In a world of copycats, here's to the original

Exteriors - in a world where the exteriors change to give the perception of an all new car, this has been a most non pretentious upgrade where the shell remains the same albeit now put together much better. The cladding around is a bit more butch and compliments the relatively squared off front and rear treatment that actually look more contemporary. The bonnet is a lot more straight and chunky and the front and rear light finishing are tight and appropriately sized instead of being mile long plastic finishes. The stepper are also better designed for rear passengers. The only grudge that old safari owners would have in their new car is missing the rear mounted spare wheel and the lipping of the front bumper which is not wide enough for you to mount your off road lights. Interiors - good move not to reinvent the wheel here. The best part of the dicor which was its layout remains unchanged in the storme and the worst part which was industrial plastics have now given way to a 360 degree change soft touch materials be it the java black plastic and some fabrics here and there. Everything feels purpose built to balance handling with ergonomics. Switches are from a much different world as compared to the old car and the complete absence of both beige finishes or fake wood is a joy as you loo around and see some dull aluminium and textured coffee black all around. The colour scheme is tricky - looks black in bright day light and a bit coffee brown in warm light or under an overcast sky. Grudges if any should be that a touch screen on the console that people are so used to is missing. In reality this is an ego massage factor and quite likely when you drive a car this size, you wont really need to peer into a screen. Bells and whistles - If i continue to compare this car to the older dicor, the top variant of the old car came with follow me home lights, Those have given way to approach lights. I somehow found the former a bit more useful. The lights have also switched from simple H4 to a more contemporary H7 set up with projector lens on the low beam module - however I wish they had put 6000 kelvin LEDs on the low beam module rather than halogens. The puddle lights are on all 4 doors and have an approach warning light too. The doors feel more refined while shutting like a vault. The steering probably borrowed from the tiago is super fun with all the communication controls. The knobs and stalks in the car are much better and the Harman connectnext system is very very refined. It also accepts your mom's oldies hindi music or bhajan CD and interfaces with your apple or android device seamlessly. The mirrors are heated and auto-fold. The front windshield is where you miss the top green tinting sadly because this glass is the size of a hoarding. The reserving set up sadly does not have a camera but has sensors. The thoughtful touches are that the music auto mutes while reversing and in rains, the rear wiper also goes on automatically. The driver seat has very helpful heoght adjust controls and the rear AC is quite nicely integrated unlike the past where it looked force-fitted. The aircon is quite silent and the econ mode is helpful to keep your guilt under check. You even get a charging point next to the jumper seat at the rear.While the finish and fitment of this interior is admirable, the only two things I wish they did were - put back the reserving camera and LCD screen into the reserving mirror and probably looked into the rather sharp feeling edge of the horn button which wraps behind the steering wheel but sometimes in long drives if you get fidgety, you are likely to touch this slightly rough surface in an otherwise smooth interior. Of course I will not forgive Tata Motors for giving me halogens in the low beam either. Drive - insert the new chunky and folding contemporary key, depress the clutch and fire the engine. Those who miss a push button start/stop button are likely to be people who also love to wear bright colour polo shirts from a brand whose logo is a horse riding sport which you are unlikely to play and match that with pastel colour pants and something called boat shoes with white bottoms. This car is only likely to be drive by people who never trade off their blue jeans, while shirts and leather boots with anything garishly fashionable. Thus, a normal ignition is as enjoyable as having babies the normal way compared to some laboratory assisted method. Once the car fires, all the similarities end and the differences start. The NVM levels are much lower - almost a muted murmur both inside and outside. The body does not shake along and the engine only gets quieter as the car puts on more miles. While the gear shift feels equally softy as the old car, the ratios of the drive are way too different. Unlike the old dicor built in an era of less focus on the environment just climbed the revs all the way to 2250 RPM, this is no traffic signal GP car. The turbo charger is a little more smart. It gives you a kick post 1500 mark but till then you rumble along the traffic which is okay in the city as long as you don't want to show off to a hot hatch next to you. That little car or some soft-roader which also calls itself an SUV will leave you behind. But post 1500 mark you wont even beat a brow and the power delivery is gentle and seamless to climb up the revs. The 6th gear is a delight and though its capable of very impressive 3 digit figures, I always advise to drive a vehicle this size with some maturity and responsibility. People would love looking at you in this thing - so cruse along! Comfort - suspension and steering - again very different from the old car that is not easy to imagine from similar looking exteriors. While the awesomely capable ladder frame construction is retained, the hydorformed chassis is much more tough and vibration free. The steering is a new rack and pinion set up which is far more sharp that the older slightly boat like ball joint arrangement. The old car to stay sharp required "adjustment" trips to the workshop after every rough drive, in this car no matter how much and how bad you drive, it stays well put together and drives sharp and straight. Yes, the height, weight and COG does not make this a cornering vehicle but if you are sensible with your approach speed and angles, you wont feel much to lose either. Braking feels more pronounced with all 4 disc brakes too and the EBD apart from the ABS make tricky situations easy to handle. Fuel economy - the gain you get by shedding the old throttle happy engine with this more conservative but even more powerful engine and a six speed gearbox is economy. The old car returned a practical 11-12 while this with polite driving should offer you a comfortable 14kmpl and maybe something even better on the NH where you use the 6th gear. For a vehicle that weighs close to 2.5 tons, has a 2200 CC engine with a 400 NM torque, this is quite cool.