Great things come in small packages

 

I took a test drive of the Tata Nano LX yesterday and did a very detailed road test. I already own a Maruti Suzuki SX4 and was looking for a inexpensive, easy to own second car and evaluated the Maruti Alto, Chevrolet Spark and the Tata Nano.

The Alto comes across as an extremely capable car, well proven and with the new K10 engines a pleasure to drive. Besides being a "Maruti", after sales service and cost of spares are a given to be very competitive. On the negative side, the car looks dated and does seem like a new avataar of the venerable M800.

Chevrolet Spark was also good to drive and I liked their new 3 year Zero maintenence deal. On the negative side was the very low dealerships in Mumbai. I also heard of users complaining on the poor after sales service on some Car blogs. 

Tata Nano was last on my list and I was frankly not expecting a lot. But was I mistaken. This tiny tot from the Tata stable had more than enough punch to take on the other guys in town and then some. I loved the fresh looking design, the mileage was excellent, the car drives well and with the tall-boy design you can look down upon other cars. From the driver's seat the view is excellant and the maneuverability is fantastic - a perfect fit for stop and go traffic. The car is very spacious and the diminutive engine very capable to propel the car was well as to power the AC. The only cons I found was the rear fixed glass - impractical for servicing the engine (below the rear seats) and expect some stains on your rear seat covers. The other con is the 4-speed gear box - while it is sufficient for most conditions, a fifth gear would have made all the difference.

One final point - I found more people staring at me when driving the Nano then when I drive my SX4 :-)

The Tata Nano is an overall winner in looks, strong engine performance, easy to drive and extremely affordable. With the new Rs. 100 per month maintenence package, it is an incomparable buy. Needless to say, I bought one and am expecting delivery tomorrow.

 

Space, Mileage, Maneuverability, Affordable, Good ACNothing that I can think of at this price-performance