After a two-month weather delay due to questionable tires, I finally got to drive the Tata Nano we have at work. Getting the car into Germany was no small feat--the Nano will definitely not pass NCAP or NHTSA impact testing, and the TüV (inspection authority) was not very keen on us driving it around ouside of the plant! It has a special license plate that allows us to drive it on company property only. I took it out on a 2km drive around our plant and nearly had my teeth rattled out. With a price tag of roughly $2500, the Nano is not intended to be a luxury car. But considering that $2500 barely covers the scrap value of a Chevy Cobalt, you can imagine what kind of build quality we are talking here. More details on this experiment in cheap after the jump!

Our Nano is bright yellow, which I understand is an asset when driving in India, the car's home market. Tata is a large conglomerate, including steel production, and cars make up a sizeable chunk of their yearly sales. The Nano is an attempt to compete with the high-end scooter market, and to get all of India on four wheels. With the price tag, there's no squishy dash, noise reduction, or soft seats (better than a Yaris, though). The driver sits over the battery, which is not enclosed. The rear passengers can interact with the terminals if they wish: yikes! The instrument cluster, if you can call it that, consists of a speedometer. No tach. A sticker on the windshield counsels you on what gear to use at what speed, and what fuel economy to expect. There is heat. The body color comes into the cabin on the door frames and pillars - no fancy details here - and build quality is about what you can expect for the price: not good. The interior is surprisingly roomy.

Driving is interesting. The clutch is so light that it took me a few tries to find the engagement point. No feedback in the steering, either. The shift linkage was truck-like, but secure and the gears were easy to find. This was good, because it's right-hand-drive. What's bad is that the wiper and turn signal stalks were reversed, so I kept flicking on the single wiper instead of alerting the locals to my directional intentions. Visibility was better than I expected, the tall greenhouse came in handy when backing up. It seemed like the car was fit with 500# springs and heavily over-damped shocks. Considering that the car weighs a whopping 1300 pounds, whatever the rating, the springs were too stiff. It's not entirely surprising that the Nano was peppy up to about 60 kph with three lightweights in it, but a few larger people might tax the 2-cylinder, 623cc 35hp motor. Ya think? 

Tiny (12") three-lug wheels are fit with what look like golf cart tires. I think golf carts have wider tires, actually. Golf carts also have wider exhaust pipes. I was unable to see the engine--it's under some considerable shielding that puts a Lexus to shame, and it's actually not possible to open the rear hatch. Apparently, it's air-cooled Beetle-style, and you drop the entire drivetrain to work on it.

To sum it up, what do you expect from a car that sells for $2500? Not much. The Nano delivers not much, and if that's all you need, I suppose it's ok. I found it more fun to drive than a Smart, at least up to the 60kph I was able to wind it up to. Most city cars never see much more than that. My $2500 would go for a used Golf or Focus, though. I like my squishy dashes.