The other day while coming back from Shirdi, some 20 kms from Pune, asmall toy like car zipped past me. I cried in excitement to my wife whowas sitting next to me. "Hey, that’s Nano"! The Nano emblem shiningbrightly on the bonet of the white, bright car, it raced ahead.Suddenly there was excitement on the road. Like me, few others had alsospotted the car. Negotiating the traffic, I tried to step up on myspeed to catch up with the car. It was nearly dark and the thecommercial traffic was high on nagar road so I had to watch out for allthe trucks on my side of the road and overtaking them was not thateasy. But for Nano it was a different ball game. The car took advantageof its size and criss crossed between trucks to take up pole positionsamong other cars on the road - something I just couldn’t digest. I meanhere I was driving a relatively heavy sized big brother Indica Turboand this new born cousin from the same family zips past me withoutgiving me much maneuvering chance! Finally as the traffic cleared Imanaged to catch up with the car and got a good look inside. Drove forsome 15 kms along with the car, sometimes over taking it from the left, from right, staying ahead, behind - so that I could get detailed lookof the car, its exteriors, interiors, etc. The test driver just gave mea smile, probably understanding what I was upto. My observations aboutthe car:
It rocks. It’s a tiny, exposive deviceand has a pretty good grip on the road even on speed of 70kms ph(thatwas my speed while I was trailing the car for some kms)
It’s size can be advantage for traffic situations where you need to zip through vehicles.
The test driver’s height must be 5ft 9 inches and his head was not touching the roof - so that way it’s good.
-I could see orange colored illuminated panel - and there was a smallgreen colored small LCD rectagle box glowing in the instrument consolepanel - probably the tripmeter which might be electronic.
- the car was driving on high beam on road and I could see that the light was quite strong - so no problems in that department.
What I didn’t like:
-As many of you might be knowing, the engine in the car is in back side.I could see some part of the exhaust’hanging’ out - just like it’sthere in some of the petrol rikshaws.
- Probably the model that I was racing with was low end as the bumper was very basic dull colored greyish plastic one
-The bumper in this model was not’shielding’ the part of exaust/enginewhich I could see dangling out. On few bumps, the exaust’shook’ alongwith few other parts near the rear end. It gave the feeling as if theentire pack has been loosely tied. It would be interesting to see howthe car performs in true Indian conditions, where there are manypotholes/bumps on the roads. I suspect the car’s belly is prone toattacks from sharp stones or big potholes/gravels as the groundclearance is not that high.
Overall, stillit’s a good car. My wifey certainly liked it and said that she wouldlearn how to drive car provided if I book Nano for her!Personally I feel it’s a car more suitable for women, eldery people asthey would definitely treat the car with kid’s glove.