Tata Safari Storme EX (Silver) Ownership Review

[TH14]

It was a dream to own a safari at some point of time in my life. I bought my first car, a used Maruti 800 in 2006, I used it for almost a year and upgraded to brand new Indica Turbo DLX in June 2007. When I was ready to go for safari, a web search revealed Merlin which was under development. This is the time I got introduced to TAI by Google. Since then, I was a silent follower of most of the Merlin and Storme threads in this forum.

I was not happy with the dash design when TATA launched Storme in 2012. I was expecting a well-integrated decent dash for a 14 Lac range SUV. Since TATA had collected feedback from some of their existing and prospective customers in early 2012 (much before the launch) and dash design was one of the major concern highlighted by many, somehow I thought a refreshed version with new dash design is on the way and decided to wait for that. Another reason for the wait was for the initial niggles if any to settle down.
When they released the explorer edition with the two din music system, I realized that TATA is not serious about the feedbacks. I lost my patience and decided to take the plunge.

Test Drive:
I had driven Storme immediately after the launch and again few months later. Even though I am a Safari admirer I wanted to check what the competition is offering, mainly on ride comfort and drivability. Discussed with wife, her comment was- Whatever it is finally you buy the safari, so why waste time? I somehow convinced her to spend a Saturday with me for a back-to-back test drive of XUV, Innova and finally the Storme in the same track. Later on took the storme for a long drive about 30 to 40 KM through the NICE road and Bannerghatta road.

I had never driven any of these vehicles before (other than Storme test drives). Hence my test drive observations may not be matured enough for others to take as a reference.

Highlights:
I got convinced myself that Storme offers best ride. I felt it is even comfortable than Innova. The sad part now is that I am not happy with the ride quality of my Storme.
On the drivability, XUV and Storme are comparable. I didn’t see much difference in power and refinement. I felt Innova engine is comparatively noisy.
The seating position in Storme is commanding, competitions no match. The smile I saw on my wife’s face when we sat in the storme was not there with other cars. It’s an elephant ride.

The variant:
Even though LX being most value for money option, I settled on EX trim mainly for the rear AC and rear wiper. I really wanted the airbags, however didn’t had the budget to go for VX.

Color:
I wanted to see the Storme in each color physically before I decide on the color. Since there were not many Stormes spotted on Bangalore roads on those days, I approached Concorde and Prerana (they are the nearest TATA’s to my place) and requested them to inform me when they have different colors in their stock. No good response from them even after me does follow-up calls. Sent a mail to KHT motors the next available option, to my surprise got connected with sales head of KHT. He invited me to visit their showroom on the next weekend. They arranged me a ride from their showroom to their stock yard in their test drive Storme VX urban bronze. They had a black, silver and white Storme in their stock, getting ready for delivery. I got an opportunity to see them side by side. It was a tough decision to make, Storme looked good in all the colors. Finally shortlisted black and silver, final selection still pending.

Dealership:
Overall a nice dealership experience throughout the buying process. All I can say about the sales head of KHT is that he is very good at selling his products. He has lot of patience in answering a prospective customer’s questions, be it a stupid question. He even arranged a conference call with TATA technical team to answer some of my queries. I ended-up in cutting the cheque on the spot and booked a Silver EX in 3rd week of Sep. He gave me one more day to decide on the color incase if I wanted to change. Didn’t get sleep on that night, me and wife spent time till 2AM looking at storme pictures. Finally concluded that Storme looks best in silver and decided to stick with that.

Delivery:
It was weekday in the first week of Oct 2013, auspicious day to take the delivery . Took a day off from work and went alone to the showroom. Some goof-up in the paperwork delayed the delivery which was initially scheduled before 12PM to after 3 PM. Other than this there were no unpleasant events on the D day.
Bought gold AMC for 4 years/50K km @ Rs38,764 and extended warranty @ Rs7000









What I don’t like:
Ride quality of my Storme. It is bouncy on bad roads

What I like in my Storme:
I like everything other than his bad boy stance on the bad roads
Elegant look and road presence
Commanding seating position and overall visibility
Fun to drive. Decent handling
Interior material quality and space
Easy to find him in a parking lot. Just look around and you will see the tall boy, only few of them

What I am missing in my EX:
A well-integrated center console with a 2 Din system.
Driver and co-driver airbags

Issues/Niggles:
Hard suspension:
One of my great expectations from the Storme was superior ride comfort, but I am totally disappointed now. It offers excellent ride on good roads, uneven tarmac (ups and downs of the road or be it a hump). However ride is pretty bad and bumpy on the broken tarmac and potholes. It looks like the suspension is not absorbing the sudden shocks and transferring it to the cabin.
Recently I crosschecked the ride with rekharam’s Storme and I could feel the difference, my Storme has stiff suspension. TASS says no issues with the suspension and the ride is normal, this is during the first service. The challenge I am facing at TAS is that I am not able to find out that kind of bad roads in Bangalore to recreate the issue. I guess now I need to take this up with TATA.
I seriously hope TAS will resolve this issue during second service or this will resolve on its own after few K km of running as suggested by Storme911.

Rattling:
Rear door is not well built and feels flimsy compared to the other doors. You can feel this when you close the doors. It looks like TATA has done aggressive value engineering on this guy when they removed the spare wheel, hence the result is same old rattling.
I had a squeaking noise coming out from the driver seat only for a day. This never appeared again.
Minor rattling’s from rear doors, front seat belt height adjusters and jump seat area. Need to fix them during 5K service

Other than this, it has been a pleasant ownership experience so far.

[TH14]

The bad roads I am talking about.


Accessories:
1. Philips Xtreme vision H7
2. Mapmyindia ZX350
3. Shark rear view back up camera with night vision (Connected to ZX350)
4. Reverse parking sensor (Display on RVM)
5. Star 3D mats- Sigma
6. Air compressor (Viair 70P)
7. Pressure gauge (Michelin MN-12279)
8. Vehicle cover (TATA Genuine accessory- Complimentary gift from the dealership)
9. Car seat (Britax Frontier 85)
10. Windshield sunshade
11. Sandisk CZ 15 8GB Pen Drive

Grooming and beauty care:
1. Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo
2. Car wash brush
3. Meguiar's Microfiber Cloths
4. Jopasu Magic Wipe
5. Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax 845
6. Collinite No. 476 Super Doublecoat Auto Wax
7. Meguiar's Evencoat Applicator
8. Armor All - Protectant Gel
9. Jopasu Car Duster

Star 3D Mats:
Dust doesn’t settle down on the rubber mats, hence I wanted to try the carpet mats this time. After extensive web search, ordered Star 3D Mats (Sigma) from Sai Mag Wheels website @ Rs2400. Material quality of this Sigma mat is topnotch. However these mats are not tailored to fit the exact car make and model as claimed in their website.
3D shape is very shallow (not visible in some areas) compared to MAXpider 3D mats. Fitment of middle row is somewhat OK but the front mats are too lengthy for Storme. Foot pad doesn’t make contact with heals, it hides under the pedals. I highlighted this issue to Sai Mag Wheels, based on the conversations with them what I understand is that these mats are not tailored for any vehicles as they claim in their website. They import few models and try to fit them in different cars. Some cars may get a perfect fit but not all. Storme falls in to the latter category. Car type mentioned in the label reads “Five Seater” not Safari or Storme. They offered me refund but I didn’t return it because I liked the material quality and I can live with the fitment issue.


Philips Xtreme vision H7:
Quest for more light ended up in upgrading to Philips Xtreme vision H7. I bought 4 of them from a Philips authorized dealer in JC road. Wanted to see the difference, hence replaced only the right side bulbs (both HB and LB). Philips claims up to 100% more light with their Xtreme vision bulbs, however I could hardly see any difference between OEM and Xtreme vision. I never expected 100% more light, I was expecting at least 30 to 40% improvement.
I highlighted this to Philips area sales manager. What I never expected was a visit by the ASM to my door step in the night time to check the issue. Stock bulbs are Osrams, initially I thought they are nightbreakers hence no difference in the illumination, but Philips ASM confirmed that stock bulbs are not nightbreakers. We couldn’t get in to a conclusion why no improvement compared to the stock bulbs. He has scheduled another visit in March with a senior member from his Noida R&D team.

LB+HB. Stock Osrams on left and Xtreme visions on the right


My observations from 5 months of ownership:
Running -in instructions:
Checked with TASS and spoke to TATA guys on running-in instructions. They said the engine is pre-tuned, hence no driving restrictions during running-in period. However there is running-in driving restrictions for Storme. Owner’s manual page 86 has the details.

Maintenance of catalytic converter:
I was not aware of maintenance recommendations for catalytic converter until I read the owner’s manual. I am not sure whether this is known to all, hence thought of sharing it.
Owner’s manual Page 124 talks about maintenance of catalytic converter. It says “flush the catalytic converter by giving full throttle (4 to 5 times) in standing condition of vehicle on daily basis”. I guess this has to be done once the engine reaches optimum temperature. Not immediately after starting the truck and not just before switching off the engine.
It further says it is recommended to run the vehicle at high speed (80 to 100 kmph) for few km periodically as this will help to flush the carbon soot deposits from exhaust system and catalytic converter

Controls:
Never had any ergonomic issues with the switch console on the driver’s door. Memorizing the switch function for rear wash, wipe and front wash is tricky. Still goof-up and do trial and error to figure out this each time.

Fuel efficiency:
City: About 11km/L (80% AC on ECO mode. No rear AC)
Highway: About 15km/L (80% AC, cruising at 100-110 km/h)
Fuel efficiency in Storme is very sensitive with the speed. I got close to 17 km/L during an early morning open stretch highway ride (Bangalore to Hassan), me and my wife, 30% AC on ECO mode, no luggage, at speed 80 to 90. This ride was mainly intended to check the best fuel efficiency, otherwise it is difficult to drive the Storme at this speed.
Auto cut-off during fuel filling doesn’t work most of the time if you want to check the fuel efficiency by tank full to tank full method. Tank will accommodate 2 to 5 liters (varies each time) even after auto cut-off, depending on the air trapped and back pressure.

Marching noise:
On the very first day I heard some kind of grinding noise (very minor) from engine area (not sure engine or gear box) in second gear while driving back home after taking delivery. To be precise you feel like this noise is coming out of center console. Visited TAS the very next day with a worried face. They call it marching noise and told me that it happens only while driving in low rpm and it should not be a matter of concern. However now I have this noise appearing on some days irrespective of the rpm levels. I really don’t know the reason behind this. I am not worried about this for now.

Water accumulation under rear window glass:
Water accumulates under the bottom edge of the window glass on either side of the jump-seats. This may end up in panel rusting after few years. I had similar problem with my Indica on the boot door. It is difficult to remove the water by wiping. I blow air and remove the water after each wash.

Less clearance between steel wheel rim and wheel nipples:
The clearance between steel wheel and wheel nipple is very less and not consistent in all wheels. This makes it very difficult to fill air with the bulky compressor nozzles in some of the fuel stations. My portable compressor has a sleek nozzle design but I have issues to use my michelin pressure gauge to check the air pressure.


Rear blower:
It looks like rear blower is of low quality. Its default noise level is pretty high.

Wheel hub cap:
Wheel hub cap from one of the wheel came off once during a wash, however this never happened while driving and still I have all of them.

Carbon deposit on the front wheels?
Some kind of black powder accumulates on both the front wheels. I can see this powder flowing out while washing the wheels every time. This is not there on the rear wheels. I am not sure what it is, need to check with TAS during 5K service

Side claddings:
It looks like the side claddings are mounted to the door panels with mechanical locking features and adhesive on the periphery. In most of the vehicles that I saw, the adhesive application is not consistent. In My Storme, the claddings around fuel lid could flex by about 3 to 5mm. This is not visible as it is, you can see this only if you pull the claddings. During my first visit to the TAS, we checked this in three Stormes present in the dealership on that day and all of them had this issue. They applied some adhesive on mine and I am alright now.

If the claddings near the door hinge point are not adhered tightly with the door panels, it may get stuck while opening the doors

[350Z]

Note: Thread Now Live From T.I.P Zone. Thanks!

Drive Safe,
350Z

[Mathew]

Originally Posted by TH14

What I don’t like:
Ride quality of my Storme. It is bouncy on bad roads

Wish you many many happy miles ahead. Also post interior pictures. Only one interior picture posted.

Safari/Storme's are known for their ride comfort. What about the tyre pressure? Did you verify the pressure within the suggested limits? Is it the stock tyre comes with Storme or changed? Which tyre, and size?

[Gurrala74]

Hay TH excellent write up buddy!!
Glad see a different coloured storme on TAI
Good that you wrote all that you are facing and I feel most of them would vanish by first 1st or 2nd service. I never felt this ride quality issue as I drove 2 Stormes of our members in Hyderabad and on similar roads while going to my native place.

[AppU]

Congrats for your Silver color strome

What you said is right, Strome looks good in all the shades!

Have a millions of happy miles ahead

[vikyjoshi]

Hi TH,
Congrats on your new silver beast. I also felt that the suspensions are kind of stiff when I got my vehicle but by the time I had completed around 5K, the vehicle started behaving absolutely beautifully, the response has increased, the peppyness increased and the ride quality is smooth.

The Door rattle are inherent to Tata. I guess its in their DNA. But other than that door rattle you would not have any major issues with your beast.

[anshuman8]

Congrats your Storme, I remember checking your vehicle in Phoneix meet at Bangalore.

[vijay]

Congratulations on your silver storme, looks good in this shade.
Wish you many happy miles with it.

[mukesh]

Congratulations TH14 for your Silver Storme, i have been driving this vehicle since more than one year and have driven around 18K + kms. you can go through my Ownership review @
Tata Safari Storme Comes Home: Dream Fulfilled!!!

[_Ankit_]

Congratulations on your new ride ! Drive safe and wishing you trouble free ownership.

Regards
Ankit

[mastiandroid5]

Congrats on your Storme... It looks really good.

I read on TAI that initially the ride quality may by stiff, but after a few 1000s of KM, it will be better (not able to locate the post). So, possible, you could cover more distance and see if the ride quality improves.

[smooth rider]

congrats on your new ride mate. do check the tyre pressure. always i had heard only praises for the elephants ride comfort. wishing you lots of happy motoring.

[konkantrip]

Congrats TH superb review along with beautiful pictures.

[TH14]

Thanks everyone

Originally Posted by Mathew

Safari/Storme's are known for their ride comfort. What about the tyre pressure? Did you verify the pressure within the suggested limits? Is it the stock tyre comes with Storme or changed? Which tyre, and size?

They are stock tyres, I maintain 32 on all of them. I will post more interior pictures soon.

Originally Posted by vikyjoshi

The Door rattle are inherent to Tata. I guess its in their DNA. But other than that door rattle you would not have any major issues with your beast.

Absolutely no issues till date other than minor rattling and stiff suspension. Hope the ride will become smoother after few K kms as suggested by many members.

Originally Posted by anshuman8

Congrats your Storme, I remember checking your vehicle in Phoneix meet at Bangalore.

Yes Anshuman, we met at Phoenix mall.

Originally Posted by mukesh

Congratulations TH14 for your Silver Storme, i have been driving this vehicle since more than one year and have driven around 18K + kms. you can go through my Ownership review @
Tata Safari Storme Comes Home: Dream Fulfilled!!!

I am familiar with your thread buddy. We have similarities about our dream of owning a Safari and the way we got introduced to TAI.