[karan561]

Hi Pardus,

Overall it seems your buy decision about the Xenon was spot on especially seeing the pictures & the purpose of the buy.

Good move there by switching on to Michelin A/T's

Yes overall a great review of the truck & a great life you're having in the wildlife.

[Pardus]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

Interesting thread Pardus! It looks like the Xenon has proved the ideal vehicle for your purpose. Congrats on the purchase, and all the very best with the "Bison"! Loved the pics of the Xenon in the wild! Keep them coming please!

Nice positioning of the tent. Seems to be a practical solution. At what points would it be pegged? Does the tailgate have a load rating? You might need to be careful about that.

Cheers,
Rahul

Hi Rahul,
How do you know I call it "Bison" too ? I have nick named the Tata Xenon XT as "Bos Gaurus metallica". For those who are not aware "Bos Gaurus" is the Latin name of Gaur (Indian Bison).

The tents can't be pegged on the load bed, however we can tie the floor down and anchor the tent using its cords at various points. The bumpers on side and rear are good place to tie down.

I am not sure about the load rating for the tail gate, so far I have used it only for climbing up when it's open. Thanks for the warning.

[safari_lover]

Thanks for sharing the fantastic ownership review and pics, Pardus.

As others have already pointed, Xenon is one of the best looking vehicles on our roads today. I have seen a couple of them in Bangalore and their road presence is tremendous!

BTW, did this vehicle ever come to Cessna Business Park? I remember spotting a black Xenon there.

[tsk1979]

Excellent review!
Have some questions.
How is the bush durability. In 20,000kms do you feel that the tie rods/bushes are giving way? How is the steering holding on? Is the vagueness increasing? Do you feel the center pin giving up?

Last but not the least, is Tata carryboy cover lockable?(I think yours is not, right?)

[Pardus]

Originally Posted by safari_lover

Thanks for sharing the fantastic ownership review and pics, Pardus.

As others have already pointed, Xenon is one of the best looking vehicles on our roads today. I have seen a couple of them in Bangalore and their road presence is tremendous!

BTW, did this vehicle ever come to Cessna Business Park? I remember spotting a black Xenon there.

Hi Safari lover,

There are very few Xenon's in Bangalore and I guess half of them were owned by Uninor which were all black. These have now been sold to individual customers.

I haven't visited the Cessna Business Park, but had been to RMZ EcoSpace more than an year back. So might have been a different Xenon.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Excellent review!
Have some questions.
How is the bush durability. In 20,000kms do you feel that the tie rods/bushes are giving way? How is the steering holding on? Is the vagueness increasing? Do you feel the center pin giving up?

Last but not the least, is Tata carryboy cover lockable?(I think yours is not, right?)

Good questions, I wanted to cover the repairs part in next post. I had to change the front bushes (not tie rods) once (around 16000Km) as the suspensions started squeaking. I think I may need to do this again as I have started noticing this squeaking again both in front and with rear leaf springs. Some times the squeaking vanishes after a wash.

I have not noticed any vagueness with the steering so far ? Is that a common problem with other Xenon's or Safari's ?

What is a center pin ? Please pardon my ignorance I am not too familiar with automobile parts. All learning's so far has been through practical experience.

As far as I know the Tata Carryboy bed cover is a lockable. There is a separate lock on the bed cover which probably locks with the tail gate. My BakFlip is not lockable, however it is designed in such a way that I have to open the tail gate to lift it open. So I plan to fabricate and get an actuator fixed to make the tail gate lockable along with central locking system. Most JC Road vendors and Concorde say this is not possible, but I strongly believe this can be done.

Note from Team-bhp support: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the same thread!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Pardus

Good questions, I wanted to cover the repairs part in next post. I had to change the front bushes (not tie rods) once (around 16000Km) as the suspensions started squeaking. I think I may need to do this again as I have started noticing this squeaking again both in front and with rear leaf springs. Some times the squeaking vanishes after a wash.

If you do rough roading, bushes give way very soon. How much did it cost. I think upto 30,000kms its covered under warranty(though not all bushes are covered)

I have not noticed any vagueness with the steering so far ? Is that a common problem with other Xenon's or Safari's ?

Safari(before Storme) does not have rack and pinion. This system is a house of problems. Once your vehicle crosses 30-40K, esp for 4x4s used on rough roads, you will always have steering center pin issues. I think Xenon also has RCBT.
This also makes engine bay cluttered, and working on suspension really difficult.
How is camber adjustment, does the Xenon use Shim system, or is there a screw for camber adjustment?
Center pin is a part of the Steering system, located in the Steering Cross area in RCBT steering of Safari. Again, if you have Rack and Pinion, no worries, however if its the Safari system, expect alignment and tire eating issues to crop up once you cross 40K. You have to frequently get it greased.

As far as I know the Tata Carryboy bed cover is a lockable. There is a separate lock on the bed cover which probably locks with the tail gate. My BakFlip is not lockable, however it is designed in such a way that I have to open the tail gate to lift it open. So I plan to fabricate and get an actuator fixed to make the tail gate lockable along with central locking system. Most JC Road vendors and Concorde say this is not possible, but I strongly believe this can be done.

So practically, its lockable, since you cannot lift it without opening tail gate.
I hope they make a Xenon on the new Storme chasis. With 1700kg kerb weight, it will be the perfect jungle runner.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Pardus - thanks for the Xenon review and your comments. This provides good insight into your needs and use. For any query that you may have, please feel free to ask, I'll reply.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[addyhemmige]

Nice review Pardus!!! Looking forward for some more pictures of the Xenon in the wild.

One question: Doesn't the long wheelbase on the Xenon affect the offroad ability especially inside heavily wooded areas where you might have to make tight turns?

[jeepster]

First congrats & Thanks for the review !

Second sorry for hijacking the thread.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

In 20,000kms do you feel that the tie rods/bushes are giving way? How is the steering holding on? Is the vagueness increasing? Do you feel the center pin giving up?

TSK i too felt steering gets little vague around 20K km. (currently on 25K+ km)

Haven't rectified the problem yet so no more info on this.

Originally Posted by Pardus

Fuel Efficiency: I get about 8-9Km in city driving and about 12-13km in highway driving. (Highway driving at average speeds of 110Km)

Gear Shift & Transmission: Sometimes I feel there is less power in 3rd gear.

Suspension & Ride Quality: Since Xenon has leaf springs at rear it feels bit bumpy if you drive on speed breakers at certain speed, especially when there is no load at the back (load bed).

IMO the FE figures are Quite good as my 4x2 XT also gives 13kmpl on highway.


Actually problem is in Diff Gear ratio & 2.2 VTT's torque at certain rpm band. (this is IMO only)
I feel that xenon is geared to be driven on the highways than City traffic.
i always have to keep RPM in 1900+ range in all gears.
whats your take on this ?

Swap the rear leaf-springs with CFL springs to reduce the bumpy ride. (its in my to do list)

rgds.
Nikhil

[ashis89]

Hi Pardus, congrats on your ride. IMO Xenon looks best in black. Its feelsa good to know that your ride has helped you enjoy your passion and you are happy with it. The Xenon with that tent in its bay makes itself a very practical adventure vehicle.

BTW, do you have your office in Whitefield area? I have seen a black Xenon with a similar bed cover a couple of times at Graphite India signal and as you mentioned, Xenons are rare even in B'lore. Could that be you possibly?

[Prowler]

Wonderful review. Wow - your list of accessories leaves me salivating. What is this Thule bar and how can you mount Hella lamps on them ?

How do you manage turning the Bison on narrow mountain roads ? You say you do with multiple turns. I have spent sleepless nights at times when I had to negotiate narrow roads atop hills. In fact my Safari's length is shorter than Xenon by 2 feet. Still I have a lump in my mouth when driving in mall ramps - leave alone hills.

Keep writing Pardus.

[Enigmatic]

Amazing review Pardus.

The Xenon is a great looking vehicle, more so in black. It's also good to know that you are using the car for what it is meant . Keep it up .

[MileCruncher]

Congrats on an excellent review of the Xenon. I always wanted to buy it but TML's responsiveness to answer any customer query regarding the Xenon put me off and that's when I got the Getaway.

I'm quite surprised that SBI rejected your loan as our Getaway is financed by SBI and that too on my wife's name.

I'm waiting for your post on the tonneau cover as I also need to fix something that is as good as your bakflip.

Originally Posted by Pardus

Lifestyle vehicles are still in a very infancy stage in India. People still look at Pickup trucks as vehicles for commercial and purely load carrying purpose. Not many would like to associate their primary/seconday car with a pickup as the vehicle status is still a big thing in our country. Also to add to this culture we never had any good looking pickups,

+N to the above.

I get to hear everyday why I drive a pickup and nobody wants to understand need based mobility solutions.

Cheers

[Ketan]

A well written review of Xennon, there were very few with some information on t-bhp.
It was good read to go thru your experience buddy! You have covered a lots of details, rated it 5; most of the pictures looked familiar though I keep looking for this beast in basement-2 parking and show it to others as well.
Wish you many more miles with your Bison and drive safe!

[John]

Originally Posted by Pardus

Lifestyle vehicles are still in a very infancy stage in India. People still look at Pickup trucks as vehicles for commercial and purely load carrying purpose. Not many would like to associate their primary/seconday car with a pickup as the vehicle status is still a big thing in our country. Also to add to this culture we never had any good looking pickups, all we had were Tata TL, 207Di, Mahindra MaXX, Camper, Pickup, etc. I would say Xenon is the first serious lifestyle vehicle even with its basic limited features. TML also has not done anything to market this vehicle in India and has priced it very high.

In the last one year I have seen few Tata TL's being pepped up in Bangalore which clearly shows that people are opening up for a Truck culture. I am confident that we will see better pickups in next few years. I bet if any non India manufacturer launches a pickup it will be an instant success compared to Xenon/Getaway/Genio.

I'm sure a Duster based pickup will become a hit if launched in India. I for one would love to own this. There are rumours about this happening. (http://www.carshore.com/duster-pick-...t-in-2014/2577). Let's wait and hope.