Tata Nexon iCNG Review: Only iCNG, No Cake?

I always disliked the concept of CNG cars. They are economical and help make the earth liveable for longer. But I never liked them because of their lacklustre performance. I am not ready to compromise on a vehicle's core functionalities to save some pennies. Additionally, I believe the 5-10 per cent less emission is not that significant, especially in cases where the running is low. Additionally, we believe, most people opt for CNG vehicles to lower running costs and do not care much about the emissions anyway.

However, I lived with the Tata Nexon iCNG for a week and this car has worked as a reverse UNO on my thoughts about CNG cars. Tata has experimented by mating their 1.2-litre three-cylinder Revotron turbo petrol engine with a CNG fueling and boy-oh-boy they have cooked!

This experiment is done for the first time by any Indian OEM and I believe this will not be the last one.

I drove this for more than 300 kilometres in various terrains and traffic conditions ranging from bumper-to-bumper NCR traffic to twists and turns of the Aravalli mountain range. We also did tank-to-tank CNG mileage tests, other than testing all of its comfort, convenience and driving features. 

Detailed Review of the Tata Nexon iCNG

Exterior design

The car's design is the same as that of the standard Nexon. It has a sharp front fascia with angular cuts and creases. The projector LED headlamps are mounted on the front bumper and these work like magic at night in illuminating the road ahead. The car also has LED DRLs that double as sequential turn indicators. Unlike its electric avatar, the Nexon iCNG lacks connected LED DRLs but it gets the 'Welcome' and 'Goodbye' feature which animatedly illuminates the DRLs and taillights to greet and bid farewell. 

The car's side profile is rather simple with a sloping roofline and 16-inch aerodynamic alloy wheels. The vehicle also gets body cladding all around to enhance its SUV appeal. We drove the top-end Fearless Plus PS variant in the creative ocean colour, which has a white roof along with a teal-ish-looking body, complimented by black finishes on the pillars, ORVMs etc.  

The rear of the Tata Nexon iCNG looks modern and futuristic with connected LED taillamps and hidden rear wipers. The sequential indicators are present on the rear as well. The car has a small i-CNG badge on the lower right part of the tailgate along with CNG stickers on the front and rear windshield to flaunt its bi-fuel identity.

Interior and features

The interiors of the Nexon iCNG are the most premium of any CNG car in the county. It has twin 10.25-inch screens, one for the infotainment and the other for the instrumentation. The instrument cluster can be customised as per the preset templates and it also has the capability of showcasing maps when connected to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay worked very well in our usage and so did the 9-speaker Harman sound system. The music system of this car feels so good with its crystal clear vocals, crisp trebles and thumping bass.

The other features such as wireless charging, 45W fast wired PD charging, ventilated front seats and automatic AC worked phenomenally. The car also gets the most demanded car feature by Indians, the sunroof, and it is not just a sunroof, it is a big panoramic sunroof that fills the cabin with light and makes the otherwise dark cabin a lit-up place. The car has an all-black cabin which honestly neither looks premium nor sporty. We believe, the cabin feel and quality of materials on the lower part of the dashboard, and door pads should have been better for this price. 

Performance

Let’s start with the performance, it churns out 98.5 hp in CNG mode which is bumped up to 118 hp (same as the standard petrol variant) in the pure petrol mode the torque output remains the same 170 Nm in both modes.

The performance, as expected, dropped a little in CNG, but due of the single ECU setup, the difference is not easily noticeable. 

The standard Nexon also gets the same engine and that car is notorious for its turbo lag at low RPMs. That character is still there in the CNG car and sadly, it is even more pronounced. The powerband in CNG mode is narrower by 1000 RPM which is evident on the highways at high RPMs. 

That said, the car still holds the title of the most powerful CNG car in the nation and it shows it on the highways. The car cruises effortlessly at 120 kilometres an hour and there is still enough grunt left for overtakes. The car has some body roll, but that is very well-contained and it feels rock solid at triple-digit speeds around the corners of Delhi's Dwarka expressway.

The Nexon is hailed to be one of the most comfortable cars under the budget of INR 20 lakhs, thanks to its brilliant suspension and cushy seats. The car absorbs everything in its way and the ample ground clearance of 208mm gives Nexon the superpower to cross any bumps and breakers of Indian roads without any hesitation. 

The gearbox is, however, the sore point. The shift action was not only notchy and rough but it often refused to slot into the second and third gears on the first try. We called our POC at Tata Motors and they said the gearbox on the Nexon iCNG is slightly different from the standard petrol car and this behaviour is normal.

In our opinion, gear shifts should have been much smoother and throws could have been much shorter. The clutch was light but the lever travel was longer. We expect Tata to make it shorter in the future generation of this car.

The car has a three-cylinder engine which needs a little more polishing in the NVH levels. The car becomes noisy above 3,000 RPM and we could feel vibrations in most parts of the vehicle. 

Tata Nexon iCNG tank-to-tank mileage test 

We also performed a tank-to-tank CNG mileage test for the car, where we emptied the CNG tank completely and then re-filled the tank. It has a claimed tank capacity of 9 kilos but for some reason, the tank only took 7.3 kilos CNG.

We started driving and kept moving until the CNG tank was once again empty with 135.7km on the CNG trip metre, which translates to 18.58 kilometres per kg. 75 per cent of our drive was in the city traffic and the rest 25 per cent on the highways so the mileage figure should get better on the longer highway runs.

Should you buy the Nexon iCNG?

Now let’s answer the most important question, should you buy the Nexon iCNG?

If you want a CNG car with all the modern bells and whistles, the practicality of 321 litres of flat boot space and the best performance, go for the Nexon iCNG. The five-star safety rating makes the Nexon CNG safe and great for highways. Our mileage testing was done in mixed driving conditions and we believe the car should easily return the claimed efficiency figure of 24 km/l on long highway rides. 

However, if you mostly drive your car in the city and want the maximum CNG efficiency, then other alternatives from the Maruti Suzuki like Brezza CNG or Fronx CNG etc are known to return better mileage figures.

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