Need Help - SUV for Wildlife Photography EDIT- Its The Scorpio

[COUGAR]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

I doubt the veracity of diesel vehicles not being allowed into the sanctuaries up north. During my days in Swaraj Mazda way back in 2004, had sold about 30 vehicles for usage in the Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary as Safari vehicles.

ok let us rephrase: the petrol only restriction is for the smaller vehicles. The "canters" are used to carry upto 30 tourists at a time and here diesel vehicles are allowed for th esimple reason that there are no petrol driven vehicles in that size range: if there were then thi surle would apply there as well.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Or buy an used Forester which is petrol driven and has all wheel drive and any way in such a vehicle a sun roof modification can easily be done.

Used Forester is an option but since it is going to be on lease it may not work as someone pointd out.
Also, there are other things to consider about Forester:

1. You will be worried about taking to places where there is no support avilable for Forester.
2. You will be worried about taking it to terrains which may lead to some real expensce damage-repairs
3. Expensive parts. I am told a windscreen csts more then a lakh. That should be much more expensive then a Merc. Also the parts are not easy to source and car will be stranded in the meantime.
4. FE. If you do lot of driving, FE of around 7kmpl in the city and 10 kmpl on highway (which is what I managed) is not very encouraging

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Guna

Used Forester is an option but since it is going to be on lease it may not work as someone pointd out.
Also, there are other things to consider about Forester:

1. You will be worried about taking to places where there is no support avilable for Forester.
2. You will be worried about taking it to terrains which may lead to some real expensce damage-repairs
3. Expensive parts. I am told a windscreen csts more then a lakh. That should be much more expensive then a Merc. Also the parts are not easy to source and car will be stranded in the meantime.
4. FE. If you do lot of driving, FE of around 7kmpl in the city and 10 kmpl on highway (which is what I managed) is not very encouraging

I also understand that there were only about 500 Foresters sold in India making it very rare and expensive to maintain.

[shankar.balan]

this gypsy in the pic looks very much like the one I had mentioned in my earlier post. same colour too.

Originally Posted by redrage

Go for the gypsy Sudhir, It would be a good choice. Even fellow photographer Jayanth uses it and its perfect for your equipment and ease of moving around and shooting as well.
Go for a one like this

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/2...67cde782_o.jpg

[VEA]

if you plan to shoot from the vehicle you buy a dark coloured gypsy. its silent and you will have maximum chance of getting decent shots. you can check for yourself how many animals you will take by surprise in a gypsy. as a wildlife photographer you will know how fast animals can slip into the undergrowth and out of view hearng any unusual sound (mostly diesels). keep the fusion in that case as driving in the city with a gypsy needs a lot of muscle.

if your habit is to park your vehicle somewhere in the forest and trek inside the woods for shots, then any capable 4wd (safari/gurkha/xenon/bolero/invader) will do the job. i think buying a forester itself is a big adventure these days.

[vasudhir]

Alright...I am almost there...I will be placing the order in the next couple of days (hopefully).

Some points to consider:

- The safari tracks inside most of our Karnataka forests are pretty decent.
- The number of times I may enter the forest in rainy season is very less.
- Comfortable highway travel needs to be factored in.

I am now considering between Tata Safari Dicor and the Scorpio (probably 4x4 or 2x2 - depends on cost factor).

Now please help me choose between the two. The pros and cons of both the vehicle.

Be it a 1 cr or a 10L or a 1L vehicle - the choice is endless

Rgds,
Sudhir

[Amar82]

I think Tata Safari is always better then Scorpio in looks and comfortable ride quality(roomy interior). Both of them are good performer's but if you are just leasing, i think Safari makes sense as safari gets old sooner then scorpio. But for 3 years term safari should be better.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by vasudhir

I am now considering between Tata Safari Dicor and the Scorpio (probably 4x4 or 2x2 - depends on cost factor).

Now please help me choose between the two. The pros and cons of both the vehicle.

Rgds,
Sudhir

You mean 4x2!

my advice would be the scorpio.
main reason: reliabilty which is a must in your case. secondly, since you drive, scorpio is a better option.

scorpio mHawk 4x4 would be released in some time, you can wait for it.

pros & cons:

scorpio:
+ more responsive & eager engine, hence fun to drive.
+ more reliable.

- lesser legroom, especially in middle row.
- average ride quality, not as good as safari.

safari:
+ spacious & comfortable cabin.
+ good ride quality.

- unreliable, niggling issues always present (strictly my opinion guys! )
- tata A.S.S is the worst in the country... after skoda!

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

In 10 Lac budget you will get Xylo, Safari & Scorpio (if you can stretch)

Safari is known to have small small frequent problems.

Xylo is relatively untested.

Go for Scorpio after selling fusion.

The buyer for his kind of usage, Scorpio will be a bad choice. Kindly read what he needs. A 4x4.

Forest drives does require a 4x4, you cant do lot of adventures (rather mis-adventures) if its not a 4X4.

And my dear friend, M&M does not sell 4x4 Scorpios

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

a good compromise between regular driving and offorad wild life photography is the Tata Xenon 4x4. comes within your budget and the bed at the back can be a very good place to mount your tripod and take unhindered shots with a 360 degree field of vision.

test drive it and see if you can live with it in the city. The engine is very refined, interior space is OK and the interior quality is at least at par with a Safari.

himanshu, thats a great suggestion. I would advice vasudhir to go for the Xenon 4X4 Twin cab, A 4X4 for your adventures in forest and a comfy cruiser around city and also highways.

Nothing else would do.

(We have the highest count of Safari's on T-BHP, almost double compared to the Scorpios)

Mindless people talk about 1 niggling Safari and 1 TASS amongst 1000 of them. Lets stop this guys.

Its better to buy a Comfortable Safari than a rocking boat called Scorpio(strictly my opinion guys!)

And please keep us updated on your decision.

[vasudhir]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

You mean 4x2!

my advice would be the scorpio.
main reason: reliabilty which is a must in your case. secondly, since you drive, scorpio is a better option.

scorpio mHawk 4x4 would be released in some time, you can wait for it.

pros & cons:

scorpio:
+ more responsive & eager engine, hence fun to drive.
+ more reliable.

- lesser legroom, especially in middle row.
- average ride quality, not as good as safari.

safari:
+ spacious & comfortable cabin.
+ good ride quality.

- unreliable, niggling issues always present (strictly my opinion guys! )
- tata A.S.S is the worst in the country... after skoda!

Raj,

Since you have both the vehicles, and considering that A.S.S is not my headache as it will be a leased vehicle (they take care of it), I would like to understand what the "niggling issues always present" is.

As per the leasing agreement, the leasing company will provide me 24x7 support for any kind of breakdown or problem. Also, if the issue is serious and will take more then 48 hrs to fix, I will be provided an alternate vehicle till I get back my vehicle.

Also, when you say the ride quality of scorpio is not as good compared to safari, is it with the suspension or something else > because I will be using the vehicle for long rides with family.

I TD the safari, looks good, comfortable and spacious. I plan on doing the TD of mHAWK scorpio tomorrow. Also I believe the safari is 140bhp and scorpio is 120bhp. Is this a big difference when it comes to power ?

Thanks,
Sudhir

[Samurai]

Hmm, this better not turn into one more Scorpio vs Safari slugfest...

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by vasudhir

Raj,

I TD the safari, looks good, comfortable and spacious. I plan on doing the TD of mHAWK scorpio tomorrow. Also I believe the safari is 140bhp and scorpio is 120bhp. Is this a big difference when it comes to power ?

Thanks,
Sudhir

The difference is in the delivery of the power and the weight of the vehicle. As a matter of fact even the Xenon behaves quite differently from the Safari even though they have the same engine on account of 100 kgs lesser weight.
I would suggest you look at the Xenon 4x4 as well.

[Takumi-san]

why dont you post your own impressions with the test drives and let us know. It usually gives SUV fans ammo for the next impromptu slug-fest (which is always around the corner).

IMHO, I vote for the gypsy as well. Just read your requirements in detail.

[PAVAN KADAM]

My replies in BOLD, Good to know about your TD. Please post your TD reports here, it'll help a lot of people.

Originally Posted by vasudhir

Raj,

I will be using the vehicle for long rides with family.

Nothing comes close to a Safari's comfort when it comes on driving long stretches or even on a punishing forest tracks, the Safari comfort comes clean.

Also I believe the safari is 140bhp and scorpio is 120bhp. Is this a big difference when it comes to power ?

Yeah. Its surely a big difference with more power. You have more torque and more power when you get tangled in a slug fest in forests

But that 140bhp kick shoots you way ahead and beyond lot of cars on a highway

Thanks,
Sudhir

[Guna]

I am told Vijay Cawale (another noted bird photographer) uses (or used to) a customised (which includes jungle campflauge) Scorpio. ...Just a piece of information.