[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by speedfreak

please give info on da oe music system....is da dfront ones component?is there a crossover!

Dude I'm not good at these things. However, the head unit is a Blaupunkt Monte Carlo MP34. I had it changed to my Pioneer DEH-P7650MP (referring to manual here).

The speakers are all very basic blaupunkt affairs. 6" speakers front and back + tweeters on the inside of the ORMs - by component if you mean 2 or 3-way affairs, they're plain jane SPEAKERS. No component no nothing. Got my front speakers changed to 6" Blaupunkt 2-ways and put my Sony Xplod 3-way compos in the rear.

Dallying between Velocity sub + amp and the new Blaupunkt "smooth bass" Sub-woofer with built in amp...havent made up my mind yet.

[Steeroid]

MODS: Please close/lock this thread and consider moving all posts from the Initial Driving impressions to a new thread as this one has become far too long and meandering to make sense to a person viewing it for the first time.


Thanks everyone!

[BUSA]

The safari is a low couch..

http://www.bsmotoring.com/2005/aug13_1.htm

[chaxy]

Took a test dive of the new Safari Dicor. I only found the new electronic throlle very useful+the lcd rearview mirror. The vehile was vibrating a lot especially the clutch. The Sales man said that the clutch has been like that on all safaris. the vibrations subside at higher speed. The 3 Lt engine somehow doesnt feel refined.
-chaxy

[Insane Devil]

how easily these salesmen cover up the faults! why is TATA still not treating its buyers as Urban humans than treating them like Rural tractor drivers!!!!!

Mr. Ratan should be made to drive his own vehicles, for once! to open his long shut eyes!

[Steeroid]

Just remembered that I had forgotten to post pictures...so here's the update with pics.

Have covered 2,500 kms on the Dicor now (about 18 days), and just returned from a 3 day journey along these lines:

1. Cochin - Palghat

2. Palghat - Chalakudy - Athirampilly/Vazhachal - Sholayar Forests - Valparai.

3. Valparai - Udumalpet - Munnar

4. Munnar - Thekkady

5. Thekkady - Pala - Cochin


90% of the route was through Ghats and/or Forests and the trip began with an off-road stunt to visit our ancestral temple in Palghat. Nobody's ever travelled to the temple by a vehicle since it is set amidst paddy fields which are approached through a rocky trail. Thanks to the Dicor, we drove upto the temple and back, the 4wd very sure-footed on the loose rubble covering the rock up a rather steep gradiant as well as the narrow, slushy paths between the paddy fields. Quite effortlessly, too.

Thereafter we took the forest route to Valparai which has been extensively covered by Vinsanity and Artofzen in various write-ups. What made the trip very difficult was the incessent rains that brought the fog down by around 5 pm, making it dark. We were pretty scared as elephants are known to roam around these places and we could hardly see more than 10 meters ahead. If there were elephants (and there was elephant dung on the roads!!!) we'd know only if we ran into one of them...

Stopped by at the first human settlement after the 55 kms forest drive in the dark to buy some yellow plastic 'kit bags' that we cut up to cover the headlamps to provide some visual solace. I havent been happier to see people...

The road after the Malakkapara border to Valparai was pretty badly broken and was at best a jeep tril. The situation improved only after we started from Valparai the next day to Udumalpet, where half of the distance consisted of pretty decent roads. Halfway to Udumalpet the roads became bad once more.

Topped up fuel at the Reliance pump outside Udumalpet, the odo showing 465 kms. We topped up 46 litres, which gave an average of 10 kmpl which I thought was pretty good considering the terrain, average speeds and extended runs in 3rd gear with liberal use of the 2nd to get out of badly potholed stretches.

From Udumalpet, the road through the wildlife sanctuary upto the Kerala border was very bad, with deep ruts throughout. Saw some Zens and Santros zip by occassionally and wondered how many bones the occupants still had intact. After the Kerala border the road surface was excellent, but the route was full of twists and turns. Had to go slow on some of those corners as the Dicor became difficult to handle on the tight ones. Wondered whether I should shift to 4WD, but the surface was too smooth to take that chance.

Stayed at the Tea County in Munnar, reaching there at about 2.00 pm after a 9.30 am start from Valparai and started out for Thekkady by mid-morning the next day.

THe last few days have seen incessant rains in Kerala, and the drive from Munnar to Thekkady became a challenge with fog enveloping most of the route with heavy rain to make things worse. Made slow progress with headlights and hazard lamps on, honking away at every corner and hairpin bend. Stopped at various occassions for tea in the hope that the fog with clear, but it didnt let up till we left the tea gardens.

After this, things became even more difficult with good stretches punctuated by potholed and cratered sections at every curve or bend. One also had to start looking out for maniac bus and jeep drivers. Most of the scenery was lost on me.

Day 3 started out with a futile visit to the Thekkady lake where we saw nothing but a couple of buffalos. The drive down from Thekkady was initially quite good, but turned difficult with thick fog and heavy rain setting in once more. The Dicors brakes started locking up occassionally during the descent, and when we stopped for chai there was an acrid smell from the rear drums. Had to change my driving style thereafter, using the engine more to control the descent. No more problems with the brakes, but this is a heavy vehicle to control using engine braking alone...

Took secondary roads after Ponkunnam, through Palai and Malliyur to reach Cochin by dusk (started at around 2 pm). The journey would have been killing on any other vehicle, but I found myself raring to drive more at the end of it all.....

We'd misplaced the camera somewhere while moving into the new house, so we had to do with cameraphone photos. Here are some of the Dicor snaps...







Overall fuel economy was about 10.5 kmpl for the whole trip. No problems with the car despite the punishing terrain, but I've had an issue with the ergonomics - operating the fog lamp requires you to take your eyes off the road, which can be dangerous. I went off the road on a couple of occassions while fiddling with the switches. The other major problem on this long trip was that it was impossible to change CDs on the head unit (the only one that plays MP3s since the changer doesnt) while in 1st, 3rd or 5th gears. One had to shift gears to 2nd or 4th to change CDs, which is very annoying.

Braking on this vehicle is an issue, though its always braked in a straight line. Heavy usage of the brakes seems to cause the rear drums to overheat, causing them to lock occassionally therafter. I need ABS. Another issue was that the tyres seemed inadequate, especially while taking the curves on the ghat at a decent speed. Need 255s real fast, as the Bridgestone Dueller 235s dont seem to be upto the mark under demanding conditions.

[artofzen]

A rather well written travelogue steeroid(guess it should be in travel thread).Ya even i thought about your trip when it was raining heavily in cochin.But i had no idea you had a valparai adventure in your mind.;-)
The DICOR looks good with the painted bumpers.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Braking on this vehicle is an issue, though its always braked in a straight line. Heavy usage of the brakes seems to cause the rear drums to overheat, causing them to lock occassionally therafter. I need ABS. Another issue was that the tyres seemed inadequate, especially while taking the curves on the ghat at a decent speed. Need 255s real fast, as the Bridgestone Dueller 235s dont seem to be upto the mark under demanding conditions.

Good to see someone using the Safari the way its intended to be used. Regarding the brakes, overheating in a drum will cause fading wherein the brakes lose their bite but this should not advance the locking threshold. I’d be curious to know how many people were there in the car and how much cargo when it was locking. There should be a proportioning valve that adds more rear bias as the vehicle is loaded. When this prop valve calibration is off it will lock the rears during light load. Another problem could be the slippery surface caused by the rains. The Dueller is a off road thread pattern maybe that’s why it dosen’t grip very well on asphalt.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Good to see someone using the Safari the way its intended to be used.

Thank you. That was the reason for the Safari purchase..

Originally Posted by Mpower

I’d be curious to know how many people were there in the car and how much cargo when it was locking. There should be a proportioning valve that adds more rear bias as the vehicle is loaded. When this prop valve calibration is off it will lock the rears during light load.

2 adults, one 24-kg child, 2 pieces of cabin baggage and a laptop case - as good as no load for the Safari...I've heard of tjis proportionate braking valve for the rear - the dealer's service manager is an extremely competent chap who's also a good teacher...

[directinjection]

Dear Steeroid,

Why don't you update members with your Safari DICOR experience. What average are you getting? I'm sure the running-in must have been over by now. Has the quality improved with the DICOR or the problems typical to Tata vehicles keep surfacing? Did you discuss the high smoke emission issue with the dealer?

[Steeroid]

DI

1. Why are people so obsessed with 'average'? For the record I get about 11 kmpl with my rather atrocious driving style.

2. The smoke issue has allegedly been taken care of in the Metros - Nitin had his Dicor called in for changes to the EGR valve settings which were allegedly done to reduce smoke, increase power and reduce vibrations. Unfortunately Tata Motors does not consider those living in other places worthy enough to deserve these changes. The slimy skunks!

I dont know what issues were there with the old Safari, but I've had a few of my own, mostly with 3rd party components:

1. The A/c system had given consistent trouble. First there was a leak somewhere in the ac coil....they replaced the entire coil. Then we had trouble with the a/c blower switch as it would not work occassionally on '4'. They changed the switch. Finally on the way to Bangalore there were some vibrations which went off when I switched off the a/c. Found at Prerna the next day that the a/c compressor fan bearing had some issue - the entire fan assembly was changed. For the last two months, there have been no a/c issues. All replacements were done by Subros (suppliers).

2. Starter motor conked off on one particularly rainy day. Reason - water had entered the motor assembly. Problem traced to a faulty seal, and the motor was replaced by TVS (suppliers) the same day.

3. Theft alarm goes off in the middle of a night. Problem traced to 'loose wiring' by Minda engineers, wiring harness checked and problem sorted out.

4. Cabin lights go on and off randomly - sometimes they wouldnt go off when the doors were closed, sometimes they would come on while the vehicle was running...problem traced to loose wiring, AGAIN.

5. Front window glass came slightly loose (passenger side). Had something to do with the mount for the electric winder mechanism. Fixed.

Finally got sick of all these issues and sent a stinker to Tata Motors customer service. Got a call from the HQ within 15 mins, followed up by another call from the Regional OFfice in Bangalore in an hour saying that they will arrange for a bumper-to-bumper checkup of the vehicle which I had demanded.

Checkup was carried out early last month, after which there have not been any further issues. Checkup was carried out while I was out of the country and I am still to drive the vehicle after that. For the record, they picked up the vehicle for the checkup and dropped it back at my friend's place afterwards.

In addition, they had called the vehicle in about a month after I bought it for some changes. THese changes were (1) new clutch slave cylinder drain pipe mount, (2) new fuel delivery hose to the pump and (3) new high-tension cables from the battery to the starter motor. In all 3 cases, the Indian components were replaced by Korean and Chinese components. Braking also seems to have improved after this, though they did not mention any changes w.r.t the brakes.


There have been no rattles from the Safari, something that I dreaded when I bought a Tata vehicle. It still runs smooth, and vibrations from the engine at 1800~2000 rpm seem to have reduced.

For the record, the vehicle had run about 8000 kms when I left India early in November.

[tsk1979]

Have you tried a wheelie in your DICOR. It was rumored that the Tata 207 DI(3.0L NA) was capable of wheelies

[tifosikrishna]

hi steeroid, i am an ardent fan to TATA, nonetheless, its annoying to see that their premium vehicle has given you so much of trouble. from the list, i guess the number of items would be fewer, had you mentioned the parts that were not changed. though they are doing it at free of cost... it would have really frustrating for you. hope this is just an exception.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Have you tried a wheelie in your DICOR. It was rumored that the Tata 207 DI(3.0L NA) was capable of wheelies

Yeah but thats a much lighter vehicle. Dont even dream that the Dicor will be able to do anything like that.

[tsk1979]

LOL. But looking at your problems, Tata is becoming predictable. you know the subros Compressor bearing will conk out sooner or later, its your luck wether its in warranty or not. And that damn starter motor or the alternator will develop a problem due to water or its own accord. Good to see chinese companies coming in, any compressor will be better than the nonsense subros one and I bet the chinese one will be cheaper too(I spent 8000 on the compressor overhaul and 3000 odd in Power steering and alternator repairs).