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Tata Nano to go turbo

The Tata Nano is known as the world's most affordable car, but the Indian brand appears to be sharpening up its image by adding more features to the budget four-door hatchback, including the potential addition of a new turbocharged engine.


A report out of India from Autocar Professional claims the Tata brand will reposition the Nano from its current identity as "a cheap car" to one more in line with being a "smart city car". The new turbocharged engine will be a part of that move, following the recent introduction of the Nano Twist (above) that was the first such model to feature power steering.

The new turbo powerplant is expected to be based on the existing 0.6-litre, two-cylinder engine with a power boost over its current outputs of 28kW and 51Nm. It is expected the new engine will aid the Nano's leisurely acceleration time, which is currently pinned at 12.6 seconds from 0-100km/h.

According to the report, Tata is also working on a hybrid version of the Nano known as the 'e-rev'. According to a company spokesman, Tata's hybrid Nano project has “high degree of technology-readiness and the program offers several competitive strengths", however “it is difficult to predict the exact timeframes needed to create the right ecosystem for this to be a market-viable project”.

Further technological advances for the Nano are still to come. An automatic gearbox is one, with the brand reportedly developing a new transmission that goes by the name 'F-Tronic'.

Tata's Australian importer Fusion Automotive has previously stated the Nano won't be sold locally in the foreseeable future, but that the brand is looking at other passenger car offerings.

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