[Samba]

I have seen you put up the review last week but i refrained from commenting as for the last week i didn't get much time to read it completely. Just now i finished reading the whole review. I must say you have summed it up beautifully, covering almost every important and minor aspects.

From the review i must say its a better Safari and a very good choice as Tata has also mostly come out of it niggles and reliability issue's too. The interiors also look nice and classy. Its not as jazzy as the xuv 500 but the Safari storm has its own charm plus i must say it looks beautiful in this color. I have seen your car personally on the Team Bhp meet and it really looked stylish. Plus the road presence of a Safari Storm is never questionable too.

Wish you a niggle free and happy ownership.

[Captdey]

Storme is a nice SUV indeed , My only concern was ASS of Tata Motors ,
your narration is very crisp and straight forward .

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Samba

I have seen you put up the review last week but i refrained from commenting as for the last week i didn't get much time to read it completely. Just now i finished reading the whole review. I must say you have summed it up beautifully, covering almost every important and minor aspects.

From the review i must say its a better Safari and a very good choice as Tata has also mostly come out of it niggles and reliability issue's too. The interiors also look nice and classy. Its not as jazzy as the xuv 500 but the Safari storm has its own charm plus i must say it looks beautiful in this color. I have seen your car personally on the Team Bhp meet and it really looked stylish. Plus the road presence of a Safari Storm is never questionable too.

Wish you a niggle free and happy ownership.

Thanks Samba.

Originally Posted by Captdey

Storme is a nice SUV indeed , My only concern was ASS of Tata Motors ,
your narration is very crisp and straight forward .

I personally feel that TASS is not bad these days and Tata Motors is trying hard at their end to improve the customers' perception of its service.

[psurelia]

UPDATE: The stock H/T tires are a big disappointment

From my 7500+ kms of driving, following are my observations regarding the off-road performance of the vehicle.

1. The 4x4 works exceptionally well. The electric shifter has gone through quite a lot including some serious water wading while coming back from Darjeeling and I still have no issues with it.
2. The engine never runs out of steam. It is ever ready to get you out of hell. It is an indomitable monster while crawling up steep and rocky roads.
3. The stock Bridgestone Dueler H/T tires are very silent and fuel efficient on road. But in mud/slush, they are absolutely useless. If you have all four tires in the slush and at any point fail to maintain a good rolling speed, you find yourself helplessly spinning all 4 wheels and giving a nice face pack all over your car . Fortunately, I had BlackPearl and JD to give me a pull to get out of the trap. Even if you are able to maintain the required rolling speed, you go skidding all the way which will be dangerous in bad hill roads. Therefore, I am considering to get the tires replaced before my upcoming trip. I wonder why Tata ships the 4x4 variant with H/T tires that rob 60-70% of the vehicle's capabilities.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by psurelia

The engine never runs out of steam. It is ever ready to get you out of hell. It is an indomitable monster while crawling up steep and rocky roads.

1. The stock Bridgestone Dueler H/T tires are very silent and fuel efficient on road. But in mud/slush, they are absolutely useless. If you have all four tires in the slush and at any point fail to maintain a good rolling speed, you find yourself helplessly spinning all 4 wheels and giving a nice face pack all over your car .

Agree that the engine has so much power. It pulls like a jet. Bridgestone Dueler H/T are meant for Highway runs and not so much for off roading. So they were useless when you were off roading. Why don't you go for a change to A/T or M/T tyres?

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by psurelia

UPDATE: The stock H/T tires are a big disappointment

Please check the below link for more information about Safari Tyres.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-tyres-52.html

Most of the suggestions were for Michelin LTX AT. Why don't you try them?

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Please check the below link for more information about Safari Tyres.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-tyres-52.html

Most of the suggestions were for Michelin LTX AT. Why don't you try them?

Thanks JoseVijay. I shall check them out.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by psurelia

......

How is the car treating you, further updates, trips, photos? Am sure, you might have something to share with us

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Sheel

How is the car treating you, further updates, trips, photos? Am sure, you might have something to share with us

Hey Sheel, Apologies for the delayed response. The truck has been a wonderful workhorse so far. It has done 17K kms in 14 months. I am absolutely satisfied with it. The following are the only two repairs required so far.

1. The front left window glass started to get hiccups while rolling up. After repair by the TASS, it did not occur again. So, good job by TASS there.
2. The black plastic skirting of the rear bumper cracked after being rear ended by an Auto-rickshaw. It completely broke after being scraped while starting a steep climb during an OTR. The tacky plastic piece did cost me 7K bucks to replace!

The front and rear overhangs are not really ideal for offroad applications. Driven carefully, it is a very capable off the road and the ride is equally comfortable as it is on highways. I would like to quote what fellow BHPian Samba had to say about the ride when he was sitting with me during an OTR - "It's off-roading in club class!"

Below are the trips that I have done so far with this truck

Storme through the Hills: Kolkata to Darjeeling & Gangtok

A Zip Trip to the Shores – Kolkata to Puri

Nature, Culture & Fun – Jaldapara & Bhutan in a Safari Storme

Into the Mangroves of the Sundarbans

Apart from these, It has taken me to Mondarmoni once and to my hometown, Bolpur (Shantiniketan), and my in-laws' place, Bokaro, a number of times.

And finally, here is a short video of the beast playing off the road which got decent attention on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTCqWsSYrgU

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

Please do not take it to the otr's just for the sake of doing one or as the trend is now a days. This is an explorer, have loads of fun going to new places.

This is the most awesome piece of advise. And for my 4WD Scorpio, I am sticking with this, have named it Explorer as well.


These are not dedicated OTR mud plugger, but a vehicle to be taken anywhere, in relative comfort with occupants.

Originally Posted by psurelia

The front and rear overhangs are not really ideal for offroad applications. Driven carefully, it is a very capable off the road and the ride is equally comfortable as it is on highways.

[psurelia]

Originally Posted by Sheel

This is the most awesome piece of advise. And for my 4WD Scorpio, I am sticking with this, have named it Explorer as well.


These are not dedicated OTR mud plugger, but a vehicle to be taken anywhere, in relative comfort with occupants.

That is absolutely true Sheel and an experienced driver like Himadri da who has owned Safari, Travera, Duster and Thar can never go wrong on this . I don't take it for hard core offroading. What I usually do can rather be termed as fact finding - very cautious offroad testing to find out the reality of various offroad parameters and behaviours. For example, during the very first two OTRs I was convinced that mud is to be avoided at any cost till it is on the stock Bridgestone HTs. This is important especially for a novice like me so that I know exactly what not to expect for the vehicle and how to best use the capabilities in tricky situations.

As a matter of fact, we somehow managed to drag Himadri da as well into these fact finding excursions