[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Bolero is also widely used in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh.

During the ten days I spent in Himachal, I noticed that about 99% of UVs on the no-road-terrain from Rampur to Keylong via the Kunzum Pass are Sumos (and Spacios). There were hardly any Boleros there - even the army and police vehicles were Sumos.

I always wondered how they made it up the climb to Kunzum (coming from Keylong) with all that snow, slush and rocks with no 4wd. Respect to those drivers!

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

........ I always wondered how they made it up the climb to Kunzum (coming from Keylong) with all that snow, slush and rocks with no 4wd. Respect to those drivers!

Sure I respect them, but sir just for info : Sumo is very much available with 4wd in Bangalore.

Rgds.

(Edit : Oops! I thought you didn't know Sumo isn't avbl in 4wd., Just re-read the post & realised you're speaking of the ppl there using 2wd...)

[riteshritesh]

I have a question between the durability of a Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Sumo.

My requirement is of a 8-9 seater with PS. I don't require the AC, and since there is no option of a vehicle with PS w/o AC, both Mahindra and Tata have agreed to remove the AC switch for us. ( This is a staff ferrying vehicle in the dirty terrains of Nhava Sheva Port covering around 70 kms daily. Winger will not last the daily grind).

Now my question is, which is a durable vehicle between the Scorpio and Tata Sumo Gold in terms of a 3 lakh KMS ownership in 3 years.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

Now my question is, which is a durable vehicle between the Scorpio and Tata Sumo Gold in terms of a 3 lakh KMS ownership in 3 years.

Ritesh, when it comes to pure durability, I would pick the Bolero over both the Scorpio and the Sumo.
However, if you need to pick one of these, I would pick the Sumo since it is a better 7 seater compared to the Scorpio, is more comfortable and will cost you almost the same to maintain. Durability is at par for both.

[riteshritesh]

Unfortunately there is no Bolero with 8 or more seating and PS + AC. The longer Bolero which has 8 or 9 seating, doesnot come with PS, which is why Scorpio /XYLO is my only option in Mahindra ( for 8 seaters), which is again a costly affair at almost 10 lakhs + OTR price. Sumo EX comes with 7 or 9 seater options along with PS and AC and costs around 8 OTR.
Last option is Force Motors, which has 8-9 seater with PS customisation option, but my driver shrieked at the though of buying that.

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

I have a question between the durability of a Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Sumo.... Now my question is, which is a durable vehicle between the Scorpio and Tata Sumo Gold in terms of a 3 lakh KMS ownership in 3 years.

Simply by the math, that adds up to just ~75,000km ownership over 3 years @70kms/day. Anyway, Tata has done some improvements in the interior quality recently and improved the suspension quite a lot. Whereas the Bolero would be crude in terms of interiors, quite the reason why Sumo's are being used from call center cabs to even places at Ladakh etc. Service & support by Tata's has improved and upkeep costs are definitely quite low.

[lifebuoy]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

I recently saw an army Sumo, fully modded for army use, wide tyres. Looked Awesomely butch with that Army green design. Is it illegal for them to provide the same colour to regular buyers?

The SUMO has always been avl for the Army / defence forces in 4x4 versions. They are used primarily as ambulances and as a replacement for the mm540s (as seen in the film Lakshya).

They are also widely in use in 4x2 form in the Air Force for general transport. IMHO, TATA should have launched the Gold in 4x4 version like the Scorpio LX. The Sumo should be compared to the Scorpio as it has a CrDi engine now, similar boxy design (though vastly more comfortable and spacious than both the Scorpio or Bolero).

Originally Posted by ankur_gupta10

I appreciate the post overall, but i believe sumo can stand a much higher abuse level. In my recent road trip to leh, I could see so many Sumo, and i don't remember seeing even one bolero. Leh has some of the most unforgiving terrain. More reasons for Sumo being preferred would be -

1. Lesser turning Radius
2. Bigger fuel tank
3. More clutch life

+1 to that. Turning radius is a boon when driving on ghat sections. No wonder the Spacio and the Gold (now) are so popular in Darjelling, Sikkim , Arunchal, Meghalaya and most of the NE. Same goes with clutch life. Fuel tank, yes, benefits are obvious in the hills.

Originally Posted by JediKnight

I think reason is more to do with Sumo can carry more people and is more comfortable for passengers. Remember these vehicles are taxis.

Bolero is also widely used in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh.

I had chat with few cabbies in Himachal. They say SUMO is more comfortable/more space/good cruiser. Bolero is more robust and requires less maintenance/repair. Also Bolero is better at crawling up slopes due to low gearing and low end torque.

You said it. The Bolero is primarily used for lugging loads as the Armada / Jeep were its ancestors. It is still the same mini-truck in a docile clothing, albeit with better engines now. It never was designed for transporting humans, therefore comfort was never factored into the design. Yes, it was primarily designed as a WW I / II all terrain vehicle, where comfort has no role to play (same holds good in the Indian Army today too). The earlier engines were tractor engines (I strongly believe the m2Di is a CRDi version of the earlier mm540 class of tractor engines) that were low speed high torque required for tractors that had been put to use in the WW. This inherent design advantage has been effectively used by Jeep and Mahindra for all terrain vehicles, sans speed, handling and comfort.

[FourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by drsingh

heres a list of all variants available,including the 4wd!

SPACIO

spacio 6/9 BS3 -569073

SUMO

sumo 4x4 TC BS3 -840233

AMBULANCE

sumo ambulance BS3 -588696

Thanks drsingh.

I wonder why TATA Motors does not carry the prices (nor even mention the existence) of the above variants on it's websites.

I looked at www.tatasumo.com and at www.tatamotors.com/# and found no mention of these.

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

P.S. Further google searching reveals that a Sumo 4x4 (with the spare wheel on the tail gate !) is offered to some international markets www.tatacars.com/products/tata-sumo.aspx

[AUTO_CRAZY]

TATA SUMO is much better than Bolero , however the TAXI image is what is negative for Sumo......

Yes

TATA has to make the website simple and informative .

[koushik]

Originally Posted by FourWheelDrift

Thanks drsingh.

I wonder why TATA Motors does not carry the prices (nor even mention the existence) of the above variants on it's websites.

I looked at www.tatasumo.com and at www.tatamotors.com/# and found no mention of these.

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

P.S. Further google searching reveals that a Sumo 4x4 (with the spare wheel on the tail gate !) is offered to some international markets www.tatacars.com/products/tata-sumo.aspx

Tata Sumo 4X4 version is available only in BSIII version. Again the transfer case design is very old and can not compete with modern 4X4 vehicles .Also the Four Wheel Drive system requires frequent maintenance . It could only be a cheap and reliable option for military and jungle applications. On road behaviour is not of required standard.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by koushik

Again the transfer case design is very old and can not compete with modern 4X4 vehicles .Also the Four Wheel Drive system requires frequent maintenance.

Would help if you quoted the source of this information.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by koushik

Again the transfer case design is very old and can not compete with modern 4X4 vehicles .Also the Four Wheel Drive system requires frequent maintenance .

Transfer case is a Electric shift Borg Warner Transfer Case. The same Transfer case comes in the Safari 4x4, Scorpio 4x4, Telcoline 4x4, Xenon 4x4, Armada 4x4, Bolero GLX 4x4. The manual shift version of this Transfer case comes in the Mahindra Thar which has been used extensively off-road by forum members. It is a low friction chain driven Transfer Case which is league ahead of the T-18 transfer case offered by Mahindra.

The transfer case itself is not unreliable. The issue is the associated electronics. For example the Safari Transfer case depends on a clutch sensor to be activated before it engages low range. If you low range is not working and you take it to the dealer he doesn't know how to diagnose and will say Transfer case ECU is gone and will give you an estimate of 20K or so. My scorpio transfer case never gave me any grief for about 60K and 3years of ownership. The current owner that I am in touch with is also has no issues. People on this forum have not had any issues with their Safari Tansfer case, so I am not sure how we can classify the transfer case as unreliable.

[WindRide]

Why is sumo is so TALL? what's the point in having that much head room within? it gives it a van kind of feeling both inside and outside, hence private buyers stay away from it. If sumo gets reduced head room, it will look more appealing, IMO.

[Reinhard]

I really love the Sumo since childhood (mine & Sumo's ) & it still is an option in one corner of the mind simply for its low price while I'm fixed on the Storme as the target upgrade.

I can't imagine why Tata would choose to tune the 3L CR4 to a paltry 80ish bhp. A 1.4L sibling in the Indica/Indigo does 70PS / 140NM (which certainly are respectable figures in the MJD dominated segment). Why would they add another 1.5 liters of displacement to add only ~10 more horses? I know the displacement isn't the only variable towards power output. Still...

If the Gold made anything above 110bhp, one would be parked besides my Vista already!!

[drsingh]

Just a little something for the sumo thread

http://youtu.be/pljIAYBBzH8