Safari Vs Sumo Grande - A face off, how they stand...

[shatrughna]

Yesterday I spent some time with the two Demo Cars parked side by side at Fortune Cars at Nerul. One was Safari VTT - VX and other was Sumo Grande GX. To my good luck the cars were open and there was not a single sales guy around nor any other visitor except for a driver in attendance there and the keys were inside. I had good look and feel of both the cars, perhaps there could have been hardly any better opportunity to compare these two cars ( no matter how incomparable these two may be).

My impressions:
Front view - Sumo looked very bold , roundish edges , bold headlight design but small fog lamps. Safari looked familiar ( naturally), more sophisticated and better designed but definitely, if one had to guess only by looks then probably Sumo would look more as a SUV than the Safari from this angle.

Side: The integrated steps of Sumo are bigger( wider) or at least they seem to be so. Both wear same tubeless radials Bridgestone HT 235/70 (16 inchers) but the alloys of Safari stands out dinstinctly ahead. from the sides - both look elegant, huge and great. Sumo is much more appealing compared to earlier avatar.

Rear View: This is where Safari wins hands down and nothing to comment on Sumo's looks.

Interior and some features: Safari EX 4*4 is on my buy list sometime soon. This visit has upset me over lack of choices and this is where Sumo has confused me rather upset me.

The pull out type door handles on Sumo feel much better compared to clumsy and hard to grip slippery handles of Safari. I love the ones on Sumo.

Basic features like driver's seat height adjustment, electrically adjustable ORVMs and electrically operated windows are same as in Safari. And the new gear knob is much better than that of Safari.

The best part was the clean looks above. There are two rows of ac vents for both rows of rear seats ( total 4) and they are reasonably effective too and give much better feel(spaciousness) in the cabin. The access to third row is of course only thru the second row and that may be cumbersome sometimes while in Safari you can access third row through the tail gate as well. The roof mounted AC in Safari though looks more promosing and effective, but has started looking like an aftermarket fitment in comparison with the Sumo's interiors.

Getting in and out of Sumo was much more comfortable comapred to that in the Safari.

Though Safari VX had leather seats and upholstery and it felt much more better compared to biege upholstery of the Sumo GX but then leather seats are not available in Safari EX.

In nutshell, Safari EX has little to offer now compared to Sumo except 140 bhp as compared to 120 bhp of Sumo and in case, you want a 4*4, want to take it off road and of course looks apart from the alloys. Safari VX of course is still beyond reach and comparison with the Sumo because of things like Airbags, ABS, Leather seats, Reverse camera, DVD player and screens but then there is a whopping premium to be paid over the price of Sumo Grande.

I wish and pray that they change the door handles and gear knob of Safari( put that of Sumo Grande at least) and add ABS as option in EX variant , please!

[bIte tHe bulLet]

hey shatrughna,

dude... thats a really well written comparison. you are lucky to actually have got that close to both the cars sitting besides each other since i'm not sure what the availability of sumo display vehicles in showrooms is.

by any chance, did you notice whether the ovrms in the safari had integrated turn indicator etc? trying to figure out how tata is going to manage to keep the grande from eating up sales of the lx and in some cases the ex version of the safari as well.

i have now finally started shopping for loans and the like to plonk for a safari though.

cheers

[shatrughna]

Originally Posted by bIte tHe bulLet

hey shatrughna,
-----by any chance, did you notice whether the ovrms in the safari had integrated turn indicator etc? trying to figure out how tata is going to manage to keep the grande from eating up sales of the lx and in some cases the ex version of the safari as well.

i-----cheers

Thanks for your comments . Sorry, no integrated turn indicators in ORVMs of Safari or Grande either.
On loan front if you get any good offers, please, do let me know as I am also considering to pick up a Safari irrespective of its ageing handles, roof mounted ac and other stuffs. I find 4*4 EX making better sense than EX 4*2.

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

Thanks for your comments . Sorry, no integrated turn indicators in ORVMs of Safari or Grande either.
On loan front if you get any good offers, please, do let me know as I am also considering to pick up a Safari irrespective of its ageing handles, roof mounted ac and other stuffs. I find 4*4 EX making better sense than EX 4*2.

well, i spoke with sbi in the morning and they seem to be the best bet so far... the offer i got off them was 11% for a 3 year term, 11.5% for a 5 year term but there was a pre payment penalty of 2% with no part payment option.

the other deal was you get a loan with a no liability part payment but that is 12.75% for 3 years and 13% for 5 years...

works out to about 15.5k for a 5 year term on 7 lakhs.

p.s. note to mods - please move to appropriate thread as i'm sure this is and i sense a rap on the knuckles!!!

[LLL]

Nice review Shatrughna.

Another thing you missed out in favor of Grande is that you can actually use the 3rd row. In Safari, its just jump seats and only 1 individual/seat can sit there. Its jumpy and not at all comfortable for any drive longer than a couple of hours.

In grande, you can now have 2-3 individuals sitting there.

[extreme_torque]

Sumo Grand still rides on leaf springs at the back so the comfort at the back rows is still compromised. Besides to me its not even half as good looking as Safari is.

[gowda79]

Hey guys i think u should stop this thread, please do not compare the Grande with Safari they are 2 different vehicle

If you want to compare then i think Grande and Scorpio and the fight is already going between them on the other thread Sumo Grande will it kill Scopio ???? and also in the market

Please join there

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by gowda79

Hey guys i think u should stop this thread, please do not compare the Grande with Safari they are 2 different vehicle

If you want to compare then i think Grande and Scorpio and the fight is already going between them on the other thread Sumo Grande will it kill Scopio ???? and also in the market

Please join there

Gowda

This is an open forum and anyone that wishes to compare two vehicles is free to do so regardless of how strongly you might feel about any one of them.

Based on Shatru's requirements this is very much a valid comparison and I really dont see what is there to get so worked up about it. He does not have to be constrained by your prejudices.

This is a very interesting comparison and I'm sure many are eager to know the results of the same.

I cannot speak on behalf of the mods, but I'm sure they will concur.

[jkdas]

Engine noise @ startup/stop is better with Safari.

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Gowda

This is an open forum and anyone that wishes to compare two vehicles is free to do so regardless of how strongly you might feel about any one of them.

Based on Shatru's requirements this is very much a valid comparison and I really dont see what is there to get so worked up about it. He does not have to be constrained by your prejudices.

This is a very interesting comparison and I'm sure many are eager to know the results of the same.

I cannot speak on behalf of the mods, but I'm sure they will concur.

hear hear

the fact that tata has two vehicles supposedly catering to different classes, but within kissing distance of each other in price and specs means that the market for such combinations exist.

its all very fine to compare two different products from different manufacturers, but situations like this are interesting to say the least!!

as a prospective safari buyer who was thoroughly thrown by the sumo grande, i can vouch for the fact that reviews like this are valuable, informative and much sought after.

i understand passion for ones car (specially one that is a month old!!) but we all need to be unbiased and fair for the benefit of a lot of confused people out there (me included).

'nuff said...

[LLL]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Sumo Grand still rides on leaf springs at the back so the comfort at the back rows is still compromised. Besides to me its not even half as good looking as Safari is.

I havent heard/seen/read anyone talking about seriosuly using safari's third row. Grande's MAY be used. Yes, ride quality may not be good, but it MAY be better than Safari's jump seat

On looks, they are subjective. Some swear by NHC, some hate it. Some swear by Innova, some hate it. Some like Safari, others find it too outdated.

Originally Posted by gowda79

Hey guys i think u should stop this thread, please do not compare the Grande with Safari they are 2 different vehicle

You have got your response from steeriod so i wont add to it, but i hope you have got the message.

Originally Posted by jkdas

Engine noise @ startup/stop is better with Safari.

better...as in less noise? Or nice to hear?

[bIte tHe bulLet]

Originally Posted by LLL

better...as in less noise? Or nice to hear?

i think he means that there is less of a racket when you start up the safari compared to the grande...

i also read somewhere that the grande seems to stop with a distinct judder/shudder - i can't seem to find any logical explanation for it only being on the sumo and not on the safari - seeing that they both share the same engine.

cheers

[m3_07]

boyz...i can feel the pinch while someone compares a safari to a grande.

As the gents mention...it is an open forum after all. We all have our voices...don't we???

PLLLLLLLLLLLLsssssssssssssss do not compare.....hehehehehe, I was joking, have all the fun in the world. No pun intended.

[shatrughna]

Thanks to the mods for moving the post here. I also wanted to add that the driver's seat in Grande also has lumbar support (3 positions) and height adjustable seatbelts - same as in Safari. Though I checked it in GX version in Sumo, but I hope, it is there in all the versions.

@LLL - I agree that the jump seats are not so usable in Safari and the same is usable in Grande but then there is no space for luggage left in Sumo except that probably we can slip laptop sized bags under the thrird row seats. So situation is not too different and both cars are comfortable for 5 adults and similar combinations.

@ gowda79- Dear Friend, like many others here, I am also bitten by Safari bug and since, 1998 have been dreaming of owning one but when I could afford it, I felt that I should wait more. Now the time has come that I am seriously considering to pick up one and then this Grande happened. It was really too tempting to see these parked side by side as mentioned above and hence, this post.

Both share the same engine (albeit in different state of tunes), made in the same factory, share a lot of common things and yet address different customer segments. I perhaps happen to be from the no man's land ( in these two segments) and hence, was thinking loudly at this forum to get opinions.
Thanks for your views. Pics and driving impressions will be posted soon.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

@ gowda79- Dear Friend, like many others here, I am also bitten by Safari bug and since, 1998 have been dreaming of owning one but when I could afford it, I felt that I should wait more. Now the time has come that I am seriously considering to pick up one and then this Grande happened. It was really too tempting to see these parked side by side as mentioned above and hence, this post.

Both share the same engine (albeit in different state of tunes), made in the same factory, share a lot of common things and yet address different customer segments. I perhaps happen to be from the no man's land ( in these two segments) and hence, was thinking loudly at this forum to get opinions.
Thanks for your views. Pics and driving impressions will be posted soon.

Very nicely put. And we are happy that you brought in this different perspective. Comparing two vehicles is not about bashing one and eulogising the other. It is about dissecting the pros and cons and bring out a dispassionate, true comparision. A person's need may be entirely different from another although both spend almost similar sums in buying two different cars.

You said you are going to put up a driving impression of both the vehicles soon. Please do update this thread. We would like to remove that bracketted part of the thread header at the earliest.