Tata Nano

The Tata Nano has been one car that has put India truly on the world map, not in terms of a world class product, but with respect to what we call frual engineering. The 1 lakh car may no longer be available at that price, but the number of features and specifications that have been made available at this low cost has been truly exemplary.

In terms of technical specifications, the Nano comes with a minimal 624cc engine that can deliver a maximum power of around 38PS and torque of 51Nm. For a perspective, the Honda Brio which is priced at around 4 lakhs has a 1198cc engine that delivers close to 88PS. So quite evidently, you will not be able to take in a family and still cruise along at top speed on the Nano as much as you could in the other higher powered cars. In any case, the max speed here is only around 105 kmph. Other specs on the car include a wheelbase of 2230mm, a ground clearance of 180mm and overall kerb weight of at least 600kg. The Nano is available at a starting price of Rs. 1,41,898 ex-Delhi. Do check out the Current Offers section on the Nano section for any new deals.

Manufacturer FE Claim

Considering that the Nano is targeted at the price-sensitive mileage conscious audience, mileage is definitely something that is close to the heart a lot of their customers. And from the outset, Tata doesn’t disappoint. The company claims an overall mileage of around 25.4 kmpl under standard conditions on the Nano. On highways, this should ideally go up to 28 kmpl. Do note however that these numbers are under standard testing conditions and so the real world mileage could be vastly different. We will go through the test drive reports and customer reviews from various sources to understand how this car would fare on city roads.

Test Drive Reports

On Team-BHP, a customer who owns a Nano LX has posted the average mileage to be around 15-17 kmpl with AC on. Do note that this mileage includes significant highway travel and so if you were to calculate the mileage exclusively for city roads, this could come down a notch.

On Carwale, another ‘happy customer’ points out that he was able to notice an average mileage of 20 kmpl on city roads. The customer however points that the economy returned has dropped to 12kmpl at the time of posting which however seems to be a problem specific to his car that could be fixed at the dealers’. Another customer from Delhi notes the mileage on their Nano to be around 18kmpl on Delhi city roads.

There are close to 239 reviews for the Nano on MouthShut. While the overall rating for the car is only 3/5, on the fuel front, customers have rated the Nano 4/5. Most customers who have reviewed the car in the past few months have been extremely happy and have called it a great value for money and a must-buy for city drives. One customer says that while the 2011 variant of the Nano wasn’t too great, the 2012 variant is pretty and returns around 16-19 kmpl on city roads. Another customer reports 18kmpl on city roads and 23 kmpl on highways – both tested with the AC on. Without the AC, the returned economy is likely to be better. One customer reports 25kmpl without AC and 22kmpl with AC; both of which are pretty great numbers for a car. Another Nano 2012 customer who has driven over 10,000 kilometers reports 23-25 kmpl on city roads and around 27-29 kmpl on highways. I’m not sure if this was with the AC on since it looks to be pretty much on the high side. Overall though, you can expect the Nano 2012 to return between 16-22 kmpl on city roads and 23-25 kmpl on highways with the AC on.

Olx has not been very useful in studying the Nano. Most customers who have put their car up for sale have not indicated the mileage. And those that have done have been pretty generous – they claim between 25-26 kmpl on city roads which is not unbelievable, but you get the feeling it is being exaggerated a bit.

Anyway, there you have it. You can find a tabulated list of mileage reports from various sources below. Overall, the Nano looks like a great car to own from a fuel consumption perspective. Also, add the fact that it looks pretty slick and spacious on the inside, you have a definite buy.