Safari Dicor test drive

I had driven the older one and though slightly underpowered, I was pretty fond of it. It had a certain simplicity from the 90 bhp turbo engine that endeared to me, and the interior though not high quality was bolted together pretty neatly. And it was a brilliant show piece at least on Indian roads, quite safe also, not in the sense of crash worthiness or star ratings, but in perceived safety that a 2-tonne SUV can give.

The new one, felt even bigger...that could be because a new car with that smell is slightly more intimidating. Steering feels much heavier, The engine becomes silent, if you put that A/C fan in on, further sound deadening is available on the EX and VX in the form of a roof mounted blower, sounds like a hair drier.

Vast expanse of low quality plastic on the dash, with a stupid looking aluminium finish (paint) on the centre console. It looks cheap, the clutch is heavy but otherwise driving position is quite comfortable. The instrument panel is white back lit which looks cool, steering can be tilted if you have strong forearms and manage to find the lever for that.

Seats get lumber support, be very careful with that lever, it can easily come off. And if you have a bunch of kids buckle them up, or they'll remove most of the high tech interior.

Exhaust from the Dicor is horrible, black smoke, owing to the basic push rod engine based on the 207, 407, spacio unit. Common-rail or whatever...that engine has a limit, its an engine in low state of tune ideal for low maintenance, low rpm application where emphasis is on load carrying capacity

the drive

With a 3000 rpm red line things are funny. Till around 1500 rpm you have throttle lag, turbo lag etc. At around 1500 rpm, 300 nm torque and quite a lot of power comes, along with black smoke as the rpm gets to the red line @ 3000 rpm, finished, rpm needle starts bouncing @ the limiter.

Shift to second, its geared quite high that the car drops out of the power band and below 1500 rpm, again no power, floor the throttle, lag, jet lag, still more lag, after lag, 1500 rpm, power, fumes, movement, red line, finish.

Driving this beast in town looks cool from outside, with all the smoke and fume, but its a pain to keep this SUV on the move especially when compared with the Scorpio or Innova

If you have a driver with a strong left foot, get him to drive across states, its very comfortable, safe unless pushed to the limit.

Safety in India, also means crossing riots, Nandigram, strikes or religious processions...here the safari performs well with a tall and intimidating look...but somehow the Mahindra Scorpio has a more earthly appeal with the masses, owing to so many Scorpios on the road.

Safari still has the rich guy image that may snub of the ego of the masses, especially if driven aggressively

But when the entire family is going to the temple or church or any where you want to be seen, the Safari with no taxi linage is definitely the one to be in. Dress up in traditional clothes, slightly understated and arrive in a Safari...you can bet that all the people will look at you..and that's a luxury Scorpio owners seldom get.

The rarity of the car may be owing to its unreliable and expensive to maintain tag that the earlier Safari passed on to the Dicor.

The only reason to buy one is lack of choice in that segment. If you want a car so much is available, but for an SUV the choice is between Scorpio and Safari., with the former having slight advantage in engine, reliability and drivable nature with smaller dimensions.

For slight exclusivity, at least among the immediate family; long distant travelling in comfort; and perceived safety, Safari does hold good. Expect a mileage of around 11 kpl, not bad for its mass. but the economy depends a lot on the driving style and unless you get the hang of shifting up and still holding the rpm with minimal fuss expect a drop in mileage.

Some vehicles tend to have problem with the power steering.

Clutch doesn't loosen up with service if some one tells you so.

Spare wheel cover lock fails and the wheel cover might fall off on the road (keep it @ home)

ECU might get problems like engine cutting off due to wrong signal from speed sensor which shows higher speed

On very steep inclines...don't try to up shift...you wont like the results

The Amplifier

When using a bridgeable 4-channel amp, like the JBL GTO 75.4 (not very new, but a good one) ensure the cross over settings are matched

Like while watching a concert, sound should come from the front stage.

It would be good to have bass from front speakers tuned to just below where the subs cut in. This gives an effect as though the front stage pulls the bass across giving a feel that all the bass comes from the front

Some basics of car audio

Don't overdo things

Don't trust your local installer

Insist on good wiring and installations

Stick to your requirements

For a small hatch back, unless you are a professional, a good quality set up would be a high voltage output head unit (preferable Alpine), with a DSP function for time alignment, a 4-channel amp with reasonable good rms (@least 75 watts), a pair of components at front driven from the two channels and one 10-inch (for a tighter bass) or 12-inch sub woofer, driven by bridging the other two channels (ensure that the amp is bridgeable)

DSP (digital signal processing): is an electronic circuitry or software used to alter the character of sound waves when they are in digital format.

Time alignment: Since we do not sit exactly at the centre of a car or equidistant between the left and right speakers, we hear one speaker more loudly and since the sound waves from that speaker reaches us first , we here the same sound from the second speaker after a split second.

Time alignment is a DSP function used to correct this oddness. Here the audio signal is spilt so that one speaker fires first and the second one fires after a millisecond giving us a perception of beting at the centre of the show

Red East Motors

This is a blog for all car 'n bike enthusiasts in India who would like to customize there ride in there own special way.

I enjoy driving, but is no rally driver with credentials, so I feel qualified to test drive cars the average Indian buys, I will keep posting sincere reviews on all cars I've driven

I will post images and contents in the most simple and easy to understand language and will try and ensure the accuracy of contents in this web page.

I'm no god and if mistakes do come by don't bitch or advice, got enough of them, just post me and we will keep this cool.

I believe in giving an aesthetic appeal to the ride and wannabes wont be entertained.