[harry10]

QUiet an animated discussion going on Nano being 'A Car' or just a 4 wheel substitue of a bike. Will stay clear of the discussion as everyone has their own opinion.
Its a car for Masses who cant afford pricey ones. Simple.

Does anyone has a clue when TD's are available for Nano as i will like to have a first hand experience of this engineering marvel

[badboyscad]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

I'm sure some one amongst us got to see the DC version of the nano on ndtv profit.Hes going the full hog with gull wing doors, hayabusa engine et all.well I didn't see the video but I'm hoping someone gets to put it up in Youtube and give us the link.

Here is a link with some info about the DC nano:
Tata Nano: From Rs 1 lakh To Rs 1 crore- Auto-The Economic Times

[Steeroid]

So will the 'V2' version of the Nano also be a real V2 ?

Would be nice, na - Vee Twin car!

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by badboyscad

Here is a link with some info about the DC nano:
Tata Nano: From Rs 1 lakh To Rs 1 crore- Auto-The Economic Times

Looks quite a bit like the SmartCar. I some how like the stock looks.

[kreddy]

First of all congralations to Mr.Tata. I am really proud to be a Indian today. Whenever I pass through Indian Institute Of Science, commonly reffered to as Tata Institute in Bangalore , I wonder what a visionary JRD Tata was and amazing contribution they have made to the country. Just think of Taj Hotel, Tata Steel, TCS, TML, IISc., etc., you can feel your heart swell with pride.

However some cannot digest success of own countrymen and crab mentality shows up. They are already talking niggles of Tata vehicles and what not. This mentality has been there from ages and you read plenty of these stories in history, during British rule, etc.,

Please nobody is begging you people to buy this vehicle if you dont like it, you can buy your Skoda and live happily ever after.

[doctorque]

Good review.
I cant stop the urge of buying one, just to support the whole IDEA of Mr. Tata.
Great Stuff.

[Lightning2]

Firstly I'd Congratulate TATA officials for "accomplishing" in their Car venture

TATA was in talks with Technology houses for Inheriting CVT in Nano , but vehicle launched on 23rd march is 4 speed Synchromesh Box involving Belt for final power transfer to wheels

CVT was considered to Reduce both Cost and Weight of Nano

Will TATA launch another Nano variant after few months involving CVT ?

[safari_lover]

Originally Posted by travelwriter

I have some basic questions.

What does body roll mean?
What do we mean when we say gear is short?
What does cornering mean?

Please help

Let me try and answer these, but I must admit that I am no expert with these terms and I might be wrong.


Body Roll -- Is the lateral movement of the car when you break hard or at corners etc.

Short gear -- This I think depends on the context. It can either be how quick you have to up shift or the gear ratios. I think it is the former in most cases.

Cornering -- The capability of the car to take a turn (left or right) at the highest possible speed without the body roll.

I hope I didn't confuse you further!
Experts can correct me if I am wrong.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by travelwriter

I have some basic questions.

What does body roll mean?
What do we mean when we say gear is short?
What does cornering mean?

Please help

Refer these in the sequence you asked to understand-

Body roll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...all-short.html (Your choice of Gear Box: Tall or Short?)

Cornering - Explained by Safari lover.

[directinjection]

Thanks for the neat review GTO but who's the mystery author? Adil Darukhanawala? Has to be one of the journos invited by TM.

Originally Posted by Lightning2

TATA was in talks with Technology houses for Inheriting CVT in Nano , but vehicle launched on 23rd march is 4 speed Synchromesh Box involving Belt for final power transfer to wheels

CVT was considered to Reduce both Cost and Weight of Nano

Will TATA launch another Nano variant after few months involving CVT ?

True. The original plan called for a CVT. It's not clear exactly why the transmission was changed to manual. Perhaps CVT did not give the desired performance and is still being perfected. Kinetic Engineering is the vendor for both CVT and manual gearbox for Nano.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Its true that Tata is the only company to have to have crash testing facility, I wonder how many get tested.

Excuse me, but are you under some sort of an impression that every car that is built needs to be rammed into a wall and crash tested before it is again bolted back into shape and sold? I did not get what you meant by "how many get tested".

Crash testing facilities are used to understand the vehicular dynamics, the seating positions, the design geometry etc. at the design stage. Based on the results of these crash test the designers tweak the design further till an acceptable balance is reached. Thereafter these design changes are hardwired into the new vehicles structure.

And finally, it costs a bomb to setup a crash test facility. It is not built to show off and garner accolades. If someone set up a facility then it had a more meaningful purpose.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Nano as a car makes me feel a bit odd. Its just too minimalistic to say the least. If M800 can do without power assisted steering, even alto can do it, there is no point in offering these features. Why not give better quality where it matters like tyres, engine options, prope wiper system, a rear hatch that can open.

I think your point of reference here is flawed. You have not yet seen the car and yet you are tilting at the windmills, if I may say so. You have taken the M800 or the Alto as a reference point but you forget that this car was not meant to be another Alto or 800. I am sure there are better role models available to emulate if that had been the purpose. It came with a very different vision, the one which hardly many thought much of in terms of possibility. And yet the world today is falling all over itself to applaud.

My friend you are missing the jungle for the woods.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

The point is this, the Nano was designed from grounds up with on parameter in mind " Two wheeler upgrade ". This shows in such a minimalistic car nano happens to be. A rear hatch does not open, a space saver, a puny engine and I seriously doubt the dynamics of this vehicle.
Its not a big step ahead from my point of view.

Bingo! Now, you said it. Tata can not help it if their little Nano, which was supposed to be for the masses about whom no one ever thought, has now become the darling of all and sundry. Tatas never went out to trumpet that they are going to get converts from the Alto and M800 clubs. If that happens then obviously it will happen so because of the intrinsic worth of the vehicle. And you or I are no one to write that off.

All that grumblings about a fixed hatch door or a small engine (puny as you call it) etc are the hallmark that made it possible to design a modern car from grounds up at a cost that is unbelievable. Suzuki gave up much earlier when they said that they can not compete at this price point. Obviously, it is not possible to have everything a la Alto and then expect that it will be a car for the masses, one that even your neighbourhood office clerk can dream about.

[thermalpaste]

I hope the Nano does not turn out to be a Yugo or a Trabant and I think it won't. It's more like a modern 2CV -- innovative yet frugal in every sense. Frugal engineering requires sophistication and I haven't seen this kind of sophistication in ages.
If I were to buy it as a base version, it would be like a barebones PC for me; I would tinker around with it. I would love buying the top end variant for my mom who despises the sedan.
The Nano targets a much broader audience than what it was originally intended for. My colleagues from the US and Canada were very much keen on buying this car, but they can't import it for obvious reasons.
Tata, please don't screw up this time. We don't want a Nano V2.

[supremeBaleno]

OK, now that the Nano is officially launched, can we have some nice meaty discounts on the M800 and Alto, Mr.Shinzo Nakanishi ? That would be interesting.

I see that the ex-showroom price of the base-variant is like 1.35lakhs, which means adding tax & insurance the OTR would be like 1.5lakhs+. For the top-variant, the OTR would be 2lakh+. At these prices, I do not really see the average bike buyer as a potential customer.

However, I guess the car would do pretty good due to the following segments :
- Those that can afford an M800/Alto, but want something different.
- Existing car uses who want a cheap runabout.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Excuse me, but are you under some sort of an impression that every car that is built needs to be rammed into a wall and crash tested before it is again bolted back into shape and sold? I did not get what you meant by "how many get tested".

I think what aaggoswami meant is that not too many pre-production Nanos or Indicas get tested at the crash testing facility, as compared to, say, European or Japanese manufacturers' new models. It is obvious that crash testing is a very expensive procedure, since each test writes off a car - and I'm sure TML cannot afford too many such tests to maintain the low prices they are so famous for.

Suzuki gave up much earlier when they said that they can not compete at this price point.

All car manufacturers gave up even THINKING of trying to compete at the price point of the Nano. However, the 800, having been in production in its current shape for over 20 years, has recovered all its capital investment costs. If Maruti wishes, it can sell a stripped down version of the 800 at production cost + minimal profit, to give the Nano a fantastic run for its money. That is a trump card that they do have up their sleeve. And if that happens and the 800 sells at even a 10% higher price point than the Nano, the Indian public may be more inclined to buy the tried-and-tested 800 than the uncharted-territory-another-Indica-V1-in-the-making Nano in the long run.

[carcoll]

To put things in perspective,
Kudos to Mr. Tata, for the engineering and cost effective marvel and all that!,... But really?!
Lets take the Nana LX BSIII, Ex-showroomprice here in Goa is Rs.183,699/-, add road tax/regn./insurance, ie. approx 10%, or Rs. 19,000/-, total on-road price, approx. Rs.203,000/-.
Now take the Maruti AltoLX BSIII, ex-showroom price in Goa Rs. 260,033/-, effective on road price.. Rs.255,000/- ( due to discounts like free insurance/ exchange bonus/loyaltydisc./etc/etc...)
{P.N.: all the prices taken from respective websites, and schemes verified with the maruti dealer}
Now Rs.52,000/- more for a tried and tested product..over 10 years !
Does a first time car buyer still want to buy the Nano LX!?!, not me!
and the final clincher: Maruti highly likely to reduce Alto prices by 30-40K in the next few months!!
And if the Nano prices are increased by 10k as Mr Tata says...(price protection is only for the first 100,000 cars)...thre will be no price difference at all between the Nano and a similarly specced Alto!
Now do you still want to go out there and buy the NANO LX ??