[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by ACFT

...

1.) I am 6' tall and to my surprise I could not find a comfortable driving position even after fiddling with all the seat adjusting levers (although the Lx variant doesn't come with a seat height adjuster). While the steering wheel was not brushing my legs/knees, there was absolutely no under thigh support and the seating was feeling very similar to the new Verna.

Front seats do lack under thigh support.

Originally Posted by ACFT

...
2.) The engine felt crude with lot of engine noise constantly filtering in to the cabin along with a discomforting hum. But the feel of VGT shooting in was good...

Unless you whack the engine, it should NOT get noisy. When I TDed, I used to get the noise only when I was revving hard.

Originally Posted by ACFT

...3.) I was feeling slight pain in my left leg after 15-20 mins of driving...

Could be since you are used to driving a Ritz petrol.

[narayan]

Brought in the 12k mark with a 500km drive to Coimbatore. Its now 7 months into the ownership. So far the beast has delivered on what I expected of her. Return trip should take her to 12.5k. Was doing between 100-120kmph with around 60-70% ac usage. Got 14kmpl. Good. On a few rough patches where other cars really had to slow including innovas and xuvs, took the beast at around 40kmph. Hope the beast is build tough beneath the skin and will handle this kind of mild abuse

[narayan]

On my return trip, noticed that at high speeds, wind noise was very high + steering had to be held firmly and mild undulations in the road was magnified.

[neel385]

Done 140 over an abandoned runway and totally agree with your observations with the steering. I somehow feel that there is too much feedback and the steering does not weigh in enough with increase in speed.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by narayan

On my return trip, noticed that at high speeds, wind noise was very high + steering had to be held firmly and mild undulations in the road was magnified.

Originally Posted by neel385

Done 140 over an abandoned runway and totally agree with your observations with the steering. I somehow feel that there is too much feedback and the steering does not weigh in enough with increase in speed.

Don't think this is true personally. The Storme does significantly higher speeds with a great deal of ease and stability. But yes, the steering should have been made to weigh in more at higher speeds. It does get a bit light, which actually makes one reasonably wary of holding it tightly/in a death grip.

[condor]

I think it's a broadly felt that steering should have weighed in more at higher speeds. But trust me guys, you havent drive the Sumo at high speeds

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by condor

I think it's a broadly felt that steering should have weighed in more at higher speeds. But trust me guys, you havent drive the Sumo at high speeds

What's high speeds for a Sumo - 120? I do know how the Sumo entire front end dives on braking even at city speeds, so pushing one past 100 is not something I would want to do.

[condor]

No Doc, not the later ones. Rated top speed for the TCIC Victa is 125, (130 on the Speedo). Agree pushing past 100 is not recommended, but I see that as valid more for the stability due to the SWB.

One of the reasons I gave up my Victa was due to super soft steering. The other things being the comfort & load due to the a/c compressor, all of which & more are there in the Storme.

[searacer932]

Narayan - Thanks for putting up a great thread. Would appreciate more pictures of the STORME :-)

I am considering STORME as next upgrade but just concerned about the following two points

a) Left pulling of the vehicle. Is this still present?
b) Vibration on the steering wheel at higher speeds

Appreciate your current experience on the above two points.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by searacer932

Narayan - Thanks for putting up a great thread. Would appreciate more pictures of the STORME :-)

I am considering STORME as next upgrade but just concerned about the following two points

a) Left pulling of the vehicle. Is this still present?
b) Vibration on the steering wheel at higher speeds

Appreciate your current experience on the above two points.

Searacer932 --- Sure I will post more pics ( largely i have posted most of the pics i have taken of the beast ).

a) I feel a mild pull when I go on highways. I am not sure whether this is due to road uneveness. Since its very mild, I havent bothered with it much but there are a few other members who had a major pulling problem for whom TML has replaced the steering rack assembly I understand
b) Above 120kmph, the steering feels light and transmits road undulations in a more pronounced manner. I don't think anything can be done about it. As such I personally will not drive the beast at such speeds on Indian roads

Pls take extensive TDs, prioritise your requirements and make your decision

[narayan]

The odo is at 14100. Progress has been slow since I touched the 12k mark. Planning to give the beast for the 15k service by the first week of may irrespective of odo reading. Key issues where I need a fix are
1. Rattling sound from the rear ---either the rear left door or the rear tail gate
2. Metallic sound at full lock u-turns and aggravated when the turn is taken with a change in gradient
3. Squealing sound from brakes
4. Cutch pedal spring squeaks big time and requires lubrication every week ! Is this normal ! Should I ask them to change the spring itself ?

All these issues are reported by other members in the forum and I too had reported them in the previous service only to resurface again. Otherwise no problems from the beast ( not to be expected also from a new car )

FE ---- get 11-11.5kmpl in chennai traffic without much ac usage

[narayan]

Gave the beast for the 3rd free service today. Odo is at ~14500. Apart from the routine service, have reported the below issues

1) Mettalic bursting sound under sharp full lock U-turns - am told this is not a major concern and just the stopper bolts making this noise. This noise can be avoided also if one takes a U-Turn carefully.

2) Door rattling - no solution in sight. I am not convinced on the tape method on the Ubolt. If this is fixing the sound, the core issue of the door vibrating still exists and wouldn't this be making the door hinges weaker over time ?

3) Brake squealing - TASS said they will change the brake pads under AMC. I asked them to return the old pads which they said they cant since its under AMC. Is there a way I can verify they changed the pads !


The TASS experience continues to be sub par. While the SAs are eager to help, I think there is a capacity/planning issue. I had an appointment fixed in advance and turned up early in the morning but for 30-40mins no one was able to attend to me. After I made a noise, one of the SAs came and said he will come after he finishes with another 4 customer. I then said I might as well take the beast to Concorde in that case. Immediately he took in the vehicle. All it takes is 15-20mins to take in the vehicle. Anyway they dont do an TD before taking the vehicle. TML has very little control on how the TASS works is what I could guage. Anyway good that I have to visit them only once in 15k kms !

While waiting there I was going through the service booklet and noticed the below

[JASMEET MATTOO]

Thanks for the brilliant thread Narayan and thanks for making us part of your journey so far with the beast. I too am a proud owner of Safari storme for the past 7 months and have done 9500 kms so far and it is truly an amazing experience. Everytime I drive it I feel that this has been the best decision of my life so far in terms of purchasing a car.

[narayan]

Got back the Beast day before after the 15000/1 yr 3rd free service.

Problems reported are given in my previous post above.

Service experience was okayish - typical TASS fare where you end up waiting till you either create noise or the SA feels you deserve his attention. Post that things start moving swiftly because the SAs somehow dread at the feedback the customer gives on the service. anything below 9 apparently costs them serverely.

Result of service

1) Got the car back with all the problems I reported fixed ( for now atleast ). Nost sure what they did but they got rid of the door rattling sound and there was no jugad insulation tape in the U bolts.
2) 2 new problems crept up as I drove back home from the service.

a) During alignment I think they did not lock up the steering wheel so its moderately off center. So when Im going dead straight, the steering is tilted to the right by a small degree. Not a major issue but it irritates people like us in the forum who have a these petrol head OCDs. A normal driver would care less about such variations in the steering alignment
b) The right indicator function did not work at all. Or rather it worked when it wanted to. Once I went back home, I gave the stalk a few hard yanks ( not so hard ). Post that its been working fine till now

3) Cleaning of the vehicle was sub par as usual.

4) Got the cracked ORVM replaced. The full unit. Dont ask me why I was stupid enough to shell out around 4.5k for just a cracked mirror.

5) I asked them to replace the front brake pads under AMC due to the squealing sound. The pads though were in good condition and have enough life.


Total bill ( minus the mirror ) was ~ Rs220. This is because I have the Gold AMC.

The changes done in this service were
1) Engine oil ( 7.5 l )
2) Oil filter
3) Air filter ( manual does not suggest change at this interval. It only says clean ). I need to open the air filter box and check what they have actually done
4) Fuel filter
5) Diffrential oil
6) All other things as a part of the routine service


I think without the AMC, this service would have probably cost around Rs5500 for the consumables and parts ( labour is anyway free ). I have here not included the brake pad cost of Rs3200 which is not part of the routine service

So I feel, if one were to strictly only require to do the stuff as required under the periodical services, it would be difficult to recover the cost of the AMC. Not sure if I am missing something

Finally, the vehicle felt very smooth before the service and somehow feel its not so smooth after the service ! Is this because of the new oil ? Am I suffering from stage 3 Petrol headism or what ?

[JASMEET MATTOO]

As mentioned by you in point number two about steering being a bit off centre, even I am facing the same problem. Not that it is a big issue or something, but before my second service I had taken a long trip from Delhi to Udaipur and roughly my storme had run about a 1000 kms in that trip. I observed that the steering alignment was towards left. So in my second service I informed the advisor to get it rectified and he did. Surprisingly the same problem was back in two three days.
Since then I have not been able to visit the service shop. Will get it rectified in my third service.
What do you think might be the cause of this? I usually drive at slow speeds and do not change lanes sharply.