The Tata Nexon: A Review from the Mountain Roads

You buy a car for the mountains, and you learn the truth about it in the first monsoon. The brochures talk about sunroofs and touchscreens, but up here, we talk about things that matter: Will it hold on a 30-degree incline when the road is wet clay? Will the brakes hold their bite on a 10-kilometer descent? Will it get my family to the hospital in Kullu if it’s snowing in January?

I live in a village near Palampur, and my Tata Nexon has been answering these questions for me, one mountain pass at a time, for the last two years.

The Heart of the Matter: How It Handles Our Roads

Let’s start where it counts. The Nexon doesn’t just drive on these roads; it negotiates with them. You feel it the moment you leave the smooth tarmac of the bypass and hit the first broken patch leading up to the village.

• The Suspension: It is firm, but it’s a confident firm. It doesn’t wallow or float. When you hit a pothole—the kind that appears after the rains near Mandi—it takes the impact with a solid, single thump and immediately settles back down. There’s no bouncing or losing composure. This is its greatest strength. It feels planted, like it’s gripping the road through the suspension itself.

• The Steering: It’s direct. Not sportscar direct, but honest. On the endless, tightening hairpins of the Jalori Pass road, you always know where the front wheels are pointing. That connection is worth more than any number of horsepower when a bus is coming the other way on a narrow stretch.

• The Seats: This sounds trivial until you’ve driven for four hours to Shimla. The seats are outstanding. They hold you in place during corners and don’t turn to stone after two hours. My father, with his old backache, never complains on these long drives anymore.

The Engine: Not for Racing, But for Reaching

I have the diesel. In the mountains, diesel isn’t a choice; it’s common sense. That torque is what you need.

1.The Pull: You’re in third gear, climbing a steep grade with four people in the car. You need to overtake a lumbering truck. You press the accelerator. There’s a slight pause (the turbo spooling up), and then a strong, steady surge of power comes in. It’s not a violent shove; it’s a determined, reliable pull that gets the job done. You overtake and slot back in, heart rate steady. That’s what matters.

2.The Mileage: Even driven with purpose on these hills, it returns between 16-18 km/l. On a rare highway run to Chandigarh, I’ve seen 22 km/l. For a car with this much metal and safety around you, that’s not bad at all.

The Not-So-Good: The Compromises You Learn To Live With

1. The Diesel Dissonance:

That torquey engine comes with a soundtrack. It’s noisy. Inside the cabin, there’s a constant diesel clatter, especially when you ask for power. It’s not refined. On the highway, you hear it as a persistent drone. You get used to it, but you never quite forget it. Friends in smoother petrol cars notice it immediately.

2. The Quirky Brain:

The infotainment system has moods. On a freezing morning, it can wake up groggy, taking a full minute to respond. The touch response isn’t always sharp. The rear camera sometimes flickers with static in the rain. These aren’t deal-breakers, but they’re constant, small reminders that the polish doesn’t match the underlying strength.

3. The Weight of Safety:

It’s a heavy car. You feel that weight in its agility, or lack thereof. This is not a nimble, flickable hatchback. It changes direction with deliberate heft. In tight, congested market lanes in a town like Palampur, you feel its size. Parking requires full use of the (thankfully good) cameras.

4. The Niggles of Ownership:

• The Creaks: As the cabin warms and cools with the extreme temperature swings, plastic panels settle and emit small creaks and ticks. It’s the sound of the car working, but it can irritate.

• Service Inconsistency: The service experience depends entirely on the local dealership. Some are good, some are painfully slow. Getting a specific part can mean a wait, as it has to travel up the mountains.

The Final Balance Sheet

• Buy the Tata Nexon if:

  • Your priority is safety, durability, and composure on terrible roads.

  • You do long drives with family and need a comfortable, secure cabin.

  • You value high ground clearance and diesel torque over silent refinement.

  • You want a car that feels like it can take a punch.

  Think twice about the Tata Nexon if:

  • You prioritize a silent, refined cabin and buttery-smooth driving manners.

  • Most of your driving is in tight, dense city traffic where size is a penalty.

  • You have a low tolerance for small electronic glitches and expect flawless fit-and-finish.

For me, the balance has tipped overwhelmingly to the positive. The Nexon’s core strengths—its unflappable ride, unburstable build, and mountain-ready mechanics—are exactly what my life demands. Its flaws are in the details, not the fundamentals.It has never left me stranded. It has carried my newborn home from the hospital in a blizzard. It has brought my parents safely over slippery mountain passes. It earns its keep not by being perfect, but by being profoundly capable and trustworthy.

• In the end, that’s what you need up here: not a showpiece, but a partner you can rely on when the road ends and the real journey begins. The Nexon is exactly that.