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Oh, my bad. It's simple then, revamp the engine in Storme LX/EX as well before the updated Safari launches in half a decades time stupid:
On a serious note, I guess the difference between the Varicor 320 & 400 is the size of the turbo and the mapping. What would the difference in price be between these two engines anyways? If it's not too much, what is stopping Tata from discontinuing the lower tuned one?

Thanks to Sai Praveen Ravuru for sharing this PDF! Appears to be an internal training brochure by Tata Motors.

Posting here in case it helps anyone who's cross-shopping.

Hexa and its Competition.pdf

Thanks, but wasn't this shared long time back by RavenAvi?

In the presentation file, Tata brag about having the highest torque output (compared to Innova Crysta) and keep mentioning it often. But that's not the complete picture now, is it? Here is the screenshot from the official review and if we looked at the Nm/ton, Crysta trumps the Hexa and that I reckon is an accurate representation. Crysta doesn't output 400 Nm torque and that's considered a negative in the document. Really, Tata?



Also, the document mentions that an SUV 'must' have AWD or 4x4. Agreed. But is the Crysta an SUV? A bit confusing, really.

As rightly pointed out this was shared (and ridiculed) earlier too.

At the end we need to realize this is marketing material (that to internal training material). They will try to make tall claims - right, wrong or plain ridiculous to prove that they are the best.

Heck, Maruti officially sells "bold racing graphics" as an official feature for their limited edition offering. :Frustrati

I really cant fault Tata - the general public perception is that more or bigger number -> Good. So Tata will advertise the bigger number. Its the same as phones advertising "8 core" processor which really does not tell you anything of performance. Or mineral water with "more oxygen".

If you drive both engines one after the other in traffic you will find the Varicor 320 better, as it has decent torque even at 1200 RPM, many moderate speed in city turns can be taken by just one downshift from 4 to 3. the Varicor 400 comes to life only around 1800 rpm or so, the turbo lag is very noticable and you have to work the 6 speed transmission, 4-3-2-3-4 for the same moderate speed turn.
I feel that the 400 should be available only with the AT, and the 320 only with the manual.
Currently tata gives only 3 versions XE, XM and XT. The XMA and XTA are just automatioc transmissions in equivalent versions. I feel that the XT should be given lot more features, including sunroof, tyretronics, etc and should be available only with RWD and automatic. The Current XT can be rebadged as XM+ and only one feature the 19" Alloys should be down graded to 16" or 17" Alloys. 4X4 with low profile tyres and 19" seems funny, an AWD AT version should also be introduced in XM+

Rahul

Update: Had been on a trip to Chikkamangaluru and Kudremukha last weekend with 5 adults and one kid. We left at 12am on Thursday and reached kemmannugundi at 6:30am. We drove slowly as we had a lot of time to kill. Though chilly outside, the car maintained a cozy 24 degrees inside throughout. The de-fog and de-mist functions worked better than expected. All went good until we reached the destination.

The access to the home-stay was a narrow ghat mud-road with steep inclines and hair-pin bends. It had rained the entire night and the mud was both deep and slippery. I was up a stump as this was my first experience of driving a diesel on such a road. Though hill hold worked like a charm, after 3 seconds, the car started rolling backwards at which time, i raised the RPM to 4-4.5 with half clutch. The wheels spun and the car regained traction and began to climb. However, there was a strong burning smell from the clutch plates. I understood what went wrong and began climbing the slope in 1st gear without reducing momentum and keeping the car in it's torque band without touching the clutch.

I called up the SA and he said that it definitely is the clutch burning smell and asked me to let the car rest for an hour or so and try observing later for loss in pick up. From then on, we took the car to steep ghats, similar mud roads and even high speed cruises during the entire trip. We did not face the issue again.

The SA kept calling and was in touch with us till we completed the trip. He said there were back-up flat-bed trucks ready if there was a problem during the trip which made us feel less anxious about the whole thing. On the whole, we enjoyed a lot and each and every passenger felt comfortable with very minimal fatigue on the return leg of the journey. Had installed FasTag few weeks back which worked well and deducted only 160rs on the whole Hassan-Bangalore route. It could have been a flaw in their sensor as my tag works perfectly.

Also, the headlights of the car is pathetic. Low beam does its job. However, a major part of the high beam is focused towards the left. I know that it is by design, so as to not effect oncoming traffic. But looks like TATA has kept the opposing traffic's safety in mind than ours! The beam throw is useless with absolutely no difference in high and low beams. I have gone through all the beam adjustments but to no avail. Desperately need to change the bulbs.

Also, would like to ask fellow members, how they handle a situation, when they are stuck on a very steep incline with loose mud and gravel. I tried my best but it resulted in the clutch burning itself. Yes, it does depend on the driver, but i seriously want to avoid such situations if i find myself on such a road (or should i say lack of road!) in future.
And, would like to again highlight the efficient response from the after sales team at Prerana Motors. Makes us feel premium!

Hello Abhi, Use the hand brakes. Method I follow is - 1) Engage the hand brakes 2) Slot in 1st gear 3) Slightly release the clutch while pressing accelerator (no need to go above 2.8k rpm, just ensure the engine is in its power band) and start releasing the handbrake. Then release the clutch and press accelerator as you would normally take the car from a flat surface stop.

Agreed but the XM variant looks so so ordinary in comparison to XT (No offense intended). All the elements like DRL's, fod lamps, piano black detailing, 10 inch machine finished alloys make the car stand out.

I have repeatedly posted the same views on this thread, don't know when Tata will wake up. In addition they also need to add more features like, Passive Keyless entry, bigger touch screen with integrated navigation, electric adjustment for seats. Tata are you listening? It is valuable advice being offered to you at no cost!! All you have to do is implement it! :D

I have a query though. Currently the navigation works by mirroring the phone screen. Can't Tata enable Andorid Auto and Car play on their current head unit, considering in principle they also work on the same concept i.e. mirroring?

Big thanks to Musa for sharing this invaluable piece of information (via an official bulletin) for helping other fellow Hexa owners out!

Don't bother too much about it, you will learn it by practice, after all "Practice makes man perfect", lol: isn't it?

When you are on a slope and come to a dead stop you press the brakes, be it hand brake or foot brake. The main purpose of keeping the brakes pressed is to hold the car in position on a slope and prevent it from rolling back. Now what happens, when we put the car in first gear. We engage the clutch slowly (meaning we release the clutch pedal gradually) so as not to stall the car. You should know the exact moment when to let your right foot off from the brake pedal. If you remove the foot early, when the clutch is not fully engaged, chances are your car will start rolling back. This is the moment we panic and don't release the clutch pedal fully fearing stalling the car. This results in half clutch and when we race the engine we have a burnt clutch. Keep one simple principle is mind, "Never press the accelerator/ race the engine when the clutch is not fully engaged, meaning your left foot not completely off the clutch pedal. Diesel engines have enough torque to pull the car forward just by releasing the clutch pedal and not pressing the accelerator. The moment after releasing the clutch pedal you feel that the car is trying to move forward, remove your right foot from the brake pedal and gently press the accelerator. This way the car won't stall and gently move forward without rolling back.

I know it is easier said than done, but you can practice this at your office or home where you have basement parking/ ramp etc. Stop in the middle of the ramp and do the above exercise. In a couple of attempts you will come to know the exact position of the clutch pedal when it fully engages. When you know this you can stop in the middle of a slope just by controlling the clutch pedal position (without even having to apply the brakes)

Thank you for elaborating, appreciate it! Will do as you said. It was a cake walk in my santro and other small diesels which i drove. But i found it difficult in Hexa. Maybe because of the ridiculously steep incline coupled with the slush.

Technique aside, a major problem is the tires. MRF Wanderers on the Hexa are pretty decent for highway cruising as far as OEM spec rubber goes, but they are absolutely good for nothing in mud or slush. We went deep into Pithoragarh district a few days back. Incessant rain had lead to typically slushy conditions and my Hexa struggled for grip. It was slipping and sliding and was all over the place. Our other car, a 2wd Fortuner, had absolutely no trouble at all. It was running on Yokohama Geolander ATS, a proper all terrain tire.

Good quality all terrain tires are a must for tacking such terrain. Otherwise, it is like playing football in formal black shoes, or going trekking wearing heels. Unfortunately, upgrading the rubber is not that easy as there are very few A/T tire options in the R19 size availbale in India, and they all cost above 20k apiece. Basically, you'll have to import.

Cannot agree that the stock MRF Wanderers are useless in slush. We did quite a bit mud plugging with the Hexa XT 4x4 and it did everything that the other AWDs and proper 4WD vehicles did. The electronic aids are quite strong in the vehicle. It did far better than a XUV AWD. I will put up a detailed report with pics and videos once I get some time.
But saying that, it would be great if Tata could provide AT tyres on the 4x4 version, or at least a tyre like Michelin Latitude Cross that is biased towards onroad driving but can handle off-road a bit more than the HT tyres.

A few pics -

A part of the track


Hexa 4x4 in action -