[LivingCars]

Hi All,

We took delivery of our Safari Adventure XZA+ on the 30th of November 2021. So afraid was I of the niggles reported that I downloaded the Team BHP PDI checklist and tried to follow it as religiously as possible. After everything went well we gave the dealer a go ahead for vehicle registration. Having driven close to 1000+ Kms in the last 3 days or so here are my initial impressions:

Dealer Experience - I would say that overall experience varies from Dealership to Dealership. I had prior experience with the Tata Motors Dealer in our area and this time also his response was very prompt and professional. I would say at par with the competition. In fact I go the Chassis number (VIN) within 2 days of putting in the advance amount and delivery in 15 days approx.

Build Quality -

- The vehicle feels well built and robust (Keeping fingers crossed on the GNCAP ratings though. The discussions happening over the last 3-4 days were after I paid in full so filtering them out and enjoying the new vehicle for a while)
- The power window switches felt a little too soft and flimsy. I hope they age well and last long enough.
- The leather and the stitching quality on steering wheel could have been better. I found a couple of rough edges and threads on the left hand side of the steering wheel (Will post photographs in the detailed review)
- Touchscreen response could have been better (As has been pointed out before in the forum by fellow BHPians.
Soft touch on top of the dashboard is good. No reflections on the Front Windshield of the car.
- JBL music system is really good.


Initial Driving Impressions for first 1000 kms (Highway trips comprise more than 90% of the distance)

- Used the City and the Sport modes. City mode felt adequate for most part but when overtaking sport mode is way better and the way to go. Did not engage in aggressive driving as vehicle is in run in period and hence found city mode a little slow for overtaking. However I observed that in sports mode also the AT gearbox upshifts before 2800 rpm.
- It is a very good mile muncher. (I did 450+ Kms on a single day)
- I felt the 17 inch wheel size of the Harrier would have been ideal for the Safari going by the vehicle response on rough patches (Have travelled in friends Harrier on the same patch and hence could compare)
- No Major niggles reported so far. A few minor ones where I would seek inputs from the forum (Staying positive, enjoying the car and hoping for the best on this)
- MID mileage was 15.9 Kmpl. But the full tank fill method reading was 14.3 indicating an error of approx. 1.6 kmpl on the MID (80% City mode and 20% Sport mode)



Would request inputs/suggestions on the below points:

- The infotainment screen restarted on its own a couple of times. The dealer person said it might have been because of a new version update. I am not sure that is the real reason though.
- I found the throttle to be a little hard in the City and Eco mode. Is this normal?
- Inputs on DPF regeneration protocol for the AT Gearbox variants

Will post a detailed review in a while and would grab with both hands the opportunity this forum provides to even newbies for their new car review.

Thanks in advance for all the valuable inputs and excuses for the amateurish pictures taken in a jiffy from my phone.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by buzzy_boy

Hence, I took another test drive today to avoid being Placebo'd by the Tuscon. Notes from this test drive:

While one may or may not agree with another's views about a car, I find you making the effort appreciable.

A part of the reason for differing views might be differing benchmarks between Tata and other manufacturers like Kia/Hyundai (mid-upper segment).

Though one may have lower expectations of fit and finish in a Tata, one typically expects it to be more robust. Whereas one might expect a Kia/Hyundai to be less robust but have excellent interior finish.

Over a given period of time, X no of niggles/service centre visits might not bother a Tata owner as much as it may a Toyota owner due to differing expectations.

[sierrabravo98]

Originally Posted by buzzy_boy

I know that a lot of BHPiams are passionate about the Safari, and was prepared for the backlash.





My observation is based on the sound with which the door shuts.

This is my 2018 Creta

https://Youtu.be/F9dBSk-iGI4

And this is the Safari

https://Youtu.be/Iy0C-gXLESk

Not much difference as far as I could tell. Ditto for the boot. Tried flexing the panels, they did not budge excessively.

I won't comment on topics of subjective interpretation. However:

1.) The Creta's door emitted a hollow"thunk" on being shut compared to the solid "thud" of the Safari.

2.) Any interior trim plastic will have some flex by design for the purpose of occupant safety. I have experienced interior trims of BMWs flexing a bit under torque application. Maybe I was mistaken. Owners of expensive cars can correct me here.

[Rshreyansh]

Originally Posted by Jude300

V18 software update: Wireless Android Auto / Car Play now available on my Safari

I got the software upated to V18 and this now has added the much needed wireless android auto feature on my car. While this comes as standard for the new Safari XZ variant owners, it was not available on the ones until a little while back. This comes as a great update and hats off to Tata Motors for listening to the customer feedback.

Originally Posted by JoelDmello

Update on Wireless Android Auto and Apple car Play.

I got my Tata Safari XZA+ updated infotainment with version 18. This has enabled the wireless Android Auto. Attaching a short video on this. Apologies for the clarity as it was shot on my cell phone.

Mine is the XTA+ variant with the smaller screen as compared to the bigger ones which comes with the higher variants. I have not checked the version of the software running currently on my infotainment but as of now it does not support the Wireless Android Auto and the Wireless Apple Car play.

Any idea if the Wireless AA and the Car Play will work on the lower variants with smaller screens?
Thanks

[4by4]

Originally Posted by ram87pune

As far as the deal with FCA is concerned as I have mentioned earlier, Tata has to pay for 72000 engines annually come what may.

No offense meant, but needs more than a punch of salt. Especially since lot of cars in Europe and Compass and Hector in India come either the same engine and many are crash rated

[1.2TSI7DSG]

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder

What were Tata thinking while signing such a deal? Hexa used to sell a few hundred units every month. And they had the confidence to sell 10-20 times more with Harrier and Safari? 3-4k per month sales are still very good. What if the Harrier had flopped like Hexa?

Also, with such a deal in place, it makes a lot of sense for Tata to reduce prices of Harrier twins, so that they are able to utilize the full quota of 6000 engines every month. But as things stand, they are hardly any discounts, be it Diwali or Pitrupaksh or year end.

Is Tata exporting the twins anywhere?
That volume will also add. That apart, I believe that the current "chip shortages" can be used to invoke force majeure.

That aside, without competition like XUV700, Astor, Hector, the Harrier twins did have capabilities to do 6k a month.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Keeping that in mind, I wonder how Jeep Compass was able to score full 5 star at EuroNCAP!!

That was achieved with a LHD configuration. All the RHD ones( Harrier, Safari, Compass, Hector) with 2.0 MJD is believed/speculated to have the oil filter intrusion into the cabin during crash and hence won't pass the tests with better rating.

[nainan]

Originally Posted by ram87pune

Dear Varun,

The oil filter intrusion is such a serious issue that according to my sources, the filter intrudes inside the drivers footwell area like a bullet and nothing can be done to prevent this.

Not to doubt you Ram but this got me real curious. I started to do some research and ended up with this video of an Alfa 159 oil filter change video

How to change oil filter and engine oil on ALFA ROMEO 159 (939) [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]

which uses the same engine. According to this the oil filter seems to be on the front passenger side so should not be the problem. I do suspect the Harrier twins have a problem with GNCAP else they would have done it already but it does not seem to be the oil filter.

[red_nemesis]

Originally Posted by nainan

Not to doubt you Ram but this got me real curious. I started to do some research and ended up with this video of an Alfa 159 oil filter change video How to change oil filter and engine oil on ALFA ROMEO 159 (939) [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]
which uses the same engine. According to this the oil filter seems to be on the front passenger side so should not be the problem. I do suspect the Harrier twins have a problem with GNCAP else they would have done it already but it does not seem to be the oil filter.

This is not the same 2.0 diesel engine. You can clearly see the JTS marking on the engine cover, which is a petrol engine series.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by ram87pune

Now coming to the 2nd question regarding Tata's confidence about being able to sell 72k Harrier twins each year
.....

So it's fair to assume that all these 4 vehicles combined would have made it possible for Tata to fully utilize the quota of 72k engines per annum. But the launch of the Korean twins, Hector and now the XUV700 plus the pandemic have put a spanner in Tata's forward march and they are struggling to launch new products on the Omega platform. Also the safety score will always remain compromised with the use of 2.0 Multijet in RHD configuration.
.....

And ofcourse pray to God that GNCAP does not test their twin SUVs and spoil the entire show.

This reflects really poorly on Tata's foresight and planning. That they did not foresee of have any business intelligence on their competitors likely launches, and committing to FCA to pick up expensive engines in such large numbers.

Also that they would make such a deal without first being clear on the likely foreseeable issue with the filter and GNCAP ratings, especially when they are focusing so much on safety as a selling point at a brand and have demonstrated ability to design vehicles in-house.

If the scoop is correct (not suggesting it is or isn't), it would really lower the respect for Tata Motors as a brand for me.

[red_nemesis]

Originally Posted by TorqueIndia

EuroNCAP extends the rating validity of 2.0L MULTIJET LHD to RHD variants also, I dont think they are crazy enough to do it without any supporting analysis.

https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/jeep/compass/27881

This is interesting. But what I notice here is that both the tunes of 2.0 diesel (140/170), the ratings apply only to 4WD variants. Makes me wonder, by any chance, is the engine layout for 4WD compass either longitudinal or in some way different from the front wheel drive??

Can someone shed some light on this??

[sierrabravo98]

Originally Posted by 4by4

No offense meant, but needs more than a punch of salt. Especially since lot of cars in Europe and Compass and Hector in India come either the same engine and many are crash rated

I don't think any vehicle in the globe has been tested by any NCAP in this exact configuration: RHD+2.0MJD. The same applies for the Compass/Hector/Baojun 530, neither have been tested in their Indian configurations. Happy to corrected if I am wrong.

Originally Posted by nainan

Not to doubt you Ram but this got me real curious. I started to do some research and ended up with this video of an Alfa 159 oil filter change video How to change oil filter and engine oil on ALFA ROMEO 159 (939) [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]
which uses the same engine. According to this the oil filter seems to be on the front passenger side so should not be the problem. I do suspect the Harrier twins have a problem with GNCAP else they would have done it already but it does not seem to be the oil filter.

The description of the video you posted reads like this:

How to change oil filter and engine oil / oil / motor oil on ALFA ROMEO 159 1 (939) 2.2 Sportwagon 03.2006–12.2012 [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]

Now I may be wrong but the description implies that the vehicle in question is equipped with a 2.2L engine. This means that this is not the 2.0L MJD engine which is the topic of discussion here. A quick google reveals that this is an entirely different engine (and a petrol one at that).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_JTS_engine

[GTO]

Mod Note: Please avoid off-topic posts. Thank you.

[amit_snk]

Why do Tata needs license manufacturing of fiat engine, why didn't they manufacture land rover 2 litre diesel engine in their plant and use it, they could have supplied that engine to JLR as well, that would have definitely given them some sales numbers of JLR for sure. Really interested to know why didn't they do it

[CapKoura]

I'm yet to know the delivery date of my XUV700, and looking at the dates others have gotten, don't have much hope of getting it before July. Hence, am exploring other options.

Does anybody know the waiting period for the XZA Plus Adventure variant (7 seater)?