There has been great hype about the Tata Nano, the least expensive production car in the world, right from the time plans were announced till today - over a year after it hit the streets.
Whether you believe it's the people's car of the 21st century or a threat of over congestion on our already crowded city streets, the Nano is highly capable mode of transport for urban commuting.
While it may not be the ideal car for long distance highway driving, Tata Motors' latest endeavour really put the Nano's touring ability to the test.
To celebrate the inauguration of the company's new plant at Sanand in Gujarat, the Tata Nano Superdrive set off from there on June 2 on a 26 day voyage that saw the Nano caravans visit 36 cities around the country.
A total of 9 Nanos, split in three groups of three cars, traveled across India on three different routes christened after the colours of the Indian flag.
The 'Saffron Route' had the cars visiting Udaipur, Jaipur, Hisar, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Meerut, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gwalior and Kota, while the 'White Route' passed through Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Patna, Kolkata, Bhubneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Aurangabad. The 'Green Route' visited cities like Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Mangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik and Ahmedabad.The Superdrive branded Nanos also visited prominent landmarks in every city and prospective customers were given an opportunity to drive them as well.
We here at ZigWheels got a chance to be part of this epic drive on the leg on the 'Green Route' which took the cars from Bangalore to Kolhapur. Now while we've have always enjoyed driving the Nano around town, it was difficult to imagine how it would hold up while covering 600km in a day.
While a straight highway like NH4 isn't a challenge for most modern cars, one couldn't help wonder how comfortably the three Nanos would make it to journey's end. But just a few kilometers in, the cars had settled into a rhythm and were maintaining a steady speed of 80-90 km/h heading northward towards Kolhapur, eventually completing the distance in 10 hours.
All three of the Nanos managed an average driving speed of 60km/h without putting a single foot wrong at any time - not bad for a car which has just two cylinders and all of 623cc of cubic capacity.
From Kolhapur, the Nanos continued their epic journey with another set of drivers, finally culminating in Mumbai on June 28 where they were flagged in by Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons & Tata Motors. Now, a year since its launch, the Nano continues to grow strong and without a doubt, is here to stay!
No comments:
Post a Comment