[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

Source: GOW , Autocar India

Lastest spy shots during the ad shoot. Also posting a pic from AI, of an interior shot because it hasnt been posted on this thread yet.
I just hope the new advertisements are good. I still remember the old safari ads, what fun! Still love seeing them on Youtube specially Reclaim your life & Lines.

Without the spare wheel at the back in the profile pic, the rear end is looking sadly as abruptly "sloping cut" as that of the Scorpio.

What a disaster! Trying to fix something that wasn't broken ....

[Maverick1977]

Read some where that the Merlin is going to be renamed Safari Storm. The rear reminds me of the new Discovery.
As far as ad shoots are concerned assured that they will use at least 3-4 vehicles. I remember the 1st Indica Vista ad & there were 4 identical Vista's used in the ad. I can vouch for that since I had seen all of them.
Lets hope that Tata's are able to use the expertise from LR for this vehicle.

[koushik]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I don't know about the 3.0 mill, but I'm sure the wheels will be much larger than 15". I'm guessing we'd find 17" on the new Merlin.

I'm not very impressed by the Merlin. Looks like a half-hearted job. More like a big face-lift rather than an all-new Safari. It's like the same transition that the Honda City went through (the dolphin-gen and the face-lift after that)

Tata has gone the 'evolutionary' route rather than making an all new and revolutionary vehicle. Or maybe I'm just judging it by its cover? It could be completely different to drive though.

After the XUV-500, I was really expecting something brilliant from Tata, especially after the Aria debacle and the postponement of the Merlin's arrival into the scene.

Suhaas it is the overall diameter of tyre which is taken in to account. Merlin seems to be already very tall and while selecting tyre size this factor is also taken in to account. The tyre size 235/75R15 has been judged digitally looking to the spy pictures.The actual tyre size could be different.But certainly it does not seem to be 17" .

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by ebonho

What a disaster! Trying to fix something that wasn't broken ....

As far as I understand, the spare wheel on Safari's tail gate had a fair share of issues on the car. There were reports of tail gate rattle and door loosening or so. Plus there were people who complained of the difficulty to remove it and load it up in the eve of punctures and visibility problems too.

But I have to agree that the "looks" have gone down now !

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

As far as I understand, the spare wheel on Safari's tail gate had a fair share of issues on the car. There were reports of tail gate rattle and door loosening or so. Plus there were people who complained of the difficulty to remove it and load it up in the eve of punctures and visibility problems too.

But I have to agree that the "looks" have gone down now !

I think this was a problem more on the older lot. The newer lot with the hydraulic stabilizer thingy at the bottom did not have the same issues from what I have heard. Safari owners could confirm.

Anyways so many other SUVs have the spare wheel on the door. Safari is not the only one. Even the relatively flimsy Gypsy does. So I'm sure they could have solved the issues once and for all and still left the wheel there.

It looks rally bland without it. I wouldn't be surprised is some enterprising fabricators/workshops make a fast buck with a "devolution" reverse fix once this is launched! You could then boast of having two spare wheels instead of just one ....

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Safari owners could confirm.

My two week old, 2011 Safari's tailgate was making plenty of noises.

[dot]

Wow, those interior shots of the dash shows a great improvement over the current gen. With the current gem of an engine coupled with good interiors, I think the 2012 Safari/Merlin will be a good contender for the boss SUV of 8-12 Lakh price bracket.

[kaks15]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

A few pages back, there was a discussion about how the Merlin will co-exist with the current Safari. As per some, Merlin would only replace the higher variants(GX, VX) and the current avatar will continue to sell as lower variants(LX, EX). However, the pic posted by kaks15 seems to be of the base variant(??).

Any thoughts what could be cooking here?

That was in the air pre XUV launch and when it was being discussed that merlin might be launched at a price above 10l but post xuv i guess they would be looking to launch merlin anywhere from 8.5-12 so maybe they are now planning a complete phase out rather than step wise phase out. Whatever the situation there definitely would be variants carrying price tag in single digit.
Competitive forces ultimately benefit the customer


I like the design which is very clear in pics posted by yash. Its elegant and graceful.
But whats with the colour of vehicle being used for tv commercial.

[neel385]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Most likely, the Merlin will be unveiled during AutoExpo but the launch (actual delivery) will be 3-4 months down the line.

Not necessarily me thinks. While that is what happened with the Aria, in this case, if the rumor mills are to be believed, the product was ready for launch in November this year, however, the SUV stole it's thunder. So it might just be launched in the Auto Expo.

[condor]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Several components are shared which is a good thing, but I'm sure TML could have worked on giving us a new and truly international off-road SUV.

I still hope they are giving us a much better product. They seem to have put in so much effort & testing across the continents. Logically, if the guts are new, then why not a new skin too ? It does not make sense to move 2 steps ahead in the engine/GB area, and then just do a partial refresh of the body. And this is what is making me skeptical !

[Y@SH]

Source: IAB

After researching online and seeing spy pics I came across this one that clearly shows Airbags (both for the driver and passenger). Weather the Safari will have more than two airbags is still a mystery, but one can hope to see more than two airbags on the top varient (as the top varient of ARIA comes with six airbags).

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

Source: IAB

The Gear Lever in the IAB image is much shorter than the (presumably) more recent pic from ACI Posted a couple of pages earlier.

The shorter gear lever looks better, and also doesn't interfere with the head-unit. Wonder why they stuck with the taller one.

Possibly contrary to the general view, I like the new "rear" of the Safari IMHO looks apart the spare wheel on the tailgate doesn't really add value, while detracting from rear visibility, ease of mounting/removing the spare and contributes to rattles (even in 2011 models, as commented earlier by owner lordofgondor).

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

Source: IAB

After researching online and seeing spy pics I came across this one that clearly shows Airbags (both for the driver and passenger). Weather the Safari will have more than two airbags is still a mystery, but one can hope to see more than two airbags on the top varient (as the top varient of ARIA comes with six airbags).

Thanks once again y@ash. Even with the dual airbags (which could be XUV effect), the steering mounted controls are missing. Interiors are a big leap when compared to current safaris, but still tacky.

[akhilesh51]

Originally Posted by MAS

Thanks once again y@ash. Even with the dual airbags (which could be XUV effect), the steering mounted controls are missing. Interiors are a big leap when compared to current safaris, but still tacky.

Safari has dual airbags in its current iteration too on top variants so it is clearly not XUV effect.

Photos are of test vehicles therefore tacky. Notice that Tata Logo is missing from the steering wheel.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by akhilesh51

Safari has dual airbags in its current iteration too on top variants so it is clearly not XUV effect.

Photos are of test vehicles therefore tacky. Notice that Tata Logo is missing from the steering wheel.

Oops.. What I meant was that, possibly the lower versions of the New Safari have been blessed with dual air bags.