2012 Tata Nano Road Test Review

Car tested: 2012 Tata Nano CX

Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 2,07,218/-

At the times when everybody was speculating about its diesel version, TATA NANO 2012 is the car which arrived as a little surprise to Indian consumers. And when we came to know that TATA is giving added features and improvements at No added cost, then that surprise turned to be a pleasant surprise. Considering history of TATA Motors to listen to customers voice and improve their products, reviewing Nano 2012 was interesting. TATA did the same thing when Indica failed to meet customer expectation miserably, and come today we are still seeing Indica V2 doing well after 10+ years. This is the fact that half of the huge installed capacity going idle and Nano is flagship model for Tata. Tata Motors can’t let the Nano sales decline. After all it’s an innovative product developed by bright Indian minds from the house of Tata. We know that there are some added features and technical tweaks under the hood (under the boot we can say). So we’ll be focusing mainly on the changes made since the previous version and not on the complete product. The comprehensive review of the original Tata Nano can be read here.

Exteriors – To mark its upgrade, Nano presents its new avatar in totally new colors. With Papaya Orange, Neon Rush and Mojito Green being bold and eye catchy, there is one color Serene White which looks fabulous and adds one star to the cuteness of Nano. As far as front is concerned no change whatsoever. Moving on to side, we get full wheel caps only on the LX. One useful feature we observed was passenger side wing mirror (absent on Std, Black on CX and Body colored on LX). The story with rear is same as the front, with no changes. As speculated (also seen in some spy-shots), the covering flaps on the engines are still not observed. Many have been saying that visible engine at rear gives Nano a rickshaw look, so that covers may come with Nano diesel.

Interiors – Once we open the door, we can breathe the freshness inside the car which is absolute welcome. Interiors feels vastly improved in first look because it the color has been changed to beige. Firstly talking about its dashboard, Barley Beige (as Tata names it) is the color in LX. It adds feeling of space in already spacious Nano and also gives little up-market feel as compared to cars seated one level above in terms of pricing. Cheaper versions get Medium Graphite (same as old Nano) and Ebony Black (dark black) dash in Std and CX versions respectively. Then comes the center console which is now in Silver color in metallic texture (Std gets Ebony Black and CX gets Silver Dust finish). Gear knob now looks good in silver and also feels good to hold. All-in-all, total front portion seems to be worked upon to improve its ‘Feel Good’ factor. Plastic quality is steel the same, no such improvement on that front.
 

Ride, Handling and Braking – Remarkable thing to notice on the new Nano is Anti Roll bar on the front wheels. The biggest problem with the original Nano was its steering, which felt heavy at slow speeds. Little attention has also been paid to the suspension, and the steering now feels noticeably lighter, but still requires some effort when at low speeds. Power steering would be an excellent thing for the Nano, but would lead to increase in costs. The Nano’s smallest turning circle makes it really easy in crowded city traffic. Stability has improved too and the Nano does not feel out of control at 100 kmph. Noticeable difference is observed here.

The brakes are similar as before, the overall feel is not so predictable. Brake really hard at speed and the Nano might not just stop in line. For the city, the brakes are adequate though. The handling of the Nano is very good. The rear-wheel drive helps in having some fun. But over push the Nano and it loses control quite easily. The low weight does not give it much grip when cornering hard over uneven road. The Nano goes airborne with ease.