ABOUT TATA NANO CAR

OVERALL DIMENSIONS OF NANO CAR Engine and Transmission Overall Vehicle Length :: 3099 mm Overall vehicle Width :: 1495mm (and 1620mm with ORVM) Overall Height :: 1652mm Wheelbase :: 2230mm Ground Clearance of Vehicle :: 180mm Minimum Turning Circle Radius :: 4m Seating Capacity in vehicle :: 4 persons Fuel Tank Capacity :: 15 Liters only Vehicle Weights : Nano :: 600 KG Nano CX :: 615 KG Nano LX :: 635KG Payload :: 300KG Engine Type :: 624CC, 2 cylinder, MPFI Maximum Engine Output :: 35 PS @ 5250 rpm Maximum Torque :: 48 NM @ 3000 +/-500 rpm Maximum vehicle speed :: 105 KMPH Grade ability :: 30% Vehicle Transmission : Synchromesh on all forward gears ? sliding mesh on reverse gear with overdrive on 4th gear No of Gears :: 4 forward and 1 reverse Suspension’s :: Independent, Lower Wishbone, MCPherson strut with gas filled dampers. Independent, Semi Trailing arm with coil spring and gas filled shock absorbers. Breaks :: Duel Circuit, Vertical Split operated by tandem master cylinder. Nano CX :: With Vacuum Booster. Nano LX :: With Vacuum Booster. Front :: 180 mm dia. drum brake. Rear :: 180mm dia. drum break. Wheels and Tyres :: Tyre Type :: Radial and Tubeless Front Tyre :: 135/70 R12 Rear Tyre :: 155/65 R12 Spare tyre :: 135/70 R12 Wheels :: 4B x 12 Driving down the price of the Tata Nano couldn't have been done without the collective effort of the component suppliers. Some of the biggest and the best in the business were roped in, with scissors and ingenuity to bring out solutions within a specified cost structure. Take Tata Johnson controls, for instance, who developed the seats for the small car. Tata Motors specified that the seats needed to be light, yet offer good overall body support and meet all safety requirements. The end result were front seats based on a single brace structure instead of individual rails, a frame and the right amount of foam to ensure overall seat comfort wasn't lost. The basic variant in fact doesn't even offer seat back adjustments for the passenger, thus saving on crucial rupees. VENDORS DETAILS Sister company Tata TACO worked on parts like interior injection mouldings, dashboard aggregates and door handles. It also entered into a JV with Ficosia International of Spain to supply cables and mirrors for the car that are being produced at the company's Hinjewadi, Pune facility. Tata TACO will supply over 20 per cent of all the parts being built for the Nano. A surprise entrant into the proceedings turned out to be Kinetic Engineering . The company best known for its two-wheeler business became party to the supplier base just months after the car was showcased to the world. It will supply the transmission gears for the car, a crucial component in the drivetrain. Bosch was asked to develop the engine management system for the car. A relatively complicated and expensive component in general, Bosch imported the control unit, sensors and actuators for the car. For the Nano, it created a blink mode that allows for the car's health to be detected even without a diagnostic tool. One can also know the fuel efficiency during the last five cycles. Despite trying to keep costs in check, Bosch also managed to have a limp-home mode in case some sensors on the EMS fail. For a small car, a powerful air-conditioner that doesn't sap engine power was crucial. Behr, the German air-conditioning expert was roped in. The HVAC modules, manual control heads and condensors were developed by Behr, in association with Anand Automotive systems. A 60cc rotary compressor from Panasonic has been used -- about 10cc larger than the one on the Maruti 800. MRF became the exclusive partner in development of the tyres for the first lot of cars. Using tubeless tyres of different widths for the front and the rear, MRF's brief was three-pronged -- low rolling resistance for better efficiency, good ride and tyre life characteristics and a tyre setup that dials out any traces of oversteer. The last part turned out to be the biggest challenge, and one of the reasons why a wider tyre for the rear was utilised. Some of the other important suppliers included Sona Koyo for the steering assembly, Lumax for the lights and Caparo for the body panels. A rack and pinion steering developed by Sona uses a two-spoke variant for the base version and three-spoke variants for the CX and LX versions. Additionally, the unit was developed to be easily collapsible for transportation and ease of maintenance reasons. Selective inner panels were developed by Caparo who also supply to Maruti, amongst others. A whole host of other suppliers were also involved in the project who, despite supplying smaller number of components played their part. At the end, despite steel price fluctuations, a tanking economy and component suppliers suffering from immense revenue pressures, the combined operations have helped Tata Motors achieve the magical Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000) tag So, how exactly did Ratan Tata and his team get the price of the Nano where they wanted it? Before you start screaming cost-cutting, there's more to it than just that. The Nano team scratched their heads, put on their thinking caps and if you're a management type, they even brainstormed. It's no wonder that the Nano and patent applications appear to have gone in hand in hand. SIGNIFICANT COMPONENTS OF TATA NANO At this moment, a fair amount of information on how the Nano was brought to its intended price tag without compromising its design brief - 'a proper car' - is yet to be announced. But here is what we do know. 1. ECU The ECU, or engine control unit, is a central part of any modern day motor. It is in effect a small computer that controls all aspects of engine operation. Given the sheer complexity of even the simplest engines, they can be expensive. The complexity is not inherent, it is needed because an engine today must satisfy emissions norms, sound norms, produce an acceptable spread of power, return an acceptable level of economy and still more. This complexity makes it crucial and in the case of the Nano, expensive. However, Tata worked with Bosch to take the ECU down to an unprecedented price. Among the solutions employed, is the fact that the sensors used by the ECU to govern the engine are down to half the usual number. And from what we hear on the Nanos testing in and around Pune, the engine works perfectly. 2. Wiper Sometimes it's in the details. Ratan Tata's direction to the designers at IDea - to reduce the wiper count to one has been well-publicised. The usual subtext was that it neatened up the car's looks. While true, it's a part of the cost-conscious design that's ensured that careful design ensures lower costs without compromising useability. 3. Small wheels and mounting The Nano's cuteness is in part due to the tiny wheels it rolls on. These aren't incidental either. The Nano was carefully designed to use these. Small wheels are lighter, which positively impacts economy, performance and ride quality. Further, these wheels were mounted with only three lugs, again, keeping costs in mind while examining and improving decisions that have become automatic in car design. The small wheels and the light weight have also ensured that power steering will probably not be missed in the car - again, this saves cost and complexity. Further, the design team split the tyre sizes to give the front a slightly thinner spec, while keeping the driven wheels fatter. This balances the impact of the wider track at the front, and in driving terms should endow the car with mild understeer at the limit - which is a safety feature. If Tata hadn't planned for the understeer you would probably have got a car like the early Porsches which had a rearward weight bias that resulted in their famously snap oversteer characteristics. In simpler terms, the Nano has a rearward weight bias due to the engine. This, on its own, can be a problem when taking corners at speed, where the rear end starts to behave sort of like a pendulum, dragging the car off the line. The engineered understeer counteracts this and should produce, depending on how good the design is, a balanced, neutral car. And lest we forget, smaller tyres mean less rubber, so they should be cheaper as well. And don't forget the non-opening hatch. That means no costs in terms of beading, hinges and locks, and that the whole panel can be a relatively cheap addition to the monocoque which will add to the strength of the chassis without adding cost. 4. Light body The extremely light body weight indications suggest that Tata found some sort of format that allows the upper monocoque to remain pretty light without compromising the chassis rigidity. What is already known is that the Nano uses a light gauge metal body and the production process will aim for minimum wastage. Tata AutoComp Systems Limited (Tata AutoComp), one of India's leading auto component conglomerates, today announced significant contribution of the company in engineering, design and supplying of components to the Tata Nano. Tata AutoComp Systems has contributed the following components for Tata Nano: Company/Joint Venture Components Tata AutoComp Systems Limited - Interiors and Plastics Division Bumpers, Dashboard, Cockpit (front console), Door Handles, Door & Pillar Trims, Air vents and many Powertrain plastic components like Cylinder Head Cover, Timing Gear Cover among others Tata Johnson Controls Automotive Seating Systems Tata Toyo Radiator Radiator Fan Module Tata Yazaki Autocomp EMS Harness Body, Wiring Harness Body and Battery cable Tata Ficosa Automotive Gear Shifters, rear view mirror sets & washer systems Tata Visteon Automotive Air Intake Manifold Tata AutoComp GY Batteries (TGY) Automotive Batteries Speaking on the occasion Mr R S Thakur, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer - Tata AutoComp Systems Limited said, "Our teams have been working closely with Tata Motors right since the inception of the project, to design and engineer various components, keeping the cost, superior quality. Besides cost, the other challenge that the team at Tata AutoComp faced was trying to lower the weight of each component. This brought about development of specially designed and engineered components and systems. 5. Engine cooling system In most cases, Tata AutoComp was developing the various components for the first time. From day one, the Nano was conceived as a small car with space at a premium. To get the components to fit into a small space, without compromising on functionality, safety or aesthetics was a challenge. It was this challenge that led to a lot of innovation. Engine Cooling Systems (supplied by Tata Toyo Radiator): It was the first time in India, that a car was being developed with the engine at the rear. This meant that air-flow was getting hampered, space would be a constraint and at the same time, the solution was expected to be scalable to meet the cooling needs of the scaled-up versions. The team at Tata Toyo Radiator came up with many innovations - the styling of the rear doors to facilitate air intake, the fan motor which drives the fan as well as the fan blades were redesigned to increase efficiency as well as air directors were developed to direct air on to the radiator core. Engine Induction System (Tata Visteon Automotive): This is the first time in India that an Engine Induction System was made in Plastic. While this has helped reduce the weight of the component substantially, it major benefit came in terms of far superior performance. Compared to the traditional aluminium EIS, this one delivers consistent air to the engine, thereby ensuring superior performance. 6. Automotive Batteries (Tata Green Batteries): The battery developed for the Nano by Tata Green Batteries is based on its existing and superior Calcium-Calcium technology. To begin with, the battery is being fitted under the driver's seat. The first attempt was to ensure that there are no emissions that affect the health of the driver and the co-passengers. The superior Ca-Ca technology ensures that, besides giving a benefit of no top till 1 lac kms. Second, the battery had to be light yet offer superior performance. Special small sized plates were designed with envelop type separators to ensure that there are no short-circuits which are common in such batteries. Besides this, various safety features like individual cell ventilation and flame arrestors have been provided, making the batteries absolutely safe. 7 . Wiring Harness (Tata Yazaki Automotive): The Nano is designed with the engine at the rear, but the battery in the front. This meant that the wiring harness and the battery cable had to be developed that would work even in the upgraded versions of the Nano. The most crucial part in the entire circuit is the fuse box. The team at Tata Yazaki designed a new fuse box based on the bus bar technology with FF terminals. This helped in reducing 21 circuits without compromising on the functionality. 8. Seating Systems (Tata Johnson Controls Automotive): The seating system had very challenging cost targets. The seats had to be light in weight, offer good seating comfort as well as good overall body support and meet all safety requirements. Certain functionalities like the driver seat (as well as the co-driver seat in the higher models) being able to recline along with forward and backward movements had to be incorporated. The rear seats had to be designed to be foldable to enhance the rear cabin space. With such tall specifications, the design team at Tata Johnson Controls came up with innovative solutions that enhanced the aesthetics in a cost effective manner. The front seats are based on a single brace structure instead of individual rails, a frame and the right amount of foam to ensure that the overall seating comfort was taken care off. 9. Interior and Exterior Plastic Parts (Tata AutoComp - IPD): The interior and exterior plastic parts include bumpers (in body colour for the higher models), instrument panel, air vents, cockpit (central cluster assembly), door handles, door trims, pillar trims and various engine and powertrain plastic parts. These were innovatively designed and engineered to achieve weight reduction, without compromise on functionality, aesthetics, regulatory and quality parameters. For instance, the air vents in the Nano needed a protective grille to avoid small objects (like coins) falling into the HVAC circuit. This was achieved by integrating a Honeycomb grille into the Bezel, thus reducing the total number of parts. The recess in the front dashboard is an intelligent design to provide space to the occupants to keep small items while travelling. Windshield Washing System (Tata Ficosa Automotive): The windshield washing system faced severe space and packaging challenges. After much iteration, a relatively very small yet having all the functionality that most cars offer, was developed. A sleek washer tank was developed which is fitted in the front of the car (under the hood). Gear Shifter (Tata Ficosa Automotive): It is for the first time in India, that such a small car will have a cable type gear shifter (as opposed to rod type). This helps in two ways; firstly it reduces the weight of the overall gear shifter system and secondly, makes shifting of gears very smooth and effortless - a great boon for the driver. Inner and Outer Rear View Mirrors (Tata Ficosa Automotive): The inner rear view mirror was redesigned to incorporate the cabin lighting system, thereby reducing the total number of components required. The outer rear view mirrors in body colour were designed to enhance the style quotient of the car.