Test Tata Nano

God of small things

Tatas little Nano put to the big test
Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre, Martin Alva

winner. Plain, simple and without any beating around the bush thats the Nano for you. A sure-shot winner. A car a proper car at that - which will transform the countrys automotive landscape forever; fuel the car-buying dreams, desires and aspirations of a billion people. We have driven the car and I cant get over the fact that, my god, Tata Motors has really done it! This is no joke, no embarrassment of a car. This is an againstall-odds story; the story of what the world said was impossible, what our own countrymen (and women!) tried their damndest to scuttle and of a motivated and talented bunch of engineers proving everybody wrong. And it started with Ratan Tata watching your average Indian family -

father, mother, two kids - riding through the rain. Thus began the genesis of the one-lakh-rupee car, Indias Peoples Car, the car dogged by more controversy and on which more has been written than any in the history of the automobile. A car that evolved from basic no-frills transportation into an astonishingly normal car. I keep stressing on this because, let us be honest, what do you get for one lakh rupees these days? A good motorcycle costs a lakh. An autorickshaw costs almost two lakh rupees. And Indias cheapest car which is as no-frills as you can get, costs over two lakh rupees. I expected a cheap, compromised, utilitarian fourwheeler. What I drove was a car that I will, eyes closed, recommend to anybody.
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Test Tata Nano

Fairly simple dash with central speedo flanked by scooped side sections. Air-con on deluxe version

STYLING
It all starts with the way the Nano looks because (and these are Tata Motors own words) there can be no better USP than love at first sight. Over the past year Ive seen countless Nanos being tested all over Pune but the novelty value has yet to fade. So when ten Nanos bumbled on to the test track at Tata Motors Pimpri factory, all in light and bright shades, seasoned, hardened journalists let out whoops of joy. Its a happy face. You might have issues with it (Singur, environment, congestion - take your pick) but just like a happy meal puts the glint back into a childs eye, so I guarantee when you first see a Nano on the road you will smile. It melts your heart. Its like the brat with the 78
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mischievous glint in her eye; you know you should slap her into shape but all you can do is hug her harder. You will want to give the Nano a big bear hug first thing in the morning. Justin Novak when he was with IDeA (now at Triton design along with most of the crew that worked on Tatas projects) penned what will go down as a design classic. Like all cars born of functionality and shallow wallets, the Nano is inherently right. It has a simplicity to the design in which lies its ultimate appeal. No matter what your financial ability you will love it. This will become the ultimate classless vehicle; something that will appeal to rich, middle class and poor folk alike - and which could spawn a

whole range of cool mugs, toys, T-shirts and more stuff. For a cheap car there are very many hints at sportiness notably in the side air-intake (like Porsche and Ferrari), flared wheel arches, rear roof spoiler and central exhaust. The sharp crease on the nose (cant call it the bonnet because theres no engine underneath) and vertical tail lamps link back to the rest of Tata Motors family. All Tata cars are also famed for their interior space and to achieve that the Nano is tall and upright though those proportions are well masked by the drooping roof, egg-shaped silhouette, forward visual bias and the wheels at the extremities. Next to no overhangs gives it a robust stance and prevents the Nano from looking

like a toy car on toy wheels (and giving rise to questions on safety and stability). Of course having the engine at the rear means theres practically nothing at the nose allowing the driver and windshield to be pushed right up front creating a perfect mono volume shape.

INTERIORS
This will really shock you the space inside is huge! The Nano measures 3.1 metres in length, is 1.6 metres wide and 1.65 metres tall. The wheelbase is 2230mm and track widths are 1325mm at the front and 1315mm at the rear. Tata claims the Nano is eight per cent smaller than the smallest car in India (Maruti 800 obviously) but within these constraints

theyve managed to liberate 21 per cent more interior volume and astonishingly for such a small car, four adults can fit in comfortably. It is so spacious inside that Martin (a giant at over six feet tall) could sit behind me. And I (not exactly a dwarf at 5 10) was sitting as I always do; very comfortably. The seats themselves are designed to be comfortable without eating too much into interior space and both the front seats slide and recline allowing very tall drivers to fit in behind the wheel. The driving position is comfortable and well thought out, ergonomically everything is where it would be in a car and visibility is of course very good with only the centre stack hump obstructing the left hand view slightly.

There are three variants of the Nano standard, CX and LX the main differences being the trim levels. The standard is bog standard rexine seats, no air-con and no frills. Our test car, the LX, gets air-conditioning, power front windows (rear remains winddown), central locking, front and rear fog lamps, full fabric seats and rexine/fabric door inserts. But theres no left hand side wing mirror which I missed throughout the drive. The air-con uses a 60cc compressor which delivers enough cooling power to keep the voluminous interiors cool, though you might find it struggling a bit in mid-afternoon drives on the highway where the engine is being worked hard. As with all Tata cars you walk in and out of the car; engineers had to ensure Ratan Tata didnt crouch or scrabble in. Ingressegress is easier than even in the Indica and with the high-set seats the H-point is naturally higher and that means you can spend long hours in the back and not suffer aches and pains. The seat back angle is well thought out and head room is generous, way better than an A-Star and almost Santro-like. In fact passengers will love the rear seats, at the front leg room is compromised by the wheel wells intruding into the passenger compartment.

Every inch of space is optimised and so the seats are mounted on a rail running horizontally which eliminates the need for a seat frame and enables passengers to tuck their feet under the seat. The rod also serves as a side impact beam reducing intrusion into the cabin - a novel and cost effective solution. On the LX the rear parcel tray is bolted to the seat back and the whole set-up tumbles to liberate 80 litres of boot space - good enough only for two or a maximum of three shopping bags. The engine is beneath this and it is worth remembering that it can get a bit hot and best not to leave any ice-cream. With the seats folded storage volume rises to 500 litres. The engine is accessed after tumbling the rear seats because the rear hatch doesnt open, the battery is under the drivers seat and the spare wheel is in the nose along with the fuel filler cap. Another surprising aspect is quality of the interiors which are unexpectedly good. Hav ing only a few modules means there arent many panel gap issues to deal with but on this front it actually feels bet-

I GuaRaNTEE whEN YOu fIRST SEE a NaNO ON ThE ROad YOu wILL SmILE. IT mELTS YOuR hEaRT

ter put together than the Indica Vista. The plastics are cheap but crucially not nasty while the twotone grey on the dash and the colour of the seat fabrics make the cabin look and feel light and airy. In such a small car the centrally mounted speedo actually breaks the monotony of the design and obviously this also means the dash can be used in left and right hand markets. Giving the speedo company is a digital fuel gauge, odometer and a bunch of warning lights, one of which is a cute little yellow outline of the Nano with a spanner running across it; the cutest warning lamp in the world. The central console is flanked by a scooped-out dash which can hold odds and ends and everything has rounded edges to make it safer in a crash. There is no glove box but there are two cup holders and small map pockets in the doors. The doors are ultra light (and of course feel flimsy) and have an integrated armrest, door pull and coin holder. The three-spoke steering wheel is unique to the Na no (sta ndard ve r s ion s get a two-spoke wheel) and is trimmed in soft touch plastics.

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Test Tata Nano

Wind-down windows at the rear. Notice the battery under the front seat and the horizontal seat-mounting rod

Three-spoke steering wheel on deluxe versions, standard gets a two-spoker

This is pure simple power-oversteer, assisted of course by some loose gravel. Its a ridiculous test but yes, you can drift a Nano!

Narrower MRF tyres at the front

105kmph and thats it!

Digital fuel gauge and cute little engine warning light

Cute little rubber mats are on the options list

SafETY
A key factor of the Nano, and a key criticism, has been safety and Tata engineers are keen to stress than she meets all current regulatory requirements in India including full frontal crash, head impact on steering wheel, body block impact on steering and seat belt anchorage strength. There are crumple zones in the front, waist reinforcement in the doors (which doubles up as the support for the door frame) and the Nano has also been subjected to roof crush tests. The base is a unique hybrid monocoque construction in which two cross members are welded into the monocoque and this robust understructure takes most of the road loads. It allows the super structure to use t hinner sheet metal and thus be 80
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dRIfTING a NaNO mIGhT bE ThE SILLIEST ThING IN ThE wORLd buT IT ShOwS hOw NEuTRaL, baLaNcEd aNd pREdIcTabLE ShE IS

lighter. A side benefit is that this also lowers the centre of gravity and aids stability. Being rearengined, the Nano doesnt need a central transmission tunnel but it is there to add rigidity while also allowing for the brake, fuel and air-con lines to pass through. The roof is ribbed to increase strength and fixed rear glass and hatch also adds rigidity to the structure. Scalability is a key factor in the Nanos construction and Tata claims it can be easily upgraded to meet forthcoming frontal offset and side impact crash requirements in India. Theres also the Nano Europa that will be sold in India next year and is being developed with the aim of achieving a minimum three stars i n EuroNC A P crash tests.

ENGINE & TRaNSmISSION

The engine is a

brand new development - a 624cc all-aluminium parallel twin petrol engine that makes 35PS of power at 5250rpm and max torque of 48Nm between 2500 and 4000rpm. It has all-square cylinder dimensions of 73.5mm, runs a 9.7:1 compression ratio and there are two valves per cylinder actuated by a single camshaft. A special low-cost ECU developed by Bosch handles fuel injection duties and the engine meets BS III emission norms while tuning is underway to meet BS IV norms (equivalent to Euro III). The engine is unique in that it uses a single balancer shaft to cut vibrations, the first time such a set-up has been used in a passenger car. On the move, NVH levels are never bothersome and very little engine vibrations enter the cabin. The exhaust note is unique - like an autorickshaw at idle (only quieter) and then taking on a pleasing phut-phut when revved hard. Its a unique sound which, rest assured, you will be hearing a lot of. That said I wonder how

it would sound with a few holes drilled in the exhaust! The engine is limited to 5600rpm but it revs so well that invariably I kept hitting the rev limiter in first and second gear. And third and fourth, come to think of it. The crucial aspect is that power doesnt tail off after peak in the torque curve is hit and the engine revs cleanly and strongly till its redline. The gearbox too is a pleasant surprise, the four-speed cableactuated manual box being surprisingly free of vibrations. It is short in throw, precise and its slick action makes easy work of keeping the engine on the boil. Overall its much nicer to use that the gearbox on the Indica! The transversely mounted gearbox can handle up to 50Nm of torque, has synchromesh on all four gears and is mated to a single dry plate clutch. A CVT transmission, modeled along the lines of a scooter CVT (low cost and no steel belts) is also in the pipeline and might be ready by the year end. The engine has 10,000km

Roof spoiler on deluxe versions adds even more sportiness

Single wiper saves costs and the washer nozzle is fixed to the wiper blade

Vertical tail lamps are a visual link to rest of the Tata range

Cup holders and front power window on deluxe version

Side vents cool the engine, and look cool!

Fuel filler in the nose, the cap on the right, as is the spare tyre which is the narrower front

Rear seats flip down to release 500 litres of storage space

Twin-cylinder engine mounted under rear floor

Centrally mounted exhaust looks cute

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Test Tata Nano

Egg-shaped sillhouette is perhaps the Nanos best angle. Note roof spoiler but no left wing mirror

service intervals, like any normal passenger car engine, and the warranty is 18 months or 24,000km whichever is earlier. Tata Motors is so confident that the car doesnt need any maintenance that it has deliberately made it difficult to get to the engine so that the cover is not opened and closed regularly (or improperly) which can lead to noise and heat entering the cabin. Ease of serviceability is ensured by a blink code (the engine warning light

blinks the fault code number) and can be used to diagnose faults in remote areas where a Nano dealer is not available. Also average fuel consumption and average vehicle speed for the last five drive cycles are stored and it is claimed that all the sensors are robust enough for very rough use. Theres also a limp-home mode. The engine is mounted on a subframe that allows quick and easy assembly of the engine, transmission, exhaust, cooling sys-

tem and suspension on to it and then to the body. The corollary is also true - six bolts need to be undone to slide the subframe out from under the body to work on the engine.

pERfORmaNcE
Best not to expect much from 35PS, but to its advantage the Nano only weighs 600kg and that gives it a respectable power-toweight ratio. Initial acceleration is sprightly, it gets going rather smartly and 60kmph comes in a respectable 9.8 seconds. This makes her great fun to drive in the city and worked hard she can keep pace with fast moving city traffic. However as speeds rise the engine has to work harder and to hit 100kmph she needs almost a kilometre and 35.1 seconds. Theres no tacho but when you hit top speed (105kmph) the limiter cuts in and the engine check lamp and temperature gauge start to blink. Compared to the Maruti 800 the acceleration is not that far off, 100kmph is just three seconds slower. But importantly the 800 can do well over 140kmph and that makes it far more suited to the highway. Peaking at 105kmph makes it unsuited to any highway work and in strong side winds the Nano is all over the place. Torque is not a strong point

NANO EUROPA

ThIS cool looking Nano is the Europa, and it is coming to India! Okay, not just yet, but Ratan Tata promised OVERDRIVE that all the goodies that go on the Europa will come to India. Goodies? The Nano cannot be sold in Europe unless it meets their basic safety norms and anti-lock brakes, electronic stability program and yes, airbags will have to be engineered. But you can forget the $10 airbag non-sense; Tata has clarified it will be cheap, but not so cheap. Other changes include muscular bumpers to improve crash protection, larger 13-inch wheels and a wider track to bolster handling. The aim is to score a minimum of three stars in EuroNCAP crash tests with four stars being ideal. A three-cylinder petrol engine is being developed for the Europa and there might even be a diesel engine. A CVT transmission is certain. Tata hopes to have the Europa ready by 2010-2011.

of the engine and in fourth gear when faced with an incline the car loses steam and requires downshifting to keep going. Also because its so light, every extra passenger, every extra shopping bag has an adverse impact on performance. In fact if you want the fastest Nano, youd be well advised to stick with the standard version that is 60kg lighter and is noticeably quicker in initial acceleration; a Nano Super Light if you wish! This is probably the car tested (with a feather-light driver) for their claimed 0-60kmph time of just eight seconds. Emission are claimed to be 12 per cent lower than any motorbike in the country and CO2 emissions are less than 110g/km. Fuel efficiency is also a strong point with a claimed and ARAI certified fuel consumption of 23.6kmpl. We couldnt verify these figures but after a whole days driving and performance testing, the 15-litre fuel tank had just slipped into reserve. Back of the envelope calculations put our fuel consumption at around 17kmpl which is damn good for all the sustained full-throttle driving we put the Nano to. What could be a bit of a bother is braking; 180mm drums are used front and rear and the deluxe versions get a vacuum booster. Surprisingly the brakes were more

Grip is decent allowing it to be thrown around with surprising verve. Body roll is pronounced but it never feels like itll land on the roof

progressive on the standard version, on the other cars it was very difficult to brake smoothly and progressively - most of the time it was either full braking or no braking. And on our brake tests, from 100kmph, the car showed an alarmi ng tendenc y to wag her tail (maybe due to the 42:58 front-rear weight distribution) and would come to a stop slightly crossed

up. Its the only black mark on the car, as far as we could find.

RIdE & haNdLING

Whether by design or accident, t he Nano is extremely good fun to drive and it is rear-wheel drive, what all enthusiasts swear by. I even managed to get her to powerslide on a bit of gravel and if a further 500rpm and a few more

IT IS SO SmaLL ThaT IT wILL fIT INTO ImpOSSIbLY SIzEd GapS IN TRaffIc aNd IN ThE cITY NO caR caN kEEp up

horses could be extracted from the engine, it could develop into a potent drift tool. Drifting a Nano might be the silliest thing in the world to do but it showcases how neutral, balanced, predictable and forgiving she is. The car does look disproportionately tall but hard as we tried there is no danger of toppling over. To large part it is down to differential tyre sizes; the fronts are 135-section 12-inchers, while the rears are 155-section (and lower profile, 65 compared to 70) 12inchers. The tyre slip points are calibrated so that the front tyres slip before the rears and so at the limit it will understeer predictably and will only oversteer if deliberately provoked into it.

The spare is a 135/70 and all five tyres are tubeless MRFs bolted on by just three studs to save on cost (and allow quick pit stops!). The rack and pinion steering is non-collapsible and non-assisted but with little to no weight up front you never feel the need for power steering except at parking speeds. Steering is direct and quick in responses, almost like a go-kart and that makes it massive fun to drive in the city. The Nano dimensions are so small that it will fit into impossibly sized gaps in traffic and in the city no car can keep up with the Nano - hard as they tried Tatas engineers in an Indica couldnt keep up through Punes chaotic traffic. It is genuinely good laugh-out-loud fun

Driving position is comfortable, ergonomic and visibility is great all around

Generous rear knee and head room, and thats with a tall driver sitting comfortably

One-piece seat backs. holes in the head rest make it look like a rally cars!

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Test Tata Nano

This is the basic one-lakh-rupee Nano with black bumpers, rexine seats, no air-con and because it is lighter it is actually noticeably quicker!

to drive and the turning circle at just eight metres allows it to pull U-turns in impossibly tight gaps. It also takes some learning especially since theres nothing in front and you invariably stop a good couple of feet behind traffic - if youve driven a Maruti Omni you will know what I mean. The Nano rides on conventional MacPherson struts up front while a semi-trailing arm is used at the rear. It of course has a very short wheelbase and that has its own limitations on ride. On the road it tends to bounce around a bit, like it is over-sprung, but the crucial thing is that everything is progressive. There are no sharp spine jangling jolts transmitted to the cabin and the robust underpinnings and 180mm of ground clearance means rough roads can be tackled with ease. Over roads that will have an 800 running on its bump stops and murdering passengers backs, the Nano will be able to motor through at decent speeds and that will be a crucial factor working to its advantage in rural and semi-urban India.

Nano, most of which weve tried to answer. The only one left is will it be reliable enough? Tata Motors is confident that it has cracked this too - three million kilometres have been clocked in prototypes all over the country and as far as Australia, New Zealand and Germany to get it right. And it doesnt look like there will be any obvious problems - everything feels right and well put together. In fact the only time we noticed anything nastily cheap was while trying to get the fog lamps to switch on (a fiddly knob on the light stalk). And on our last lap of the Tata Motors test track, the front seat worked itself loose, holding us back from giving it a glowing assessment. I guess all the pressure and harsh

OVERaLL
There are hundreds of questions everybody will ask of the

ThIS IS NO cuT-pRIcE EmbaRRaSSmENT Of a caR, ThIS IS a caR aS wE kNOw IT buT aT a pRIcE wE NEVER ThOuGhT pOSSIbLE

(and unwarranted) criticisms have made Tatas engineers put in that extra effort to get everything right on the Nano and it shows. It shows in the fact that this is no cut-price embarrassment of a car, this is a car as we know it but at a price we never thought possible. It looks lovable, it is huge fun to drive and can seat four in comfort. Crucially there are no external signs of cost-cutting (save for the omission of a left hand side wing mirror, cheap rubbers and average paint quality) and thats something that will make the Nano appeal to everybody rich or poor, city slicker or rural farmer. As of going to press final prices were yet to be announced (though as you read this reams of newsprint will have been devoted to it) but we expect the standard version to still have a dealer price (excluding taxes) of one lakh rupees (steel prices have crashed). The deluxe version we tested will top off at Rs 1.5-1.6 lakh and that is still mind-bogglingly good value-for-money. Our recommendation? Jump on the line and book one today - the wait for the Nano has been well worth it.

Specification
Type 624cc, 2-cylinder inline, SOhC, 4-valve, petrol Max power Max torque Installation Brakes Tyres(F/R) 35PS@5250rpm 48Nm@ 2500-4000rpm Rear, RWD 180mm drums 135/70R12 155/65R12 MRF tubeless Suspension (F) Independent MacPherson strut with gas charged dampers Suspension (R) Independent with semi trailing arm with gas charged dampers LxWxH (mm) 3099x1620x1652 Wheelbase Fuel tank 0-60kmph 0-100kmph 0-400m Top speed 100-0kmph Fuel eff Price 2230mm 15 litres 9.8sec 34.8sec 23.7sec/91.5kmph 105.58kmph 60.17m/4.29s 23.6kmpl (ARAI figure) Rs 1.5 lakh (estimated) Kerb weight 600kg Transmission 4-speed manual

+ The cheapest car in the wordl! - Waiting lists will be never end
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Nano takes to Pune

And stirs up a storm! Everywhere we went the car was mobbed, a million questions were fired at us and were this our car we could have sold it at ten times the cost!
Okay, maybe now this animal thing is getting out of hand

Traffic light grands prix. Not the Nanos strongest suit

Small car should mean half the toll

Were not trying to be funny here - farmers dont pay tax and will easily be able to afford the Nano Does lane discipline apply to the Nano?

Another prospective Nano customer. And no, were still not being funny.

The solution to all our parking problems - two cars in the space of one. Now youll need to learn to drive like Jackie Chan

The solution to parking problems? Yes, the engine is at the back!

Good things come in small packages

Aree waah, isme AC bhi he!

And this picture will soon crop up on forums across the worldwide web

Time for an upgrade?

hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the Nano, the little dog laughed to see such fun and the dish ran away with the spoon
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