[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by abhay_D

Thanks for the very nice and detailed review, tsk.

One question - do you think the roof mounted ac is a must have given that there is a rear air con as well? The lx version does not have one and was wondering if that would one of the potential deal breaker in going for LX.

Even in killer Delhi summers there are very few days when rear AC is needed, front AC usually works well. Advantage of roof ac, is quick cooling for rear passengers.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Since XUV is monocoque,it is expected to give better (car like) ride comfort. If you say, ladder rame (truck like) Storme rides better than XUV, either Tata designers have done an excellent job or XUV desingers have done a poor job.

Ride comfort can be better in an old gen car too. Its the handling where a monoque modern design will have an edge.
Just give soft suspesion, and voila, you have ride comfort. Handling however, is a very different ballgame.
Tata has done a good job, but it cannot match monoque construction lighter SUVs.
That said, there exist monoque suspension vehicles, whose their handling is worse than old school SUVs.

[ACM]

TSK superb review. Leaves almost no questions. Think this one will meet your expectations as well but I guess some bits will go wrong on and off.

Somehow to me exterior panel gaps are not really that much of a worry in a vehicle of this type.

I think most modern cars now don't come with a light under the hood. I guess reliability is implied. - My Laura, and Aria don't have it either but we somehow do expect it in the Safari and the Aria. That said I have required it in all my cars over the years at some point of time and hence carry the magnetic lamp that we can fix to metal and run from the charger socket it is better for sure.

One -ve of the under hood light is that at times people forget to switch of the light under the hood and the battery drains out overtime leaving the car stranded. I did manage to do that once in the TCIC Safari.

[gauravdgr8]

Thanks for a very candid review Tanveer.

The LX version looks like a good bet in the current scenario as it has ABS.

The storme is on my radar for a buy sometime in 2013 (maybe 10 months from now). I plan to trade in my Vista (Chota Beast) for the Big Beast

Let's see how much exchange value would they give. My Vista was 6.3 on-road (Dec'11), and if I were to get anything 5.3 & above, what I would have to put in, is the cost of just another Vista.

Moreover, the LX version is priced at 995*** across the 10 states it's been launched till now. That will attract a 7% Road tax in Raipur + Insurance (10 months down, it might be free) + Registration. It will very well be under 11lacs.

What say. Does it make sense?

[inder_s1]

Very good review Tanveer as stated by other BHPians.

I've been a Safari fan since it was launched but the niggles kept me away from it. In Strome most of these have been fixed, at least that's what it looks like.

But I'm really disappointed by the Design team of Tata, they are not really putting their heads together. How much of an effort it can be to enhance the look of the vehicle. I mean we are enthusiasts but they do this day in and day out, right?

If I would go for Strome , I would've liked it to look like the pic I edited. I know it is Lexus kind of styling but it looks way better than the bland layout

[iceman7]

Excellent Review Tanveer. Thank you. A few more days, and you'd have to control mobs of TBHP'ians outside your house.

Regarding the Storme tail-lamps - I am surprised no one mentioned this, but they look eerily Wagon R-ish

Also, why would you (not personally you) term the Storme 4x4 VX expensive? The only 2 other SUV's which can go off-terrain are the THAR and the Fortuner. One is a few lakhs cheaper, and the other is wayyy expensive. I guess, if some one is a real off-roader (like yourself), the Storme should make tremendous sense; as a daily drive as well as an off-roader. For the others, the LX should do.

[anandpadhye]

Hmmm.
Tat Safari 4x4 for > 13 L rupees!!!

Stengthens my opinion even further that SUVs should be bought from the used car market and not from the showrooms.

[vardhan.harsh]

An excellent review Tanveer. Gives the long and short of it. I was eagerly waiting to go through a detailed review of Storme. (Not that I'm planning to buy it at any point in time).

For me the removal of the rear spare wheel is a deal breaker when it comes to the new Safari. The character is gone now. I wonder if they are still selling / manufacturing the older version of the Safari, or that is gone now?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by iceman7

Excellent Review Tanveer. Thank you. A few more days, and you'd have to control mobs of TBHP'ians outside your house.

Regarding the Storme tail-lamps - I am surprised no one mentioned this, but they look eerily Wagon R-ish

Also, why would you (not personally you) term the Storme 4x4 VX expensive? The only 2 other SUV's which can go off-terrain are the THAR and the Fortuner. One is a few lakhs cheaper, and the other is wayyy expensive. I guess, if some one is a real off-roader (like yourself), the Storme should make tremendous sense; as a daily drive as well as an off-roader. For the others, the LX should do.

I am not a fan of the new rear look. Purist you see.
As for "off road", the scorpio does it quite okay too. And it costs 9.6 ex showroom for the base model. Even the one with airbags is about 1.5L cheaper.
That said, with ABS, the LX model is not a bad value for money. However, in this price bracket, you expect more.
If the Storme VX 4x4 had more frills and features, the value quotient would have been higher. As another user pointed out, the new storme VX does not have the DVD screens for rear passengers! Price goes up, but kit goes down.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Hmmm.
Tat Safari 4x4 for > 13 L rupees!!!

Stengthens my opinion even further that SUVs should be bought from the used car market and not from the showrooms.

Good observation. Soembody needs to make a proper 4x4 comfortable vehicle within 10L. There is need for such a product. I would stand in line for a well sorted 4x4 below 10L which can seat 5 people.


@Harsh : The older safari is still being made and sold, albeit in the lower trim levels.

[Enigmatic]

That's a nice design for the tail lamps inder_s1. Doesn't seem to difficult to be done, tata should have made such an alteration rather than providing a dual tone tailgate IMHO.

[anoshdhondy]

Hello,
This is indeed a detailed report on the ins and outs of the Storme.Now I have a 2003 TCIC 4X4 EX and apart from the typical TATA niggles has been generally ok ,never stranded me in the middle of nowhere ( as yet). One point which struck and was meaning to ask,you know the photo of the storage space above the centre console,you said the lid feels built to last ,which is indeed very good news but the sore point in my safari and if I remeber right even in the 2.2 is that the glove box lid was woefully flimsy and rattles away like crazy and the lid with age ( due to heat I guess too) has lost its shape a bit so while it locks correctly one side doesn't fit in line like th other side does ( it used was fine when new so not an early fit and finish issue) .
So since you mention the lid of the top centre console storiage is good can the same be said about the glove box?

Thanks
Anosh

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by anoshdhondy

Hello,
This is indeed a detailed report on the ins and outs of the Storme.Now I have a 2003 TCIC 4X4 EX and apart from the typical TATA niggles has been generally ok ,never stranded me in the middle of nowhere ( as yet). One point which struck and was meaning to ask,you know the photo of the storage space above the centre console,you said the lid feels built to last ,which is indeed very good news but the sore point in my safari and if I remeber right even in the 2.2 is that the glove box lid was woefully flimsy and rattles away like crazy and the lid with age ( due to heat I guess too) has lost its shape a bit so while it locks correctly one side doesn't fit in line like th other side does ( it used was fine when new so not an early fit and finish issue) .
So since you mention the lid of the top centre console storiage is good can the same be said about the glove box?

Thanks
Anosh

Glove box lid looks to be solid. However, be had bits of plastic falling off inside, and the light coming loose. So I am not sure about the quality of the glove box.

[gharika]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Good observation. Soembody needs to make a proper 4x4 comfortable vehicle within 10L. There is need for such a product. I would stand in line for a well sorted 4x4 below 10L which can seat 5 people.

With you on sub 10L 4x4. I am in the market for a decent 4x4 with 5 seats, AC and no dust inside the cabin. Something on the lines of the base 4x4 Duster (aka Dacia Duster but even that is +12L for 4x4 diesel variant in France) would do but nothing there even on the long distance radar.

On a side note, Went to Tata showroom to have a look at the beast and pointed to the salesman that one of the covers of the grab handles on passenger side was missing. The guy tells me that some kid must have pulled it. Is the fitting going to be that weak or there was no better excuse?

[ranc]

Tata's seems to be going down month after month, despite a decent review from tbhp (and also others) and despite having such a loyal bunch of Safari users why it doesn't transform into good numbers, the old safari was selling around 1000 per month and even now after the launch of the Strome it is selling the same number. Does this mean that the new Storme is selling close to 500 a month compare this to the Duster (5000+) and XUV and Scorpio both close to 4500 per month. If this is right I think the Tata's have failed with the Storme to cause a ripple in the cup forget "storm in the cup"

[adityasiera]

I had a chat with the manager of Bharat motors (Dealers in bhubaneswar). More if not most young, impatient guys (read that as within the age bracket of 25-45) have enquired about a LX 4x4.

Tata if you are reading... This is the zillionth request/suggestion/crib. Launch a barebones 4x4 on Strome please.

[AVR]

Originally Posted by adityasiera

I had a chat with the manager of Bharat motors (Dealers in bhubaneswar). More if not most young, impatient guys (read that as within the age bracket of 25-45) have enquired about a LX 4x4.

Tata if you are reading... This is the zillionth request/suggestion/crib. Launch a barebones 4x4 on Strome please.

I had given the same feedback to the Manager for TMFT and Xenon XT when I met him at the Storme TD. Hopefully, well we can only hope, they'll do something about it.
But given that this feedback has been given many times before, I wonder if we are just banging our heads to a wall!