[sridhar-v]

@ GTO & other owners of the NANO

I had test driven the Nano about 10 days ago (looking for a cheap runabout for the office). It was the 2012 LX variant & I had noted 2 major issues:-

1. Heavy steering at slow speeds- noticed by GTO & reported that it gets better with speed. Possibly we could live with that.
2. With 4 up (total including driver) I found the brakes to be very spongy. Had to stand on them to manage stops in slow traffic. Is this a one off problem faced by me or is it again a low speed issue?
3. The engine was making a lot of racket with noticable vibration in the rear seat. Possibly woould have smoothened out of coming to full temperature. - Any comments on this issue?

[coolaks7]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

@ GTO & other owners of the NANO

I had test driven the Nano about 10 days ago (looking for a cheap runabout for the office). It was the 2012 LX variant & I had noted 2 major issues:-

1. Heavy steering at slow speeds- noticed by GTO & reported that it gets better with speed. Possibly we could live with that.
2. With 4 up (total including driver) I found the brakes to be very spongy. Had to stand on them to manage stops in slow traffic. Is this a one off problem faced by me or is it again a low speed issue?
3. The engine was making a lot of racket with noticable vibration in the rear seat. Possibly woould have smoothened out of coming to full temperature. - Any comments on this issue?

Test drove the Nano 2012 yesterday and faced exactly the same issues. The 1st and the 3rd points are already well known and are livable. But I found the brakes to be a bit inadequate though the salesperson mentioned that this is a one off issue.

Anyways today, after almost convincing myself that Nano 2012 is the best suited second car for me, I was searching for a few dealer's numbers and came across this piece of news:

Tata Motors to replace starters in all Nanos | mydigitalfc.com

[antz.bin]

This is my friend and his 2012 Nano delivered yesterday. His membership here is not yet approved so posting the photo on his behalf.


The Niggles I(antz.bin) found on day 1.
1. The rear-center engine cover screw doesn't go inside properly. The holes aren't matched.
2. The dealer installed reverse horn no longer worked after a total of 45km driving from the showroom.
3. Now that I notice, there was just one layer insulating foam above the engine compartment and not 2 as in the review car.

The Query(s):

1. The battery(under the driver's seat) visible to the rear passenger while sitting normally looks very shabby. Is there anything we can do to hide it from public view?
2. The seats are a bit on the harder side. My friend was thinking of memory-foam seat covers. Are they really required? Or would normal foam seat covers be enough for regular city use?

[kkg]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

.
1. The rear-center engine cover screw doesn't go inside properly. The holes aren't matched.

Loosen up all the screws first and then try to screw the center one. Once, all the screws are aligned into the holes, tighten them up diagonally from any side.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by kkg

Loosen up all the screws first and then try to screw the center one. Once, all the screws are aligned into the holes, tighten them up diagonally from any side.

Did that when I saw the misfit. Wasted a good 40 minutes to get it fixed. to no avail. Also happened to check all fluid levels and found the Coolant level to be considerably higher than MAX. But since that is not a fault of the car, I didn't mention it in my earlier post.

[apuwdm2]

Regarding the difficulty in fitting the engine cover - note that the cover can be fitted only one way. It is not rectangular in shape but has a minor angularity which should face the rear of vehicle.

Locate and thread each wing bolt only a few turns first - you may have to move the engine cover slightly to align all the holes. Proceed to tighten fully only after all the bolts are in their thread.

Apurva

[psp62in]

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't expect the Nano to be any less safe than an Alto. And it will for sure be safer than the 25 year old Maruti 800.

In fact I remember Ratan Tata proudly talking about the crash safety during the Nano-1 launch days.

Originally Posted by GTO

Tata can easily fit the battery in the bonnet area if they want to. Your suggestion is splendid.

I am not so sure because there will be safety implications since the Petrol filling nozzle is located in the same bonnet. Thus the bonnet can accumulate gasoline vapors, and in case any electrical shortcircuit it will pose a danger.

[Coolman]

Thanks GTO, for the review of the upgraded Tata Nano.

I feel for its Next Facelift which should come in a year’s time (to keep Nano in the reckoning) contribution has to be more from its exteriors.

Front face lift:
A face lift for the bonnet – Tata needs to do an Estilo here – a small albeit proper bonnet I feel should be good for the Nano (opinions might differ). Today, the bonnet line falls faster than it should. I like the new Estilo, I didn’t like the older one with its steep front.

See it in the pictures.

Nano – check the fast falling bonnet line:



Estilo – old version – check the fast falling bonnet line:



Estilo – new version – check the redesigned, gracefully falling bonnet line:



Rear:

At the back, the hatch door needs redesign, not just a face lift. The Indica hatch door has done its job for 10+ years on the Indica and its avatars, and on the first couple of versions of the Nano too. Very soon it will stop looking contemporary (if not already), also if not monotonous.

See it in the pictures.

Indica eV2 – Hatch door:



Nano – Hatch door – Indica like:



Roof / Height / Cabin headroom:

Another point that comes to my mind is whether so much of head room is required within the cabin? Good Headroom is great, but too much of it, that can’t be put to good use can be done away with, may be! This isn’t specific just to the Nano. WagonR also seems to have been overdone in this department.

See it in the pictures.

Nano – check the ample headroom:



WagonR – both new and old:



Technically it might be a complex job to redesign, but by doing so these cars will end up:

• Being more better looking
• Having improved high speed driving stability
• (On a lighter note) Using this headroom in the A-star. Seriously though, the A-Star needs some headroom in the rear, may be more!

Tyre Proportions:

And the last one - the one job that most car makers in India love to do or rather UNDER DO – is the tyring. R12 looks ok on the MS 800, not on the Nano. How about an R13?

See it in the pictures.

Nano – take a look at the body to tyre proportions:



So to summarize,

1. A face lifted bonnet
2. A redesigned hatch door
3. A height-reduced (read head room) cabin
4. Proportionate Tyres

will be the factors (there might be others), I feel should make the Nano be good, feel good and do good!


Thanks,
C_

[anekho]

Thanks for the review, GTO.

Does anyone have photos of the Nano in Papaya Orange? Haven't been able to find any "real" photos. Only the ones on Tata's site.

[avingodb]

Originally Posted by anekho

Does anyone have photos of the Nano in Papaya Orange?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2580225

check this link from the previous thread where Nano 2012 was being discussed earlier!

[aravind.anand]

A much improved Nano as we enter the new year! Hurray. Now TATA has done its homework pretty well. Lots of customer feedback have been incorporated into the 2012 model. High end model with power steering would really have clicked with the ladies, as the cute styling has already struck many. May be we need to wait for the 2013 Nano to see power steering, disc brakes, auto box and a diesel engine. It would be a perfect city car then

[Reinhard]

Awesome review GTO. Thanks for that as always. The Nano must be feeling proud to find itself worth a review from you.

BTW, there is no "Disclaimer - XYZ Motors invited TBHP for review and all expenses.........." in the post. So this wasn't a review invited by TML? If it wasn't, then that's another miss by the already rotten TML marketing team...Its a car for the masses supposedly and they missed to get it reviewed by TBHP, which reaches the masses by far.

[Taronish_E]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

[aniketi]

@ GTO : You have any idea why TATA has different size of wheels on front & rear? Any benefit of it or its just a cost cutting? Does front can have same size wheels as in rear? so that ride quality can improve. Also is rim size of all wheels are same? Or wheel caps are of different size for front & rear?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

BTW, there is no "Disclaimer - XYZ Motors invited TBHP for review and all expenses.........." in the post.

This wasn't an invitation-only driving event; rather, the car was sent across to our place. No disclaimer required.

Originally Posted by aniketi

@ GTO : You have any idea why TATA has different size of wheels on front & rear?

From my review:

The Nano has a rear engine, rear wheel drive layout. Such an arrangement usually results in easy oversteer, a condition that is difficult to handle for the average driver. Thus, Tata has intentionally kept the front tyres (135/70 R12) thinner than the rear tyres (155/65 R12). This ensures that the car is more likely to understeer than oversteer, with the front tyres giving up on grip first.