Indian Autos blog

The rife speculation on the Nano’s identity (as Tata or Fiat) in Latin America is still on as this drawing flies out of our good friend Chin’s scrap book.

He’s illustrated the Tata Nano Abarth version, which to some would mean stupidity. But hold your horses as more powerful engines, possibly sourced from Fiat, are likely to serve the Nano when it lands in Europe.

According to Ratan Tata, his company’s JV with Fiat is destined for bigger things. A possible re-look resulting in a wider scope will mean Fiat and Tata will not stop with just sharing engines and technology in India alone. Fiat could make a ultra-quick version of its popular Multijet engine line to suit the Nano’s needs.

Fiat could also strap the Nano with a super quick FIRE petrol engine and that coupled to the feather light body could make the Nano as quick to the 3-digit barrier as the Fiat 500 Abarth.

Wait, I don’t think the title agrees to what I’ve just said.

Better to enjoy the images.

Wuling’s CV lineup –

Talks on SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) purchasing a plant from GM in India to produce low-cost Wuling vans is in the early stages according to a leading Chinese news outlet.

General Motors runs on a JV with SAIC and Wuling Automobile in China and produce the Chevrolet Spark and minivans. SAIC were also in talks with GM to purchase the Vauxhall Insignia platform to build vehicles specifically for the Chinese market.

No more details are available at this point, but we’ll keep a close track on this.

Head over to the official Wuling website to learn more

After the introduction of new colors on the Yamaha R15, special editions of the Yamaha FZ16 and Fazer with radically different paint schemes have reached showroom floors in some parts of the country. The idea behind such special editions is to cash in on the festive season rush.

According to motoroids, there is no mechanical difference. The paint scheme combines blue, black and white, contrasting to the conventional plain red or black, which today is a common sight in metros. Additionally, decals plastered to the mud guard and fuel tank enhance look.

We’ll hopefully bring you clearer images shortly with all the details.

The Tata Nano has a strong tendency to attract heated debates and arguments from environmentalists and politicians. It is by far the hottest car launched in 2009, a global phenomenon, and the heat isn’t willing to escape from the Nano’s vicinity.

A newly purchased Nano, parked in the comfort of housing society parking area in Ahmedabad, burst into flames yesterday morning. Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident. Sources place responsibility on a faulty battery for the culprit behind the fire.

But the flames or the company representatives who arrived at the scene immediately to put it out don’t make this story interesting. The Nano’s owner, who did not want to go down without a fight, is this story’s real hero.

After the incident, he went to the Tata dealership that sold him the car and demanded a compensation of 5 lakh (500,000) rupees!

Wait, the story isn’t over yet -

When the dealership officials refused, he demanded the Fiat Linea or a Tata Safari as a replacement to his charred vehicle. And you thought shiny new cars on display only attract customers.

The cherry on this stale pudding -

After a magnificent 2nd position drive from Fisichella in the last race at SPA, the new lead driver, Adrian Sutil, backed it up with a terrific drive to secure a 4th place finish for Force India at the Italian GP in Monza today.

Sutil could have easily snatched a podium finish if not for a slight mistake during his second pit stop, where he only just, over-shot his parking, losing time as his mechanics had to regroup.

On the same lap, Kimi Raikkonen, who was ahead of him, took advantage of the prevailing situation, and came out ahead from the pitlane to resume his dominance over Sutil for the rest of the race.

A scary crash involving 3rd place man Lewis Hamilton and the guard rail, when pushing hard to catch Brawn’s Button, just corners from the checkered flag, meant the rest of the top 10 upgraded one position, eventually gifting Sutil a stronger 4th place.

If not for the KERS energy recovery system on Raikkonen’s car, that Ferrari could have easily lost track position to Sutil’s Force India very early in the race. Sutil’s progress around the corners was negated in the long straights where Kimi used KERS to good effect keeping Sutil at bay till the very end. The gap separating the two was very little. It hovered around the two second mark for the major portion of the race.

On his debut race with Force India, Vitantonio Liuzzi’s dream run came to a screeching end as he pulled over just before the first corner after a mechanical problem occurred on his car, after several strong laps that promised him a place in the top five. Whether it was a faulty gearbox or engine is not determined, but if he would have continued, it could have been the best performance of a replacement driver in the recent times in Formula 1.

Who won?!

Oh yes, I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it again – A Brawn GP 1-2, Barrichello followed by Button followed by Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed the champagne and took home the trophies..

1 Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes

2 Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes

3 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

4 Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes

5 Fernando Alonso, Renault

6 Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes

7 Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber

8 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault

9 Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari

10 Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota

11 Timo Glock, Toyota

12 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes

13 Sébastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari

14 Jarno Trulli, Toyota

15 Romain Grosjean, Renault

16 Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota

Not classified:

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India-Mercedes

Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber

Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault

As mentioned in the initial impression report, this is the sport variant in the Fiesta line-up and you feel it once inside its cabin – the dash made of Ebony blue and black with a hint of brushed aluminium lend it a sporty touch.

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Now that we’re finished the road test of the new Honda City, we were dying to find out how the Ford Fiesta 1.6 Duratec compares. We managed to get it in our garage for a few days and here’s our initial impressions.

How different is it to the normal Fiesta?

To begin with, the Fiesta S is on the Indian roads for some time now and the Diesel TDCI variant is the Fiesta to buy.

But for the true blue petrol head, the right Fiesta is this 1.6 Duratec variant. With a stiffened suspension setup and a powerful 101 PS engine, this one has broader tyres with big alloys to go with it. Adding to the sporty looks, Ford has finished the exterior with a fish tail spoiler and sporty side skirts.

On the inside, surfaces are on the darker side with a touch of aluminium is present on the dash and door handles. The pedals are lifted off a rally car, they are finished in metal and have rubber dots in them. Airbags are standard and the mirrors are power assisted.

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