Jan 23, 2001 09:03 PM
24622 Views
If the Safari is the state of things to come in Indian Automobiles; we have come a long way baby. This is a machine, which intimidates you at first sight when you consider the sheer size of the thing along with it’s drop-dead good looks, which simply oozes machismo mesmerizing you with it’s high ground clearance, smooth contours, chunky radial tyres and an excellently sculpted body (The nasty B-pillar does not stick out) . When the Safari is judged solely by it’s looks, it sure beats other ''phoren'' SUV’s like Nissan Patrol and Range Rover by a formidable margin, and gives the Toyota LandCruiser, the Mitsubishi Pajero and the Jeep Cherookee a run for their money.
Enough about it’s visual charm. Let’s get down to business and talk a bit about the power plant, which lurks inside the graceful silhouette. The Safari is powered by a 2 litre turbodiesel which churns out power in excess of 100BHP. Opinions may differ as regards the adequacy of the engine. For Normal city use, I guess it’s more than sufficient, but rallying and serious off-roading requires a more vicious monster; especially so when you consider the unladed weight of the vehicle.
I had the honour of test driving this beauty once and I was almost immediately overwhelmed by it’s snappy performance and ride quality. The Safari experience begins when one crawls into the drivers seat or should we say, the cockpit. The Dash is brilliantly designed with the instruments cluster neatly arranged in a vinyl setup; unlike the cheap plastic 'n metal fascia which adorns its Sumo siblings. The ergonomic steering wheel is great and can be adjusted to meet the drivers requirements. Thoughful add-ons like door open alarms add to the futuristic feel about the Safari. The Safari leaves no stones unturned when it comes to seating and leg space. You can jolly well stretch your legs in the front seat without having to recline to move the seat backwards. The rear legspace is miles ahead of anything in its class. The Safari sure was designed with Comfort in mind.
As expected, it features power windows, power brakes and power steering, but unlike the Sierra and the Estate, Tata did not fabricate or furnish the Safari from the chassis of a Tata 207 pickup. All these features work without a glitch. The decisive moment had arrived and I switched on the ignition and took it for a spin (much to the consternation of the apprehensive owner; for I had a bad reputation of driving like a maniac). The Safari is unbelievably silent for an Indian Diesel (Especially so when you consider Tata’s trucking heritage) and with the AC switched on you don’t hear even a remote engine hum or feel the slightest vibration. The gear shift (unique to Tata vehicles) is somewhat different from other cars. I accidentally put it on reverse instead of first. The engine responded quickly when I stepped on the gas and soon I was cruising at 60 Km/ph in the 3rd gear effortlessly. I pressed on and shifted to 4th; the engine at that point did feel a wee bit sluggish and acceleration suffered a minor setback. I wanted to change to 4X4 mode at that time (through an electronic knob near the handbrake), but the now agitated owner was in a frenzy and wouldn’t hear anything of it. Anyhow, I was soon hurtling forward in excess 100 Km/h and quite honestly nothing apart from the speedometer showed any signs that we were traversing at such velocity on our legendary Indian roads.
The ride quality is unrivalled; the test vehicle was a safari 4X4 with Kumho Radial tyres. We encountered a rather treacherous bit of Highway (en route from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour) and the Safari rode on smoothly, with the Independent McPherson struts suspension absorbing all the jerks efficiently without transmitting the slightest bit of discomfort on to the occupants. Hell!! Was I impressed or what? The AC was chilling and it has adjustable vents/controls for the front and the rear, so in case you have to stuff people in the rear of the vehicle, it will not be a discomforting proposition. The steering wheel was as soft as it can probably get but it does not boast of a very tight turning radius. Supplement that with the dimensions of the vehicle, cornering can become a problem. Overall handling and control was excellent with the monster tyres gripping the tarmac firmly at any speed. The brakes though powered, aren’t anti-lock. This means you have to extremely gentle while applying them if you don’t want the car to screech to a standing stop all the time. I guess that’s bad news for seasoned Amby drivers.
I did not get a chance to test it’s off-roading capabilities, but in case I do I’ll be more than happy to write about the same. I have been a passenger on a Mitsubishi Pajero 3.3L intercooled turbodiesel and trust me there is absolutely no difference when you compare the ride quality. The Pajero, however is miles ahead in terms of acceleration and raw power; but then, so is the price.
Spare parts are expensive and are only available in authorized Tata service stations (there’s no dearth of them however) Maintenance costs are substantial and Mileage is about average for a vehicle of this class. In any case, I don’t perceive the upwardly mobile potential owner to think about such crass issues anyhow.
The 1st batch of Safari's came with faulty gearboxes but I guess thats no cause for concern to a buyer now. The 1st Sumos were pretty disappointing as well....and look at it now.
That’s all very well, now the bad news. The Safari prices itself out of the competition with a staggering 8 lakh+ pricelist. We have to remember that it has no real competitors in India in its league. A Pajero or a Range Rover can set you back by 25 lakhs and in that light the Safari compares favorably. For all SUV nuts with a favourable bank balance the Safari is THE choice for Indian roads.
