Thread: Tata Indica Vista-Interiors

Tata wants the Vista to deliver the cabin space of cars in the range. One look at the interiors tells you the carmaker has had a good shot at it. Rear seat passengers get more leg room than in a Logan and the seats are first-rate too. The front seats adjust for height along with the steering wheel the front seats are large, and back and thigh support is good too. There is plenty oflegroom for tall drivers and for once gen¬eral ergonomics are pretty good as everything falls easily to hand. However, the rear seats are one of the true enigmas of this car.

Easily better than any direct or even more expensive competition, they offer sofa-like comfort, with just the right amount of firmness as well. The bench is placed at the perfect height, thigh support extends all the way to your calves and the bench is wide enough for three. The back rest, though very comfortable and supportive, feels a bit too reclined. For such a large cabin, storage could have been better. The door pockets (careful, they have sharp edge) are strangely very shallow, there isn't too much space below the central console and though there is a very large and lockable glovebox as well as an tray under the passenger seat, a cabin of this size could easily have had more.



What Tata has got, by and large, right is quality. Yes, you heard that right, the Vista now has plastics and other bits that feel well built. A clear improvement from the crude Indica interiors, the grain on the dashboard, the soft-feel plastic on the dash and the improved fit and finish are things that will go some way in delivering a feel good factor not earlier attainable in a Tata car but there is more to do still. Parts like the door locks, the air con controls, the buttons across the dash and bits like the ones that adjust steering uptoscratch. Skoda Fabia-like interior quality is still some way off.

With its radical centrallymounted instrument panel, sunilar to the N ano's, the look of the Vista cabin is bright and airy. Shorter drivers will not only get seat height adjust, but the base of the windscreen is also much lower compared to the Indica, improving visibility considerably. What impressed us probably the most was the relative lack of squeaks and rattles. Doorshut is nice and solid,nothing worked itself loose over the period of some rigorous testing and fingers crossed, things should stay that way.