[chaudharysaab]

GTO, 2 Question:

1. Do we have any improvement in terms of safety features?
2. Can we expect more improved Nano from tata in delhi auto expo? Like one with EPS.

[h14]

@GTO, thanks yet again for a wonderful review.

Originally Posted by GTO

Chevrolet Spark

BTW, the sparky in that picture is mine.

[avingodb]

Excellent review that treats this car pretty well. I have bought my Nano in September 2010. Am I missing much here?
@GTO
You mentioned that Tata is offering free upgrades to the previous gen Nanos. Any details on that? Have they set any cutoff for that and which all upgrades are they giving?

[misquitas]

Great review, GTO. Your style of communication and analysis never ceases to amaze me.

Originally Posted by GTO

The doors open super-wide to nearly a 90 degree angle (refer to picture below). Thus, ingress & egress are effortless, for the elderly too.

Most of us have been in the Nano earlier. However, some members of our weekend group stepped inside the "1 lakh car" for the first time. Simply put, they were awestruck by the space. The li'l Tata is a lesson in interior packaging and beats most other ~5 lakh rupee hatchbacks in terms of cabin room. 4 tall occupants can easily fit inside the Nano, while two 6 footers sitting one behind the other is possible too...I think Tata's biggest achievement is in carving this kind of space of a car with such a small footprint.

A big Plus. In my opinion, the most amazing part of the Nano is its sheer space for the specs. The only other hatch that also has brilliant interior packaging is the Honda Jazz.

Originally Posted by GTO

On the flip side, the steering is placed too low for comfort. This really is the diametric opposite of the ol' Indica & Indigo with their truck-like steering angle; looks like Tata over-corrected on that! While I personally didn't face any issue as that's how I usually set a tilt-adjustable steering wheel, others didn't prefer this low arrangement at all.

A big Minus. I personally hate the steering placement of the Nano. I find it too low for my comfort. Incidentally, I recently test drove a Spark and also found the steering placed quite low and not to my satisfaction. I prefer a slightly higher placed steering, but not as high as the old Indica.

By the way, why didn't Tata consider the possibility of a 50:50 split rear seat, specially since it is a 4-seater car? A split seat could easily have made up for the poor boot space, besides enabling 3 passengers to sit at the same time. Not that one cannot place luggage on the 3rd passenger's seat, but a split seat is always a useful feature. Certainly something that Tata could have bragged about, something that others (like the new Swift, i10) don't even have. Does it cost that much more to have a 50:50 split rear seat? Or alternatively, can a 50:50 split rear seat be installed on the Nano as an aftermarket fitment?

Believe it or not, I actually like the horizontal bar behind the front seats. It enables me to place my feet ON the bar, something that I enjoy doing when a restaurant table has this horizontal bar about 6-8 inches above the ground.

How I wish the Nano had power steering. A PS Nano could easily have been our second car.

Did any of the Tata bigwigs comment on when the diesel Nano is expected? There is a lot of speculation on this issue, with little confirmation.

[Ford5]

Fantastic review GTO.

But when i had a relook at the pictures, 3 words kept haunting me: Autorickshaw, Tata Magic, Autorickshaw.

Am i going wrong anywhere?

[souravc]

Excellent gripping review Rush ! The Nano 2012 package looks good save the following concerns that I have :-
1. Whats the feedback on the suspension ? One of my friends who owns a first gen Nano mentioned that its akin to the suspension of an Autorickshaw , is that so? any improvements in the 2012 edition ?
2. Safety aspect - How safe will the car be in the scenario of a city road smash up i.e. moderate speed impact . Will it be as safe as an Alto at least ?
3. I am disappointed that the car could not climb up an incline from standstill with 4 people, can be an awkward situation in cities even. In a way it brought back hilarious memories of my childhood when we used to own an old Amby and a brick was kept for these kind of moments . My dad was not very adept at the use of brake+clutch so we used the brick to stop the Amby from rolling back and I was entrusted the duty of running up the incline once the Amby had made the trip to the top

thanks once again for the review

[rock75]

i had a test drive recently and first thing I noticed was high driving position and commanding view (coming from Maruti's famously low driving position).

Apart from that ease of entry, leg space, easy steering at speed was a plus. Drivability was surprisingly good and when AC was switched on it didn't lead to any jerks unlike Hyundai eon! Gearshift was good enough.

The main negative point is refinement, the engine sounded crude, at start as well as when driving with some auto like noise creeping in even with windows rolled up while speeding. There were some vibrations/rattling inside too but that may be due to the demo car's upkeep.

It is good choice if you can't afford to/don't want to pay more. The four year warranty plus cheap maintenance package should come in handy, should you buy one.

[Amartya]

The review made for an excellent read. Thanks.

Originally Posted by GTO

• The improvements to the 2012 car are very welcome. This is what the Tata Nano should have been from day one.
• You gotta give it to Tata for offering frequent updates to existing owners of their cars. The owner of the yellow Nano (pictured above) has received a letter from Tata Motors offering him free updates. For the second time! You will also remember the free "V2" updates that first-gen Indicas received.

Releasing half-baked products, albeit with tons of potential, seems to be the Tata philosophy. You are correct, this is what the initial version should have been like.
Though it may seem nit-picky, there are some choices made in this version that seems to defy common sense:

• The pocket/sleeve just "hanging in there" that you rightly pick on. It shouldn't even be there. A closer look at the piece of cloth even shows the ugly stitching (that is to be expected for the kind of thing this is), and the quality seems so poor that it'd look out of place on an auto-rickshaw. After significantly sprucing up the interiors - and I do like it, the seats look great - why leave this piece of junk?

• The metal rod running across the back seat. It has a structural purpose, and that's fine; however, this metal rod needs a hard sponge/rubber surround. Again, this can be a DIY, but Tata motors should have done this.

Originally Posted by GTO

• The stunning Tata Pixel - a mini car based on the Nano - can be seen here.

Stunning indeed. However, if you think about the Europa, it seems to have been much closer to being production ready. In fact, instead of the jugaad solution to reduce the engine's visibility from the back (the auto-rickshaw reference that keeps cropping up!), rear bumpers similar to the Europa would have been great.
This requires retooling, so perhaps can only be scheduled for the next round of updates.


One question about the battery placement under the front seat. This apparently makes people uncomfortable (as in nervous). I couldn't really infer from the photographs, but do you think there's enough room to put the battery in the front, under the bonnet, and the spare tire under the front seat (i.e. swap them)?

I understand that there might be other issues, such as cable routing and clamping mechanism for the tire, to name just a couple; but do you think its worthwhile?

[rahul_sinha]

Excellent review GTO. Rated 5 stars. I had almost purchased LX couple of months ago, as a replacement of my Alto, but had a horrific experience with the Sales guys at Tata Motors. Yet to test drive it.
Now I am planning to wait till the automatic version is launched. Any information on the same? Last heard, Tata is planning for auto-Nano sometime in the last quarter of 2012, but not sure, as showrooms do not confirm anything.

[motomaverick]

Excellent review and a well timed one, because my parents aged around 60 & 50 years are planning to get a Nano to drive around in the city, would the 2012 be appropriate for them? I was concerned about the ingress & egress but that seems to be fine, hows the ride?

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by GTO

The other entry-level hatchbacks

[/i]

I Feel Eon should also be considered as entry level hatchbacks. Beautiful review, 13.72 kml mileage is not good at all. I did hope much better from nano.

[creative420]

Originally Posted by sameern.85

Great point. Makes a lot of sense.
Economy car, folks at Tata should have thought about it.
However, I also think Tata wanted to tap into the urban commuters who generally maybe missing the communication shower.
I also think that the positioning has not been correct with this car.
What's your take?
Cheers..!

Urban commuters, especially those who are/were banking with SBI got a good lowdown of their communication. I was in a town called Nadiad when this launched, getting operated (Kidney stones) :(. When they launched, the front page of the local newspaper was splashed with news and reviews.

It seemed that all the patients there weren't really bothered about their condition as much as they were disappointed with Tata for not living up to the 1 lakh promise.

About their positioning Khushiyon ki chabi, well it would have lived up to consumers expectations if this chabi was available for 1Lakh+Taxes.

[Abbas]

I thought i will never buy this 'thing' when it was first launched in 2009 . However, very recently i used a friend`s nano LX for 10 days when i didn`t have a ride. Completely loved the practicality of it in day to day use.

After handing it over to my friend, i bought myself a pearl white LX 2012 model which got delivered to me in 4 days flat on 2nd dec 2011. Been driving to office in it ever since. Fuel efficiency is 22 presently and A.C. is super chill.

Abbas.

[ganesc]

Excellent review as usual!

Nano Europa looked stunning and that look with an Automatic/electric versions will be a hit with girls atleast if made and sold in India. + Power steering.

@GTO

• Very heavy steering at parking speeds. Even top-variant doesn't get power steering

Is it that heavy or comparable to Maruti 800? which was ok and not that heavy.

Would surely buy one just for the pride of having one and of course for its cuteness Looks nice in that photographed colour.

Just that dub dub sound is the concern. Is it because of this Exhaust system that seems to be borrowed from Bajaj auto?
Will fitting a proper FFE make this sound like Hayabusa?

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ganesc

Excellent review as usual!

Nano Europa looked stunning and that look with an Automatic/electric versions will be a hit with girls atleast if made and sold in India. + Power steering.

@GTO

Is it that heavy or comparable to Maruti 800? which was ok and not that heavy.

Would surely buy one just for the pride of having one and of course for its cuteness Looks nice in that photographed colour.

Just that dub dub sound is the concern. Is it because of this Exhaust system that seems to be borrowed from Bajaj auto?
Will fitting a proper FFE make this sound like Hayabusa?

Aha!!
i get to use this:
"its not the size, but how you use it that matters"

Nano's pots at 5k max revs would be just LOUD, especially if beating their beat under the rear passengers bums.
So you get only noise, and no go.
The busa's at 10k are not just loud, but Intoxicating.
you get noise, AND go.


That 5k extra worth of revs put out a much purer note, than just an FFE


I agree, though, It should be a fun-to-own car, provided you drive it where its most comfortable.