So the new year started with sex tapes, inadequate cooking oil and flour, Sir Edmund Hillary (for those of u dimwits who are too ignorant to know who he is, he and Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the peak of Mount Everest) passing on and the 2008 Dakar Rally being cancelled.

Okay, so all that sounds pretty sad right? But CHECK THIS, there IS something to celebrate! Well, not precisely celebrate but just to you know, be happy about... Okay, so some of you or most of you won't be happy but just read on and you may be a little enlightened... =)

Just when u thought a Perodua Kancil costing RM22,513.50 was DIRT CHEAP, wait until you take a look at the Tata Nano! What? Tata? Who the hell are they? Okay... Do you remember... When you were a kid... Staring out your daddy's car window... And then you see this man... Driving a huge ass lorry with a wooden plank for a door... And u wonder what happens if the bugger falls out... Yup, those are Tata lorries... =) Well, okay, so not all are made by Tata, just the ones with a big T in front...

Launched on the 10th of January 2008, the Tata Nano is poised to be the CHEAPEST car on the stinking planet! Woohoo! So you're probably wondering how much does it cost? Well, here is the magic figure... 2500 US DOLLARS! With a 3.2 exchange rate, that translates to just 8000 Ringgit! Now that is what I call, a cheap car...

So okay, you aren't exactly going to get the same engine or the chassis or the anything you get except maybe the lug nuts on a Ferrari F430 but hey, it's 8000 Ringgit!

And what do you get with 8000 Ringgit?

623cc 2 cylinder engine (A Proton Wira has 4 cylinders and is about 1500cc)

4 doors with 4 seats! (I mean, I can't believe it, even the Ferrari F430 only has 2 doors and 2 seats... Way to go TATA!)

2 seat belts (same amount you get on a Ferrari F430)

4 speed manual transmission (okay, not exactly same thing you get on a Ferrari F430 but it's the same as the old school Kancils!)

Rear engine (Only found on super cars okay, so they have them on the old VW Beetle's too but lets not talk about that, doesn't really make it sound cool anymore)

Okay, lets move on to performance now...

33bhp! (Okay, this isn't really something that's going to propel you to 200mph but hey, it's 13bhp more than a rempit Yamaha RX-Z, don't play play!)

Top speed? 105 (no, not mph) kph!

It needs just 3.85 liters of petrol per 100km on highways and 4.5 liters of petrol per 100km on city roads. Okay, so what does that translate to? Assuming it is 350km from KL to Penang with a fuel price of RM1.92 per litre, it will only cost you just RM25.9 on petrol! Blimey right?!

All in all, kudos Tata!

I love India!