Twist In The Tale

In 2006 Ratan TATA announced that TATA motors will make the world’s cheapest car the production cost of which will be Rs 1Lakh. And by 2008 the company achieved that massively impossible feat, pushing the boundaries of the word impossible itself.

TATA Nano is something that I’ve admired since its inception. Though most of the people think that the car is more of a toy than a car, but when you look at the feat that TATA motors have achieved you realise that if you work hard enough to realise your dreams, they do come true. TATA Nano is more of an inspirational story than just a car! TATA has done some extensive cost cutting to make the Nano possible. Using 1 windscreen wiper instead of two, fuel tank is placed inside the bonnet so there is no external fuel filler. and this is just the beginning of the places where TATA has cut back on costs. The engine is placed at the back instead of the more conventional front. The engine itself plays a very big role in the car and also helps it gain the position of the most fuel efficient car in india with an efficiency figure of 26kmpl!

The engine is a 624cc two cylinder fuel injected unit which produces a mealy 38hp and 51nm torque. this is capable of pushing the Nano to a decent top speed of 105kmph. But remember speed and power are not the USP of this car.
The car I drove was the Nano twist which also has a power steering which is a welcome feature considering that the standard car had a manual one which was a tad too heavy to operate in the city. Apart from the power steering, the twist also has a music system with Bluetooth, Aux in and USB connectivity, a decently powerful AC, front two power windows and space enough to seat 5 adults in relative comfort. And when you realise the fact that the twist is just Rs 13,000 more than the top variant without power steering, it also makes a good deal.

When Nano was launched in 2008 it had many build quality issues and many cars spontaneously caught fire. But TATA has taken criticism very well and has improved quality over subsequent years also adding more and more features.

The Ride

The Nano rides fairly well at city speeds and absorbs bumps very well. There is a hint of body roll in the corners but it is also very well managed. The ride gets a bit bouncy as the speed increases and the car feels very nervous at high speeds. The electric steering though is an absolute hoot to use in the city and is very light but doesn’t offer much feedback. But when zipping through the traffic nothing beats the Nano. Its small size and incredibly small turning radius helps it achieve an almost a two wheeler like agility.
 At rs 2.73 Lakhs the Nano twist makes a value for money which no other car can even dream to offer! It had a few quality issues but TATA has rectified them and at this price they have left very few things to complain about. But to name a few, the panels still are a bit loose and only 2 of the 4 speakers were working on the test car. Otherwise the car was in good condition. Its closest competitors, the Maruti Suzuki alto 800 and the Hyundai eon start at Rs 3lakhs and their top end models with similar features as the Nano twist cost around Rs 4lakhs.

Though Nano being a wonderful car its sales never really caught on. Major reasons being the early quality issues and the title of the cheapest car wasn’t very well received by the Indian audience. People don’t mind a cheap car but owning a Nano is seen as sign of how poor you are. But if given a choice I’d definitely buy a Nano! It’s a chic little car which is extremely well value for money and a hoot to drive in the city! The alto and eon are just cars, the Nano is the ultimate expression of how if you pursue your dreams, they do come true. With the alto and the eon, there are no emotions related, with the Nano you can see how hard the engineers of TATA motors would have worked to make it possible. And my god, have they done well! 

The German showdown

The executive luxury segment has seen one of the largest growths in the Indian automobile industry in the past 5 years. And not so surprisingly the segment is ruled by the Germans. And when it comes to the Germans they know their way round cars. Very well.

So today we have the AUDI A6, BMW 520D and Mercedes-benz E250 cdi. All of them have different USPs and none of the cars here are winners or losers. At this point of price range it is very difficult to mess a car up so much.

 The Looks

Every car here a very different design philosophy with the AUDI following very constrained and conservative design and looks just like any other car and is not very noticeable from the side or back, it’s just those sleek front headlamps that grab attention to otherwise a very conservative car.

 The MB on the other hand follows an exact opposite philosophy and is as showy and noticeable as a celebrity on a red capet. The chief attention grabber are the front headlamps which are now a single unit instead of 2 different lamps. The all LED blacked-out headlamps with catchy DRLs  turns heads everywhere it goes. The rest of the body also follows quite a sporty design theme and it is really hard to not notice as one passes you by .Personally though I prefer the looks of previous generation as it was more mature and less showy. You can tell just by the look of this one that it is intended to appeal to the younger section of the society which it unmistakably does.

The BMW though has mastered the looks with absolute perfection. It grabs attention but unlike the Mercedes it never screams about it’s presence. And unlike the AUDI you will know that someone rich has passed you by. The previous generation 5 series was a bit of a disaster in terms of looks but this generation has got the looks right in it’s bag. The car demands respect without being too showy.

There is no winner here because it totally depends on person to person and their choices. But for me the Beamer gets the looks spot on.

 The Interiors

All the cars come with millions of interior colour options all using leather made from the finest cows of god knows which country .But, Indians generally prefer beige or black. The AUDIs interior is very tacky with buttons that make noise and the screen popping out of the dashboard when the car is put into ignition.  The driver seat though is very nice with the rather neat speedometer console enveloping you and gives the driver a cocooned feeling. The AUDI also comes with maximum number of zones of climate control i.e. 4. The AUDI MMI interface though is not very easy to use and takes time getting used to as many of the functions on the display are controlled not just from the knob but also a few buttons. So the driver has to look down while driving to use the screen which is not good. So the interior is not well thought out. But if the car is chauffeured which it most probably will be, then it is no big problem.

The BMW has a mind blowing interior with fantastic attention to detail and everything is where it should be. There is no popping locking drama in here. Also this is the most beautiful interior of the 3 cars. You just know you are in the right place as soon as you step in. The centre console is inclined 7 degree towards the driver in typical BMW fashion. Also the Beamer has the least number of buttons on the console so most of the functions are controlled by the BMW I-drive system which is controlled just by a knob so it is very easy to use and takes no time at all getting used to.

The Merc follows it’s youthful approach inside too and my god have they pulled it off! The interiors are all black with brushed aluminium finish all around. Merc has somehow made the interiors look both classy yet modern. The centre console takes hints from the previous generations of mercs and has the most buttons of the 3 cars so it looks a bit old. But in the interior terms I’d definitely go with the merc. It’s not that the Beamer and AUDI are inferior but it’s just that I belong to the part of the society on which the E-class is focusing. Also the Mercedes interface is easy to use, it still cant match the ease of use of the BMW I-drive

 Under the hood

 The AUDI comes with a 2.0L diesel engine which is the least powerful of the 3 and makes 177bhp and 380Nm of torque. The power is transmitted to the front wheels by a quick and smooth 7speed DSG. AUDI here is the only one with a dual clutch transmission.

The BMW borrows the same engine of 3 series i.e. a 2.0L diesel unit. It produces 184Bhp and 380Nm of torque. But the difference here is that while in the 3 series it revs to an unworldly 6000rpm here it revs only to 4500rpm. The tuning of engine is also quite different from 3 series to pull the extra weight that the fiver carries. Like all the other Beamers, this one also gets the ZF eight speed gearbox which is quick and smooth.

The Merc here has the biggest engine though by just 200ccs, but it still is the most powerful with the 2.2L diesel churning out 206bhp and 500Nm torque. The power is transmitted to the rear wheels through a butter smooth 7speed g-tronic+ gearbox.

Though the AUDI comes with a dual clutch, there is no need as none of these cars are ever going to see a track.

The engines though are only a one side of the coin, how these cars drive is totally different.

The AUDI plainly is cursed. It is a FRONT-WHEEL drive car!!! That is why there is no proper weight distribution and also this makes it the lightest of the three. This is where it’s lack of power is compensated by the lack of weight. It feels almost as fast as the Beamer .

Though all these cars are capable of reaching 100kmph in under 10seconds, there is no drama involved in it. All the cars pull cleanly with very linear acceleration characteristics. And you have to be really really attentive to realise that the E-class is more powerful and hence faster and the only way to notice that is to look at the speedo, ‘cos if you were in the AUDI or the Beamer you’d be travelling at 140kmph while in the merc at the same time you are travelling at 160kmph.

The Ride

This is the most important selling point of these cars. If these cars are not the most comfortable thing you ever sat in then there is no sense of buying one. But fortunately all of these are extremely comfortable. There is absolutely no noise coming in all of these cars even at 140kmph. And it you don’t notice how fast you are travelling until you look at the speedo.

It is the high speeds where the BMW shines with phenomenal stability and yet suppleness which other cars fail to provide. The AUDI is the least stable with improper weight distribution and because it is the lightest of the three. The Mercedes also has decent high speed stability but it just can’t match the Beamer.

What happens when you show all of these cars a corner?

Well the AUDI as expected from a front wheel drive car understeers and has large amounts of body roll even in the sport mode.

The Beamer firstly understeers with quite some body roll and then as you progress into the corner the back starts kicking out. Though once in sport mode the car transforms totally and is very sharp in steering and throttle input with almost negligible body roll.

The Mercedes again keeping up with the youth policy is a joy to drive into corners with almost negligible body roll and very precise steering. The steering is almost telepathic, it always knows where you want to go and points the car in the exact direction. But this quality to handle corners well has it’s drawbacks and therefore the Mercedes doesn’t offer the suppleness of ride which the AUDI and BMW are capable to offer .

The Verdict

As I said before no car here is the winner or loser since it is very hard to mess up a car at this point of price range. All the cars offer more luxury than my home, all cars are fast enough and look appealing. It’s just that every car is chosen by people who have different tastes. I might not like the screen popping out of dashboard of the AUDI but someone else might. So there is no point in declaring a winner. But if I have to choose one, I’ll go with the BMW 5 series. It is overall the best package and with the 260bhp 3.0l diesel in the 530D this car is everything I want from a car though it is Rs.10 lakh dearer than the 520D but it is still worth it . But again this is what I like, not what is the best. Every car involved in this review is perfect and is the best at what it is supposed to do.