2024 Tata Nexon iCNG Road Test: We Took It For a Spin Around Delhi NCR

At this point, the Tata Nexon needs no introduction. Be it the bustling urban streets of Delhi or the remote villages of Jhakhand, the Nexon can be found everywhere. Revealed to the world in 2016 as Tata’s answer to the popular Ford Ecosport compact SUV, the Nexon went on to dominate the segment with its India-centric features, superbly comfortable ride quality and unorthodox exteriors. 

Hence, despite the arrival of world-class competition in its segment, all it needed from Tata Motors was periodic facelifts and the addition of modern automotive technologies (read trendy) to keep the model relevant. The Nexon was available with a choice of petrol, diesel and electric powertrains for a long time. With regulations clamping down on the diesel camp though, Tata Motors introduced CNG fueling on the Nexon in late 2024 to please economy-minded drivers. 

CNG variants of popular models aren’t an alien concept – Maruti Suzuki does it all the time. However, Tata Motors was concerned about performance trade-off from CNG fueling and hence, decided to stick to its beefy 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine for the Nexon iCNG variant. This became a first in India – a CNG-fueled car with a turbo petrol engine. Performance and efficiency go hand-in-hand, at least on paper!

This then is a match made in heaven for ‘CNG-heads’, isn’t it? On paper?

That’s what we wanted to figure out. Instead of doing another conventional auto review, like the one my colleague has done on Hardwire’s website and YouTube channel, I decided to take the team out on a long spin around Delhi NCR to see how the Nexon iCNG pampers the demands of a crew consisting of a mix of Gen-Z and Millenials. 

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Tata Nexon iCNG: A brief on what we drove

That beautiful Nexon you see on the cover photo is the Tata Nexon Fearless Plus PS DT CNG variant (Phew, that was a mouthful!). If you opt for this exact variant, you will need to shell INR 16.8 lakhs (on-road price). 

The Creative Ocean paint job, which comes with a white roof, masks some of the best onboard technologies from Tata Motors. 360-degree parking assist cameras, ventilated seats, a massive touchscreen infotainment display, panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, an all-dark interior trim and more – this Nexon had it all. 

Since this was the iCNG variant where the CNG tanks (yep, plural) were stuffed under the boot lip, this beautiful light blue Nexon gave us some boot space to exploit. That helped our camera crew and the rest of us to stow away our shooting gear and winter wear with ease. 

The Nexon still looks phenomenal

Even though the world has seen a lot of Nexons on the road in all its facelifted avatars, I still can’t help ogling at it. Part of that may be due to that beautiful shade of blue but the Nexon’s sharp front fascia commands serious road presence. The split LED headlamps with the glossy black inserts for the radiator grille, the slightly reworked side profile elements and the marvellous connected real LED taillamp add to the sense of visual drama. The CNG tank filler cap sits inside the fuel-filler hatch, thus allowing for a neat and clean design.

Tata’s tasteful alloy wheels only add to the Nexon’s presence. The minuscule iCNG badge on the tailgate did little to mark our car as different from the other Nexons sitting next to us at the traffic lights.

But despite the familiarity, our Nexon was an attention magnet! No kidding. Tata Motors has done a commendable job with the Nexon’s bodywork. 

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Now, let’s talk about the drive

For our short date involving the Nexon iCNG and Delhi NCR, we began from our office situated in the heart of Gurugram. After a short halt at the nearest CNG filling station where our Nexon iCNG took up to 7.3 kilos of gas. Tata says an empty CNG tank can take up to 9 kilos but the temperature and other external factors dictate the filling capacity. 

With the CNG tank topped up and half a tank of petrol, we set off in the chaotic traffic that Gurugram had to throw us. The crawling traffic for the initial few kilometres got us talking about the impact of the Nexon on India but it had taken a hit on the car's fuel economy in our test. After spending almost 12 kilometres playing with the clutch and the first two gears, the roads opened up towards the Dwarka Expressway and the Nexon iCNG roared into life!

The 1.2-litre Revotron petrol motor put up a decent show on CNG mode, rapidly accelerating through the gears and happily sitting at 110 kph with no traffic onboard. However, switching to petrol power on the move gave that three-cylinder engine a noticeable power boost, which resulted in the car surpassing the speed limits easily (we had to go back to CNG mode instantly). Sadly, I had to let off the throttle as the expressway gave way to one of the nastiest traffic jams we witnessed during the shooting. 

A quick fuel economy check gave us a nightmarish 12 litre per kilometre – we expected better considering a compromised power and torque figure. The traffic then improved from crawling to moderate speeds and the Nexon purred along towards Noida, encountering several traffic stops and occasional bottlenecks caused by the traffic police checkposts. The 10.25-inch infotainment display did a great job of displaying the Apple CarPlay interface regardless of the bright sunlight seeping in from the sunroof.

All the while I was engrossed in the driver seat enjoying the unusual thrum of the three-cylinder motor and turbo boost past 1,500 RPM, the rest of my crew felt at home in the Nexon iCNG’s roomy cabin. The all-black cabin did add to the sense of claustrophobia, which was also magnified by the smaller rear windows. However, the panoramic sunroof helped ease off the claustrophobia to an extent at the expense of a slightly warmer cabin, especially during the afternoon. 

What about its comfort?

Then there’s the beautifully tuned suspension system. Some of the stretches in our journey had nasty potholes and unfinished stretches of road and that is where the Nexon iCNG shone. The suspension soaks up a lot of irregularities and only transmits the sudden jolts of an angular speedbreaker. The fat tyres help to a larger extent.

I must mention that the Nexon’s climate control system kept all the occupants cosy, despite the crew members on the rear bench actively monitoring the professional cameras, the microphones and the framing. The rear seating position kept my colleagues relaxed and discouraged them from popping their heads out of the sunroof. 

There must be some flaws, right?

After spending up to four hours on the road, the Nexon iCNG still had enough range but we had to refill our energy bar. Hence, after spending an hour relaxing at the local McDonalds, we got out of the shopping mall’s parking lot and back on the road. That’s when I unearthed some of the Nexon’s flaws. 

- Firstly, the turning radius of the Nexon is substantial. What is usually a single-point turn on any hatchback was easily a three-point manoeuvre on this car. Not ideal for urban conditions. 

- The video feed from the 360-degree camera was sub-par, especially in dark areas. Most of the footage was grainy. I was better off with the rear-view mirrors for my parking efforts. 

- The sloping roofline looks stunning from the outside but is often an obstacle to tackle while getting in the car. Even though my 5-foot-3-inch stature allowed a lower seat height to make the ingress easy, taller drivers and passengers may face an issue here. 

- The gear stick travel is substantial. Shifting from 1st to 2nd and so on requires a considerable amount of effort. It feels as if you are driving a truck!

- The same goes for the clutch modulation. Other than the unusually long clutch travel, the modulation requires one to be highly careful with the shifting process. 

- The fancy steering wheel looks great in photos but the ergonomics are hit-and-miss. The oddly shaped buttons make it prone to accidental hits, especially while doing multiple-point turns. 

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Conclusion

Nonetheless, after a short drive to our video shoot location in Noida, the Nexon iCNG began its shooting duties. While observing the car pose for the camera and kick off the dust upon hard acceleration, I reflected upon the Nexon iCNG and came across the following conclusions. 

1. The Nexon iCNG returned an overall fuel economy of 18.58 km/kg with a mixture of city and highway driving. On the return leg with an empty CNG tank, the car returned an average of 17.1 kmpl on petrol alone. The CNG option, therefore, only offers marginal benefits over the petrol variant and makes little sense in the real world, unless you care about every penny per kilometer and are willing to put up with the inconvenience of a lower CNG range. The lower economy figures could have been due to the engine still being in its early days but we expected better figures.  
   
   
2. The Nexon iCNG’s all-black treatment for the cabin makes it claustrophobic for the rear passengers and this is where you feel the need for the panoramic sunroof for adding a sense of space. Our suggestion is to go for the lower variants that offer lighter-coloured trims, especially if you don’t seek the sunroof. 
   
   
3. Regardless of the fuel options you choose, the Nexon remains a very comfortable highway and city cruiser. The suspension tuning has been done brilliantly to absorb nasty potholes and unfinished patches of roads with ease.
   
   
4. The iCNG implementation liberates a usable boot space for a family of three but trying to fit in more luggage would be a squeeze. 
   
   
5. While we liked having those beautiful infotainment displays on board, we think that most buyers will be happy with the smaller screens that distract less while on the road. And cost a lot less.
   
   
6. The Nexon in its current avatar is a breathtaking compact SUV to look at. 

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