King of the Roads

 

Exterior What can I say about the exteriors? The design and shape of this vehicle is over a decade old and still feels contemporary. Amazing road presence. Park it on the road or inside your compound, grabs your attention immediately. Mud on the tyres and body enhances the exteriors.:)

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Lots of space inside. Very comfortable 2 rows. 3rd row is awful. Consider it as a 5-seater only. Fold the jump seats at the back and you could probably move your house in the Safari. The rear a/c blower in the roof in the EX and above variants is rarely used, at least in Mumbai climes. The regular  a/c chills the cabin nicely. Storage spaces are sorely missed. The glove compartment can hold only the papers and some pens / pencils. The compartments in the doors can't even hold a one-litre water bottle.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The DICOR engine is a gem. Even when pushed, it stills keeps asking for more. Use the car in the turbo band and its scaringly responsive. It takes some time to get a hang of the right gears and rpms, especially if you come from a petrol background. But once you experience the torque, I doubt whether you would go back to your petrol sedan/hatchback. The vehicle returns a decent FE of slightly under 10kmpl in bumper-to-bumper city rush hour traffic conditions. On the highways, with the pedal firmly fixed to the floor and with all a/c's blowing, it returned me an average of 12 kmpl. Someone with a sedate driving style can probably manage around 14kmpl, but then the Safari, highways and sedate driving style do not make a good combination. :) An average of 12 kmpl under 'pedal-to-floor' driving conditions is very decent, I suppose.

 

Ride Quality & Handling The Ride quality is the best for any vehicle this side of Rs. 10 lakhs. On bumpy roads and potholes, there is a lot of boat-like yawing if you drive it like you would drive a hatch or a sedan. Ignore the potholes and bumps and you will not even feel that you went over a pothole. This may cause problems with the suspension and an odd rattle somewhere or squeak somewhere. If you ride rough, be prepared to be handy with a screwdriver. If you don't fancy any DIY manouvres, do not fret. There's nothing a visit to the friendly garage cannot fic.

 

Final Words As the ad says, 'Reclaim your Life'. Sums the vehicle nicely.

 

Areas of improvement A lot of people crib about plastic quality and panel gaps, etc. I find them ok and strictly at par or better than what you get from anyone else at that price. Storage spaces could do with some improvement, though. At least, decent space to store 1 litre bottles for every passenger, and a CD rack.

 

Form factor, space, road presence, performance, comfortnot much storage space, turning radius is a major gripe