[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

In fact, Scorpio is not comfortable at all for such long drives.
In Scorpio, if you do such long drive you need to go to bed immediately due to tiredness. Safari's middle seat is gem and it is "chalta-firta" sofa set inside your car.

Let us refrain from making such blanket statements about the Scorpio's ride being so bad without experiencing it first hand.

I have traveled the length and breadth of the country in the Scorpio and have not had to "go to bed immediately" after continuous driving and sitting for over 15 hours/2000kms at a stretch.

In fact, one of the most senior travelers on this very forum has successfully used and his leaf spring Scorpio and is currently basking in its comfort at the high ranges of Ladakh as we speak.

It is not without reason that the Scorpio sells at least twice as much as the Safari month on month, year on year.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Let us refrain from making such blanket statements about the Scorpio's ride being so bad without experiencing it first hand.

Well, I have traveled extensively in Scorpio as well and this is purely my personal opinion after comparison. It may be the case that my perception is very different than others.

I was talking about middle row seats and Safari's middle row seat is lot ahead of Scorpio's middle row. (One fellow Scorpio owner in tbhp persuaded Mahindra dealer to do mod for his middle row seat of Scorpio then only he went ahead with his new Scorpio).

Let's stop it here otherwise, it will go long and long without any result.

[Lukeskywalker]

On a lighter note, since beds and blankets are being bandied about,

Let us refrain from making such blanket statements about the Scorpio's ride being so bad without experiencing it first hand.

What Anuj means to say Dev, is that the Scorpio is the ultimate cure for insomnia

I have traveled the length and breadth of the country in the Scorpio and have not had to "go to bed immediately" after continuous driving and sitting for over 15 hours/2000kms at a stretch.

Maybe, now it is time you travelled the length and breadth of this lovely country again, this time in a Tata Safari. , there goes my smiley usage.

It is not without reason that the Scorpio sells at least twice as much as the Safari month on month, year on year.

Why did you not give me this profound decision altering statement when you were doing the PDI of my Safari? Now, don't tell me I did not ask.

Again, this post is not to ruffle any feathers, chill maadi friends.

[mannubhai]

Anuj/Prem, been following ur posts pretty closely..

I did a TD in a scorpio, and my worst nightmare was true... I was short of leg room and i was cramped ..

Looks like im gonna be a scorpio rider soon ...

Lemme start getting my loan docs ready... As of now it looks like an LX .

Need to decide on the color and the dealership ...

Cheers guys, and thanks a ton

[jkrishnakj]

What a way to complete 1000 posts Hari- linking Beds and Blankets and insomnia and rufflings and feathers .

[Lukeskywalker]

Wow, was that my 1000th post, guess I have taken my time to do so. Thanks for pointing it out jkrishnakj.

BTW, Dev, a friend just pointed out a strange thing about your post

I have traveled the length and breadth of the country in the Scorpio and have not had to "go to bed immediately" after continuous driving and sitting for over 15 hours/2000kms at a stretch.

15 hrs of continous driving to cover 2000kms translates to an average speed of 133.33 kmph. Which part of our country (length or breadth) did you perform this feat? Isn't that a tad too fast for our highways, Scorpio or not?

Sorry Anuj, for hijacking your thread.

[anujmishra]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...ml#post1634428

See this first post by Yeti aka Sam Kapasi in his Land Rover thread about independent and unbiased opinion about Scorpio suspension. Not only seats are cramped in Scorpio it's suspension also taken beat.

Then about 5 or 6 years ago, my company bought a Mahindra Scorpio. No it wasn't a 4X4, it was a 2 wheel drive and it was bloody bouncy.

Bounce bounce bounce, whump whump whump. Who designed THAT suspension?

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

BTW, Dev, a friend just pointed out a strange thing about your post

15 hrs of continous driving to cover 2000kms translates to an average speed of 133.33 kmph. Which part of our country (length or breadth) did you perform this feat? Isn't that a tad too fast for our highways, Scorpio or not?

That is tad fast. In Safari this is not possible at all

[anujmishra]

Part 1: Small report of my ~3600 Kms drive in Safari Bangalore - Nagpur - Ghrishneswar - Shirdi - Shani Singnapur - Mumbai (via Malshej Ghat) - Bangalore

We planned for this trip for many days and due to many constraints, I was not able to plan it properly. This time I kept aside all constraints and made up mind I have to go. I had some important personal work at Nagpur and I was keep on delaying due to one or another reason.

We planned to leave for 6th of August and managed to get 4 days of leave. Friday was leave at office and coming Monday was 15th August.

We planned to leave 5AM sharp from home. One thing I came to know that there are no good restaurants en route to Hyderabad from Bangalore so my wife prepared breakfast and lunch for us . This also helped us to save time as journey was almost for 1140 Kms and I have to complete in a day.

There was 30 mins delay from home but it was acceptable as we were saving time for searching restaurant, ordering food etc. I had prepared one of my USB pen drive with selected songs. It was with my wife.

When she took out from her hand bag and by mistake it fell down between seat and center console. This area is very inaccessible in Safari and I hate this area. Sometimes, my mobile fell inside this and it is Herculean task to take out anything from this. When I was fitting my seat covers, they removed front seats and I managed to find lost money of 120 Rs. I keep all change in center place (below handbrake lever) for paying tolls/parking etc.

It took 15 minutes to take out USB drive from that place and by the time it was 5:45AM.

We started from our home and till KR Puram and Hebbal traffic began to pile up of Taxis and slow moving trucks. We crossed Airport and traffic started thinning. Road condition was fabulous till Hyderabad. After Anantpur around 8:30 AM, stopped for breakfast. We finished breakfast in 15 minutes and started again.

The only problem in this highway is reverse traffic on high speed lane. All Tractor, Ace, Cycle, Motorbike in those villages area come from opposite side without switching on their headlights. It is extremely dangerous, if someone is going with their own speed.

We managed to reach Hyderabad outskirts (Shamshabad) around 11:45 AM.
It was fast drive with average speed of 80 - 90 Kmph. Now the challenge was Hyderabad bypass. We managed to bypass Hyderabad by the route prescribed in Team-BHP Hyderabad Bypass thread. It took 1.5 hours to cross Hyderabad. By the time we reached other side of Hyderabad it was 1:30 PM. We stopped for refueling in a BP outlet. also and after refueling we quickly managed to finish our home cooked lunch.

500 Kms were still remaining. We started and completed 100 Kms and then diversion started. It began to slow down our average speed. There was 60 - 70 Kms of diversion and it took hell lot of time to cross those uncountable diversions on those uncompleted N-S corridor road. There were many patchy, potholed, water filled craters. We negotiated all of them and managed to reach outskirts of Nagpur, Butibori around 10 PM. I stopped there for 15 mins for stretching and relaxing. Then reached home in Nagpur by 10:35PM. I took such small breaks of 5 - 10 mins for stretching and relaxing.

Total Kms traveled in a single day was 1140 Kms. Home to Home. This was fantastic journey in all comforts provided by Safari and all three of us (I, My Wife and my 5 and half year old son) enjoyed thoroughly in those pathetic roads. Middle seat is sofa set and my son was very happy sleeping in back seat with pillow and light blanket. Wife also managed to squeeze in for quick nap after lunch.

Between Hyderabad to Nagpur all bus services has been stopped due to extremely pathetic road condition.

This ends First Part of our journey. Next 5 days we spent in Nagpur for completing my personal work.

Part 2: Nagpur - Ghrishneswar -Shirdi - Shani Singnapur will come shortly.
Part 3: Shani Singnapur - Mumbai (via Malshej Ghat) - Bangalore.

[anujmishra]

Third Free Service Completed

Off late I have completed 15K Kms in Safari in a year. There was no complain or problem to report except windscreen water jet towards driver side was not working properly. It was replaced under warranty. No squeaks, no sound and nothing to report to them even after 3600 KM long trip.

I gave it for service at KHT Motors, Whitefield.

Oil change and Oil filter changed out of AMC that I have. Bill amount came - 0 Rupees for third free service.

One one goof up they have done is AMC details not updated still in their system, but they promised to do that asap.

Second is they have broken Safari logo at the back and letter i was removed. Now it only remains "Safar LX" at back. I am getting new monogram from them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accessories Update:

I have ordered pair of Concept CLD-700 and CLS-700 headrest screens from US. It will be reaching sometimes next week. CLD version has DVD Player, USB, Memory Card slot and CLS is pure screen. It is one of the best quality screen with DVD player in it. So many Chinese stuffs are present in market, which I do not want to buy.

Also I am look out for good quality left side Sun Visor Screen for front passenger. I have heard that Xenos has same product and it is listed in their website. Need to contact their local dealer or retailer.

My family specially my son missed his cartoons during recent long trip. He was pushing me to fit screen. It is for him to enjoy. Best part is he can watch his cartoons and we can listen to music. Of course, he has to use headphone for that.

Check this link for headrest screen: Mobile Electronics

Planning to convert my Safari a moving Theater.

[anujmishra]

Headrest screens Concept CLD-700 and CLS-700 arrived in post office in Bangalore. They left one notice at home to collect item from post office. This is ridiculous. Also they told us to pay 2578.00 Rs. as custom charge. These days post office guys never deliver any item at home, instead ask us to collect at postoffice. What are their duties?


I am not understanding how custom is applicable for item which is well below 12000 Rs. as price. It is mentioned at many places that custom would not be charged if invoice value is less than 12000. I cannot inquire now, as I am out of India at present. My wife would go to post office and collect the items. Once I come back to India, would try to contact custom for their charges.

[quadra]

Glad to know the safari living up to its expectations.

I was checking a review of the CLS screens on youtube - i am amazed that this tiny headrest can play a DVD. I think i am not that up to date.

Why a pair of CLS & CLD? Those would be like 4 screens right?

Would love installation pics of this beauty.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

I am not understanding how custom is applicable for item which is well below 12000 Rs. as price. It is mentioned at many places that custom would not be charged if invoice value is less than 12000.

You are right. They cannot charge customs duty for items worth less than Rs.12000. I think it's just a ploy to extract some money from you. When you go to the post office, take the invoice for the headrest screens with you, plus a print out of the web page given below. The permissible limit of Rs.12k is clearly mentioned there. If you have the patience to browse the website, then you may even find the exact rule somewhere too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cheers,
Vikram

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by quadra

Glad to know the safari living up to its expectations.

I was checking a review of the CLS screens on Youtube - i am amazed that this tiny headrest can play a DVD. I think i am not that up to date.

Why a pair of CLS & CLD? Those would be like 4 screens right?

Would love installation pics of this beauty.

Thanks quadra. CLD contains DVD and CLS is pure screen. I have CD-MP3-USP-Memory card player. So, I opted for inbuilt DVD player CLD. Output of CLD will go to CLS one and it will play same video on both screen. Also, if I want I can connect separate media player in both the screens.

Pair of CLS and CLD. Means One CLD screen and one CLS screen. I will share installation pic in 15 days when I go back to India.


Here is youtube review of CLD-700.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4TOHFCsfIE

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

You are right. They cannot charge customs duty for items worth less than Rs.12000. I think it's just a ploy to extract some money from you. When you go to the post office, take the invoice for the headrest screens with you, plus a print out of the web page given below. The permissible limit of Rs.12k is clearly mentioned there. If you have the patience to browse the website, then you may even find the exact rule somewhere too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cheers,
Vikram

Yes agree with you and I did my homework. Unfortunately, I am out of India and I had to ask my wife to collect it and later when I go back I will take everything to post office and custom office with their rule book.

[anujmishra]

Planning for next Trip

Possibility : 60%
Not Possible: 40%

I am yet not back to India, but planning another long long trip to my hometown . This would be total of ~5000 Kms trip spread across two weeks. My route plan is as follows

Bangalore - Nagpur - Patna - Giridih - Godda - Giridih - Dhanbad - Jamshedpur - Bhubneshwar - Bangalore.

I am just thinking about this trip and start date of journey would be 30th of October. Want to reach Patna at most by 10 AM on 1st of November. I hope I can reach.

30th October: Bangalore - Nagpur: Stay at relative's place
31st October: Nagpur - Patna? or Varanasi depends upon me and how long I can continue.
1st November: If not reached Patna on 31st then from halt place to Patna.

Big challenge would be to reach Patna on 31st night. If not possible, I would take halt somewhere near Varanasi and next day would start early to reach Patna.

Rest of the visit is tentative/dates not planned. But have to back Bangalore by 13th of November.
Hope for the best.

[verditer]

I can understand you're itching to get going with your Safari since you've been out for a while now....
And yes, Safari can do that trip in style. Keep us posted!!!!