Tata Nano Long Term Report : January 2016

The Nano AT is not as bad as it is made out to be. It’s more about perception and the Nano, unfortunately, has received a lot more flak and criticism than positive reviews. Nano has always had a spacious cabin and the AT retains the same dimensions, therefore the tall boy design ensures that it has plenty of headroom, even for 6 feet plus passengers.

Being an automatic, the Nano is all about convenience. The AMT gearbox does a decent job in slow traffic and makes sure the initial acceleration is a bit lethargic, but then it saves you the hassle of fidgeting with the gears. Now the AMT unit is quite jerky when it changes gears, but in the long run, it is something you can live with. The 624cc engine’s midrange power is where it shows a lot more enthusiasm, but its stopping power is scary to say the least. At least our Nano’s brakes lack any sort of feedback. So even if you step on the pedals, chances are that it will still keep going, but at a slower pace.

Tata Motors have improved the cabin build quality and it does look fairly smart and contemporary. The Nano also comes with a fully loaded music system, which has AUX and USB ports and it can also be connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The only glitch here was that for some reason the music system didn’t pair with my iPhone. Even the USB port acts up at times and refuses to read the pen drive, but these are niggling problems which Tata can easily iron out.

Driving the Nano is no more a laboured experience thanks to the power steering and with a 4’ metre tuning radius, it zips in and out of traffic effortlessly. At this day and age where finding a parking slot is a task, this compact hatchback is the answer to these woes. Sure the refinement is not something one will rave about, but then it does exactly what it is built for. Also with an additional 110 litres of boot space, the Nano is more practical than it ever was. In my opinion, the Nano still is a work in progress, but to be fair to Tata they are actually trying to improve the car.