The best among the lot... Review on Chevrolet Tavera

While wanting to buy a SUV my choice was Scorpio, Innova and Tavera. Scorpio is good and sporty looking, Innova looks like a Mini-bus, though the interiors looks good. Then it was Tavera that impressed me by its Majestic Exterior looks and the beautiful beige dual tone Interiors. It looks big and also majestic like a ‘Royal Elephant’.

And also after reading through many reviews in MOUTHSHUT for all these vehicles, I decided to go for Tavera B4 model which was launched in April 2007 only. I got the delivery in 5 days from the date of booking.

The Turbo 2.5L engine is quite and yet very powerful. Though it doesn’t have the jumping like pick-up of a Scorpio it makes the move smoothly without any jerk to the passengers. That’s the way it should be. Once it on the road, it is very quick equal to a Scorpio/ Innova etc.

I have recently completed 2 services and at present I am getting 14.3 km/ltr locally and over 18 km/ltr on highways if you maintain a constant speed of 70/80 km/ph.

The interior of this car is very spacious compared to any other car in this category. I bought a 7-seater and 7 people could sit leisurely even with the legs folded. The space between the front seats and 2nd is really good and you can extend your leg comfortably; which is not possible in any other vehicles. My son keeps moving around in the car all the time and he calls it a ‘Play ground’. In a Scorpio lacks interior space and passengers have to almost stick together to make it a 7-seater. The seats are also made of good quality stuff and very comfortable even on long drives. The one thing that gives the most beautiful look to the interiors is the wooden finish panel of the dash board. It gives a costly look. The instrument panels are well placed and easily visible.

The ‘Low Beam’ of headlights is adjustable which I am seeing for the first time. This gives a very good road view at night particularly when you are driving at nights on a road with plenty of pot holes. But the bulb supplied by the company is not so powerful; when I replaced it with 110/130 Phillips Halogen bulb and it is like daylight when you put it on. Also you get the due respect from the Heavy Truck drivers when you put it on ‘High beam’, who usually never dips the light for you.

The added advantage is the door centre lock with the driver so that the doors can be locked as soon as everybody is inside. The child-lock feature is also an added advantage to this. I always put the back right-side door on Child-lock so that somebody doesn’t accidentally open to get down on the roadside. If required the driver can get down and open the door for them

The power steering is also to be appreciated as it responds to slight touches and you can maneuver it on any narrow streets and the turning radius is small and you can even turn the vehicle in a small street.

The gear is a bit farther away from the driver, but is still manageable as it is very smooth to use the gears.

I was surprised to note that you can drive at 15-20 kms in 3rd gear and the vehicle would move as smoothly as if in 2nd gear. Only if you really need to slow down that you would need to change to 2nd gear. In slow moving traffic you can drive at 3rd gear without any jerk.

I selected the single outlet AC option but this model comes with a powerful compressor and the AC is very cooling and the cabin gets cool very quickly after taking it out after a long time parking under the sun. Even while driving on high terrains and mountain routes the AC can be put in full blast and it doesn’t hinder the engine performance at all. If you are driving, you won’t even feel as if you have put the AC on, it is so comfortable to drive.

I have taken a Yellow number plate so that it is used as a Taxi in my absence when I go to work abroad. My driver who was earlier driving a Tavera earlier version says that Chevrolet has done a lot of changes from the earlier version and very impressed. He says his customers call this car even for the shortest trip as they say it is far more comfortable than an Indica/ Ambassador Taxis!

I bought all the car  exterior accessories from outside as it is a bit costlier in the showroom.

I would like to add here that always drive in a constant speed of 70/80 kms on a highway so that you would be able to control the vehicle immediately. Also the passengers feel at comfort this way. When you are driving at different speeds and always trying to take close overtakes, the passengers are in more tension than the driver and would always keep watching the driver and wouldn’t be able to enjoy the trip. This is a true fact.

My family loves this car and we always opt for Tavera over our Ford ‘Ikon’ when we are going for long trips. My parents are in their 60’s and once we went from Trichur to Tirupur(600kms return) and after arriving home, I was amazed when my parents say that they didn’t feel any tiredness even after such a long drive and was asking me if I have planned going out anywhere else.

My kids always occupy that 3rd row(opposite seats) all for  themselves and have their fun time like playing cards, singing songs etc as the drive is smooth and they almost forget that they are in a moving car.

And to conclude my honest opinion is'Tavera' is in fact a true Family car…It is an addition to our family members including the Ford Ikon & Premier Padmini.