Needed: Review report on Sumo Grande

[VooDoo]

Anyone in this forum has got any short/ medium term report on Grande? We are seriously missing such a review. Any help will be much appreciated.

lijodavis, are your listening?

[GeekSrik]

yea its been a while since I saw one on this forum too. wondering whether no one here owns one at all. either they are scared to write a review or they are busy crunching kms on this one to write it!

[HappyWheels]

There is one, that we know of, here at T-BHP.

Go here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-pics-car.html (My New Sumo Grande (EDIT: And Now with the Inside and Outside Pics of the car))

[VooDoo]

Just got an update from my friendly neighbourhood TATA Motors dealer. In Kolkata a discount of around 60K is probably on its way for Grande. What does that mean?
- TM is not able to get rid of their production volume
- Natural push to keep the counter ringing during this troubled time (as also done by Ford etc.)
BTW, I am seeing more Grande in Kolkata raods. Needless to say I am hawk eyed to find one every time I am on road.

[ankit.jhamb]

one of the news,in todays paper mentiones about the 65 k discount.but it is for december month only.
however i think if the discount is around 60k,then it is not a bad deal at all.
@voodoo:what is the app OTR price of sumo grande in kolkatta.(with/without discount)?

[VooDoo]

Originally Posted by ankit.jhamb

@voodoo:what is the app OTR price of sumo grande in kolkatta.(with/without discount)?

Around 8.10 on road including 1 year extended warranty, total 3 yrs and free mat.

BTW, no one to share Grande long term report??

[shivag]

Dear Friends:

I do own a Sumo Grande (Mineral Red)...ownership period would be around 7 months.

I will soon share my experience in brief shortly..if possible with some pics

Cheers,
Shiva

[mjsraman]

Hi
Can you please share the Grande experience. I have booked one this month and awaiting delivery.

Thanks
Shankar

[driving_smartly]

Well i have SUMO GRANDE Orange colour. Have done 7000 kms in 3 and half months
till date so problems as such apart from some rattling noise in dashboard that is because it is majorly used in rural areas of mahrashtra where roads are not that good.

We had done a kokan trip in which we covered 1307 kms from mumbai and returned with 5 adults and luggage.
Did not had any problem only the ride was bit bumby in last row that too in pot holes.we travelled in AC 100% with top speed of around 90-110 and 15 % of roads was covered in ghats of kokan n amboli which alone is 26 kms ghat with steepest turning i have seen till date.

For fuel effecienly it was done by tank full method

295 kms in 27 litres
333 kms in 32 litres
270 kms in 25 litres
409 kms in 34 litres last one is good coz it was from kolhapur to mumbai via pune traffic.

Overall am very much happy with Sumo Grande. i dont know why it is not selling in good numbers.Though in my village ours was 2 Grande after That there are more 6 of them as of now.

The power is good because once manage to squeeze 10 people in this 8 seater with AC on could manage to touch 130 with ease.

[mjsraman]

Hi

Thanks for the 7000 KMs review. Please keep posted regularly.

As usual my dealer VST motors chennai is delaying the delivery of the vehicle.

Thanks
Shankar

[shivag]

Friends:
Apologies for not able to get back on my experience with Sumo Grande since I got struck with a project which did not spare me the time required for this. Here is my brief report on the Sumo Grande. Please note I am a family (little big) man as well as an Auto enthusiast so my brief would be a mixture of two.

Model: Sumo Grande EX
Purchase Month/Year: May 2008

Exterior: This vehicle is definitely a head turner with its long wheel base and great ground clearance which has enhanced its stance so different from other SUVs. I had replaced the standard rims with Aura Alloys (all 5 wheels) which had completely changed its stance. The paint work is magnificent with its shine during all time of the day and night, at least it was with mineral red though Black looked a little sober. The front looks are majestic and rear has a clear neat look. Though I would have loved the spare wheel attached to the door (anyway it is side opening) like the regular SUVs. The head lamps are clear and good enough for long view though I would insist on an extra pair of flood lights on a sporty bull bar (another way to enhance its majestic looks). I was under the impression that fog lamps can be fitted extra at the Service Center but I heard otherwise from them (Chennai). Also the electrical Mirror adjustment and rear wiper/defogger (Safety Feature) cannot be fitted extra according to the Service Centre, a great disappointment. I was infact told that all these can be fitted after the purchase of EX or else I would have gone for the top end model.

Interior: Space, Space and Space and nothing else is what you would be impressed with once you get inside this beast. There are acres of space and seats wide enough to hold complete 8 adults with out any issues, though 3rd row may be slightly different from the second but the best in class incl Innova. The new beige color adds to the roomy feeling. Oh yeah the vehicle has a great head room and enough leg room as well which makes one very comfortable while traveling (I would say living J) long distances. Space for luggage is very limited and had to fix a roof carrier when traveling with family on long distances but then it will spoil the looks completely. Trying to get a detachable one! The plastics everywhere inside incl the dashboard is a great disappointment showing its cost reduction and cheapness more obvious. There are plenty of cubby holes inside and the plastics which comprises of these are so cheap that one soft drink holder (2 in 1) in the second row came off without much of use and effort in earlier days of ownership itself. Also the folding mechanism of the second row seats holds couple of plastic covers which had come off as well. Just FYI J. This car has three row Air Conditioning which does an amazing job (need not use the rear one mostly).

Performance: This is the crucial area for any vehicle and I have attempted to share what I felt after spending few initial months with this Beast. Start the engine and put it in the first gear...hear we go superb pick up even with full load of passengers. It just leaps forward and overtaking is just a breeze in second and third. The gear shifts are hard and not as smooth as you would like to be or in sedans but definitely can live with it. The clutches needs power from your legs too often esp in traffic a pain but again not bad enough to keep away. The Power steering is good at low speeds but then lacks feel and over responsive and vague in high speeds which means one need to be always in control and focused. Body Roll is very evident due to its tall stance so cornering is something which Grande doesn’t like. I attempted one and had to prematurely abort the attempt…good sense prevailed! Braking is very rubbery, though during the test drive it was better. One has to employ the pump braking technique (local slang), brake at regular intervals quickly to get the vehicle under control. I remember reading similar feedback in one of the forms (not sure whether it was mouthshut or Team-bhp). One dangerous behavior I observed during the recent monsoon in Chennai was while my Grande effortlessly waded through the deep waters, it completely did not respond to my braking initiative at low speeds once the water gets into the wheels. This may sound strange but I could not believe it. At speeds of 20 – 30 kms in water when I apply slight brake it just did not respond and took me further closer to the vehicle in front. I had to literally hard kick the brake and had to maintain safe distance from the vehicle in front. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT='Times New Roman']Now it’s the turn of ride quality. In highways with clear roads, its amazing comfort in which the Grande takes us but when it comes to negotiating potholes and bumps it just shakes everyone around inside. One need to literally crawl or go in steps when on the bumps or potholes otherwise a little throttle would displace the occupants. I even went to the extent of checking whether there was any suspension at all. No exaggeration but that’s how the vehicle handles the ups and downs. This is the condition with full compliment of 8 members inside the car. One shortcut I have employed to get some relief is to use the seat belts, this gives a feeling of being intact. But one thing its worth mentioning here is that this beast can take any amount of load with no hung back rear that you normally witness in Innova and Tavera, Just carries everyone effortlessly.

Impression: Excellent vehicle for someone looking for a SUV not with the luxury of high budget but with decent goodies and an alternative to Scorpio.

But if family travel is something that you are looking at, then this is not the best choice but the costly Innova (may be). Again Grande beats all in space and headroom.
Since I had my expectations straight and know that its TATA product, I did not have much of a disappointment. Learned to crawl over Bumps/Potholes and speed breakers to keep the family members intact inside and no blind high speeds but maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. Otherwise I am completely satisfied with the beast!
Please note one of our friends from Team-BHP community had already replaced the stock rear suspension with an ARC (Single Leaf Suspension) and gained 60% improvement on the ride quality. See the link below;

(My New Sumo Grande (EDIT: And Now with the Inside and Outside Pics of the car))
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/37834-my-new-sumo-grande-edit-now-inside-outside-pics-car-8.html



I have attached couple of pictures of my Sweet Grande!

Note from Moderator: Please use the text formatting methods provided in the editing box of the TBHP page, and do not add FONT and COLOR tags using external editors.

[aaggoswami]

The car is looking good. I have seen it and the photographs are not the perfect indicators of its size.

Regarding the braking issue, I think that almost every car has it. In case of Mercedes-benz, some model had a facility that the cars electronics apply the brake lightly and the brakes are dried. Otherwise all cars have this problem.

[shivag]

Yeah I am not good at Photography...pl excuse.
I do own a Fiat Petra and I drive my firend's Optra as well, I have not faced such a braking issue during monsoon. I remember facing such a issue when I rode BSA SLR bicycle ...now this car very strange.

[shivag]

Moderator:
Will follow your note but then I did not add any color to the text just retained Times New Roman thats all....Thanks

[driving_smartly]

yes shivag

I agree with you braking suddenly is an issue because i also drive an hyundai santro which has better braking, for that matter innova has got much better braking then grande, safari and scorpio as well.