Engine & Drivability
The most important aspect of the new Vista is the new Safire 90 petrol powerplant that it borrows from the Indigo Manza. Compared to the same engine in the FIAT Linea 1.4 FIRE, this mill runs a different state of tune with a re-mapped ECU and different gear ratios. Tata claims that the torque curve is now flatter and as much as 100 Nm out of the 116 Nm is available from as low as 1,600 RPM. Cutting the tech jargon short, what this translates into is better drivability in the city traffic conditions. The better low end and mid-range grunt means that you can make quick overtaking manoeuvres without revving the engine too high. What it also means is that you get better cruising speeds as lower RPM thus adding a valuable bit to your fuel efficiency calculations. The new engine feels eons better than the underpowered 1.2-litre mill that powers the ‘Safire 65’ variant of the Indica Vista.
Get onto the open highway, check your rear view mirrors and floor the throttle and voila, you will wonder where the 90 horses have disappeared! Your jaw will drop further in disbelief when the petrol engine hits redline at a mere 6,000 rpm. You guessed it right, the Indica Vista even with its 90HP engine, isn’t an outright performance car. The fact is evident with a 0-100 km/h sprint which is a little over 14-seconds. A similar engine-d and heavier Linea manages the same sprint in less than 13-seconds. We did about six to eight launches each during the performance testing and every time we would shift from 1st to 2nd a little before the red line, the engine would drop revs significantly. From there on the shifts would be perfect all the way to the top gear. We blame this to the gear ratios which have been set for optimum performance within the city roads than a drag strip. Even then, the Vista Safire 90 managed a true top speed of 165-odd km/h, however, we reckon that it could have gone a little more too. But the 175-section rubber starts returning unnerving feedback after 160 km/h so we did not try attaining higher velocities. Even after all this jazz, the Indica Vista Safire 90 returned a decent fuel economy of 12 kmpl overall – which is primarily because of the well tuned low and mid-range of the car.While we performed all these test runs, the Vista Safire 90 offered a plush ride, not only on the straight stretches of the concrete highway but also on the potholed roads near the Tata factory in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The suspension is tuned for a comfortable city ride and that’s where its forte lies. We took the car to the twisties of Amby Valley the next day and the suspension demonstrated the typical traits of a soft setup. There was fair amount of body roll as you can make out from the photos but in spite of that, the tyres never lost their way. Grip levels are quite decent on the stock rubber and compliment the braking well even if you don’t buy the ABS version of the Vista Safire 90. But all said and done, it’s better to be safe than sorry, hence in country like ours where the traffic elements are highly unpredictable, it’s always best to buy a variant that has the maximum number of safety features. In the case of this car, it’s the Aura+ which comes with Anti –lock Braking System and driver and passenger airbags.
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