It may look like the Indica's elder brother, an update or a face-lift:, but the only parts common to both are possibly some nuts and bolts. A grounds-up design that shares only its philosophy with the earlier Indica, nothing is shared between these two cars. Still, during our 1,000km-long test of the car, it didn't get as much attention as an all-new car from Tata should and from that standpoint the conscious effort to keep the look the same may have played the Vista a difficult hand.

Take the headlights and grille away and the Vista looks very different from the current Indi. Despite falling well within the once proposed 3800mm small car length norms, it is much wider and considerably taller than even a Honda City. And the 2470mm wheelbase and 1450/1440mm front rear track again are closer to the Honda than any of its direct competition. Still, from most angles, the Vista done by Justyn Norek, formerly ofIDEA, looks well proportioned and balanced.

The nose of the car is compact and starts low, the car has a tight-fitting, modern skin, and stylistic details are very subdued. The wheel arches have only a hint of a flare, there is a subtle crease along the door handles and the front bumper is fused seamlesslywith the car's rounded nose section. The details that stand out are the massive head lamps that stretch almost all the way up to the front windscreen base, a centre crease on the bonnet and a version of the Indica's smiling grille. The rear of the car with the tall tail-lights is difficult to tell apart from the Indica, though the lights are much narrower and the rear considerably wider. The only telltale sign, if you can't compare, is a crease that runs across the hatch. The Vista, however, looks severely undertyred and excessively raised a Tata signature if ever there was one.

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Under the skin, the Vista is a far cry from the Indica. Twentyfive percent stiffer and built using hi tech tailored blanks of steel that vary in strength from section to section, the Vista's chassis is far from basic. It forms the basis ofTata's new car plat- form and as a result has a lot of sophistication. The Vista has been engineered to pass stringent European crash test norms and even the bonnet height has been optimised for pedestrian safety. Other areas that have been optimised include a fuel tank large enough to cater to a number of body styles, wheel wells can take 15- inch rims, suspension towers that have been strengthened, and a steering rack that is now placed on the front subframe to isolate it better.

Though the steering system is not a modern electric unit, it has been tuned to be as light and as effort free as one. The design of the front suspension is an evolution of the MacPherson strut system seen on the current Indica, but Tata has opted to go for a non independent rear. It uses equal length drive shafts for improved refinement and minimising the effects of torque steer. ABS is not available on the car yet and the Vista uses drums .at the rear too, but you do have 240mm discs up front.