Tata has made us proud.

Exterior :  Exterior paint quality is excellent and the vehicle is quite a head turner where ever one goes. High stance is intimadating to others in traffic. Many reviews complain about some of the panel gaps but in my experience hardly any one ever notices them.

 

Interior :  Interior space is great and with high seating position + large winndows, the outside visibility is great and the cabin feels airy. There are plenty of useful pockets in the cabin but we would have prefered to have place for one litre water bottles even in the second row dooors. Cup holders under the A/C n music system panels are very small and mostly useless. We wish this space could be better utilised. Quality of plasics is good and Seats are very spacious and five adults can be very comfortable for extended periods. One is not at all tired after a 9+ hour journney. We would have prefered to have a in dash dedicaated GPS system in the vehicle.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox : My VX 4x 4 is almost daily worked on very rough roads or no roads at all. Even on a very steep incline, in a 4 x 4H mode the vehicle has enough power to haul a fully loaded vehicle with gusto. As long as one keeps the rpm in 1500-2000 range or above one faces no problems. We have so far driven 27,000 kms in one year. We got 13 kms/ltr on highways with ac on and speeds in the range of 120 kms/hour. In city we manage 12 kms/ltr. On better highways with less traffic we routinely cruise at 140 kms. The vehiclestays planted on the road at 140kms/hr speed and one hardly notices the effort. We are quite happy with hte gear box too.  

 

Ride Quality & Handling : Ride quality is excellent. It is on par with cars which are in 30L+ segment. On winding roads however, with high centre of gravity (and high ground clearance) there is rolling which is mainly felt by 2nd and 3rd row passengers. We have done 14+ hour rides in a day many a times and the driver feels fresh after such efforts. This was not the case in many much more expensive cars. What we are most pleased about are the brakes. This vehicle sports disc brakes on all 4 wheels. The vehicle therefore is quite forgiving and always behaves well even in emergency stopping. 

 

Final Words : On very roads - with deep craters - we have tried out the STORME against Audi Q7 and Mahindra XUV500. We think STORME has a definite advantage in that environment. We think that for the price that we pay, we cannot get a better package.  If Storme is offered with a 160+ bhp engine, we will upgrade immediately. Tata has made us proud.

 

Areas of improvement  : Wish list

01. In dash dedicated GPS and reverse camera display;  02. 6 airbags;  03. Traction control;  04. A bit more stiffer suspension for off roading;  05. Cooler glove box;  06.  Tata should consider offering a 160 bhp diesel engine for Storme as an option. 

 

 

Space, off road performance, highway performance, fuel efficiency, comfort, brakes and toughnessTimely availability of spare parts and suspension too soft while serious off roading.