Ride and handling
Both the machines ride well over Indian terrain, thanks to proven body-on-chassis construction. Now, the Safari never had much of a problem with handling, thanks to a nicely tuned coil on spring rear suspension setup as opposed to the leaf-springs on the Scorpio. With the added top-end performance, Tata engineers, in all probability, tampered with the suspension and power steering setup of the car. The result is a dynamic nightmare that rolls it way around 140 kph corners like a giant-wheel that has come off its moorings. There is too much body-roll to be safe, and I sincerely hope Tata Motors get their act together and register themselves with handling specialists like Lotus who can get to work at the Milbrook proving ground with the Safari. Even better, this will save cost too, if they revert to the original settings – even if that means the top-end performance needs to be reduced.
Ditto with the Scorpio. In the motoring journalists circle, we have a saying that 'no two Scorpios handle the same'. We hear Mahindras are working with a tyre major to get the handling sorted out, er... at Milbrook. So.
Tata Safari Dicor: ** Two stars
Mahindra Scorpio CRDe: ** Two stars
Verdict
The price comes into play here and that too big time. The top-end Scorpio, at Rs 7.93 lakh ex-showroom, is cheaper than the base LX trim Safari at Rs 7.98 lakh. If you want a handsome SUV minus the frills, then the Safari is worth a look at this price point. The Tata marketing chaps have outdone their engineering mates when they priced the leather, DVD, bells-and-whistles spec VX model with 4WD at Rs 13 lakh. For that price, you can almost get an Endeavour or a Tucson – the former is better built and the latter is more refined and car-like. And that leaves us with the basic Scorpio models that range between Rs 6.55 and 7.3 lakh. Now that I am destined to make enemies, I declare any of those Scorpio models clear winners.
You see, the Scorpio CRDe is a nice television serial that you may or may not watch, while the Safari Dicor is a Bollywood movie that ran out of budget – it has got the item numbers alright, but the entire cast comes together and get married to each other finally to end the movie quickly.
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