Long Term Review 2

An AMT or Automated Manual Transmission has its set of pluses. Not only is it cheap to do, but also such a setup is almost as fuel efficient as a fully manual option wherein the driver has to both use the clutch and shift gears. And for those who have never driven a regular automatic before, the AMT’s hesitancy in shifting gears and the lazy throttle response is never going to be an issue.

Unfortunately for the Nano, I have driven regular automatics before. So, an AMT setup isn’t really to my liking. What makes it even more challenging in the Tata GenX Nano, is the lack of power and torque compared to say a Maruti Alto K10 AMT (which incidentally, we also have on a long-term test). And because of this lack of power and torque, the Nano struggles to find itself in the right gear almost all the time. Now, if you are like my neighbour who likes to takes things easy and drive with a feather touch, the Nano feels completely competent.

However, if like me, you want to hurry things along, you always end up waiting for the Nano to drop down gears. Sometimes, it will drop just one gear, which is perfect. Other times, because I am a bit slower, it will drop two. Not only does this ruin the efficiency, it gets the engine spinning right on top of its rpm band making it noisy and vibey.

Good news is, I have found a crack for it. First, always drive the GenX Nano AMT in Sport mode; that is, of course, if you are in a hurry to be somewhere. Because this crack isn’t going to yield very high fuel efficiency figures. Then, every time you want to overtake or negotiate a climb at a quicker pace, step on the throttle hard a second or two before you actually need that extra go. I know this requires some anticipation, but the end result is a better driving experience because you will always (well, almost always) find yourself in just the right gear.

Try it and let us know if it works as well for you as it does for us.

How has this affected the fuel economy you ask? Well, when we drove normally, the GenX Nano AMT returned a little over 15kmpl. When we drove it sensibly but not exactly slowly, it returned nearly 19kmpl. But, with the crack, well, getting 14kmpl was a struggle.