Tata Nexon shows off capabilities at Skill Arena

Tata’s latest product in the market – the Nexon has been gaining a lot of interest of the public. It is Tata’s first ever attempt in the sub 4-meter compact SUV segment, and it will take on the likes of Vitara Brezza, and Ford EcoSport in the market. Tata held the Skill Arena in Gurugram for prospective customers. We also participated in the same and here is what we think about the car.

What is it about?

Tata has done its homework right and has packed the Nexon with a host of features. Tata particularly held the event to showcase the capabilities of the vehicle to take on the rough roads and light off-roading capabilities. Remeber that the Nexon does not offer any 4WD system, but it does come with 208mm of ground clearance and various driving modes.

The Nexon Skill Arena had various obstacles that were to be cleared by the Nexon. There were in a total of five obstacles or tasks that each customer had to complete and marshals were placed to provide points to the most skilled customers.

To start with, there was parallel parking challenge at the start of the course. The parking challenge let the customers use the reverse parking camera to its fullest. Tata Nexon’s reverse camera is integrated into the infotainment system, and it shows exactly where the vehicle is heading in reverse.

The next in line was the speed breakers. Indian roads are populated with the speed breakers, and many of them are illegal. The Nexon rolled over a series of speed breakers to show how comfortable the vehicle is over the speed breakers and how easily it can take on such obstacles in real life.

Before starting, we shifted the driving mode to the Sports. The Nexon offers segment-first driving modes that change the power output and performance of the vehicle depending on your need. The other two are Eco and City modes, which have a lower power output than the Sports.

The Nexon then tackled with the side incline. There was no mention of the angle of the incline, but it was quite steep. The Nexon comes with short front overhang, which helped it climb the obstacle with ease. We then went through a slalom to test the stability of the vehicle. The area where it was being done was not very wide and open so the vehicles could not really speed up to test the stability but we had driven the Nexon during the first drive and found it to be very stable at high speeds.

The last of the obstacles was the chicken holes. It was the most challenging of all the obstacles. Chicken holes cause one the tyres to lift up from the ground. It is particularly challenging for the 2WD as if one of the front tyres loses contact; the whole driving force will have to go through one tyre only. However, the Nexon took the entire challenge beautifully and finished with a wide grin on its face.