car.
Storage space is good in some areas and average in others. Sure, the main glove box is deep and there’s a storage drawer right under the passenger seat. But there isn’t a center glove box, the door pockets are rather small (7 inches long) and the seat back pockets narrow. No convenient bottle holder on the doors either.
Tata sells the top loaded Manza variant with ABS, 2 front airbags, HVAC (no climate control), tilt adjustable steering, driver's seat height adjustment, lumbar support for both front seats, 4 speakers and two tweeters music system with USB / AUX / MP3 compatibility, Bluetooth integration, steering mounted controls (stereo + phone), multi-information display, front & rear fog lamps, electric adjustments for the ORVMs and keyless entry. While at it, I must add that even the base variant come with a respectable level of kit (tilt adjust power steering, front power windows, 2 DIN stereo + 4 speakers + two tweeters, dual tone interiors, tachometer, 15 inch wheels and central locking).
). To its credit, the Punto has received an impressive 5 star safety rating in the NCAP. Exterior fit and finish are good while the paint job quality is superb. The Indian-spec Punto has had its length (or more precisely, the bumpers) cut short to fall within the 4,000 mm excise-benefit range.
