Tata motor’s was previously engaged in manufacturing commercial vehicles, trucks & utility vehicles like Sierra. Then the company produced its first SUV, Tata Safari, wholly designed & engineered in India. This car is very much muscular, but looks more artistic than butch. Initially the car was launched with 2.0 liter Turbo Diesel Engine, which was capable of producing power of 90 BHP. In the later part of the century, Safari was heavily modified & the biggest change was seen as the presence of 3 liter DiCOR diesel engine with Common Rail Technology, which is the first such engine built by Tata’s. Other versions also had 2-liter petrol engine. The reason credited behind its launch was, that the previous version was unable to fulfill the power demands of the customers.
All these modifications brought Motor Forum’s car of the year award in the SUV category, for the year 2007, in the kitty of Tata’s. As per the poll, it very easily outnumbers cars like, its own Land Rover & Honda CR-V. As the time passed, more & more versions were being launched in the market like 2.2 liter DiCOR with the capability to produce power of 143 PS & later on 2.2 Variable Turbine Technology engine, with the power capacity of 140 PS. The engine present under the bonnet of this car has been categorized as the best engine used in any Tata car, till now.
The 2.1 liter version, producing power of 135 BHP was also launched but it couldn’t find place in the market due to its less mileage. If the two engines, 3.0 liter & 2.2 liter aluminum engine are compared then 2.2 liter is more power full then the former one. It is 4-cylinder, with 4 valves in each cylinder, engine having Double Overhead Crankshaft. This whole arrangement is controlled by a 32- bit microprocessor. As aluminum has been used in it, it not only makes the whole unit lighter in weight but also reduces the cubic capacity. Shorter stroke length makes it very much effortless & active.
We have presented a long list of new variants launched by Tata, but the common feature amongst all of them is the chassis which remained the same throughout. It’s been more than a decade that the design of Tata Safari has remained the same, but now the company is working to change it & re launch the car with fresh looks. We are eagerly waiting to see the new avatar of Tata Safari & it will also be worth noticing that whether it steals some features from its sister concern brand, Jaguar Land Rover, or not.
It is very spacious from inside, the dashboard looks little bit odd but it is way ahead of many SUV’s, falling in the same or higher price bracket. Overall the car is good but the changes done in its suspensions & in plastics, used in interiors, are welcome.
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