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Old 19th March 2015, 08:28   #3841
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
I thought the cross thing was so that the stepney also gets utilized.
I can't do the cross tyre swap, because the spare wheel in my VX is not an alloy . Tata's have learned to be cheapskates from the Germans and provided a steel spare wheel, I guess its not even 16 inches, it looks like 15 inch spare wheel. Not sure how to rotate the spare any more...
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Old 19th March 2015, 10:44   #3842
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by apachelongbow View Post
I can't do the cross tyre swap, because the spare wheel in my VX is not an alloy . Tata's have learned to be cheapskates from the Germans and provided a steel spare wheel, I guess its not even 16 inches, it looks like 15 inch spare wheel. Not sure how to rotate the spare any more...
swap the tyres off the rims..
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Old 19th March 2015, 10:54   #3843
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

Issue: Not able to open driver side door with knobs,have to use the key or switch off

Pls advice folks.
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Old 19th March 2015, 11:13   #3844
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by PRADEEP KUMAR View Post
Issue: Not able to open driver side door with knobs,have to use the key or switch off

Pls advice folks.
You mean cannot unlock manually? In that case the wire connecting the clip to the locking mechanism has come off. Go to service center and get it reattached again
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Old 19th March 2015, 11:43   #3845
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by apachelongbow View Post
I can't do the cross tyre swap, because the spare wheel in my VX is not an alloy . Tata's have learned to be cheapskates from the Germans and provided a steel spare wheel, I guess its not even 16 inches, it looks like 15 inch spare wheel. Not sure how to rotate the spare any more...
Bro, how can they give you different sized wheels and tyres? Pressed Steel rim ya. I agree considering the price differential (premium) Tata charges for a VX over the EX (my model), of course they should give a 5th alloy instead of a pressed steel rim.

And its really not advisalble to keep breaking the tyre bead/rim lip seal every 5000 kms when you want to rotate. The risk of damaging the tyre by a clumsy technician is too great. Then you have a 10,000+ rupee piece of useless rubber on your hands ....

More importantly, I was actually surprised that you sold your pretty new Dicor and bought the Storme!

Please make a detailed post on a proper comparo between the two, especially on performance. Remember the PMs we exchanged once in the past on the top end? Are you still skeptical or have you seen the light? I do remember reading something about "cruising at 3500 rpm in 5th" so I think its actually a superfluous and prety rhetorical question .....

Last edited by ebonho : 19th March 2015 at 11:45.
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Old 20th March 2015, 09:04   #3846
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
Bro, how can they give you different sized wheels and tyres? Pressed Steel rim ya. I agree considering the price differential (premium) Tata charges for a VX over the EX (my model), of course they should give a 5th alloy instead of a pressed steel rim.

And its really not advisalble to keep breaking the tyre bead/rim lip seal every 5000 kms when you want to rotate. The risk of damaging the tyre by a clumsy technician is too great. Then you have a 10,000+ rupee piece of useless rubber on your hands ....

More importantly, I was actually surprised that you sold your pretty new Dicor and bought the Storme!

Please make a detailed post on a proper comparo between the two, especially on performance. Remember the PMs we exchanged once in the past on the top end? Are you still skeptical or have you seen the light? I do remember reading something about "cruising at 3500 rpm in 5th" so I think its actually a superfluous and prety rhetorical question .....

Thanks Doc!! I agree with you a detailed comparo is due, I think I will post it in your thread if you agree (too lazy to start my own thread). Regarding the spare wheel, I believe its a 16 inch rim as well (got to measure), but its pressed steel, not alloy, so yes Tata is learning the german art of cost cutting..
Regarding selling off the Dicor, no other reason except the boredom of seeing the same old reliable face day in day out
Regarding the GX I sold it to a gentleman from Tata motors in Pune, who loved the way the car was kept, and he seems to enjoy it. If you see MH03 BE 8371 (black and real earth) anywhere in Pune stop and say hello to the new owner...I am putting the number here with no objections from the owners..

Last edited by apachelongbow : 20th March 2015 at 09:07.
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Old 20th March 2015, 09:13   #3847
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Regarding the spare wheel, I believe its a 16 inch rim as well (got to measure), but its pressed steel, not alloy, so yes Tata is learning the german art of cost cutting..
They have been following this practice for at least three years. My three year old Vista ZX also has a pressed steel spare wheel instead of alloy wheels. I am sure it would have been an accountant or a finance man who would have come up with this idea the first time
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Old 20th March 2015, 11:17   #3848
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Originally Posted by apachelongbow View Post
Regarding the GX, I sold it to a gentleman from Tata motors in Pune, who loved the way the car was kept, and he seems to enjoy it. If you see MH03 BE 8371 (black and real earth) anywhere in Pune stop and say hello to the new owner.
Dear Apachelongbow (what a name I say!) - my eyes are open now for MH03BE8371. Post the comparo, should be interesting!

And Doc, you are correct, I also will not remove the tire off the rim! Want to see your 18 year old Zen one of these days, I'll call you.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar
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Old 20th March 2015, 12:02   #3849
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by apachelongbow View Post
I can't do the cross tyre swap, because the spare wheel in my VX is not an alloy . Tata's have learned to be cheapskates from the Germans and provided a steel spare wheel, I guess its not even 16 inches, it looks like 15 inch spare wheel. Not sure how to rotate the spare any more...
the spare in the VX is a 16 inch pressed steel rim. I got it replaced with an alloy at the time of delivery. costs 6500 but i got it gratis as part of the overall deal.
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Old 20th March 2015, 14:22   #3850
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

For a quick comparison between my 2012 Safari GX 2.2 and the 2014 Storme VX, firstly both the cars are 4x2 versions and the GX was driven about 25000 kms in 2 years before it was sold and the current VX is done about 14000 kms in about 10 months.

1) The Storme feels tighter all around. It is a general perception of look and feel,rather than concrete points. If I may use a lay man example it is how a body on frame bus from Tata or Ashok Leyland feels versus a Volvo bus. In the Safari everything felt as if it was put together but the last tightening of the screw was left aside. Not that anything fell apart or something, but a general perception

2) Sound deadening. There is a significant noise reduction in terms of in cabin noise and engine noise. I have concrete data on this since I used an android phone sound pressure monitor to measure both cars. In the GX the engine sound externally was bout 75 decibels in idling and in cabin noise (windows rolled up) at idling was about 60-70 decibels. At cruise between 100-120kmph in the GX the sound rose to about 90 decibels at peak.
Comparing the above with the Storme the idling decibel engine sound is about 50 and in cabin at idling is about 50 decibels again, and in cruise at similar speeds is about 70 decibels. The Storme engine definitely is much quieter both at idling and in cruise as well as full chat. There is good amount of thought process in cabin sound deadening and it shows, the Storme is a much quieter car to drive and overall stress levels reduce.

3) Rattles and creaks. The Safari as we all know used to make lot of funny little sounds, which when sounding together made an impression that it was not a nicely built vehicle. The tailgate used to rattle and squeak even after it was tightened periodically by the service center, typically every 3000kms or so the sound used to re appear. The dashboard, steering column, seats, seatbelts all used to make periodic rattles or squeaks especially on bumpy roads.
The Storme on the other hand is a revelation in this aspect. For all my 10 months of ownership I have not faced a single squeak or rattle, yes the explorer edition leather upholstery makes some leather squeaks here and there, but the car is fully silent. Thankfully I have not faced the dreaded tail gate rattle as posted by some other members in this forum, may be Tata have improved the design in the 2014 models. It is as silent as any Toyota model in this respect, as the low cabin decibels reflect.

4) Performance. My Safari GX had the Mark 2 gearbox hence the gear ratios were the same. Hence 100, 120, 140 and 160kmph comes in at the same rpm in similar gears. Engine wise the Storme has gotten much smoother and refined, from the truck like to a car like in behavior. However the turbo surge and the kick felt in the Safari is kind of missing in the Storme, so a little bit of that hooligan behavior is lost.
I believe some gear ratios may have been altered in the Storme, because I observed poor response from my Storme when climbing the Ooty hairpin bends, I had to choose 1st gear because the car wouldn't climb in second and there was wheel-spin in first. The Dicor could climb the same ghats in 2nd and sometimes in 3rd.
The Dicor (at least mine) had an over optimistic speedometer, because the top speed I touched in the Dicor was at least 15 kmph more than the Storme. However when comparing the speeds with the phone gps speeds, the Storme speedometer is within 8kmph, so i am sure the Dicor was over reading at higher speeds.

5) Fuel economy. The Dicor I feel returned a marginally higher fuel economy than the Storme. It could be the result of the revised gear ratios not suiting my driving style but, the Dicor used to consistently return 13kmpl even in the city where in the Storme barely manages 13-14 on highways and in the city it returns about 11kmpl

6) Interiors No comparison here, the Storme wins hands down. The soft touch plastics, the quality of the plastics and the fit and finish is way way better than the Dicor. The Dicor felt adequate in the world of qualis and the Scorpio and the Storme can hold its own among Ventos and the likes.

7) Look and feel. Both have their own charms, the Storme has several land rover inspired elements which look good and stand out in light colors such as pearl white, the Dicor is the macho SUV, which can look good covered with dirt. As for me, I like both.

Lastly, I am extremely happy with my Storme and I believe it is a logical upgrade to the GX. It has all the strong elements and carries forward the Safari DNA without losing anything but adding stuff like reliability, modern touches and much improved interiors and look and feel.

I have not compared the Aria chassis, the rack and pinion steering wheel, the all wheel disk brakes, the airbags and Abs etc, since these have been reviewed in detail earlier.

Last edited by apachelongbow : 20th March 2015 at 14:28.
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Old 20th March 2015, 15:16   #3851
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

Fantastic comparo bro!

So you can now understand how incredulous I was when you told me what the top end of your Dicor was ....

Because all the evidence on the road along with tow of my close buddies, with 2012 and 2013 Dicors respectively, was very different.

Your statement of "truck to car" was exactly the words used by one of my Dicor buddies. Same thing about the turbo kick as well .... though in his words, the Storme was better (but more smooth car-like), because the power was on demand and the accelerator response nearly instantaneous (he kept commenting on "noo tubo lag" while climbing Khandala ghats via the old Mumbai Pune road - and the Storme was doing it in 3rd and 2nd very peacefully).

Last edited by ebonho : 20th March 2015 at 15:25.
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Old 20th March 2015, 16:34   #3852
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by apachelongbow View Post
3) Rattles and creaks. The Safari as we all know used to make lot of funny little sounds, which when sounding together made an impression that it was not a nicely built vehicle. The tailgate used to rattle and squeak even after it was tightened periodically by the service center, typically every 3000kms or so the sound used to re appear. The dashboard, steering column, seats, seatbelts all used to make periodic rattles or squeaks especially on bumpy roads.
The Storme on the other hand is a revelation in this aspect. For all my 10 months of ownership I have not faced a single squeak or rattle, yes the explorer edition leather upholstery makes some leather squeaks here and there, but the car is fully silent. Thankfully I have not faced the dreaded tail gate rattle as posted by some other members in this forum, may be Tata have improved the design in the 2014 models. It is as silent as any Toyota model in this respect, as the low cabin decibels reflect.
Excellent & precise compare apachelongbow!

But I must comment, I have a Storme purchased in October 2014, and sorry to say, but it creaks like HELL!! Specifically the rear tail gate. It's gone to the lengths wherein the SA has himself told me to just keep a can of grease with me to keep lubricating it.

You indeed are lucky that you ended up with an accidental unit which doesn't have these irritating noises.
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Old 20th March 2015, 16:37   #3853
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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You indeed are lucky that you ended up with an accidental unit which doesn't have these irritating noises.
Mine is one such accidental unit as well then.
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Old 20th March 2015, 16:59   #3854
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@apachelongbow - Great comparo with the 2.2 dicor. Good to know that they have improved few things on the 2014 storme.

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Mine is one such accidental unit as well then.
Doc did you forget the seat belt "choo-choo" sound or have you got it corrected some other way than adjusting the height?

Last edited by stormerider : 20th March 2015 at 17:01.
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Old 20th March 2015, 17:16   #3855
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Re: Tata Safari Storme : Official Review

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Mine is one such accidental unit as well then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormerider View Post
@apachelongbow - Great comparo with the 2.2 dicor. Good to know that they have improved few things on the 2014 storme.

Doc did you forget the seat belt "choo-choo" sound or have you got it corrected some other way than adjusting the height?
ebonho, makes me literally want to do this ->

But as stormerider mentioned, if you had the same noise from the seat belt, how did you correct the same. I face this noise rarely, but it's surely there.
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