There are hundreds of car variants on sale in the Indian market and these come in various body styles across various price ranges. Big vehicles are in trend nowadays as people are by and large on the lookout for more space and style in their cars. Here is a review on two of the most desirable SUVs that have been in the market for quite a while now – the Tata Safari Storme and Mahindra XUV500. The Safari Storme was launched in 2012, while the XUV500 had cometo market a year before in 2011.
Tata Safari measures 4655 mm in length, 1965 mm in width and 1922 mm in height along with a wheelbase of 2650 mm. On the other hand, Mahindra XUV500 is 4585 mm long, 1890 mm wide, 1785 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2700 mm. It is clear that Safari Storme is bigger than the latter. Both are good looking SUVs, but the Mahindra styling is a bit more aggressive.
Although Safari Storme is bigger, XUV500 looks more spacious due to its perfect interior designing and space management. Moreover the quality of materials used and overall fit and finish is more premium in the Mahindra car. Another area where XUV500 excels over the Tata car is the features list. It is blessed with many innovative features like six airbags, GPS navigation, ABS, electronic stability program, hill descent control, cruise control, Bluetooth, automatic headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, start-stop micro hybrid system, tilt and telescopic steering, intellipark, ESP, cornering lights, mood lighting and so on. Safari Storme has most of the standard features but not up to the XUV500 list.
Safari Storme is equipped with the all-new 2.2 litre, 16 valves DOHC CRDi diesel engine with VTT with 5-speed Gearbox. The engine produces maximum power of 140 bhp at 4000 rpm and torque figures are 320 nm at 1700-2700 rpm. There is a choice of two drive trims being offered 4X2 (LX, EX, VX) and 4X4 (VX). The mileage offered is 17 kmpl on highways and 14 kmpl on city roads on an average.
Mahindra XUV500 is equipped with a 2179cc mHawk type engine which produces a maximum power of 140 bhp at 3750 rpm and a maximum torque of 330 Nm at 1600-2800 rpm. The engine is based on a direct injection technology and is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. It yields a mileage of 12 kmpl in the city and 14 kmpl on highways.
Tata Safari Storme comes at Rs 9.83-13.57 lakhs while XUV500 is slightly pricier in the range of Rs 10-15 lakhs. Although the XUV500 is ahead in terms of styling and features, the Tata car takes the lead on mileage and pricing front.
Also check out the Audi A3 & Bajaj Pulsar CS 400
