Excellent city cruise and comfortable long drives!. Review on Tata Nano 2012 LX

I got a Nano LX(Mohito Green) Chennai, 2 months ago and have done 1700kms. I have always been excited about this car. Its an Engineering miracle from Tata as my friend(a TATA after-sales guy) used to tell.

1. Cruise: City cruise is awesome, 3rd gear speed range is 30-50km/h which is the exact speed range that we cruise most of the time.

   
   




2. 1st gear is short but I feel it should be shorter since I am not getting the power with 1st gear & zero throttle to climb fly-overs etc and the Nano requires some throttle unlike my i10.

   
   




3. Highway rides are great. Till about 80kmph the vehicle is very stable and above 90kmph the steering gets a little light, so have to hold on to the steering - I donno why, this may just be a feeling.

   
   




4. Mileage - I am getting an average of 16.5kmpl in the city with AC and it is exactly this mileage many times. In the highway, I think its touching its 20kmpl though not sure.

   
   




5. Why this is an Engineering miracle -

   
   

a) Its an Aluminium engine, 2 cylinder and rear wheel drive. The sound may be a little jittery at idling, but during cruise its almost noise-free, especially with the windows up.

b) Clutch, break and throttle springs are externally mounted, so replacing them is easy.

c) Fuel cut-offs - extended idling, unnecessary revs and improper gear engagements

d) The engine and drive is surprisingly free in 3rd gear so overtaking a bike is easy at such speeds, whereas in other cars, it takes more power to overtake.

e) Wipers have inbuilt water dispensers

f) Excellent space utilisation - batter under the driver's seat, engine under the rear seat, power window mechanism centrally located, thin windows and excellent leg and head room.

g) Ground clearance is higher than most hatchback - 180mm is too good

h) Though non-power steering, the wheel is lighter as soon as the vehicle starts moving. Only parking speeds are tighter, otherwise I dont see a difference. This has been achieved by differential wheel size and rear mounted engine(hence no load on front tyres). Further smaller tyres are easier to turn.

i) In a signal, the car will the first to leave among cars(except probably a rashly driven Sumo or Qualis) and only behind a few Honda Activas but still ahead of other two wheelers.

j) Suspension is surprisingly good, better than M800.

1. I dont find the AC very good as described by others. I use it near the full level and at 1 or 2 speeds. The rear passengers find it a little suffocating when I need to increase the fan speed further.

   
   




2. If the Nano get behind a stone or a bump, its tough to get on without over-revving, which is why I would like a shorter 1st gear.

   
   




3. Fourth gear is good only beyond 50kmph, and even then it feel a little too light. Probably a 4th gear from 50 to 60 and then a fifth might have helped. 3rd gear is little noisy at 50kmph. Also speeds 10 to 20 kmph is ignored, cos 1st is between 0-10 and 2nd between 20 to 30 and 3rd between 30 to 50. So 2nd gear is a little weak between 10 to 20kmph.

   
   




4. Though high seats are very comfortable, for long rides, its a little uncomfortable since it forces us to stay in upright positions. For shorter people, the legs are not very supported so may be a little uncomfortable.

   
   




5. I drove the Nano with 5 ppl, including me and the performance was surprisingly good.

   
   




6. I mainly chose Nano cos I will be riding it alone most of the time. If its a single use car, it must be a Nano.

   
   




7. Gear shift is a little tight, though a city drive at normal speeds wont involve too many gear shifts.

   
   

Overall - a much better car than M800 and, in my opinion, even better than Alto. So I would say the next best model to Nano is a Spark or a Alto K10 but that is atleast 1.5 lacs more and considering the running costs, Nano will be a very good buy.