[PAVAN KADAM]

Looks like safari has competition.

Mmm.... ok time for test drive

[DDDHRUV]

Very neat comparison Shatru.
Safari clearly scores on.
1. Looks
2. Ground Clearance
3. 140 BHP
4. ABS

If only TATA had provided integrated ROOF AC vents for 2nd row in the SAFARI it would be uncomparable.

[Murugan]

One more reason to go for the Grande and not the Safari:

According to some members in this forum and Autocar India magazine the current Safari is likely to be replaced by an all new vehicle next year. Guess what will happen to the cost and availabilty of spare parts in the long run not to mention the resale value. Agreed, agreed, one does not buy a vehicle for its resale value but a cost conscious buyer has to factor this is into the purchase cost.

[gowda79]

Originally Posted by Murugan

One more reason to go for the Grande and not the Safari:

According to some members in this forum and Autocar India magazine the current Safari is likely to be replaced by an all new vehicle next year. Guess what will happen to the cost and availabilty of spare parts in the long run not to mention the resale value. Agreed, agreed, one does not buy a vehicle for its resale value but a cost conscious buyer has to factor this is into the purchase cost.

There willl be no worry for the spares cost and availability in the long run.

Take the King and reclaim your life and enjoy the drivee..........

[suman]

Originally Posted by Murugan

According to some members in this forum and Autocar India magazine the current Safari is likely to be replaced by an all new vehicle next year. Guess what will happen to the cost and availabilty of spare parts in the long run not to mention the resale value.

Nothing will happen to the availability of spare parts in the long run - look at the number of TCIC Safaris that are still around.

And, to each his own but I've always been a strong believer about enjoying my drive - resale value has been last on my list & never a deciding factor.

[jkdas]

Any idea whats the model of Alpine HU that comes with the Grande?

and the Blau unit in Safari?

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Any idea whats the model of Alpine HU that comes with the Grande?

and the Blau unit in Safari?

Blaupunkt Mumbai

twenty twenty

[itwasntme]

Slightly OT but does anyone have any update on the rumoured update to the Safari's interiors (Grande type AC vents, better plastics etc) or about thel rumoured price increase of nearly 30k?

[kailashnj]

Today I had been to Shaman motors and checked out both Sumo Grande and Safari VTT. These are the driving impressions that I felt.

Sumo Grande

Fired the engine on and could feel the Dicor engine couf up to life. There were slight vibrations at the start and then the vehicle went into smooth idle.

Engaged the 1st gear and was slightly disappointed. The gear box throw was small but it was not positive. I lifted my foot from the clutch and was surprised at the way sumo jumped up. The initial pickup was good for the size of the car. Pickup of the car really left me astonished. Moved into 2nd gear and the car was doing a comfortable 20 kmph. Since the car was not registered, I could not take the car out far and had to return with in 1 km and hence this did make me realize the full potential of the car.

Safari VTT

The diffrence between the two cars is very evident the moment you sit inside. The driver seat of Sumo felt like a dwarf in front of Safari, I think no car has as much interior space as Safari. Test Safari was an EX variant 4x2.

Cranked up the safari and familiar vibration (Like Sumo) could be felt only thing was these vibrations lasted longer. It then went into a smooth idle.

Moved to first gear and the gear box had more positive feeling than the Sumo. Probably this was because of the 13000+ kms done by Safari. The power of the car on paper is more compared to Sumo, but Safari lacks the urgency of Sumo to take off.

Although this could be because Safari is heavier of the two, I decided to ask the showroom person and on probing found out that the clutch plates of this Safari were weak due to constant road test done.

Safari is for sure a better car to drive and could be felt very easily. Also I agree the overhead ac blower looks more of an after market, Safari has better interiors than Sumo. I was really surprised at the poise at which Safari drove in comparision to Sumo.

Conclusion

My vote goes to Safari, but we should not write off Sumo so soon as this is a vey good vehicle. One more conclusion is that TATA should have not used the brand name Sumo for Grande as this is much better than the previous sumo, which was primarily used as Tourist vehicle.

One observation that I surely made for Sumo was that the Radiator of this vehicle is very low and protected only with a sheet of fibre. In case of rough roads that could probably create a hindrance.

Regards,
Kailash

[ram_hyundai]

We got a good write upp here guys.This is going to be really hot.I got a feeling that more sedan users are going to get the taste of an suv in the shape of the grande.I hope with all due respect to the persons who have christened the grade that the sumo badge be removed.If that was the scene then it would have been more tempting to go for the grande.Scorpio should feel the heat for sure,but not by the introduction of the grande but with the launch of the 2.2 safari.
ram

[druva]

ACI is carrying a review report on Grande. Anybody seen this?
Planning to get one over the weekend.

[jkdas]

Sumo Grande; black one.

[zenx]

Maybe its just a good pic, but while its no stunner, it doesn't seem half as bad as some of the descriptions in other threads.
Qn: is there a door at the rear, or not ?

[Jammy70]

Hi guys,

This is my first post & am I happy to start with something useful - hopefully this will be one of the first TD's of the Grande (Mods: you can edit the title of this thread now!)

Before I get going, a bit of background: been toying with the idea of picking up the King/Truck/Beast/whatever sometime in the near fututre and that's when I stumbled on TBHP (no regrets!); have been visiting TBHP for a while now, though no posts (till this one).

On to more important matters: the TD.
Dealer: Prerana Mototrs, Sarjapur Rd (I TDrove the beast also with them couple of months back); Variant: GX (top-end), colour - Black

The Looks - exteriors: My first glimpse of the vehicle was from the rear and frankly, the back didn't look as bad as being discussed here, especially in this black version. In fact, I was quite disappointed about the front - it looked a bit staid and seemed to be trying hard to give those 'butch' looks. IMO, the vehicle looks fairly decent in black. Rating: 6.5/10

The looks - interiors: There are some thoughtful cubby-holes built in and the overall plastic quality is better than Sumo Victa; the seat finish & fabric was acceptable; thoughtful ergonomics, but... here's where the true heartache kicks in - while Tata has tried to give a whole lot of creature-comforts at a reasonable price, the bottom line is the quality of the fittings & finish is far from acceptable if I am going to pay Rs. 8.78 (on-road, B'lore). +tive: the cute AC vents on the roof, ergonomics, gear lever (I liked it!); -ve: plenty -switches, buttons... but the glove box & door levers are 'stand-out' performers! Rating: 3.5/10

The Drive: Ok, this is what many of you have been waiting for. There were 3 of us and a rep from the dealer and we all jumped in and well, I got the 'traditional' Tata welcome - engine immobiliser got activated for some reason and the vehicle didn't start until we played around with the remote lock. Not done yet - the driver's seat belt (mine) refused to budge from it's comfy setting and the RHS rear door puddle lamp wouldn't go off. Ignoring all that (since I had expected something like this!) I got the engine started and moved down Sarjapur Rd. 100 metres down and a warning beep starts off forcing me to pull over to the side - the rep was clueless and we all started a guessing game - is it the seatbelt warning or has it anything to do with the rear door (the 'door open' indicator was on all the while)? Finally, I tugged and pulled at the seatbelt to get it around me and the alarm died out; we were off on the TD(for the second time in 5 minutes!).
I thought the engine was really good. It was responsive, fairly quite and was off the blocks in a jjiffy (I ain't the technical type, so really cannot throw much light on 'when the turbo kicked in', at what RPM I was going, etc. To establish my pedigree, been driving a Palio 1.2 for close to 5 years and am still loving it!). Overall, the SG engine did deliver some good punch and was very compliant to my 'need for speed' and managed to push the vehicle to about 110kph without really feeling a strain on the engine. The brakes were very responsive too. Only downside (from the driver's viewpoint) was I felt the gears a bit notchy; else, it was a good drive.

Ok, that was the good part; now the downside. Leafsprings on something like this can only mean one thing: bumpy ride. Though quality of the ride was superior to the Sumo, it wasn't anywhere near that offered by the Beast. Also, found the rear seat bench to be a bit narrow - not sure how it will work on a long distance trip due to lack of thigh support. Body roll was quite noticeabale even at speeds around 70kmph, even in the front seats (I want my Safari!)

I think I have gone on long enough on this post; will add more later. Before I close, overall I would give the vehicle 6/10 and to me it doesn't measure up even against the Safari LX model, mainly due to the poor quality of interiors.

Cheers,

[Jammy70]

Adding on to my earlier TD of the Grande, here are some points I should have covered:

Driver's view: Provides a commanding view of the road, even with the driver seat adjustment kept to the lowest
NVH: Very negligible and full marks on this front. Even with the speedo around 80+kmph, the NVH was hardly noticeable. However, sensed the sound of wind seeping into the cabin at high speeds.
AC performance: The performance of the AC wasn't upto the mark; it took a while before it started cooling the cabin and even then, it didn't get 'really' cold inside.
Overall: I felt Tata has a winner on their hands IF they can get a new set of vendors for the interior fittings and look at doing something about the suspension. If they want to bite into Scorpio's sales, they need to do at least that much. Don't forget: Mahindra is lining up Ingenio round the corner and knowing them, it can be expected the fit and finish will be far better.

PS: don't even compare it to the Beast!

Ok, a few things I missed out earlier:

The aircon took it's own sweet time to cool and didn't do too good a job of it. This was at 5.30pm.
The driver's view was impressive, offering a good commanding feel of the road, even when the driver seat height was kept to minimum.
NVH was really not noticeable even at high speeds. However, I did sense the sound of wind leaking into the cabin at 80+kmph. There were no rattles or any disconcerting sounds either. In fact one of my friends commented it felt like a petrol engine (in terms of NVH), though I think that was laying it out a bit thick!
The paint job was really top class and deserves a round of applause. Exterior fit & finish was markedly better than what was on offer inside.

Overall, the Grande needs to find a new set of vendors for its interior fittings if it wants to compete with Scorpio (or the upcoming Ingenio). If they can do that & improve the rear leaves, Tata has a winner on their hands.

PS: The Safari is a different class altogether and it shows!! There is no face-off - SG cannot be compared to the Beast!

(Mods: please change title of thread - Driving impressions added!)

Cheers,

Note from Support Staff: Use the report post button for any modifications to thread title, etc. Thanks!