I Own a Manza( Petrol)and its the wonderful choice I have made ever, but suffered a lot to take it in Chennai traffic for my day to day office use:(. So I thought of taking a small car( Second hand) to tackle City traffic with decent mileage. After Considering several small cars Nano was the choice I made. I bought a LX version 2012 Model for just Rs. 1 L which had 6500 KM on Meter. Wow now after 2 Months, I never touch my Manza. The best car for City traffic and never need to worry for scratches and small accidents as the spare parts very very cheaper.
Exterior: Cute doll like exterior Simple and neat. Petrol tank cover could be kept outside like other cars. Every time I need to open the bonnet. But Not a big issue.
Interior(Features, Space & Comfort):
Very comfortable interior.
I am 6 Ft and can comfortably sit in the back with legs fully stretched. AC is Wonderful and 1 point is enough to cool the whole Car. Seats are bit not comfortable for a 6 ft bulky Guy. My family finds it good though. I have left leg pain because of the seat. will change it sooner.
Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox:
Engine performance is decent. Don’t expect a BMW out of it. It is just 625 CC and Manages Traffic very well. easily touches 80 KMPH without any power lag. Gears are tall. first and second gears are enough to drive in bumper to bumper traffic Second gear manages 40 kmph easily
One Tank fill(15 L) Gives me an average of 370 KM in city traffic Which is around 24.6 KMPL in City. I don’t use AC much though as I consider my car a Bike:D. With AC on always average is 18.5 KMPL. Still best in the class
Ride Quality & Handling:
This is the interesting part. Lot of fun. almost all the car drivers and even Auto rickshaw drivers used to scowl Me in Heavy traffic. I can zig in any traffic and come out fast. 2 Bike space is enough to park my car . Most of the time I park My car in Bike space:). Very easy to drive in city traffic. But better buy Twist Model As steering in No power Steering model is not soo comfortable while turning the car in traffic. But this is a negligible issue.
Final Words
I had a very bad impression on Nano till I buy it. seriously don’t listen to comments who says nano is bad because they have no idea about nano. I have driven the car 4000 KM in 50 days. This is enough to say about this car. I have taken the car to Pondy and returned 27 KMPL without AC. But I wont recommend long drive. No fun at all as you can go max. 100 KMPH in this car.
But for CITY drive the best car and only TATA can bring a better smaller car like this. Buy it and you wont regret it. But buy a model which is 2012 and after. My wife learned car driving in this car in just 2 hrs. I will drive this car for 1 L KM And will buy an XT model(New one of course)
Areas of improvement
Please TATA we need Disc breaks for this car. At speeds above 70 KMPH in rainy season breaking is pathetic. Please do something as accessory at least.