Special Invitation TD:Sumo Grande

[ramie2400]

hi guys,those who have PM'd me ive counted you guys in,as this is first come first served bases before sending your details directly to the marketing guys from TATA i will call and confirm with you all and then let you guys know the date by next week and on for the TD

Cheers

Ramie

[ramie2400]

Ok guys i have received a call from he Tata's and they are asking me to confirm the date this week so that they can arrange for a TD Sumo.please PM me with your phone numbers and e-mail,this TD could happen by friday,i'll let you know the time and landmark..looking forward ... cheers...!!!

Ramie

[druva]

Great. Looking forward to your report! Can you also ask them if there is any such tests taking place in Chennai?

Can you test out the following aspects too
1. Autocar India says that 3rd row leg space is good but ride comfort is not good, due to leafspring suspension. If you can ask someone to sit on 3rd row for some duration and ask their comfortness, it would be great.

2. ACI says top speed was around 140 kph and cornering, high speed was not good.

3. Suggest them to add ABS/ Airbags atleast on the topend (and not price it too high)

4. ACI gives a big thumbs down for Plastics and Interior is cheap.


Ofcourse, post some good photos of the interirors!

[ramie2400]

Originally Posted by druva

Great. Looking forward to your report! Can you also ask them if there is any such tests taking place in Chennai?

Can you test out the following aspects too
1. Autocar India says that 3rd row leg space is good but ride comfort is not good, due to leafspring suspension. If you can ask someone to sit on 3rd row for some duration and ask their comfortness, it would be great.

2. ACI says top speed was around 140 kph and cornering, high speed was not good.

3. Suggest them to add ABS/ Airbags atleast on the topend (and not price it too high)

4. ACI gives a big thumbs down for Plastics and Interior is cheap.


Ofcourse, post some good photos of the interirors!

@Druva:Thanks for the suggestions,me with some other bhpians will make sure to concentrate on the points you have mentioned,i will ask the Tata team guys if they can arrange the TD for you and friends like they are doing here

cheers..!!!

[druva]

@ramie, were you able to TD?

[shatrughna]

At least this didnt happened this weekend. Ramie has informed that few of the TBHP friends couldnt make it on Friday so he was exploring with Tata guys for test vehicle on Saturday/ Sunday. Thats is what I heard last from him and I am sure he is also busy figuring out what will be a better option.

[ramie2400]

hey guys,really really sorry to inform,i have got a feed back from the TATA's as positive response.I am currently on a deadline for a project,its on completion stage,the client is after my life...as usual...just give me a little bit time to get rid of this project ASAP i'll inform you..cheers..

Ramie

[sudhirlp]

Originally Posted by ramie2400

@Druva:Thanks for the suggestions,me with some other bhpians will make sure to concentrate on the points you have mentioned,i will ask the Tata team guys if they can arrange the TD for you and friends like they are doing here

cheers..!!!

That'll be great !

Also, when you guys do get to the TD, you may want to check with them about the ABS/EBD. Autocar India was mentioning in its review that the ABS/EBD flavor variant wasn't far out in being launched - don't know if it was logical speculation or an informed note.

Confirmation would certainly help, although it makes sense for TATA not to announce it before it happens, 'cos sales of existing GX could fall.

[ramie2400]

Hey Guys good news,Got the Sumo Grande..Its with us for 2days,the TATA guys gave us the car to keep till monday morning.soo any ofyou guys intrested PM me,we can fix up a time and place where we all can meet but before sunday and have the TD cheers...!!!
Didnt knew TATA guys were so cool giving the car to us..hehehehehe.. so lets just ripp it off

[SRShrikanth]

Hey Guyz,


Later tonight....or late afternoon tomm ...or maybe both times.

Who's in..??

Apart form me & Ramie ofcourse....

[druva]

kool! so test the leafspring and fill us in... you guys got which version?

[ramie2400]

Ok guys..As promised by the Tata's we had got the car. n friday,so that night i had gone to my friends place to see it in person.

First look:We had got a Metallic Green(dunno the exact colour name) Sumo Grande GX model,suppose to be a top-end model,it was fully loaded with Power windows,power steering,power clutch and power brakes,it even had electric adjustable mirror(not the open close mirrors like the civic has).Well the car is quite Huge,the version we had got was a 8-seater.It had Ac vents on the roof at the center and even behind for the passengers at the back.What i noticed was it was filled with small-small details like cup-holder,lighter,door trims,light indicator warning on door,Engine Immobilizer,Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel ,all four power windows and beige interiors and wooden textured Dash panel,Had a 6-speaker system and Alpine HU and etc.etc,but the qualityof the plastic,fit and finish was making me off.

Test Drive: I started the car,revved it up and found the engine to be quite torquey,then we took the car to TD,on band-stand/carter road (bandra) and saw a open stretch and zooop..!!it goes darn fast,i could feel a turbo kick at around 2.6-3k rpm,in second gear i tried to touch it to 70km,went comfortably,I couldnt feel sluggishness like i had in my earlier sumo DX,I was thinking to my-self whay even they did add the name Sumo,because people firstly think might be like the earlier sumo..hehehehehe... but this is very much different from the earlier one's,except for the same Tataish interiors and the same kind of engine noise.Driving was very much comfortable,as you even had steering tilt option and thanks god this time they have given seat height adjustment,all as well i can say the driving was pretty smooth and easily comfortable,but on turns at speeds you feel the car is dragging on i check the tryes they were 235/70/R16(Tubeless).... but the tyres wern't that grippy.(didn't noticed which company they were) while the ride the gears were pretty stiff,2-3times after shifting from 3rd gear i shifted to 2nd gear,may be i ride a small getz.... heheheehehe....we drove the car chance by chance for about 20 odd kms,it was a great feel for an Indian company developing a good comfy car,the rear seats were good and could adjust the back-rest,it even had a hand-rest on both the front seats as well as a comon hand-rest for the rear seats.A/C was quite affective even at the rear seats,though i could not reach the top-end,but the maximum sped i hit was 110km.

Under Hood:When we opened the hood we saw a big cover 2.2L Dicor written on it,i was like WT.....does it have a safari engine?????The engine bay was quite neat and tidy,i could see a small garatte turbo(though a friend have taken all the pics,as i get i will post it)rest engine details i will let you guys know.

Overall:Overll the design is nice especially the rear part looks very trendy,and some brilliant colours are coming out as the marketing guys had told me,feels as if your driving a monster on road,after driving two tata cars earlier the tata Estate and the tata sumo DX they have higly improved the quality as well as handling of their cars,this is over-all my experience and what i felt after the TD i am sure you guys can explore more on points which i might have left it .. we have clicked alot of pics but unfortunately i dont have the SDcard with me....ok here are some pics from my cell...cheers.

Ramie

[druva]

Thanks for the report.
were you able to test the ride quality?
I am going for a TD. I dont think I will be able to do > 70s.. I am worried about the ride quality @ Highways.
Other than that Grande GX and Safari EX - i dont see great differences.

[katalysm76]

Hey guys, Like ramie m also fortunate enough to TD Grande. I found it VFM and practical MUV. It has a fresh look n cool styling. Handeling and maneuvering is good, a bit slugish at times but definately a very good option in its class.

[ramie2400]

Originally Posted by druva

Thanks for the report.
were you able to test the ride quality?
I am going for a TD. I dont think I will be able to do > 70s.. I am worried about the ride quality @ Highways.
Other than that Grande GX and Safari EX - i dont see great differences.

hey druva,yess ofcourse i was able to test ride the quality,I compared this versio of Sumo Grande to the one i had been driving 3yrs back the Sumo DX,i would definately say that this has much much better handling and quick engine response than the previous generation Sumo.

This was for the first time TD where i had the oppourtunity to have the car without any-one interfering or sitting by my side and giving lectures about the car rather than driving with my own freedom and give comments over it.As you mentioned i did a run on our western express so called highway,but was pretty occupied and slow moving traffic so could not do much speeds,but had pulled the car till 90-100km when i got a chance,for this big vehicle it was quite easy to reach this speeds in no time,when you go for the TD try to take a long ride and feel for yourself,though you cannot compare it to safari in comfort,but still its much much better than the earlier one.I am sure you will have a smile after driving it.the only drawback I found were the interior quality,rest the body is as usual Tata's tough build-up..cheers matey..happy driving

Ramie