[Seek]

Trip 2 : May 2016
Chennai - Vijaywada - Hyderabad - Tadoba - Hyderabad - Nagarjunasagar - Chennai
9 Days ~ 2800 Kms

This was the longest road trip in the storme so far.

Highlights of the trip from a storme perspective:
1. Full load with 4 adults, 2 kids (12 yrs, 3 yrs) and enough baggage was comfortably managed in the 2BHK on wheels.
2. Sweltering heat around vijayawada (42-43 degs), hyderabad (42-43 degs) and especially tadoba (43-44 degs) was comfortably managed in the storme. AC worked wonderfully well and no issues due to heating etc.
3. Soft-roading in the Tadoba forest in the storme. One of the very few reserves that allows private vehicles after a forest permit is obtained. So drive it on all types of terrain in the forest without any fuss.
4. Am not a music fan, but on the return leg was with a friend who is a music afficonado and he enjoyed the music to the fullest extent.
5. Hyderabad - Chennai was an almost non stop 11 hour drive on a single tank. 747 Km and when I topped up on reaching home, 54 litres went in.

Some pics to do the talking

Stayed at the MTDC Tadoba. Probably the best accomodation at the park.



View from the cottage balcony. Was sweltering hot outside



Went out on 4 safaris - 3 in the forest gypsies and one in the storme. Hadnt seen tigers in 25+ national park visits over the last 25 years and then had an amazing sighting in Tadoba. We spotted Maya and her 3 cubs (2 males and 1 female) across the 3 days that we were there. Some of the pics below

Maya and her cubs















Saw a lot of other wildlife too. Wild dogs relaxing in the pool





A sloth bear ambling along



Baby owl and its mother



An alligator beside the tadoba lake

Omni present Bison





Plenty of sambar deer. Here is one quenching his thirst.



Jungle Hare



Nothing beats the experience of doing the safari in your own vehicle.



That's me and our forest guide Lakshman at the end of the safari.



The beast was caked in dust at the end of the safari and i was surprised at the amount of dust that went into the rear door latch







Overall a very memorable trip. Tadoba is truly the tigers abode.



After dropping my parents at hyderabad and my family flying off to mumbai from there, it was me and a friend who drove back to chennai with a load of andhra mangoes and their aroma filling the storme Nice return trip with a short break at nagarjunsagar dam and some soft roading around it.











End of Trip 2.

[Seek]

Trip 3 : Jun 2016
Chennai - Sriharikota - Chennai
1 Day ~ 280 Kms

This one was a unique and exciting trip. A solo drive early morning to watch the PSLV C34 takeoff from Sriharikta High Altitude Range (SHAR) of the satish dhawan space center. Amazing experience to see the rocket blast off. The sonic boom was so loud that panels inside the storme were vibrating! Overall a pretty smooth ride on NH4.

Just the kind of action that I picked the beast for.

Some pics below. Pardon the quality since they are all phone pics. Murphy struck that day. I had my DSLR without any charge in the battery with me.

For lesser mortals like me who didnt have any special passes from ISRO, The launch can be viewed from across a lake. There is a mud road skirting the lake exactly opposite the 2 launch pads. I reached an hour early and parked there



Those towers acros the lake are Launch pad 1. The launch was from Launch pad 2 which is to the right of those towers



And then people gathered and soon you start checking the time. Launch was at 9.26 AM and all you can do is only guess how close you are to the ISRO time. And then suddenly it was off!





The blastoff was greeted with loud cheers from the 40-50 people that had gathered to watch it.





And then it kept thrusting up , up and away.



Beyond a point there is a sonic boom that hits you and it is something to experience. The door panels, windows all started rattling in the storme!



And within a minute and a half, it was out of sight.



What an experience!



So, thats what the storme has been up to. There are 2 more long road trips coming up. Will update as I complete them.

Trip 4:August 2016
Chennai - Bangalore - Mudumalai - Bangalore - Chennai
4 Days ~ 1500 Kms

Trip 5 : Sep 2016
Chennai - Chitradurga - Dandeli - Goia - Jog Falls - Shimoga - Chennai
9 Days ~ 2500 kms

[Seek]

So both the trips mentioned in the above post went as planned and the storme was as good as it can be on the trips. Took all types of road conditions in in its stride without any issue whatsoever.

Odo stands at 15244 km currently in 8 months of ownership. The Second free service was done at 9800 Kms and wiper blades were replaced FoC as part of the Gold AMC. Apart from that I have picked up an annual wash package with 3M and so the beast goes in for a nice foam treatment and under body, internal wash and vaccum after every long trip.

Trip 4:August 2016
Chennai - Wellington - Mudumalai - Bangalore - Chennai
4 Days ~ 1496 Kms

Me and my friend (he drives a thar) had decided to indulge in some cycling in the nilgiris combined with a visit to his estate. This combined with the heavy rains in gudalur in august meant some fair bit of soft roading. In the estate this means a lot of slush and water crossing. I was amazed at how the beast (remember mine is a 4*2) performed. Of course the thar was there for any eventuality but we never got to any situation that needed it. It was able to do the water crossing of a boulder ridden stream with ease, navigate estate roads that had 4-6 inches of slush also without a fuss. a bit of sliding around was actually fun

The Thar in the water crossing


The storme entering the crossing


Posing in the water


...and exit


The beasts together


And the storme posing alone


Overall the trip was a confidence booster in what the 4*2 version can be pushed too. Made me realise:
* The weight doesn't bog it down like i thought it would. Somehow feels nimble
* The wheels are nicely set inside the wheel well and there wasn't any unneccesary mud / slush spluttering on to the body
* The torque deliverd in the first gear is phenomenal to make it move in any sticky soft-road situation and you dont even need to rev very high. Just putters along
* Slightly larger tyres may make it even more capable

Apart from the offroading, this was the beast's first visit to the hills and it was a treat to drive it around, especially in the hair pin bends with the rear wheel drive serving as a pivot, so much more fun than my honda city.

Trip 5 : Sep 2016
Chennai - Chitradurga - Dandeli - Goa - Jog Falls - Shimoga - Chennai (Intended)
Chennai - Chitradurga - Dandeli - Goa - Anantpur - Chennai (Actual)
9 Days ~ 2323 kms

This was a family trip all over north karnataka made adventurous by the agitation between TN and Karnataka over the cauvery water. We had crossed into bangalore just a day before things went bad and so were safely away but the return trip from goa via jog falls and shimoga had to be cancelled. My wife and daughter flew down to chennai from goa and me and my son drove a slightly circitous route via londa, hubli, hospet, bellary, anantpur to chennai. The return drive was mentaally tiring since all the above mentioned routes were single lane highways, so had to constantly watch for on coming traffic and overtake. Lots of heavy truck traffic after hospet.

Some pictures to do the talking.

On the way to dandeli. beautiful roads in north karnataka and the wildlife we saw there needs a thread of its on.


Lovely sightings of the hornbill and kali river crocodiles.






Weaver birds are plenty there too with their beautifully woven nests


Network signal in dandeli near the forest rest house is best recieved on top of this watch tower


Moved on to Goa after making sure there was no tension in reaching the karnataka goa border. Thanks to our indian army for the situation updates.

Typical goan roads. Thin nd lined with beautiful surroundings. A drive to my alma-mater - Goa institute of management at Ribandar.




A short trip to divar island the church that adorns its hill


Can a signboard be any simpler? This personifies goan culture - simple, fun, effective


Stayed 3 days at goa and then took the altered return journey as i mentioned above.

Sign of things to come in the ghats - Clouds!


Some heavy fog made the drive fun and challenging. (Note: fog was far denser than the pictures make it look!)






A boat on a truck!


Windmills after hubli


The thermal power station at bellary



Nothing more relieving than crossing over from Karnataka into Andhra!


The trip was fun, but all the agitation tension distupted the return. Made me identify a few spots for a next holiday though. The daroji bear sanctuary at bellary, Horseley hills at madanapalle and ofcourse Hampi. Have already prepared a 5 day itinerary!

Overall, the highlights from a storme perspective on this trip were:
* Physically no strain at all. I did a non-stop 11 hours drive from goa to anantpur and not a niggle anywhere in the body - ankles, elbows, lower back - typically prone areas were perfect
* Mileage was stupendous through out. 14+ consistently
* The ability to pull through in any gear. I overtook trucks in 4th and 5th gear without having to think of down shifting. Just press the A-pedal and the power surge continues. Beautiful response in the 1800-2800 rpm band.

A mileage pic to sign off the kitna deti hai question Average till date close to 13 kpl! In City consistently 12 kpl, In highway consistently 14 kpl. 100% AC ON!

[gaganchugh06]

Hai seek

strome looks a real beast .my strome is also giving this same mileage .

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Seek

[b]

For lesser mortals like me who didnt have any special passes from ISRO, The launch can be viewed from across a lake. There is a mud road skirting the lake exactly opposite the 2 launch pads. I reached an hour early and parked there

Can you post exact GPS coordinates of this place? and directions ?

[Seek]

Originally Posted by gaganchugh06

Hai seek

strome looks a real beast .my strome is also giving this same mileage .

Thanks gagan. yes, a beast it is!

Originally Posted by arjithin

Can you post exact GPS coordinates of this place? and directions ?

Hi arjithin, I can find out the GPS coordinate and let you know. Else I am sharing the link to a blog that I read and followed for the exact directions to the site. It's perfect to the T.

http://bharatrram.blogspot.in/2015/1...india.html?m=1

(All credits to the blog owner)

Infact today was the pslv launch. Had to miss it due to work.

[sidzz]

Originally Posted by Seek

A boat on a truck!
Attachment 1558709

I guess this was somewhere near Ramnagar.

[Seek]

Originally Posted by sidzz

I guess this was somewhere near Ramnagar.

Yes, exactly. Just after coming down the ghats and heading towards Ramnagar.

[Seek]

So the beast completed 20,000 kms in 11 months and went in for the 3rd service yesterday.

15000 to 20000 Kms.
This period was uneventful with the storme. The only long trip was a weekend drive to hyderabad and back. Went one day and came back a day later. Chennai hyderabad was done in 10.5 hours each way in such amazing comfort in the beast as always. Haven't had the chance to put in another long drive. Was also out in the storme at the peak of the chennai vardah cyclone and waded through close to 2 feet water without much fuss.

20,000 Kms service
My favourite service advisor at concorde, ecr, chennai had switched jobs and so I was sceptical about the service and had my fingers crossed. The minor complaints I had were:
1.Steering was misaligned a little to the left. If i made it straight the beast would pull to the right.
2. both front windows were slowing down while closing about 3 inches from the top.
3. a slight rattle from somewhere near the front passenger door / seat-belt area.
4. slight squeaking from the rear compartment door. Traced the source of the sound last week.

The vehicle was dropped off at 9 AM on monday morning and was assured delivery the same day evening. Chennai ran into some protests due to which the road test for the rattle sound couldn't be checked and I was promptly delivered back the beast on Tuesday at my workplace. Note that I didn't have to even request once for a vehicle drop, they proactively asked me if i wanted the vehicle dropped back at home or office! Even honda guys make a big fuss when i ask for a pick or drop of my honda city zx.

All complaints have been satisfactorily addressed and the bill stands at Rs 353/- for the weights used in the wheel balancing. The rest was all covered as part of the Gold AMC.

What has been great so far at 20k kms.
1. Mileage: I am averaging close to 13 kmpl in all the 20k kms driven so far. My last mileage within the city was 13.85 kmpl!!



2. Smoothness: The beast just glides on the road with the varicor engine rhythmically purring. Its a very pleasing sound with no feeling of strain on the engine whatsoever

3. Braking: was caught out in 2 close braking situations in the last 1 month and the beast stopped like a rock from 60-80 kph speeds. I never had a doubt about it stopping and was actually worried about the guys behind me, whether they will be able to brake in time.

4. Fuss free ownership :Was initially worried while buying the beast but now an year later am so pleased with my decision. Been just awesome and have no regrets at all. Infact I feel for those people who decide to give the storme a pass and don't even bother to take a test drive stating its a TATA. A test drive alone is enough to steal your heart!

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Seek

2. both front windows were slowing down while closing about 3 inches from the top.

So the infamous window issue has come to you too.
What was the fix they administered? Is it ok now?

Originally Posted by Seek

A test drive alone is enough to steal your heart!

Indeed..!!!

The space, ride quality and that sublime feeling of gliding over everything is what makes the Safari what is, a vehicle which invokes a lot of heart felt passion...!!

[Seek]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

So the infamous window issue has come to you too.
What was the fix they administered? Is it ok now?

This actually came up earlier on itself around the 3rd or 4th month of ownership. The window glass gets misaligned from its channel -either popping out or diagonally getting misaligned. Then and now as well it has been 'resolved' by cleaning and smoothening out the channel to allow a smooth movement of the glass. I think it's a matter of time before the issue comes up again. Root cause I think is in the mechanism that pushes the glass up, somewhere the force is not evenly spread out.

In my case the glass hasn't popped out from the channel other than once many months back, so the issue is liveable when it occurs.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Seek

This actually came up earlier on itself around the 3rd or 4th month of ownership. The window glass gets misaligned from its channel -either popping out or diagonally getting misaligned.

This is a legacy Safari issue due to the following factors:

1. The size of the glass is too large for the winder to push up which results uneven force and misalignment.

2. The shape of the channel is such that a slight change of direction of force results in the glass popping out of the channel.

3. The thickness of the channel groove is insufficient to hold the glass firmly resulting in it sliding out of it.


It happens to most Safaris and TML is yet to engineer a permanent fix to it in 19 years.

[krish3]

@Seek -: Any updates on the Storme

[predatorwheelz]

Thank you for a candid and informative review. I'm scouting around for an SUV within the 15L mark, and the EX 4X2 makes an interesting choice. Yours is probably the only post facelift Storme review on the site right now, and that too an EX. Do keep posting regular service updates, trip updates and (most importantly for a Tata) niggle updates!

On a different note, I'm a GIM alumni too, from the 2005 to 07 batch. 2 of my batchmates are also members on this forum. Which batch are you?

[Seek]

Originally Posted by krish3

@Seek -: Any updates on the Storme

Sorry for a late reply, was off the forum for a bit. The beast is doing awesome. No issues whatsoever. 33000 KMS done and the mileage is a steady 11.8 kmpl or thereabouts in the city and 15.5 kmpl and thereabouts in the highway.

Ride quality, interiors, AC, tyres, battery have all stayed true for 2.5 years and no signs of ageing.

The only "issue" has been the rubber buttons of the key remote have wornout leaving gaping holes. Need to get a new key remote from TASS and then a new key.

Barring that I have purchased a small pouch of white grease which I use on the door and boot hinges and there is absolutely no squeaking over any terrain.

Gold AMC is working well and haven't paid a penny in service cost either.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Thank you for a candid and informative review. I'm scouting around for an SUV within the 15L mark, and the EX 4X2 makes an interesting choice. Yours is probably the only post facelift Storme review on the site right now, and that too an EX. Do keep posting regular service updates, trip updates and (most importantly for a Tata) niggle updates!

On a different note, I'm a GIM alumni too, from the 2005 to 07 batch. 2 of my batchmates are also members on this forum. Which batch are you?

Hi predatrowheelz, latest update in my above reply. Have had a great experience with the storme. It is a great pick in the under 15L segment especially if it's an SUV you are looking at. Nothing comes close to the comfort and the ride quality and feel as the storme. Niggles were there initially but all taken care without any fuss or trouble.

Nice to know you are GIMite. I am from the 2001 batch when the institute operated in the old campus (erstwhile Goa medical college campus at ribandar)

Feel free to shoot any other queries on the storme anytime!