Tata Battle : Safari versus Grande

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Xylo should fit right within the budget. Wait a coupla weeks. Its a fantastic vehicle in its own right.

Now is there something that you know and others don't? If so, please share it.

[raj_5004]

go for the safari over the grande buddy. the grande and the bolero CRDe are crude in comparison to the safari. dont worry about rear ac vents, you can get them fitted.
A.S.S., reliability and resale value are not its strong points but overall its a better proposition than the grande.
there is ample space in the safari and ride will be better too.

[getsurya]

Safari is the better one!(time tested and tried). Personally not a big fan of TATAs(just purely due to the reliability of thier products). My father is a big fan for Safari(he had a old TCIC sold it and bought a 2.2).
Good space, great road presence!! Everything else, you shall get used to!!
Happy Motoring!!

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by VooDoo

In terms of reliability of a TATA car, I am happy as in last 4 years my Indica has never let me down but the interior plastic quality and the interior fit and finish turns me off. I travel 40 Kms every weekday withing city with a 100-150 Km trip on atleast 2 weekends in a month. I am used to Diesel bills, so Petrol needs to wait unless the car delivers more than 13 Kpl. I do not do any offroading but frequently travel on roads which loves to present surprises with varying sizes of ditches and potholes.

On top of these, Ford confused me even more with the Ikon Diesel release. Seeking advice after getting thoroughly confused.
Can you help me out?

as voodoo is happy with the reliabilty of TATA, safari is just right for him. his 150 kms trip on weekends also justifies the purchase. but i am not sure whether he will get more than 13 kmpl with his safari. although many on this forum say they do get, my safari does not go more than 12 km to a litre. also, for the rough roads he intends to travel, safari 4x2 is more than enough.
safari is better than the ikon bro, if you feel the safari is dated, then what about the ikon?

@ getsurya: even you have a scorpio 2.2 and safari 2.2...

[getsurya]

raj, My father has the safari 2.2. I drive it sometimes for highway trips.

[raj_5004]

i understood that surya. even my brother has the safari, not me!

[PAVAN KADAM]

Ha ha.

Here we go, one more safari and others thread.

Cant we have enough of this. Mods has already closed so many similar threads.

I feel this will go the same way too..

There's no battle as such on this kind of topic. Lets compare apples to apples.


MODS: ARE YOU THERE?

[raj_5004]

hey pavan, everybody is comaparing the grande and the safari here. the other cars listed like ikon was considered by voodoo itself.

if you are indicating to what me and surya posted, it was OT, sorry for that.

[Strangerintown]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

as voodoo is happy with the reliabilty of TATA, safari is just right for him. his 150 kms trip on weekends also justifies the purchase. but i am not sure whether he will get more than 13 kmpl with his safari. although many on this forum say they do get, my safari does not go more than 12 km to a litre.

I think voodoo is only looking for more than 13kmpl in the case of a petrol vehicle. So the Safari meets his needs just fine here.

And talking about mileage , my Safari 2.2 gives 10.5 to 11kmpl for pure in city driving on crowded Mumbai roads. I get about 14 kmpl on the highway provided I restrict speeds to 110 kmph or so. I guess it would drop if I pushed harder.

[VooDoo]

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. From all the replies so far, Safari wins hands down. I will still wait due to 2 reasons:
1. Insider sources in Tata Motors informed a good discount is coming by next week on Grande and Indigo XL
2. I would like to check feedback from Grande owners in this forum. We have lots of feedback on Safari, but no report on Grande. Will start a separate thread.
In teh mean time will probably test drive the Grande Gx and Safari Lx again this weekend.

[prmd_cochin]

We had test driven a Grande when it was launched, looked surprisngly refreshing. The ride was good, especially over potholes, but the steering was very light, similar to the Scorpio.

[getsurya]

Good Luck Voodoo. Get Reclaimed!!

[benbsb29]

If it was my decision, i would pick the Safari anyday over the Grande. The aesthetic feel of the Grande interiors are downright ugly, and the Safari's seem way better. As for the other pluses, they have already been mentioned by the owners.

In case you do run into any issues with the Safari, most of them have already been reported by the other owners on the forum, and you would be easily able to decide on the fix. I surely dont think it would leave you stranded on the roads. Other niggles can be accomodated, IMO.

[VooDoo]

Took another test drive of Grande last Saturday and here is my feedback:

KB Motors of Kolkata brought the car as promised, was quite impressed with their timing but that was short living. The car didn't have much fuel, the warning light was on and I have to restrict myself within 5 kms. I agreed after a little argument as none of the people from KB Motors ever heard of a full test drive nor understood why I needed to drive the car . I immediately struck KB Motors from my sort list (there are three more dealers in Kol). As I was quite eager to narrow down my choice, I decided to go ahead to do a city driving test.


Exterior: This is the first time I was looking at the Grande at my apartment parking lot and amongst the sedan and hatches it really felt huge. Fit and finish is excellent, much better than my indica and I believe is better than Safari which is showing its age. Colour is also top notch and last but not the least it is HUGE!


Interior: Looked okay to me, could be that my daily ride is an Indica and I am habituated with the TATA kind of interior. The gear knob is much better roundish one than the regular squarish one. There was plenty of space, the seating was very comfortable. The steering is adjustable and with the seat height adjustmnet, I could find a comfortable seating position. The fauxwood dash was not upto my choice and I hated the analog clock. The clutch is much better than my indica. The electronic side view mirrors were helpful and the meters looked quite functional. The third row seat was perfect for the kids and they loved it. The mid row seats were also very good with enough thigh and back support. I han't tried the third row for adult access.


On Road: Though I was quite nervous as the approach road to my apartment complex was really conjested and maneuvering any sort of car amidst the jungle of rickshaw, autorickshaw and buses is an art. Rotating the ignition key started the 2.2 Dicor with a shake that rested to a muffled diesel growl in a few seconds, much better than my indica's 1.4. However shutting the ignition was greeted with a vigorous shudder every time I did it.
As soon as I released the clutch slowly the mass started moving forward. The start was nice and another 50 meters, I had to take a difficult turn from a side road and voila! I did it quite well without any screeches behind. The maneuverability of this huge mass is really easy. The steering wheel though a little vague, allows nice handling. The gear is traditional Tata one with 1 being the most difficult and rest being easier. Grande takes the bad road with ease but this is at moderate speeds and I couldn't test the high speed behavior. I intentionally drove over rough and congested roads to test the city driving conditions and needless to say it is good. The AC looks wonderful and has got separate controls for the back and front. Driving was effortless with a few scared vans and autorickshaws. I could not test the brake at high speed but managed to test emergency braking at a speed of 30kmph courtesy the civic owner who cut from my left assuming the Grande never existed or he is driving the Batmobile. I have to agree the road presence is awesome maybe due to not having enough Grande on road.


End: Those who have read till this point need to remember the saying “All's well that ends well” is not always true. After getting down from the Grande when I was standing with a grin taking pride on my driving ability, missus simply mentioned it is huge and kinda funny looking. “Can't we have a proper car”? Funny!!! never heard such attribute for such a beast!! I understood my Grande dream is nearly over! At least for next 3 months !!


Mod's Note: Please avoid using external editors as they add non renderable HTML tags to your post and makes them unreadable. Post cleaned up this once.

[raj_5004]

you have to take a TD of the safari too buddy. i feel it wont be too easy to maneuvere in the crowded street which you mentioned as compared to the grande. now many would argue with me over this statement! guys, personal opinion and all that!
so, i feel the grande is better for you. but since your missus has already given a thumbs down, is it time to change the title of this thread to corolla vs civic vs optra?!