Tata Safari Storme VX 4x4 BS IV - User Experience Review

Tata has been improving the quality of the interiors and the overall design with every new product offering. In recent times, this move peaked out with their flagship, the Aria. Needless to say, the improvements have filtered down to the Storme as well.

Get inside the car and you’ll see an all-beige dashboard with contrasting browns. Now it may sound similar to what you get in the XUV500, but the Safari’s colours are lighter. The downside is that it get soiled easily, the upside is the airy feel that it lends to the interiors. The dashboard gets soft plastics and the design is quite simplistic and an evolution, again, of the current Safari. It doesn’t look as modern as the XUV’s dash and has a conventional flow. You don’t get the Aria like LCD display or any satin-chrome inserts. You get black, rotary dials for the HVAC controls with a decent finish.

What is also conventional is the audio system. You do not get an in-dash unit, instead what you have is an aftermarket head-unit. The speaker system that it is mated to, sounds quite good too. However, its features are not comparable to the audio systems you get in most sedans in the Rs 10-15 lakh segment; especially the one in the Toyota Corolla Altis or even the Innova for that matter. Since the audio system isn’t purpose built for the Safari Storme, you don’t get any steering mounted controls either. Speaking of the steering wheel, the angle is slightly more upright for my liking. It is adjustable for reach, but not rake.

The front seats are big, wide and comfortable. The same goes with the second row too. In fact, the Safari has always been known for its big cabin space and the Storme takes the facet a notch further. The second row has ample headroom and knee room, but what I like the most is the under-thigh support –  which is very comfortable, even for a generously sized person like myself. The third row isn’t good enough for adults though, as the floor is quite high and therefore it can get cumbersome if you are going to cross your legs and sit. 

Drop the seats though and you have a humongous boot to store away luggage for a month-long trip! There are quite a few storage spaces throughout the car for knick-knacks, bottles, cans etc.

Overall, the interiors, like the exteriors, aren’t a big change over the current model in terms of design, but the feel and the quality of materials are much better than before. However, this being a Tata product, I would have liked to see a long list of features and creature comforts considering the sort of price it demands and the competition it needs to tackle.