The Marina is the third model on the Indica platform. Built on the flexible Indica platform, the Marina is slightly shorter than the Indigo, but has the same stretched wheelbase, and a very balanced-looking shape.
The suspension has been modified and stiffened slightly to take the extra loads, including the addition of gas-filled dampers, but it remains the sophisticated all-independent set-up. Like the Indigo, the Marina gets improved brakes, with a larger servo for better performance. It is actually slightly shorter than its saloon sibling but is a bit heavier.
The interior is borrowing from both the Indica and Indigo’s parts bins; quality seems to have improved slightly in this iteration, especially the sound-insulation, but is not yet perfect. Legroom in front has been curtailed slightly by restricting the travel of the front seats, but this helps rear legroom. The rear seat is very good, supportive and wide, with good space for three abreast. Comfort is aided by an excellent air-con system.
The boot, the Marina’s focal point, is quite useful, topped with a folding parcel shelf, but it suffers from intrusive suspension towers and a high loading lip, which makes it difficult to lift heavy luggage into the boot. The boot has useful touches, like a net on the floor, pockets on the side and hooks, as well as a storage box on the roof. The latter, unfortunately, is not well designed, and heavy objects could fly out of it under heavy braking.
The Marina comes with a choice of 1.4-litre petrol or diesel engines, with 85 and 62bhp. The petrol has reasonable performance, hitting 100kph in a useful 13.34 seconds, but it’s noisy, especially at the top of the power band.
The diesel is the more impressive of the two, with the turbo hitting in impressively at 2000rpm. There is significant turbo lag though, which can make town driving hard work. Still, it manages 0-100kph in 17.66sec.
Fuel economy is on a par with the Indigo, which means the petrol is about average, at 8.8kpl in the city, while the more frugal diesel gives a decent 11.9kpl in the city and 15.6kpl on the highway. The brakes are fairly impressive, although ABS is not an option on any variant.
The Marina is a useful little estate, more practical than most small hatches, and acceptable in most areas. It is comfy, good looking, can carry fair-sized loads, is fairly frugal, and importantly, comes at a superb price.
Filed under: Tata Motor Cars in India
