I don't recall seeing anyone post this, so I apologise if it's a repost. Here is a very nice review, including road test, of the Nano. Judging by how much effort went into designing and creating this little car, I'm not at all surprised that the review is so favourable.
... that 0.6-liter engine is less than half the size of the 1.5-liter power plants in the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit.
Acceleration does not impress: from a stop, the Nano takes around 30 seconds to reach 60 miles an hour — twice as long as the slowest gasoline-powered new car in America, the Smart ForTwo. And during my test drive, performance deteriorated noticeably when four or five people were in the car.
Tata Motors prefers to talk about this engine’s carbon-dioxide emissions, which the company says are among the lowest for Indian cars, and fuel economy of 50 miles a gallon.
Cost-cutting tricks include a bare-bones dashboard made of a single piece of plastic, adaptable to markets with either right- or left-hand drive. There is only one windshield wiper and no outside opening for the luggage compartment.
The car does come with a spare tire, which is stored in the nose.
At the Geneva auto show in March, Mr. Tata announced that a better-equipped Nano would arrive in Europe by 2011. Fitted with air bags, a wider track between the wheels, revised bumpers and a more powerful 3-cylinder engine, the Nano Europa will meet European safety and emission standards, he said, while also selling as the lowest-price car in every market where it competes.
An American version based on the Europa is also under development, Mr. Tata confirmed during an interview at the Geneva auto show, and could arrive around the same time. Company officials say a hatchback and an automatic transmission are both in the works.
Tata has not disclosed prices for Europe or America, and it has not commented on how the cars might be sold. But it is conceivable that the cars could be offered at Chrysler dealerships, given Tata’s business ties with Fiat, which now controls Chrysler. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive, has said he would like a budget brand that fits below Fiat’s existing models
Two things...first the review didn't sound favorable at all to me and secondly that thing is a death trap...it has the same size tires/wheels on the front and rear!!
From behind the wheel of a bright-yellow model at Tata Motors’ engineering and testing center here in a suburb of Pune, an industrial city some 60 miles southeast of Mumbai, the Nano proved agile and fun to hustle around the test track. The rear wheels could even be coaxed into a sports car-style slide. I found the Nano hugely entertaining, though the engineer riding shotgun beside me — who seemed slightly queasy — might have had a different view.
Cheap though it is, I did not find the Nano to be so cheap that it squeaked. Nor did I hear any rattles on the cratered local roads, which made a credible stand-in for Manhattan’s potholes. The tiny 12-inch wheels coped admirably with the rough terrain, and the power-assisted brakes — old-style drums, not discs — brought the car to a reassuring stop.
An easy to modulate clutch and sharply defined gates in the 4-speed manual transmission made rowing through the gears a breeze. There is no radio — not even as an option — to drown out cabin noise, but thankfully the interior din was limited to the whoosh of the air-conditioner and the distant putt-putt of the 624 cc 2-cylinder engine mounted in the rear. For comparison, that 0.6-liter engine is less than half the size of the 1.5-liter power plants in the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit.
Acceleration does not impress: from a stop, the Nano takes around 30 seconds to reach 60 miles an hour — twice as long as the slowest gasoline-powered new car in America, the Smart ForTwo. And during my test drive, performance deteriorated noticeably when four or five people were in the car.
Tata Motors prefers to talk about this engine’s carbon-dioxide emissions, which the company says are among the lowest for Indian cars, and fuel economy of 50 miles a gallon.
Despite its seeming power deficit, in the cut and thrust of Indian traffic the Nano proved to be more of a hare than a tortoise. The Nano easily zipped around the ponderous trucks and wheezing auto rickshaws — noisy three-wheel taxis — clogging the streets. Though only 122 inches long (two feet shorter than a Mini Cooper), clever packaging somehow provides plenty of room for four full-size adults.
Cost-cutting tricks include a bare-bones dashboard made of a single piece of plastic, adaptable to markets with either right- or left-hand drive. There is only one windshield wiper and no outside opening for the luggage compartment.
The car does come with a spare tire, which is stored in the nose.
At the Geneva auto show in March, Mr. Tata announced that a better-equipped Nano would arrive in Europe by 2011. Fitted with air bags, a wider track between the wheels, revised bumpers and a more powerful 3-cylinder engine, the Nano Europa will meet European safety and emission standards, he said, while also selling as the lowest-price car in every market where it competes.
An American version based on the Europa is also under development, Mr. Tata confirmed during an interview at the Geneva auto show, and could arrive around the same time. Company officials say a hatchback and an automatic transmission are both in the works.
Tata has not disclosed prices for Europe or America, and it has not commented on how the cars might be sold. But it is conceivable that the cars could be offered at Chrysler dealerships, given Tata’s business ties with Fiat, which now controls Chrysler. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive, has said he would like a budget brand that fits below Fiat’s existing models
Think of your whole family on a 200cc motorcycle. Then think of your whole family in a Tata Nano. That's reality in India. Quit comparing it to what spoiled people drive.
I have to agree with Godfather on this. Looking at their existing options and taking into account the Nano's acceleration, safety, and quality surpass the average motor-rickshaw - it's a far better option than those they currently have:
Given India and Korea's notorious lack of concern for passenger safety, even if fitted with airbags and "revised bumpers", I don't see how this car can pass US or European crash tests without MAJOR re-engineering of the body structure. This car will collapse like a tin can if hit by anything! The article said it best, the primary design constraint: cost!
Hey, that gives me a great idea, let the IIHS do a crash test between a smart and a Tata Nano, similar to what they did with the C-class and see who comes out better! We already know the smart is safe, let's see it in action against a similar sized vehicle!
Given India and Korea's notorious lack of concern for passenger safety, even if fitted with airbags and "revised bumpers", I don't see how this car can pass US or European crash tests without MAJOR re-engineering of the body structure. This car will collapse like a tin can if hit by anything! The article said it best, the primary design constraint: cost!
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