[raj_5004]

a small review on how the safari 2.2 feels on its brief drive from mumbai to pune and within city limits of pune. though this is meant to be a comparo, i am stating this as a review as i am driving only the safari 2.2 here. i have already driven my hawk over the same roads before so comparisons can be done.

i start at morning 6 am. took the keys and proceed towards the safari 2.2 (sorry, i wont call it the beast or the king, the manufacturer has given it a good name!) first impression, its huge! a brief about this safari, ITS STOCK! stock alloys, stock ICE, the only thing he has done aftermarket is black tints on the windows! anyways, i spend some time having a good look at this SUV. as i said, looks XXL but has got neat lines. somehow, this shape was introduced in 1998 and its age is showing. also i dint like the front bumper which looks like an overgrown indica's bumper. the side profile of the SUV is quite good with none of the boxiness like in the scorpio and the spare wheel cover looks smart. also, i think the tail lights are too small for the SUV, maybe i am used to scorpio's gigantic tail lights!
anyways, i unlock the car and open the door but damn! its so heavy! i climb inside and settle down onto the seats. the seats are superb, with lots of legroom, headroom and shoulder room. but how comfortable is it? too soon to commment on that... ohh, i have to shut that heavy door. i really had to stretch my hands to grab the door handle and give it a mighty pull to shut the door. poor ergonomics. let me look around the interiors... just 1 word, HUGE! the rear seats LOOK spacious and comfortable. i dint like the rear a/c vents, looks like an aftermarket unit! TATA could have provided integrated vents like in the innova. its ok, hope it works well atleast! overall the quality of pastics are very bad and the butoons have a cheap feel to it! nothing better than the scorpio here, except space!

i insert the key (again found the key hole to be badly placed) and fire the engine. nothing more than a silent purr at idle. impressive. shift the gear to 1st and i realise, the gearshift is no better than the scorpio's. its too vague and imprecise. meanwhile my dad and mom comes and they occupy the rear seat. i ask them "hows it?" and they reply "more spacious than scorpio".
so finally, we are out on the road. and the moment i pressed the throttle, i realzed it has 140 bhp but it unresponsive at low revs compared to the hawk or even the CRDe. (i had noticed this in the TD itself and this was the prime reason for me to reject this SUV). i had expected the engine to free up and give better response but nothing of that sort has happened. infact, i can hear some vibrations from various panels and some strange clicking noise when the car is moving. i steer towards the expressway and our car is moving at 70-80 kmph. no issues with the refinement of the engine. my mom says "this car jumps less than the scorpio!" that means ride quality is good and yeah! its even better that the innova, i must admit. who cares about handling at speeds of 70-80? then i realised i was feeling cold! the a/c chills effectively. thats when i realised another ergonomic defect. i have to literally bend to adjust the a/c blower speed as the switches are placed too far from the driver seat. or maybe since i am tall, my seat is fully slid back. but the same goes for the stereo. also, when the gearlever is in 1st or 3rd, it obstructs the stereo. about the speakers, they are about average. but its more than enough as a standard fitting. but i miss my scorpio's pen drive compatible unit. also its volume controls on the steering. i hate to bend each and every time i have to adjust the volume. BTW, many mentioned that the analogue clock on the central console is classy! i dint find it classy as i found it inconvenient to look at it while driving, i prefer scorpio's digital clock on the insrtrument console. till now, the safari has not thrilled me, but it has not disappointed me either! we enter the expressway. speeds increase. 100.. 110.. 120.. now at this speed, there is a lot of wind noise from the safari's A pillar and from the doors. even the scorpio has this problem. the tyre noise is quite ok though. but the biggest grouse i have is the lack of top end grunt. above 120, it took ages to reach a speedo indicted 145 kmph and also at this point the sound of the engine and wind was a bit too intrusive. i have to add here that the safari is best at speeds of 40-90 kmph, thats what i feel. above 110 kmph, the engine sounds coarse. this is not the case with the scorpio. its only above 140 that its grunt dies down a bit. expected more of a 140 bhp engine since a 120 bhp engine delivered more. at that point my dad shouted "slow down" and we were cruising at 90-110 kmph. how i missed my scorpio's cruise control... many ask me that where in india is cruise control useful? this is the road buddies!
it rains. again i miss the scorpio's auto wipers. the safari's blades are quite huge and does a good job, must say. also i miss the auto headlights in the expressway's numerous tunnels. the scorpio has spoiled me a lot i think! if there is any road in india where you can put all the scorpio's electronics to good use, its the mumbai-pune express highway!
i had carried some DVDs for my parents but both the screens dint work! called up my bro and he said he dint realize when it stopped working, he never uses them.

finally, i reach my destination and i realized what my bro meant when he said its a pain to drive in the city. i had to park it in a gate and for that it had to take a sharp turn towards the gate. but no matter how hard i tried or how much forward-reverse stunts i did,this mammoth refused to turn inside. finally, i gave up and parked it on the road!

opinion of my parents: a very comfortable car, preferable over long trips.
my opinion: good but still to capture my heart. lets see, one more drive may change my opinion!

cheers!

[raj_5004]

lastly, no offence is meant to anybody on this forum. this is just my personal opinion and as i said may change over a longer stint with the safari because till then i may realize a few more positives of this SUV which can help me overlook such negatives or vice-versa!

[jaysmokesleaves]

My reply in bold.. and can someone please explain wats this 20 character popup...

Originally Posted by raj_5004

anyways, i unlock the car and open the door but damn! its so heavy! i climb inside and settle down onto the seats. (You just entered a battle tank - its bound to be heavy)the seats are superb, with lots of legroom, headroom and shoulder room. but how comfortable is it? too soon to commment on that... (you sound embarressed to pronounce judgement - its the best in the business hands down compared to a top end car too)ohh, i have to shut that heavy door. i really had to stretch my hands to grab the door handle and give it a mighty pull to shut the door. poor ergonomics.(..and your battle is against the battletank itself) let me look around the interiors... just 1 word, HUGE! the rear seats LOOK spacious and comfortable. i dint like the rear a/c vents, looks like an aftermarket unit!(I have one word for how those rear vents look -TRASH , they work very well though) TATA could have provided integrated vents like in the innova. its ok, hope it works well atleast! overall the quality of pastics are very bad and the butoons have a cheap feel to it! nothing better than the scorpio here, except space!

i insert the key (again found the key hole to be badly placed)(I still cant always find the keyhole in the first try- its been months) and fire the engine. nothing more than a silent purr at idle. impressive. shift the gear to 1st and i realise, the gearshift is no better than the scorpio's. its too vague and imprecise. meanwhile my dad and mom comes and they occupy the rear seat. i ask them "hows it?" and they reply "more spacious than scorpio".
so finally, we are out on the road. and the moment i pressed the throttle, i realzed it has 140 bhp but it unresponsive at low revs compared to the hawk or even the CRDe. (i had noticed this in the TD itself and this was the prime reason for me to reject this SUV). i had expected the engine to free up and give better response but nothing of that sort has happened. infact, i can hear some vibrations from various panels and some strange clicking noise when the car is moving. i steer towards the expressway and our car is moving at 70-80 kmph. no issues with the refinement of the engine. my mom says "this car jumps less than the scorpio!" that means ride quality is good and yeah! its even better that the innova, i must admit. who cares about handling at speeds of 70-80? then i realised i was feeling cold! the a/c chills effectively. thats when i realised another ergonomic defect. i have to literally bend to adjust the a/c blower speed as the switches are placed too far from the driver seat. or maybe since i am tall, my seat is fully slid back. but the same goes for the stereo.(dude- at 6'2" if you have to 'literally bend' then i gues there is something certainly wrong with your backrest adjustment coz im 6' but have no such problems with the seat fully back but the backrest isnt too upright either) also, when the gearlever is in 1st or 3rd, it obstructs the stereo. about the speakers, they are about average. but its more than enough as a standard fitting. but i miss my scorpio's pen drive compatible unit. also its volume controls on the steering. i hate to bend each and every time i have to adjust the volume.( i use the remote) BTW, many mentioned that the analogue clock on the central console is classy! i dint find it classy as i found it inconvenient to look at it while driving,(thats trash too not very easy to read in a hurry while driving) i prefer scorpio's digital clock on the insrtrument console(safari has digital too in the console- dint you FIND IT). till now, the safari has not thrilled me, but it has not disappointed me either! we enter the expressway. speeds increase. 100.. 110.. 120.. now at this speed, there is a lot of wind noise from the safari's A pillar and from the doors. even the scorpio has this problem.(Ohh i thought the wind noise was exclusive to the safari) the tyre noise is quite ok though. but the biggest grouse i have is the lack of top end grunt. above 120, it took ages to reach a speedo indicted 145 kmph and also at this point the sound of the engine and wind was a bit too intrusive.(something wrong with your safari or with the way you drive or maybe since every suv is different it has to be driven differently - no 2 suv's are alike just as no two cars are. It is wrong to expect one vehicle to perform like the other) i have to add here that the safari is best at speeds of 40-90 kmph, thats what i feel(the best 3rd gear in the business). above 110 kmph, the engine sounds coarse(it does). this is not the case with the scorpio. its only above 140 that its grunt dies down a bit. expected more of a 140 bhp engine since a 120 bhp engine delivered more.(it does dude after you pass the safari driving course - you cannot drive a scorpio like an Endy like a safari like a captiva, they will all perform differently under the same driving style ) at that point my dad shouted "slow down" and we were cruising at 90-110 kmph. how i missed my scorpio's cruise control... many ask me that where in india is cruise control useful? this is the road buddies!(ive said this earlier the expressway is the only place where you can use cruise control - but there arent many expressways in India)
it rains. again i miss the scorpio's auto wipers(good feature for sure). the safari's blades are quite huge and does a good job, must say. also i miss the auto headlights in the expressway's numerous tunnels. the scorpio has spoiled me a lot i think! if there is any road in india where you can put all the scorpio's electronics to good use, its the mumbai-pune express highway! (that sounds like hiring a chauffer to watch dvds in the back seat of a safari ..)
i had carried some DVDs for my parents but both the screens dint work! called up my bro and he said he dint realize when it stopped working, he never uses them. (i dont know why tata couldnt provide some other more useful feature than a dvd player)

finally, i reach my destination and i realized what my bro meant when he said its a pain to drive in the city. i had to park it in a gate and for that it had to take a sharp turn towards the gate. but no matter how hard i tried or how much forward-reverse stunts i did,this mammoth refused to turn inside. finally, i gave up and parked it on the road! ( dude not unless uve passed the safari driving course - but if you can park a safari you probably can park a tank too - thats both good and bad - the pathetic turning radius has improved my judgement quite a bit)

opinion of my parents: a very comfortable car, preferable over long trips.(thats what its for - unless you are chauffered in the city you need to pass the safari driving course)
my opinion: good but still to capture my heart. lets see, one more drive may change my opinion!(dont try too hard - youre wasting your time - some things are not for some people)

cheers!

[raj_5004]

@ jaysmokeleaves:
1) yet another name: "battletank", well i prefer driving a SUV as i am not interested in a tank!
2) i am not embarrased to give any good judgements to it else i would not have stated that my parents loved it over the scorpio and it is more spacious and stuff like that. its just that i personally take a bit more time to decide over the comfort of seats, it takes me atleast 2-3 days with the seats. maybe its the best for you, wont challenge your opnion.
3) yes, the rear a/c vents work perfectly fine and chills the cabin in no time, but i prefer a more upmarket unit especially considering what i payed for this car.
4) about the keyhole, yet my personal opinion.
5) there was absolutely no problem with the backrest, i have been driving the innova, scorpio and many other vehicles too and hence i mentioned the same.
6) i dint find any remote in his car. maybe he lost it but i dont prefer a remote in my hands while driving. its either steering wheel controls (as i said, the scorpio has spoiled me!) or the head unit.
7) yes, safari has digital clock, but what i meant was the analogue clock was not useful/classy to me.
8) i was doing 120 + in the 5 th gear. now how else should i drive to supress the engine noise? is there a 6th gear in your safari?
9) i expected more grunt from a 140 bhp engine, i do admit different cars behave differently.
10) i think you are the only safari owner who thinks DVD players are of no use and scorpio's rain sensors are good!
11) its not about judgement, as i said, i want a private SUV which i can park in my own compound and not a battle tank.
12) your last statement was uncalled for. maybe you dint mean it to sound the way it actually has. anyways i dismiss it off thinking that some will never accept the niggles in their own car and will be always be biased towards their car as many has mentioned in above posts. and i know how to correctly utilize my time!
so chill, again no offence meant!

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

@ jaysmokeleaves:
1) yet another name: "battletank", well i prefer driving a SUV as i am not interested in a tank!('battletank' is my way of criticizing the ergonomics of the safari door & the pathetic turning radius it has - i guess i could have put it differently)
2) i am not embarrased to give any good judgements to it else i would not have stated that my parents loved it over the scorpio and it is more spacious and stuff like that. its just that i personally take a bit more time to decide over the comfort of seats, it takes me atleast 2-3 days with the seats. maybe its the best for you, wont challenge your opnion.
3) yes, the rear a/c vents work perfectly fine and chills the cabin in no time, but i prefer a more upmarket unit especially considering what i payed for this car.
4) about the keyhole, yet my personal opinion.
5) there was absolutely no problem with the backrest, i have been driving the innova, scorpio and many other vehicles too and hence i mentioned the same.
6) i dint find any remote in his car. maybe he lost it but i dont prefer a remote in my hands while driving. its either steering wheel controls (as i said, the scorpio has spoiled me!) or the head unit.
7) yes, safari has digital clock, but what i meant was the analogue clock was not useful/classy to me.
8) i was doing 120 + in the 5 th gear. now how else should i drive to supress the engine noise? is there a 6th gear in your safari?(my reference was to your mention of top end grunt - and therefore my opinion)
9) i expected more grunt from a 140 bhp engine, i do admit different cars behave differently.(they may behave differently but ur mention of lack of top end grunt is unfounded)
10) i think you are the only safari owner who thinks DVD players are of no use and scorpio's rain sensors are good!
11) its not about judgement, as i said, i want a private SUV which i can park in my own compound and not a battle tank.( the word battletank was used in sarcastic humor )
12) your last statement was uncalled for. maybe you dint mean it to sound the way it actually has. anyways i dismiss it off thinking that some will never accept the niggles in their own car and will be always be biased towards their car as many has mentioned in above posts. and i know how to correctly utilize my time!
>>> (hahaha.. hey relaxx dude i meant that dont waste your time trying to retest the safari and to give it a second chance, if you dont like it or parts of it... its ok, i respect your views. As long as you are happy with your wheels(scorpio) why even bother testing the safari a second time to prove a point... unless you have all the time in the world to do that. IMO im ok to call my vehicle or parts of it 'crap', if thats what it deserves to be called. I dont know of any vehicle thats perfect to everyone.
so chill, again no offence meant!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx... is that 20 characters

[raj_5004]

ideally, a vehicle with 140 bhp is supposed to have more grunt than a vehicle with 120 bhp. but that dint happen in safari's case when compared to the scorpio. that what i meant buddy!
secondly, its not a matter of giving the safari a "second chance"... any vehicle cant be studied in just a day, thats what i feel. spend atleast a week with it and then you can be in a position to comment on all the pros and cons of the vehicle. maybe the negatives which i felt are not such a big issue or maybe the seats are not that comfortable (as i said, it taks me atleast 2-3 days to comment on the seats!)... hence i am not wasting any time, its well utilized, what say safari fans?!?!?!

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

ideally, a vehicle with 140 bhp is supposed to have more grunt than a vehicle with 120 bhp. but that dint happen in safari's case when compared to the scorpio. that what i meant buddy!
I do not have these and dont know where to find them either but can someone please post the top end figures, roll on statistics etc for a proper comparision to compare the "grunt" that raj refers to. Besides I m not sure about the exact figure but im sure the safari is close to half a ton heavier than the scorpio. So if its really as bad as you say it is then my guess is thats where the "grunt" went.
secondly, its not a matter of giving the safari a "second chance"... any vehicle cant be studied in just a day, thats what i feel. spend atleast a week with it and then you can be in a position to comment on all the pros and cons of the vehicle. maybe the negatives which i felt are not such a big issue or maybe the seats are not that comfortable (as i said, it taks me atleast 2-3 days to comment on the seats!)... hence i am not wasting any time, its well utilized, what say safari fans?!?!?!

Secondly, I would love to see a comparision of a grunting scorpio & a not so grunting safari(as raj says) through a section of high speed twisties, that would take the battle a little furthur into the zone of high speed handling. Im not sure how either would fare. So then we can have a much better idea of highway handling of these suv's. Do the auto mags cover this kind of stuff, i havent read one in along time. Can anyone post any references please??

[shatrughna]

Hi Raj. I was waiting for your review/ feedback on Safari trip but it would come so soon , that I didnt realise. In the meantime Jaysmokesleaves has already shared his inputs too which is so interesting.

And for me , comments and feedback from both of you have tremendous value as when I was trying hard for a Safari , Jay had given me contact details of the dealer who I must share that was one of the best sales guys , I met in Tata dealerships so far and while I was scrambling for finances for top end VX 4*4, I feel short by approx.1 lakhs in terms of eligibility ( company lease) and I had two options- EX 4*4 or Scorpio VLX.

Bit of coin tossing and myself tossing in bed restlessly over a couple of nights while not able to decide what to do, obviously, I was hooked on TBHP thru my cell-gprs and catching up every bit of info on Safari & Scorpio.

I had never cared or bothered to look at Scorpio from the ownsership perspective , even when I had gone for a test drive as it was purely from academic point of view , to experience what was all this blah blah on scorpio eagle, mhawk was all about and at the dealership, before filling the TD form , I had announced my disclaimer that I wouldnt want them to follow up with me for sales as I was just not looking at this vehicle to buy/ own.

At this stage ( till Thursday) , I had option to chip in another lakh from my pocket and go for VX 4*4 or simply fill the form in office for Scorpio and buy some stocks with that money( which I did eventually).

Raj kudos to you for narrating so lucidly, the experience that you had in Safari though it may sound like from the beginning you were biased against the vehicle but I do understand as I too had experienced almost same feeling- doors are heavy and worse, the handles almost slip out of fingers.

Rest of the driving experience has also highlighted/ confirmed the strengths and weaknesses of Safari as has been shared by our Safari owner friends since, time immemorable !! Yeah even if we drive a M800 but visit TBHP regularly , we all know almost so much about Safari by now and can bet most of us who have followed these threads on Safari definitely knows much more than their average sales guys.

So to me, after reading your experience, to me it seems to be a similar verdict - Rear seat comfort- Safari is unbeatable, size and road presence, space again its better than scorpio . However, for the driving comfort, Scorpio is better in town and more manageable ( parking experience) and better still you dont have to pass the driving test specially for Scorpio unlike what Jay says that for Safari( just joking).

What you probably missed here is to let know whether you drove a LX, EX or VX model and 4*2 or 4*4. In case, it was LX or EX, then you may have missed ABS but as there is no mention of that , probably, you didnt actually miss ABS or your car was a VX spec with ABS.

Another thing is that Scorpio doesnt offer option for Airbags, ABS,EBD and BA which Safari does in its VX version while VLX just has ABS, nevertheless at least they put ABS and I definitely wanted a 4*4 which is now not available in the DX nor SLX , in other words, they have stopped mfg 4*4 trannies for the time being. some safety features cant be experience when you drive safely so you may not be able to comment upon ( like airbag) but would have probably felt the advantage of EBD / BA on expressway or at least to know whether its something worth it or not needed in real life conditions.

So while for a short run, city commute, self drive options Scorpio may be recommended, Safari still is better in terms of specs and options that may not suit each pocket but till now rules many hearts.

As far as I am concerned, by design or default or as destiny would like to have it, I booked VLX yesterday and by night news came in that exise duties have been revised ( a hit of 25k OTR) for me when the delivery is made. The price was already revised on 23 May - plus 19K and then again another 11K first week of June and now this excise hike and now Safari VX 4*4 ( company registration- ex Thane) would cost approx. 14Lacs ( prices revision was expected in first week June )and VLX will be close to 11.75 lacs.

Raj will also appreciate your comment on the driver seat comfort as I guess Safari with its lumbar support feature should have made you feel better and also while you missed so many things like auto wipers etc. , did you not like the comfort of having electrical ORVMs or was it of not much use?

Also, how did you feel ( all round view) from the driver seat in terms of all round visibility as compared to view from Scorpio.

Eager to see your response.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

And for me , comments and feedback from both of you have tremendous value as when I was trying hard for a Safari , Jay had given me contact details of the dealer who I must share that was one of the best sales guys , I met in Tata dealerships so far and .... To give the man his due credit i must say that I would not have bought the Safari had it not been for Neeraj @ wasan motors. One of the best sales guys ive met compared to all the tata & toyota dealerships i visited.


So to me, after reading your experience, to me it seems to be a similar verdict - Rear seat comfort- Safari is unbeatable, size and road presence, space again its better than scorpio . However, for the driving comfort, Scorpio is better in town and more manageable ( parking experience) and better still you dont have to pass the driving test ( seriously buddy that was a sarcastic joke to highlight the pathetic turning radius on the safari)specially for Scorpio unlike what Jay says that for Safari( just joking).


So while for a short run, city commute, self drive options Scorpio may be recommended, (its certainly leagues ahead of the safari in city manouvereability) Safari still is better in terms of specs and options that may not suit each pocket but till now rules many hearts.

As far as I am concerned, by design or default or as destiny would like to have it, I booked VLX yesterday and by night news came in that exise duties have been revised ( a hit of 25k OTR) for me when the delivery is made. The price was already revised on 23 May - plus 19K and then again another 11K first week of June and now this excise hike and now Safari VX 4*4 ( company registration- ex Thane) would cost approx. 14Lacs ( prices revision was expected in first week June )and VLX will be close to 11.75 lacs.( Congrats on your final purchace Shatrughna, just wish you had got yourself a 4x4, it saves you the feeling of having missed out on doing certain things or going certain places - goodluck anyways & hope you push ur scorpio to do all things suv style.)

Raj will also appreciate your comment on the driver seat comfort as I guess Safari with its lumbar support feature should have made you feel better and also while you missed so many things like auto wipers etc. , did you not like the comfort of having electrical ORVMs or was it of not much use?

Also, how did you feel ( all round view) from the driver seat in terms of all round visibility as compared to view from Scorpio.

Eager to see your response.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx thats 20+!

[shatrughna]

i agree about Neeraj. Just would love to hear from raj about the seats and braking .

[condor]

@raj, that was a nice review. My take on your review : it was not a pure review - subconsciously you seem to have been comparing the two.

Most of the points you have mentioned against the Safari are ones cosmetic ones - in the sense that you have got used to the Scorp, and the differences between them seem a little big at first look.

Two points that still are in favor of the Scorp are the easier manouverability in city, and the noise & grunt at the 140+ speeds. The points at 140+ are at the extreme for me - speeds I wouldnt really do.

Oh, if it makes any difference, the closest I have come to either of these is Steer's steed, for a few minutes, a year back.

[raj_5004]

@ jay: i will definetely post the figures buddy, but my source would be autocar india and i am not sure how many would agree to it. its just for your reference.
hey buddy, SUVs are not meant to handle on high speed twisties! if attempted, both will fail miserably. atleast a normal driver like me wont attemp it, i leave that to the professionals. but the safari definetely is more stable than the CRDe scorpio, though i am not sure how it is when compared to the hawk. i guess i have to drive the cars back to back for it!
anyways, here are your figures:

scorpio 2.2 / safari 2.2

power in bhp 120 / 140
torque in kgm 28.5 / 32.6
power to weight 64.86 / 64.51
torque to weight 15.4 / 15.02
0-100 kmph in seconds 14.88 / 15.16
20-80 kmph in 3rd gear 12.13 / 13.76
40-100 kmph in 4th gear 14.61 / 15.96
top speed 152 / 156
80-0 kmph (braking) 30.88 m / 31.03 m

FE:
city 10.6 / 8.7
highway 13.6 / 13.1

kerb weight 1880 kg / 2170 kg

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by condor

@raj, that was a nice review. My take on your review : it was not a pure review - subconsciously you seem to have been comparing the two.

Most of the points you have mentioned against the Safari are ones cosmetic ones - in the sense that you have got used to the Scorp, and the differences between them seem a little big at first look.

Two points that still are in favor of the Scorp are the easier manouverability in city, and the noise & grunt at the 140+ speeds. The points at 140+ are at the extreme for me - speeds I wouldnt really do.

Oh, if it makes any difference, the closest I have come to either of these is Steer's steed, for a few minutes, a year back.

hey condor, in my post i have mentioned it can be taken as a comparo as i have driven both the vehicles through the same road to the same destination.
also, the noise and grunt issues i faced were at speeds of 110 kmph. i really would not mind if its at 140 kmph because no sensible scorpio/safari owner will drive at that speed for a long distance, so it does not really matter.

[iservesa]

Raj Stop it...

Look Here

Safari DICOR 2.2 30280.11%Scorpio mHawk 2.2 7519.89%

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

Hi Raj. I was waiting for your review/ feedback on Safari trip but it would come so soon , that I didnt realise.

it was not my complete review. i am willing to share more such experiences with more days spent with the safari.

At this stage ( till Thursday) , I had option to chip in another lakh from my pocket and go for VX 4*4 or simply fill the form in office for Scorpio and buy some stocks with that money( which I did eventually).

congrats buddy!

Raj kudos to you for narrating so lucidly, the experience that you had in Safari though it may sound like from the beginning you were biased against the vehicle but I do understand as I too had experienced almost same feeling- doors are heavy and worse, the handles almost slip out of fingers.

yes, the handles are a bit difficult to hold.

So to me, after reading your experience, to me it seems to be a similar verdict - Rear seat comfort- Safari is unbeatable, size and road presence, space again its better than scorpio . However, for the driving comfort, Scorpio is better in town and more manageable ( parking experience) and better still you dont have to pass the driving test specially for Scorpio unlike what Jay says that for Safari( just joking).

you bet !

What you probably missed here is to let know whether you drove a LX, EX or VX model and 4*2 or 4*4. In case, it was LX or EX, then you may have missed ABS but as there is no mention of that , probably, you didnt actually miss ABS or your car was a VX spec with ABS.

this was a safari 2.2 VX 4x2. i had mentioned about the DVD players!

Another thing is that Scorpio doesnt offer option for Airbags, ABS,EBD and BA which Safari does in its VX version while VLX just has ABS, nevertheless at least they put ABS and I definitely wanted a 4*4 which is now not available in the DX nor SLX , in other words, they have stopped mfg 4*4 trannies for the time being. some safety features cant be experience when you drive safely so you may not be able to comment upon ( like airbag) but would have probably felt the advantage of EBD / BA on expressway or at least to know whether its something worth it or not needed in real life conditions.

what is BA my friend? yes, i do miss airbags and 4x4 in my hawk.

So while for a short run, city commute, self drive options Scorpio may be recommended, Safari still is better in terms of specs and options that may not suit each pocket but till now rules many hearts.

why wont safari suit each pocket buddy? its not too far off the hawk, i think!

As far as I am concerned, by design or default or as destiny would like to have it, I booked VLX yesterday and by night news came in that exise duties have been revised ( a hit of 25k OTR) for me when the delivery is made. The price was already revised on 23 May - plus 19K and then again another 11K first week of June and now this excise hike and now Safari VX 4*4 ( company registration- ex Thane) would cost approx. 14Lacs ( prices revision was expected in first week June )and VLX will be close to 11.75 lacs.

dont worry, after driving the hawk you will definetely feel its worth your hard earned money!

Raj will also appreciate your comment on the driver seat comfort as I guess Safari with its lumbar support feature should have made you feel better and also while you missed so many things like auto wipers etc. , did you not like the comfort of having electrical ORVMs or was it of not much use?

actually i dint have to use the electrical ORVMs since the mirrors were set at a proper angle for me. but i do appreciate this feature. sorry for leaving that out. about the seats, as i said, it takes me more time to figure out how the seats are, but till now they have given me no trouble. they are wider than the scorpio's. about the underthigh support and the backrest, i will prefer to comment later.

Also, how did you feel ( all round view) from the driver seat in terms of all round visibility as compared to view from Scorpio.

the all round visibility is very good but the spare tyre on the boot hampers rear visibility. literally cant see the road while reversing, here the camera offers some help. but tight parking as expected is a pain and the reverse camera was of no use to me. but maybe i can get used to them, but wish TATA provides sensors.

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