Long Term Review-1

Say hello to the Datsun Go Plus; India’s most affordable seven seater. Okay, it’s more like a 5+2, but even so, it is the only vehicle of its kind under Rs 6 lakh on the road in Mumbai. And it will be part of our long-term fleet over the next six months. We have the Go Plus in T trim.

Now, for all its unique proposition, the Go Plus hasn’t done too well. According to Datsun, the primary season for it has been the lack of awareness regarding the product. The company also says that the conversion rate among prospects that test drive the car is pretty high.

Our plan over the next six months is to experience the Go Plus is the city as a daily commuter; take it out over the weekend with all seats taken; and finally tell you what the Go Plus has going for and against it when it comes to the ownership experience. But, before we get there, here’s a little introduction to the car itself.

The Go Plus was the second Datsun product in India after the more conventional Go hatchback. And like the Go, the Go Plus too is designed for first time car buyers. So, the idea here was to have a car that was easy to drive, fuel efficient (that’s why the puny wheels and tyres), low on maintenance and while the Go was meant more for young couples, the Go Plus was meant to help families live their dreams.

And to achieve this, the Go Plus is light, it has decent visibility, and the torque spread is tuned such, it delivers good driveability in the city. The Go Plus uses a 1.2-litre engine borrowed from the Micra but is tuned to deliver 67bhp of max power and 104Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox and comes with an ARAI claimed mileage of over 20kmpl. We, of course, will be testing this claim in the duration of our long-term test.

In terms of features, there’s power steering, air conditioning, front only power windows and an instrumentation that throws up info on average fuel consumption and distance to empty. It gets some stowage areas too, though they aren’t the closed type. There’s an interesting front bench like seat and an oddly positioned hand brake as well. What the Go Plus misses out on though is airbags and ABS.

In our next report, we will tell you how the Go Plus is to live with in the city; its real world fuel efficiency figures; and some of its salient and quirky traits. So stay tuned…

Photos:Kapil Angane