Tata Nano CX Test Driven


350Z

Core Team
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
Messages
21,187
Likes
7,835
Location
New Delhi
Sandeep,

Yes, Tata Nano is a spacious and quite modern looking car, but quality levels of some parts are deeply low, which I personally can never live with. Its doors are so thin like a metal sheet and are too flimsy to open or close, also the car feels unsafe if you are sitting inside and it’s running on open roads, just like in a Maruti 800.

Hence, Tata definitely needs to offer some much required safety features which are being talked about lately, but then after all I should not forget that we are talking about the cheapest car in the world. However, all in all, Tata Nano does makes worth the purchase for two wheeler owners who are looking for an upgrade (for which actually this car is designed) because it serves the basic purpose of budget-car for regular city commute pretty well.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
6,377
Likes
489
Location
NYC
The only thing which made me smile while i had driven NANO for the first time was its engine response in the intial gears. Unlike Alto(800CC0, the acceleration doesnt give you an impression that the engine is so small. However once you are in the 3rd gear, the fun gets over and at 80kmph, you feel like "Alto/800 is not bad at all".
 

AMG

Suspended
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
4,031
Likes
328
Location
N/A
Sandeep,

Its doors are so thin like a metal sheet and are too flimsy to open or close, also the car feels unsafe if you are sitting inside and it’s running on open roads, just like in a Maruti 800.
I did not expect this statement from a fellow M800 owner[frustration]
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
194
Likes
35
Location
Pune
Sandeep,

Yes, Tata Nano is a spacious and quite modern looking car, but quality levels of some parts are deeply low, which I personally can never live with. Its doors are so thin like a metal sheet and are too flimsy to open or close, also the car feels unsafe if you are sitting inside and it’s running on open roads, just like in a Maruti 800.

Hence, Tata definitely needs to offer some much required safety features which are being talked about lately, but then after all I should not forget that we are talking about the cheapest car in the world. However, all in all, Tata Nano does makes worth the purchase for two wheeler owners who are looking for an upgrade (for which actually this car is designed) because it serves the basic purpose of budget-car for regular city commute pretty well.

Drive Safe,
350Z
I completely agree with you. The motive of Nano is to afford safe drive for the two wheelers, yesterday I was reading this article on rediff, it says that nearly 60-80 per cent of Nano buyers already own one or two four wheelers. Here is the link

Even the rich favour Tata Nano

i must agree that the engine is not that refined and the engine sound is a lttle annoying too.
Thats true.

The only thing which made me smile while i had driven NANO for the first time was its engine response in the intial gears. Unlike Alto(800CC0, the acceleration doesnt give you an impression that the engine is so small. However once you are in the 3rd gear, the fun gets over and at 80kmph, you feel like "Alto/800 is not bad at all".
May be we have to wait till 2012 when Nano Europa will be launched here [cheers]
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
9,164
Likes
330
Location
Chennai
Hmmm what about the FE Sandeep?

Even i have sat in a Nano. The overall quality is what we can expect from the world's cheapest car. I hate the engine noise of the Nano , its very similar to a share-auto!
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
6,377
Likes
489
Location
NYC
Hmmm what about the FE Sandeep?

Even i have sat in a Nano. The overall quality is what we can expect from the world's cheapest car. I hate the engine noise of the Nano , its very similar to a share-auto!
FE is quite good. A friend of mine is getting 23kmpl. And miid you, he is a rash driver.
 
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
150
Likes
95
Location
kollam
Tata Nano driven from Kozhikode to Trivandrum

I was in Kozhikode the previous week to attend the funeral of a relative and I travelled from Trivandrum to Kozhikode in a KSRTC super fast. My cousin said he was glad to take me back home in his car I didn't know what car he was driving so agreed. When he pulled up next to me I was shocked ,a tata nano was going to cover 400 KM in a single day that too at night. It was too late to back out now.

Here's the experience.

Started at around 12 noon from Kozhikode and I took the wheel because I was petrified at the thought of my cousin a known rash driver driving me in his nano on these highways.

It was my first ride with the nano a 2011 model with air con I expected a dull performance but it was kicking well thanks to the short geared 1 and 2 gears. Third is quite tall I drove mostly in the range of 60-70 and overtaking was ok with a quick shift to third. The brakes were good but was useless at speeds above 80 so I never crossed 70 . He was constantly pushing me to step on the throttle but I refrained.


The ride quality was ok took sharp bends decently and the steering was great except once we had to take a tight U turn it had a heavy feel, overall it does not need power steering.

The turning radius I felt was much larger than the M800 I really had to shift lanes first starting from the far left to turn right don't know whether I treated the nano like my safari which never gave a clean u turn on narrow kerala roads and I usually had to reverse with the steering fully locked left after I joined the other lane.

The engine though only 600 cc had enough grunt to tackle the highway(kerala so obviously clogged with traffic).

Good visibility but a thick A pillar means I had to sway my head quite a lot.

The headlights were good and had a neatly focussed beam the car's ground clearance is fantastic and will not scrape any bump.

Some cues I learned about this car-Nano is quite zippy in the first two gears the car can crawl in the second gear easily in city traffic no downshift required. The handling is good with manual steering, it has some weight even at good speeds. Poor braking after 80 KmPH till then it's good.

What felt good-Good power to weight ratio, well geared, good headlights, decent brakes at normal speeds. Great seating positioned, good ergonomics.

What could have been better-

Easy access to engine ,had to remove six wing nuts in the middle of the nowhere because the owner was crazy enough to run the car without coolant luckily I soon inferred It was lack of coolant once temp readings showed up(my cousin believed his car was air cooled all these years [frustration]) and had no idea how to access the engine. It took me half an hour just to top up the coolant with water.

Poor turning radius, when I searched the net nano was having shortest turning radius(4 M)but I really felt it took a lot more and the steering was very hard as it was getting locked to the right.

Had a dreadful music system which is better turned off.

The car needs better brakes if it is to be ridden at high way speeds.

The end of the journey- I gave my cousin the wheel only when we reached attingal nearly 30 km from Trivandrum. The little nano has taken us from Kozhikode to TVM in 10 hours it was an unforgettable journey ,the tiny car is a good city car and a gem in city traffic and hopefully my cousin will take good care of his cute car.
 
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
10
Likes
2
Location
Thane
Today I went to TD a Tata Twist Nano 2018.
This was the latest updated twist model. With the new looks.
I was highly impressed with this little cute car what it has to Offer.

First thing the moment you get inside the car is that you will notice the acre of space available. Enough amount of legroom, head room and shoulder room.
I'm quite a health guy with broad shoulder and was expecting shoulder rubbing besides co-passanger which I observed in wagon r. But to my surprise there was significant amount of gap between us without our shoulder getting overlapped with passenger seated by sides me.

The pickup in 2nd and 3rd gear was quite fantastic wrt city traffic.
With a short TD sprint I was able to pull. The car till 85kmph in no time.

Unfortunately the TD vehicle AC was slow at cooling. But can't complain much as the outside temperature were 40 degrees and above.

Sound insulation was good enough to firewall all the unwanted exterior noise including Nano's engine noise.

Power steering is certainly a boon in traffic and the car felt agile to navigate easily.

The only downer what I felt is over the period of time the price of Nano has shot up tremendously where an xt manual transmission Nano costs a whooping 3.65 lacs on road once which was perceived as the aam junta car.
 

Top Bottom