Tata Indigo Manza Quadrajet 1.3

The Manza is clearly a car that appeals more to the head than the heart

Published on Dec 08, 2009 08:00:00 AM

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The Manza rides on the same suspension as the Vista but it’s been completely re-tuned with different spring / damper settings and optimised suspension bushes to suit the saloon. Ride comfort has been given priority and that’s instantly obvious within 50 metres of driving the car. The Manza is extremely pliant and soaks up potholes with ease. Even sharp ridges, the kind that catch out more sophisticated suspensions, are smoothened out without jarring passengers. It’s fair to say that the Manza with its relatively soft suspension has the best low-speed ride in its segment. However, at high speeds, the mushy suspension isn’t as impressive. At speed and on an undulating or uneven surface, there is a fair amount of vertical movement. The Manza heaves and pitches quite a bit and at times the front suspension feels out of synch with the rear. The handling too isn’t exactly sporty. The steering has the typical inert and inconsistent feel of the Vista. It’s a little stiff around the straight-ahead position and doesn’t self-centre easily.

For normal, everyday driving, the Manza is easy to handle and manoeuvre. It’s just that the Tata saloon doesn’t quite have the dynamic finesse to make it fun
to drive.

The Manza does not get the independent rear suspension of the previous Indigo but uses the capable twist beam suspension carried over from the Vista. A big step forward however is the inclusion of anti-lock brakes which, along with the wider 185/60 tyres, gives better stability under braking.