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-   -   Safari = SUV. Sumo = MUV. WHY? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/115494-safari-suv-sumo-muv-why.html)

Both Tata Safari and Sumo have body over frame design , both are available in 2WD and 4WD version , both shares the same gear box and transfer case, both have almost same sitting arrangement, even both are available also with powerful 3 litre diesel engine.The only significant difference is in wheelbase. And sometimes shorter wheel base offers better off-road driving ability. Then why the Safari is identified as SUV and Sumo as MUV ? Thanks.
Regards,
Kaushik

1. The 3.0 ltr engine has been discontinued.

2. SUVs are "Sporty" versions of MUVs, the world over with more safety and creature comforts like ABS, airbags, Hill Descent Control, etc and better interiors.

Hence the Safari is an SUV while the Sumo is an MUV.

I might be wrong, but I believe one should not attach too much weight to these abbreviations. They seem to be used to loosely categorize vehicles without strict lines of division.

What's this MUV business anyway? Any vehicle can be put to multiple uses!

Whatever! I remember seeing a hot looking green 4x4 Sumo picture somewhere. Now that is an SUV

Placement of product in the portfolio. Features & pricing. After sales service.

IMHO, SUV and MUV are defined by their GVW and size(lxbxh). Also, my guess is MUV-Multi-Utility vehicle or Multi-purpose vehicle(MPV) was coined to name the vans like omni (pun intended!), Innova, qualis and Xylo, Merc Viano and VW bus and SUVs to be the one with 4x4 and mostly designed for offroad activities. But evolution has changed the face of MUVs and they have come closer to being SUVs.

Though they share many of the aggregrates, the engines are tuned differently.
Safari is tuned to perform at higher cruising speeds. The gear ratios are different. Even the 4X4 ratios are different.
Safari is more tuned for luxury and higher 4X4 oriented performance and hence the higher price tag where as Sumo is more looked as a passenger carrier designed for Taxi / Utility segment. Hence the lower pricing.
Also, the suspension set up, which is a crucial parameter is tuned differently as per their different applications.
Though both can be interchanged for their applications, the results would not be as much desirable as per the application point of view.

The short Wheel Base, Higher G.C. Shorter Over hangs, wider tyres specs, Higher low end torque, Linear high end torque, etc are virtues of a off roader or even high speed cruising like Safari.
Where as, a wider body, comparatively lower G.C, Longer Wheel Base, longer overhangs, Softer Suspension, not so high speed cruising speeds, etc are the parameters required for a People carrier like Sumo.

Having said that, I would like to mention about a Defence Spec Sumo, which is capable for ferrying personnel as well as perform like a true off roader like safari. The end result is, its higher pricing and restriction to such specific defence applications.

Hope I reached some where near to clear your confusion.

Precisely! Look beyond these tags. They're a little nebulous, and primary conjured by marketing. Sure, they might never do a 4x4 Grande, but thats more positioning than based on a strict "category" definition - the Sumo had a 4x4, after all!

This is the Sumo I was referring to:)
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...ml#post2606436

Now that is one good looking S(umo)UV

Very true, this kind of Sumo, with fully loaded SUV specs is still being produced by the company. You can find many of them either parked in the Govt yards or in transit some times.
However, they are made only for the Defence market. Unfortunately, cannot be sold and registerd for Civilan market.
But, we have 4X4 Sumos getting shipped to Nepal and N.E Indian civilan market, with toned down specs.

Thanks Maveric for the explanation.You are absolutely right in theory.But if you compare the SUV safari (2.2L)with MUV Sumo Gold(CR4) certain features that you have mentioned like...short wheel base , shorter overhang , stiff leaf spring suspension,higher low end torque etc.etc. which are with Sumo Gold are better than in Safari and still Gold can not be SUV !!! Many SUVs are with 2WD version in India and in that case the difference could be narrow.

A Safari can be defined, and so can a Sumo. But you can't define an SUV, nor an MUV. I suspect the origins of these two abbreviations go back to a time when there were few models around, and a significant difference existed between those models in terms of designed purpose and capability.

Today, a big and heavy personal vehicle is called an MUV if you don't think it's very cool, and a big and heavy personal vehicle is called an SUV if you think it's cool!

Agreed. As mentioned earlier, though the aggregates are similar, they are tuned more for performance in Safari than Sumo.
For eg,
1. The torque is 250Nm @ 1660 -2000rpm in Sumo while its 320NM @ 1700 - 2700 rpm. This shows Safari is more comfortable in higher cruising speeds too, unlike Sumo.
2. The GC is 190 for Sumo where its 205mm in Safari. Again a higher advantage of Safari for Off Roading.
3. Though the Gear Box is similar G-76 - 5/4.1 with overdrive in both, the safari has Synchros in addition.
4. The length of Sumo, 4258mm, is shorter than Safari @ 4650mm. This translates in to lesser leg room and more passenger carrying capacity of Sumo than Safari. Sumo has a 9 Seater config too.

You can get all these details on the individual websites.

The list goes on and on. Hence, the products are designed more based on the market segements and target customers and hence the pricing/ features/ comforts/ performance/ styling/ seating capacity, etc, keeps varying.

I think that's just branding.

A vehicle caters to comfort, luxury, features and styling and that becomes a SUV.

Another caters to practicality over comfort, less luxury, features and styling and that becomes a MUV.

Different products to cater to different segments. They might be mostly the same technically (but differently tuned) but it's how they are built that could define them as MUV or SUV : again, for branding purposes.

Its not just tuning. The entire body shell and even the chassis are different. To achieve a specific performance requirement, one can just not get the desired results by only tuning. The body dynamics play a very major role.