work.

I am driving the super mini, Nano since Feb 2011; bought a Nano LX, BS4 version on Champagne Gold in Kochi for 2.22 Lakhs on road. The primary reason I have cornered a

Nano as my office commute car is the fuel efficiency of 23.6 km/litre as quoted by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). The secondary reason is the

compactness and turning radius.

I was planning on a diesel car [Fabia/Polo/Swift] when my previous car which was a 1.1L middle segment peppy petrol hatchback from the stable of Maruti put on sale was

sold for a reasonable price before I have booked the diesel machine.

Since the search and decision on cornering a diesel hatchback was not yet laid down; I thought of going in for a second car [considering the diesel as first] for my

family and my office commutes and considered only the basic cars such as Nano, Alto and Spark. 800 never came into my mind since Maruti has started discontinuing it

from metros and would eventually be phased out. I am a fan of Alto K10 but not the non-K series, but the K10 VXi I was looking for comes @ 3.40 onroad. I was looking at

the 3 years free maintenance of the Spark but the real time mileage Spark delivers is on an average of 10 to 14 [in my friends car] and since I have driven the Spark

for quite a lot of kms, Spark did not come into my list and also it was beyond my budget for the second car into the family.

When my ex-beauty returned an average mileage of 15 to 17 km/litre with AC ON all the time, the new Nano delivered 18 to 20 kmpl in the city with AC on all the time and

24 to 25 on highways when we went on a 400 kms round trip on the second day of delivery. Though the car has cheap plastics and everything including the seat fabrics are

basic, my family liked the space inside the car. My dad liked the mileage it returned. But the issues with Nano are: comfort [bumby head shaking rides on uneven

surfaces], filling in fuel by opening the bonnet is an overhead for daily usage, doors closes only when force thugged, power steering [migrating from a power steered

vehicle to a non powered steer wheel was a pain for my style of driving with cornering and drifting. seriously a thing they should introduce!]. But the things I like

about Nano are never ending:- 1) Compactness which eases parking and driving in approach roads and kochi city traffic. 2) 4M turning radius [the least and best in

class] is a real good thing. Trust me. 3) The HVAC is powerful. Cools pretty fast even though the car has a bigger comapartment. When HVAC of Suzukhi Wagon R takes a

little longer to coolen its compartment due to the size Nano which has relatively equivalent inner space cools down the compartment pretty faster. 4) I liked the fog

lamps. Headlamps are powerfull. 5) The stability when driving @ 100 is also a good thing. 5) We all know that Central locking is no more a luxury, but a basic feature.

CAUTION: The drum power brakes + the smaller footprint of the front tyres makes it hard to stop the vehicle when at speeds higher than 80 kmph.

Suggestions to Tata to make Nano a better product:-
1) LHS rear view mirror
2) Front OR Rear disk brakes
3) Power steering
4) A glove box
5) Outer petrol filler. Currently it’s inside the bonnet.
6) A tool box which can carry the jackey can be provided in the bonnet itself. It is right now beneath the co-driver seat.
7) The battery has to be safely placed inside the bonnet to make it out of view of kids in the passenger compartment. A bigger mobile holder on all 4 doors.

Tata can very well come up with a higher version (VX) which can be fully loaded. I am sure there will be lot of customers for that if pricing is done with caution. Say

2.4 on road for the extra features would be fine.