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4
Handling
2
Performance
1
Usability
Feelgood factor
5
Readers' rating
3
By Amit Chhangani
First Drives
23 March 2009 16:09
At last we’ve driven the new Tata Nano. The world’s cheapest car is launched today in India – and CAR was there to bag a drive in the new Nano that’s rocked our very notion of affordable transport for the masses.
It’s a car that creates huge interest, especially on the crowded streets of India. Not bad for a car that’s cheaper than some lawnmowers in its home nation. We don’t blame the crowds that form around the Nano. This is a car that could revolutionise the way Indians get around. And it sure looks intriguing.
The Nano is rear-engined, so you get air intakes nestling in the recess behind the rear doors. The tiny two-cylinder engine is claustrophobically packaged, so each and every means of extracting the hot air is used by the engineers, including a vent built into the rear valance.
Before we progress to on-road dynamics, take a moment to soak up the Nano’s weird proportions. It’s tall and narrow, and a little bit odd. It’s not even a hatchback – the rear window is glued to the bodyshell – and that sharply raked front windscreen provides an unusual, wee face.
The packaging also frees up more space for bodies inside. With no engine up front, the centre console, steering wheel and driver’s seat can be pushed forward by a few good inches, releasing hundreds of litres of space for the back benchers.
And it’s absolutely vast inside the Nano. The tall-boy design affords generous headroom and a great view out. Throw in four big windows to allow ample air and light, and the Nano easily becomes one of the most spacious small hatchbacks around.
>> Click ‘Next’ for more of CAR’s first drive review of the new Tata Nano
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ianbeedh says
RE: Tata Nano (2009) new CAR test review
is this car under 550 kw as in reliant or any other cars under 550kw thanks ian
04 September 2010 23:59
Jayanta says
The Tata Nano can be a great way to reduce pollution and help the environment, let me explain. Posters have been complaining about the damage to the environment that the Nano may inflict. But think... Americans, Europeans, Indians, Chinese all need to get from point A to point B conveniently. Currently the Americans use cars like "trucks", SUVs, Hummers etc. I live in Las Vegas, I know. The average gas mileage of these cars is maybe 20 mpg. If Americans switched to the Nano with its 50 mpg, they would immediately reduce their consumption to 40% of current (by a factor of 2.5). This solution, everybody driving the Nano does not deny anyone the convenience of getting from A to B conveniently. So suggestions to Indians of forsaking the Nano will have more credibility if Americans and Europeans first switched from their SUVs to the Nanos. Jayanta
The Tata Nano can be a great way to reduce pollution and help the environment, let me explain.
Posters have been complaining about the damage to the environment that the Nano may inflict. But think...
Americans, Europeans, Indians, Chinese all need to get from point A to point B conveniently.
Currently the Americans use cars like "trucks", SUVs, Hummers etc. I live in Las Vegas, I know. The average gas mileage of these cars is maybe 20 mpg.
If Americans switched to the Nano with its 50 mpg, they would immediately reduce their consumption to 40% of current (by a factor of 2.5).
This solution, everybody driving the Nano does not deny anyone the convenience of getting from A to B conveniently.
So suggestions to Indians of forsaking the Nano will have more credibility if Americans and Europeans first switched from their SUVs to the Nanos.
Jayanta
01 May 2009 19:57
mini1 says
Ooh it's turning into an essay-writing class. I love the Nano for what it is - rule changing!
21 April 2009 17:25
JohnnyBimmer says
Whatever happens to sea levels is zero to do with man. And like every sea level change previous up or down, and that takes hundreds of years (enough warning even for the stupid and sloth like public sector to react to) we can, like the crabs and shore birds, just up sticks and adapt to it. But most of the fears and scares that have been circulated have been false or hysterical worse case scenarios. And as the journalists and political windbags have demonstrated before, their trumpets have not been as loud as their corrections of this faliscous information. I'll post some facts, as apposed to fairytales, tomorrow
04 April 2009 23:59
John0123 says
London is a truly great city, which I have sadly had the pleasure of visiting only once. Please keep that Thames Barrier in good repair. In the short run, it will be helpful and perhaps sufficient. Like it or not, our cars are going to have a political aspect for the much longer run.
04 April 2009 21:50
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