Team-BHP - Tata 1 L car to be unveiled on 10th Jan 2008. EDIT : Named Tata NANO

Quote:

Originally Posted by srh (Post 688838)

Well this can't be a chpped Indica engine as it is an all aluminum engine and also meets Euro 4. I don't think that the Indica engine can claim either of these

Indicas exported to Europe are Euro-IV compliant, Euro-IV being the obligatory standard there since 1 January 2005.

As the above posts mentioned, banning vehicles that do not meet the emission control and do not carry the latest engine condition test etc should bring a lot of difference and relief to the daily travellers and drivers. I am sure atleast 30% of the vehicles on road today do not qualify to be on the roads (either too old, or not having a record of proper maintenance ).

Nano is even qualified for Euro IV norms as commented by Tata himself on the unveiling day ! Practially speaking, does it make any difference on indian roads with the Euro II, III and later IV criteria when more than 50% of the engines on road do not pass even the basic qualifying rounds ?? Are we talking about a rule-abiding country by 2020 ?

Someone said, we have to bann all the old trucks and carriers to keep our eco system clean and the traffic orderly !! Dont you think our daily 'daal-chawal' is still carried to our door step by these oldies ?

A truck strike over 3 days can put many indian states to worse-than-psunami situations ! Infact solving one situation we head to another crisis. Our country needs some young educated brains to do our strategy planning, leading the citizens to a better future ! Corrupted politicians coupled with corrupted judicial system lead us to nowhere.

Tata brought out a revolutionary change in the automobile industry through Nano. Can we hope to get someone to think, plan and execute some root-shaking, civilised, smart sytem to our country ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaronikar (Post 684104)

All these things he has achieved within 10 years of the first launch of Indica. Where are those GMs, Fords, Toyotas etc where in they are manufacturing the cars from almost a century and they still could not think about this. hahaha....

Ford did it 100 years ago. Everyone else copied his idea. It's your turn now.

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Originally Posted by snaronikar (Post 684104)

...Kudos to Indian Manufacturers and kudos to Tata's we have proved to the world what we can do if we have determination

Congrats!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid (Post 687912)

Some random shots (all shot from about 100+ ft away, through the crowd around these cars)

I wonder how many of you have noticed this but Nano uses different tyres at the front and rear although the rim size is the same. I got this impression after watching this pic and during my last visit to the Expo confirmed this. The front tyre is 135/70/12 while the rear is 155/65/12. All models of the car feature these sizes. Isn't that interesting? Maruti 800 employs 145/70/12 on all four. When I questioned the Tata guy about this he claimed this was done for proper weight distribution. When I asked him what was the spare wheel tyre size, he said it was the same as that of rear tyres. My next question was "Would this not affect stability when the stepney is used in the event of front tyre puncture?" and he reluctantly admitted that it would but said that it was not such an important thing.

What do you guys say?

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I got this impression after watching this pic and during my last visit to the Expo confirmed this. The front tyre is 135/70/12 while the rear is 155/65/12.

Spot on, Mr. Eagle Eye! I don't buy that Tata chaps reasoning, but believe that the rear end would need more grip due to the rear engine / RWD layout.

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Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 692917)

Wow this is risky business. If you puncture the front tire...!
I wonder what will be the effects of putting in the wider tire for both front and rear? Is it that penny saving thing to keep the costs below 1L?

I don't think this move would be to keep cost low.
With the volume TATA is eyeing with 4 all tyres of same type they can easily put pressure on supplier to give them huge discounts.

It may be because to keep its fuel efficiency high.

I heard tell (Rumour Alert!) that the car will be distributed in an unfinished state, to be completed by the distributors.

True or nonsense. anybody ?

The idea of passing costs down line, or even ultimately, on to the customer, is well established with flat-pack furniture --- but lives don't very often depend on wardrobes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 692917)

Wow this is risky business. If you puncture the front tire...!

Use the wider rear tyre. Most of the expensive cars today come with space-saver stepneys which are MUCH MUCH skinnier than the original tyre.

If people can drive a 50-lakh Beemer to the next tyre repair point on things like THESE

why complain about Tata who are providing a WIDER wheel as stepney on a car that can do much slower speeds?

Quote:

Originally Posted by srh (Post 688838)

Well this can't be a chpped Indica engine as it is an all aluminum engine and also meets Euro 4. I don't think that the Indica engine can claim either of these

Never said its a chopped Indica engine. I said they might have reused the rotating assembly to save the cost of developing and manufacturing brand new parts. They'd have to make a new block anyway so they probably made it aluminum to save weight.

And someone said the wheels are 12". They look more like 8 or 10" from where I'm standing.

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Originally Posted by directinjection (Post 692792)

In UK i had seen may cars with a spare wheel of different dimension. You are not going to use it every time, only when you got a flat tyre, and all you need is a spare tyre, which can take you to nearest place where you can fixn it

With a spare tire, you cannot expect full performance. Most donut spares have a speed limit of 50 mph.

BTW, my car has wider rear tires and the spare is the narrower front ka size. No problem as long as you dont do any top speed runs. Its meant to get you to the tirewalla.

Another thing I notice is the massive ground clearance, probably keeping in mind rural customer base....and the Porsche Boxter style center exhaust tip.