[philipreji]

Got the car allotted today, it is a September 2014 make. 27th or 28th October is the possible date of delivery.

Originally Posted by PNTLovesNano

I see only two drawbacks with Nano - (i) no option of disk brakes in the front, and (ii) 50-50 rear split which would be very useful go access the boot space.

A friend told me that the absence of disk brakes in the front means we have to "pump" the brakes to stop the car effectively. Is this true? When I test drove, the brake didn't feel any different from that of other cars.

Originally Posted by svdath

Anybody who has 2 6-footers in the family and want to sit back-2-back in an Alto can tell why Nano is way better. I don't think lot of people understand the concept of leg room and sitting comfortably for about 1-1.5 hrs in Bangalore traffic without getting cramps in your leg.

True. For a city car, no other model can beat the Nano at this time.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by philipreji

Got the car allotted today, it is a September 2014 make. 27th or 28th October is the possible date of delivery.



A friend told me that the absence of disk brakes in the front means we have to "pump" the brakes to stop the car effectively. Is this true? When I test drove, the brake didn't feel any different from that of other cars.



True. For a city car, no other model can beat the Nano at this time.

Congratulations on your purchase! Waiting for your new toy is surely the worst part!

The brakes are just like in any other car, but only when they are dry.

The brakes are all drums, unlike in most cars where you only have drums at the rear.
If water enters the brake drum, as would happen when you drive on flooded roads, it takes a good while for the drums to dry. Disc brakes would dry almost instantaneously.
If there is water in the drum, braking effect is significantly reduced. So be aware of the reduced braking effect and compensate accordingly.

I think that the last drum brake only car was the Maruti Omni. It too suffered from the same problems in heavy rains.

[freakmuzik]

About the brakes, totally right! How I wish my car had disc brakes. I hope they equip the upcoming facelifts with disc brakes without fail. Right now as soon as I go through an average sized puddle of water, I lose my brakes and have to keep pumping them after which they tend to get ok. This is the only reason I never wanted to take this car out on a proper highway run!

[philipreji]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Congratulations on your purchase! Waiting for your new toy is surely the worst part!

The brakes are just like in any other car, but only when they are dry.

The brakes are all drums, unlike in most cars where you only have drums at the rear.
If water enters the brake drum, as would happen when you drive on flooded roads, it takes a good while for the drums to dry. Disc brakes would dry almost instantaneously.
If there is water in the drum, braking effect is significantly reduced. So be aware of the reduced braking effect and compensate accordingly.

I think that the last drum brake only car was the Maruti Omni. It too suffered from the same problems in heavy rains.

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

About the brakes, totally right! How I wish my car had disc brakes. I hope they equip the upcoming facelifts with disc brakes without fail. Right now as soon as I go through an average sized puddle of water, I lose my brakes and have to keep pumping them after which they tend to get ok. This is the only reason I never wanted to take this car out on a proper highway run!

Hello Motard and freakmuzik,

Thanks for this important piece of information! These days it pretty much rains in Bangalore, and one should definitely be in the know..

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by philipreji

Hello Motard and freakmuzik,

Thanks for this important piece of information! These days it pretty much rains in Bangalore, and one should definitely be in the know..

I should add that though it is a limitation inherent in drum brakes, I have not faced this problem in the last 2.5 years of ownership of my Nano. So there is no need to be alarmed by the rain.

Enjoy your new Nano!

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

Exactly what a few of my friends feel. They own an Alto but they feel Nano is a better buy for the space and in-city ease. Waiting for the AMT to launch. Was thinking if swapping my car for the AMT made sense. Lets see!

With Tata's I would suggest a "wait and watch" approach as far as the AMT goes. You don't want to become one of their testing guinea pigs do you?
Please note a recently launched thread where a couple of brand new Maruti Celerio's are having some issues with the AMT box.
With Tata's always wait at least a year before buying any of their newly launched products.
Some inside info (cannot say how reliable) I received is that it will cost about 3.5 to 3.7L on road.
This changes the equation completely.

Regards,
SS

[philipreji]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

I should add that though it is a limitation inherent in drum brakes, I have not faced this problem in the last 2.5 years of ownership of my Nano. So there is no need to be alarmed by the rain.

Enjoy your new Nano!

Glad to know that Motard! In fact today evening we had to wade through bumper-high rain water in the outer ring road but our Matiz did a commendable job of that..

Originally Posted by suzuki san

With Tata's I would suggest a "wait and watch" approach as far as the AMT goes. You don't want to become one of their testing guinea pigs do you?
Please note a recently launched thread where a couple of brand new Maruti Celerio's are having some issues with the AMT box.
With Tata's always wait at least a year before buying any of their newly launched products.
Some inside info (cannot say how reliable) I received is that it will cost about 3.5 to 3.7L on road.
This changes the equation completely.

Regards,
SS

Of course I don't want to be a guinea pig on the AMT!

I wouldn't be surprised if Tata prices the AMT above 3.5 L. Right now they are systematically building the Nano brand, and I think they are seeing moderate success in that endeavour of late.

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by philipreji

Hello Motard and freakmuzik,

Thanks for this important piece of information! These days it pretty much rains in Bangalore, and one should definitely be in the know..

philipreji, this shouldn't be such a deal-breaker I would say. As I mentioned, this happens only when the car wades through a little deep water. If you use in on the highway quite frequently and then do check about it, or if its just city use, this shouldn't be much of a bother. I have gone through bumper-high water levels in my Nano and the brakes were back to form after some time.

Originally Posted by suzuki san

With Tata's I would suggest a "wait and watch" approach as far as the AMT goes. You don't want to become one of their testing guinea pigs do you?
Please note a recently launched thread where a couple of brand new Maruti Celerio's are having some issues with the AMT box.
With Tata's always wait at least a year before buying any of their newly launched products.
Some inside info (cannot say how reliable) I received is that it will cost about 3.5 to 3.7L on road.
This changes the equation completely.

Regards,
SS

Hmm, maybe yes. But in that case, my Nano is part of the initial batch and I've never felt like a testing guinea pig. But yeah, since there are people who've faced issues, I will wait. And 3.5 L? God! I'l have to think about that!

[GrammarNazi]

Just this evening I passed through ~1ft water at Airport road, it was for ~40 meters. I didn't find the brakes fading but I guess if there was water for a longer distance, then maybe.

Originally Posted by philipreji

...Of course I don't want to be a guinea pig on the AMT!

I wouldn't be surprised if Tata prices the AMT above 3.5 L. Right now they are systematically building the Nano brand, and I think they are seeing moderate success in that endeavour of late.

TATA's provide 4 year Warranty & AMC for the Nano. Both of which are reliving and IMO the USP of this car.

They've burnt their fingers on pricing before, and after seeing how the Zest was competitively priced, I doubt if Tata Motors would dump the VFM factor.

IMO a 3.5L price figure could KILL the product - which they don't want. They have idle capacity at Sanand and want NUMBERS (hence the recent price cut). AMT technology can deliver those numbers and a 2.5L Ex-SR price can deliver that.

Maybe in 2016 the roumoured Kite will have disc brakes & safety features like ABS, EBD, CSC (Corner Stability Control) and Airbags with a 800cc Turbocharged Petrol AMT priced from 3.5L(lowest variant) to 5L (highest variant).

[philipreji]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

philipreji, this shouldn't be such a deal-breaker I would say. As I mentioned, this happens only when the car wades through a little deep water. If you use in on the highway quite frequently and then do check about it, or if its just city use, this shouldn't be much of a bother. I have gone through bumper-high water levels in my Nano and the brakes were back to form after some time.

Hmm, maybe yes. But in that case, my Nano is part of the initial batch and I've never felt like a testing guinea pig. But yeah, since there are people who've faced issues, I will wait. And 3.5 L? God! I'l have to think about that!

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Just this evening I passed through ~1ft water at Airport road, it was for ~40 meters. I didn't find the brakes fading but I guess if there was water for a longer distance, then maybe.

TATA's provide 4 year Warranty & AMC for the Nano. Both of which are reliving and IMO the USP of this car.

They've burnt their fingers on pricing before, and after seeing how the Zest was competitively priced, I doubt if Tata Motors would dump the VFM factor.

IMO a 3.5L price figure could KILL the product - which they don't want. They have idle capacity at Sanand and want NUMBERS (hence the recent price cut). AMT technology can deliver those numbers and a 2.5L Ex-SR price can deliver that.

Maybe in 2016 the roumoured Kite will have disc brakes & safety features like ABS, EBD, CSC (Corner Stability Control) and Airbags with a 800cc Turbocharged Petrol AMT priced from 3.5L(lowest variant) to 5L (highest variant).

Hello freakmuzik and grammarnazi,

Good to know that the brakes didn't fade ~ 1 ft water level. That's reassuring! No, the brakes is not a deal-breaker for me..in any case our use will be mostly in the city only. I need to get a bigger car for occasional highway use, might go for a "pre-worshipped" one..

Yesterday Aadya Motors agreed to buy back our Matiz (1999 Dec model) for Rs.30,000. We have to part with her on Tuesday after taking delivery of the Nano She was well cared for and was in good condition.

(We are also getting the following accessories: (i) art leather seat covers, reverse parking sensor, door visors, steering cover and neck rests for a total of Rs. 6500, (ii) underbody protection and body teflon coating (with a second coat after 6 months) for Rs. 3000. Will fix alloy wheels later).

AMT technology at a reasonable price will definitely give Nano enough sales to break even. Apart from new buyers, a fraction of existing owners will upgrade their motors too.

[zenren]

I was looking at the Nano website and noticed that the base version is no longer available in the New Nano. It is listed as a previous variant.

Now the cheapest Nano is around 2 lakhs. When did they discontinue the non-AC Std variant?

[philipreji]

Originally Posted by zenren

I was looking at the Nano website and noticed that the base version is no longer available in the New Nano. It is listed as a previous variant.

Now the cheapest Nano is around 2 lakhs. When did they discontinue the non-AC Std variant?

Didn't know this. Maybe there is no demand for the non-AC Std variant.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by philipreji

Didn't know this. Maybe there is no demand for the non-AC Std variant.

Interesting. With a non-AC Std variant of Alto 800 still on offer, cheapest Nano and cheapest Alto are only 40k apart!

Nano is perceived to be a 1L car and those who can afford 2L would prefer an Alto due to this image. Those who can afford only 1L might be willing to buy a Nano but it is clearly out of their reach. No wonder we don't see any sales for Nano.

Ratan Tata might have some sentimental value about it but the Nano is a failed branding and it is unlikely that a rosy picture lies ahead for this model.

The car actually is not so bad compared to Alto and a corrected positioning and branding could actually help drive more sales. Tata needs to change the name and the body shape at the same time to get out of that Nano's cheap image. If they try to do it one step at a time, it would remain the same as what happened with Vista - "its a new Indica"

[drsingh]

They need to redo nano and come out with something new like they did to the vista - - - - - - > zest/bolt.

I'm awaiting the 'pixel'

[philipreji]

Originally Posted by zenren

Interesting. With a non-AC Std variant of Alto 800 still on offer, cheapest Nano and cheapest Alto are only 40k apart!

Nano is perceived to be a 1L car and those who can afford 2L would prefer an Alto due to this image. Those who can afford only 1L might be willing to buy a Nano but it is clearly out of their reach. No wonder we don't see any sales for Nano.

Ratan Tata might have some sentimental value about it but the Nano is a failed branding and it is unlikely that a rosy picture lies ahead for this model.

The car actually is not so bad compared to Alto and a corrected positioning and branding could actually help drive more sales. Tata needs to change the name and the body shape at the same time to get out of that Nano's cheap image. If they try to do it one step at a time, it would remain the same as what happened with Vista - "its a new Indica"

The "image" problem is real. For one, I know someone who considered a Nano initially but went for a Ritz in the end, just because of this reason.

However for most Alto customers it it their first/only car, but for a good number of Nano customers it is their second/additional car. These Nano buyers don't suffer from the "image" problem because they have another "proper" car in their garage anyway.

IMHO, Tata can still save this car if they brand it as a convenience/utility/fun extra car for the typical upper middle class Indian family.