Tata Safari Storme facelift review, test drive

The Tata Safari is nearly two decades old and continues to soldier on. Now, this warhorse has been given yet another facelift in an attempt to slow down its ageing process. This is the first refresh since the Storme was launched in 2012 which itself was biggest revamp of the SUV in its long life cycle. The Storme got a brand new chassis, fresh interiors and a significant styling update. This time around, however, the changes are far less substantial.

 

Exterior changes are minimal and apart from the Land Rover inspired grille there’s really nothing new worth talking about.

 

The cabin however gets more comprehensive changes, which are apparent the minute you haul yourself into the high cabin. The dashboard design is tidied up and gets nice silver accents. The centre console too looks much neater than before. The air con knobs have a nice feel to them and are placed within easy reach. The single DIN audio system comes with improved acoustic quality and genuinely sounds good, but it looks outdated, especially in today’s era of touch screen infotainment systems. There’s no reverse camera either, and parking sensors are what you have to rely when backing up this 4.65 metre-long beast.

 

The all-new steering wheel, similar to the one in the Bolt, gets integrated audio and telephony controls. Bluetooth, aux-in and USB connectivity is standard on this VX variant. The 4WD selector knob has now moved on to the dashboard and eats up the large cubbyhole that was a useful to place wallets and cell phones

 

Like before, the high-set seats aided by the large glass area and the low dashboard, gives the driver a fantastic view of the surroundings. The middle row is now even more comfortable thanks to improved cushioning and better fabrics. A front- facing third row is still missing and Tata should have introduced this option on the top variants at least. The side-facing seats are uncomfortable and basic in otherwise what is a fairly well-appointed cabin.