![]() ![]() It's only when you drive it briskly over a winding road that you are suddenly reminded of the Storme’s high centre of gravity. The Safari feels comfortable when driven in a relaxed manner. There is more pitching as you go faster but it never gets to the point of feeling uncomfortable. At low speeds, the Safari can easily tackle the biggest of potholes without a fuss and even at high speeds it feels stable. What adds to the overall experience is the Safari’s pliant ride quality. In-gear times are even better thanks to the shorter gearing with 20-80kmph in third taking 10.27 seconds (3.1sec faster) and 40-100kmph in fourth coming up in 12.26 seconds (2.2 seconds quicker). The 0-100kmph sprint took a scant 12.9 seconds which makes it more than a second faster than the old car. Our VBOX timing gear confirmed the improvements and the Varicor 400 turned out to be faster than we expected. The new 6-speed gearbox though a marked improvement over the older unit still feels a bit unpolished and transfers a fair amount of engine vibrations to your palm. The additional power and a tall sixth gear also means that the Storme feels relaxed on the highway and at 100kph the engine is doing a meagre 2000rpm. Tata has also employed shorter ratios on the new 6-speed gearbox which has reduced the number of gearshifts and has made the Storme less cumbersome at slow speeds. You still experience turbo lag below 1800rpm but it doesn’t feel dead and even the turbo kicks in a pretty linear fashion. The idle is quite smooth and vibrations are reduced too. The improvements are apparent as soon as you start the car. Tata has mated this motor to a new 6-speed manual gearbox. Although power has gone up just 6bhp, the torque figure has increased by a massive 80Nm. As a result, the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine now produces 153.8bhp and 400Nm of torque. To bump up the power and torque figures of the 2179cc engine, Tata engineers had to strengthen the cylinder block, head, pistons, main bearings and fine-tune the injectors and the turbocharger. The Storme also comes with decent amount of features with safety features like airbags and ABS being standard on the top variants. With the seats folded luggage space is humongous and you can fold the middle row flat for added space. They are small cramped and not very safe in case of a rear impact. The jump seats in the back are best not used unless there is no other option. The middle bench is extremely spacious and the seat itself is supportive making the Safari ideal as a long distance companion. The high seating also means getting in and out of this SUV is more like climbing up, than comfortably sliding in. You still get the same commanding driving position thanks to the high mounted seat, low dashboard and low window line. The large front seats are accommodating and are very comfortable over long journeys. Overall cabin quality is surprisingly decent and is at par or even better than the Mahindra Scorpio. The small diameter steering wheel from the Bolt looks sporty and the instrumentation is clear and easy to read. But it looks too basic especially when modern touchscreen systems have become a norm. The Music system is housed lower-down and the Harman-based unit has decent sound quality too. ![]() The protruding centre console is neatly designed and the large air-con knobs are easy to use. Though not very modern, the Storme’s dashboard looks uncluttered and ergonomics are decent. Although the Safari still looks handsome, you still cant get away from the fact that it’s a 20 year old design and is now shows it age. The wind deflector(which looks more like a unibrow) and the faux air-intake mounted on the bonnet are dealership fitments and they will set you back by Rs 3800 each. At the rear the design elements are clean and minimalistic. The high bonnet, imposing grille and projector headlamps lends the Storme a lot of character. So you get the same butch looking SUV which has truckloads of road presence. In terms of design the Safari Storme remains unchanged over the recent facelift. So let’s find out how much of an improvement the Safari Storme with added power is. Dubbed the Varicor 400, the improved engine will not only give a new lease of life to the Safari Storme, but it will also come in the same spec in the soon to be launched Hexa crossover. Once a king of the rugged SUV segment, Tata motors have gradually gone downhill and have lost ground to their prime rival Mahindra. Seven months down the line there is yet another engine tweak and this untimely improvement is being done for a good reason and it’s called the Hexa. Along with cosmetic upgrades, Tata also upgraded the 2.2-litre diesel to produce more power and torque. Tata had launched the Safari Storme facelift earlier this year.
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