Adding on to my earlier TD of the Grande, here are some points I should have covered:
Driver's view: Provides a commanding view of the road, even with the driver seat adjustment kept to the lowest
NVH: Very negligible and full marks on this front. Even with the speedo around 80+kmph, the NVH was hardly noticeable. However, sensed the sound of wind seeping into the cabin at high speeds.
AC performance: The performance of the AC wasn't upto the mark; it took a while before it started cooling the cabin and even then, it didn't get 'really' cold inside.
Overall: I felt Tata has a winner on their hands
IF they can get a new set of vendors for the interior fittings and look at doing something about the suspension. If they want to bite into Scorpio's sales, they need to do at least that much. Don't forget: Mahindra is lining up Ingenio round the corner and knowing them, it can be expected the fit and finish will be far better.
PS: don't even compare it to the Beast!
Ok, a few things I missed out earlier:
The aircon took it's own sweet time to cool and didn't do too good a job of it. This was at 5.30pm.
The driver's view was impressive, offering a good commanding feel of the road, even when the driver seat height was kept to minimum.
NVH was really not noticeable even at high speeds. However, I did sense the sound of wind leaking into the cabin at 80+kmph. There were no rattles or any disconcerting sounds either. In fact one of my friends commented it felt like a petrol engine (in terms of NVH), though I think that was laying it out a bit thick!
The paint job was really top class and deserves a round of applause
. Exterior fit & finish was markedly better than what was on offer inside.
Overall, the Grande needs to find a new set of vendors for its interior fittings if it wants to compete with Scorpio (or the upcoming Ingenio). If they can do that & improve the rear leaves, Tata has a winner on their hands.
PS: The Safari is a different class altogether and it shows!! There is no face-off - SG cannot be compared to the Beast!
(Mods: please change title of thread - Driving impressions added!)
Cheers,
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