Nano in the US - any takers?

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by maximilian

A three wheeler with a single powered wheel in back saves a wheel and a differential. Must've had a good reason to reject it. Is there a handy name for that configuration?

There is a name: RWD tadpole.

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

it only has 35 ft lbs of torque??? i think anyone can create more pedaling a bicycle...

I can put 125 ft lbs of torque into a bicycle crankshaft, but I can't do it at 5500 rpm.

That's assuming a 7 inch crank and my 220lb fat butt using gravity but not bracing against the handlebars. I can probably push 200 ft lbs honking up a hill at 50 rpm.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I can't find the article that I read yesterday saying that the hatch didn't actually open. I frequent cnn.com and yahoo.com but they update so often that it may have been archived by now.

it said that there would be 3 levels or trim options. the cheapest being the 100k rupees (2k US) and go up from there. the article told of someone that test drove one and it had A/C which was one of the upgrades. he said that the A/C made it a bit of a dog (not exact words).

my thing about the car is even if it is a disposable car. if you could bring it to the states for even double what they were talking. $4000 and you get lets say 4 years out of it. I know guys that make $1000 car payments monthly. they do drive something a little nicer than the nano....well a lot nicer but still. I would think that you could have two of them for every family and your "weekend vehicle" be it an SUV or truck of some sort, maybe even a sports car.

I see it also as an alternative to lower income families to have a car with at least some sort of warranty and it gets good mileage to boot. the top speed of 65 is a little low but if it can do 55 on a regular basis, you should be good. your 0-60 time is going to suck but you knew that going in so not too many suprises there either.

in the end, if it does come to the US it will be several years down the road and the car in this article will more than likely look nothing like what will be brought to the US in appearance and performance.

[Erdrick]

You do all realize that you are getting excited over a car that is being offered to impoverished people in a developing country to help them get off of their dangerous motorbikes, right? This is the ULTIMATE bare bones car.

That they were able to engineer this thing completely blows my mind.

I find it even more shocking that someone outside of India would want to be caught dead (which is what you would be if you got hit in one) in a Nano.

I will be sticking with my used cars plan like so many others. Not to say that I wouldn't test drive one if it ever did cross the Pacific... assuming it had gotten above average safety scores.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

my first car was a 3-cyl metro with no A/C and power nothing (maybe breaks) it didn't even have power steering. it was rated 63hp and I thought it had plenty of power. I never heard what the torque on it was.

several people in the office say that this car is rated about what the old VW beetles were and they weren't speed demons but they got around.

as far as safety goes, it's much safer than it's scooter alternative and I am sure that the safety feature list will have to be a mile long before it comes across that ocean.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by Erdrick

You do all realize that you are getting excited over a car that is being offered to impoverished people in a developing country to help them get off of their dangerous motorbikes, right? This is the ULTIMATE bare bones car.

That they were able to engineer this thing completely blows my mind.

Less is more! As an engineer I have a weird take on beauty being in the eye of the beholder. It is astonishingly beautiful to me. And have you seen my current car?

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I found this web site. it is really really slow but here it is

http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/

if you are interested in it, it is good to look at. still can't get one unless you are in india.

*edit* I also found the link from yesterday that said something about the hatch. here it is.

http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...0.html?cnn=yes

[theholycow]

Every time I look at this thread, my opinion changes. I alternately think it's a cheap second car to get around in, or it isn't safe enough, or it's nice and disposable, or it isn't fast enough, or it's probably so simple I could easily fix it myself, or it is bound to be quite uncomfortable, or it would really help my finances, or it would really be embarassing, or it ought to suffice, or it just sucks...

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Every time I look at this thread, my opinion changes.

We need more long term info. No doubt.

[VetteOwner]

the origional beetles had more oomph than this thing and were 3 times as big lol

not to mention the origional beetles were probably even simpiler lol

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Slightly different design goals, but I wonder what it would cost to manufacture a beetle today?