[rajneeesh]

[




The odo on my Storme stands at 74.8 K. I have had the vehicle serviced ( 4 Years/ 80 K) a little over a month back. The Service cost was a reasonable Rs 6.7 K. I have also changed the tyres. The new boots are Continental 235 AT's and they have been performing well.

Some niggles have come up. The RHS Rear view Mirror Auto fold is not working. It has had a few knocks over the years. Any Idea where it can be repaired? I am not sure if Tata Motors would repair it. they may recommend a replacement.

Predator, your truck has a Noida registration. Which sector do you live in? I live in Sector 29 Noida although my Vehicle is registered in Delhi.

[bhatmaster]

Another general query to ask, has anybody tried fitting a sub-woofer into the stock Harman system of Storme? Does it come with a sub-out has to be through an adapter from the speaker out?

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Update at 1 year, 22000 kms
In May I decided to get the vehicle stickered.

Lovely choice of the front door beadings for those stickers especially!
Wish you very many safe and comfortable miles!

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Attachment 1911002

Where is this place man. what a lovely neighbourhood. i want that house.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by bhatmaster

Another general query to ask, has anybody tried fitting a sub-woofer into the stock Harman system of Storme? Does it come with a sub-out has to be through an adapter from the speaker out?

Sorry for the late reply. Go through this thread, will answer all your queries:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...ri-storme.html (ICE upgrade : Tata Safari Storme)

Did you go for the Storme ultimately?

Originally Posted by blackbeast

Where is this place man. what a lovely neighbourhood. i want that house.

This is Salt Lake, a neighborhood in Kolkata. And you can't get that house, because it's mine, all mine, mwahahahaha!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Update at 1 year, 22000 kms

A bit late to the party. I chanced upon this wonderful thread only now. I am surprised to read that you spend less than 10 for a service. I have been regularly spending over 10k during the earlier years but recently it is around 25k every year for my Safari.
How is Rolfi ? That is a nice GSD. Did you take any special precaution for a long trip with him ? DO share your experiences please.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by Prowler

A bit late to the party. I chanced upon this wonderful thread only now. I am surprised to read that you spend less than 10 for a service. I have been regularly spending over 10k during the earlier years but recently it is around 25k every year for my Safari.

Sorry for the late reply. Was away from the forum for quite some time.

The reason I spend almost nothing is because I have a 3 year, 40K kms AMC. See, its mentioned in the first post. I'm expecting the costs to go up significantly once the AMC is over.

Originally Posted by Prowler

How is Rolfi ? That is a nice GSD. Did you take any special precaution for a long trip with him ? DO share your experiences please.

We did. We carried dry food, lots of water, a medicine to prevent motion induced vomiting (Rolfie had never done a trip more than 25 kms in his life before this) and covered up the rear seat with a huge bedsheet, clamped to the edges. We did 3 hour stops for ablutions and fresh water.

Rolfie had no health issues over the 2 days, so didn't need any medicine. But he got very restless (12 hours each day in a moving car) and moved about a lot in the car. Result, the bedsheet clamps all came off. The rear seat, rear floor and space between the 2 front seats was covered in dog hair and drool.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

We did. We carried dry food, lots of water, a medicine to prevent motion induced vomiting (Rolfie had never done a trip more than 25 kms in his life before this) and covered up the rear seat with a huge bedsheet, clamped to the edges. We did 3 hour stops for ablutions and fresh water.

I take my GSD in the rear of the Safari. That way he can move about in the limited space but he will not harass us. Still the distance we travel with him these days is limited to about 160km. Problem is every time he wants to complete the ablutions, we have to lift him up through the rear door - quite painful.

[predatorwheelz]

The vehicle has now completed 1 year and 7 months under my ownership and crossed the 30K kms mark. Some updates from the ownership experience:


In September 2019, after much deliberation, I decided to get a ceramic coating on the car. The coating was done from Nanopro, East of Kailash, who kept the car for 2 days to finish the job well. The end result, I must say, was fantastic. Some pics from their studio.









Another long planned addition was a dashcam. After suitable research I got the 70mai Pro from Aliexpress. It arrived just before Christmas, and the installation was done on Christmas day itself. To avail the parking surveillance feature I got the dashcam hardwired. Got Pramod from Driven to do the job, and the wiring concealment was top notch. This guy is the best audio installer in NCR, and 7 years ago he had done the (much more complex) audio install in my Verna. A dashcam wiring is easy peasy for this guy.





The ownership experience remained trouble free into 2020. No highway trips in that period, just regular city commute. In March I went for the 4th service (1.5 years, 30K kms). The first time that the time milestone had arrived before the mileage milestone.

Service was done at 29K kms. Some points:

1. As usual I paid for the oil change, going against Tata's documented wisdom of stretching the oil to 20K kms in Indian conditions.
2. Both wiper blades were changed under warranty. The rear wiper had started displaying significant streaking, the front wipers very little. Doesn't speak much of rubber quality in just 1.5 years of ownership. That too in a vehicle which gets dedicated basement parking at home.
3. Wheels were aligned and balanced.
4. Lalit, the service head at Sagar Motors, insisted I get a special coating done on the exhaust system for long term benefit. The cost was just 1K, so I didn't pay much attention to the details. Just got it for peace of mind.
5. There was noise emanating from the door panels and rear jump seats. Continuous squeak squeak disturbing peace of mind. This however is a time honored Safari bugbear, and something Tata service people are well aware of. All door panels and joints were tightened/greased. The noises disappeared.





The very next day I left for a Tirthan Valley trip. We left on Friday (6th) evening and drove through the night to reach Tirthan in the morning. And this is when I realized the Storme rear seat is a great place to sleep in, even for a 6 ft plus hulk like me. Had carried a pillow from home, put the rear armrest down and slept like a baby while a friend drove. The fantastic ride quality ensured I never woke up, till the buggers stopped at a Dhaba (near Ropar) at 5AM in the morning and forced me to consume hot, strong Dhaba tea. From that point on I took the steering and drove to Tirthan.

Some pics from the drive. I keep saying our boy photographs well, whether it is posing for a pic somewhere on the Aut-Banjar route:



Standing at our homestay. It had rained the whole night and morning, so the truck was caked with mud.



Playing in the snow at Jalori Pass. the road to Jalori is very steep, and I was worried about the weight of the car. But my concerns were unfounded. The ample power of the engine handled the ascent with 4 people on board, and the good brakes ensured I didn't have to do silly things (like descend in first gear to prevent brake fade, as advised by our homestay owner). Just second gear descent with no accelerator and feathering the brakes.





Currently the odo reads 30.5K kms.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

3. Wheels were aligned and balanced.
4. Lalit, the service head at Sagar Motors, insisted I get a special coating done on the exhaust system for long term benefit. The cost was just 1K, so I didn't pay much attention to the details. Just got it for peace of mind.

Lovely pics.

Do your alignment and balancing at a specialist tyre shop - preferably an MRF Tyredrome, as they have the best available in India, Hunter machinery, for this.

Exhaust coatings and other snake oil pushed by dealers are best avoided.

As for the oil try Amsoil Turbo Truck 5w40 or Mobil Delvac 1. Much more expensive than regular mineral but you can stretch it to 15k km and the engine smoothness has to be seen to be believed.

[BANDHAV]

The car is looking good in those studio shots and even better dirty when it is in its true elements.

Please get new number plates, please.

[predatorwheelz]

6 days after I wrote the last post on this thread, the country went into lockdown. Where Sable normally does 2000 kms a month, the usage reduced to zero. After 40 days of sitting in the parking, the battery conked off. The culprit must have been the dashcam being hotwired. It took a lot of calls to find out a battery store owner who would do the recharge. He was in his village in Haridwar, but his laborer lived behind the store. One evening I clandestinely drove to the store with the battery where the laborer received it. Next morning I clandestinely drove him (and the battery) to my parking where he placed the charged battery back. The truck was good to go. From April end our office started on rotation basis, so the truck saw running for 2 days a month. Better than nothing.

By end of June I was flabbergasted. Sitting alone in Noida with no maid/help support. The comfort of home and the company of parents beckoned. So with my dog in tow, I set out for Kolkata. Was accompanied by my friend, with her dog in her own VW Polo. Incidentally she has just become a teambhpian. Here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intro...-team-bhp.html (Hello Team-BHP)

Sable did the trip without any issues. Even though the road conditions in Bihar and Jharkhand were at their worst in my 8 years of doing this route, and intermittent, heavy bursts of rain greeted us throughout. Where my best time on this route was 20 hours (back in 2014) this time it took 29 hours! The only issue I faced was on the 2nd day when the wipers came off in heavy rain. Got down to check, turned out the wiper clips had broken. Somehow affixed them back again and drove on, only to come loose 2 more times. Anyway the war between wiper clip and man soon ended as the rains stopped. Once i reached Kolkata, I got the factory wipers replaced with Hellas.

Some pics:







The return trip (1st August) was done in 23 hours, thanks to the second day where I started early from Benaras and just flew to reach Noida in 10 hours. No issues with Sable on the return trip either.

After this life continued normally till October for Sable, with 2 days of office and rest sitting in the garage. One niggle was the foglamps conked off together with the foglamp indicator on the dashboard. I was right to assume the fuse was the culprit. Thats the only way 2 bulbs and one indicator bulb can stop working at the same time.

5th service was done on 29th September. Hardly any cost (as the 3 year AMC is still active). I only paid for one alloy hubcap cover (which had fallen off), wheel balancing and some bardahl mumbo jumbo for greasing the joints.






In end October a group of 9 people went to Ramgarh (near Mukteshwar). Sable was accompanied by aristocracy in the form of a Range Rover Evoque. And on this trip I discovered 2 cardinal truths:

1. The RR Evoque is much faster than the Storme on paper, and makes mincemeat of it on well paved national highways. But when you get into single lane rural roads, the Safari is still king. In the stretch between Moradabad and Kaladunghi, I had an easy time dodging local 2 wheelers and bullock carts as they were trying harder to dodge me. Plus the "neta ka gari" effect. The Evoque no one gives way to, and its driver had a nightmare trying to keep his car from getting scratched. So much that I carved out a 15 min distance by the time I reached the foothills and waited for him so we could start the climb together .

2. There were 9 people travelling with 4 days worth of luggage. After 4 people and a couple of bags, the Evoque quickly started looking full. The Storme comfortably swallowed the remaining 5 people and most of the luggage. It is truly a 1bhk on wheels!





Don't get shocked by the last pic. My friend weighs around 55 kgs. I weigh 100 kgs, and I regularly get on to the roof to clean what my car cleaner doesnt. This car is a hunk of metal.



Closing remarks: The car is on 41K kms now. Still seeing very limited running. A continuing niggle is the foglamp fuse has gone again. Will repair it in the next service or before the next highway trip, whichever comes earlier.

Questions to all

1. The tires still have more than decent tread, and no noticeable wear or difference felt in driving. This is unlike my Verna tyres which used to go by 40K kms. What is the ideal range Bridgestone Duellers last?

2. Is it a good idea to get the stock headlamps replaced by HIDs or LEDs? Or should I just get Osram Nightbreakers?

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

6

S
Closing remarks: The car is on 41K kms now. Still seeing very limited running. A continuing niggle is the foglamp fuse has gone again. Will repair it in the next service or before the next highway trip, whichever comes earlier.

Questions to all

1. The tires still have more than decent tread, and no noticeable wear or difference felt in driving. This is unlike my Verna tyres which used to go by 40K kms. What is the ideal range Bridgestone Duellers last?

I replaced my Duellers t 71 K when I switched to Continental Cross Contact AT. If the alignment & balancing is maintained along with the right Air pressure in the tyres, the Bridgestone Duellers can last long.

2. Is it a good idea to get the stock headlamps replaced by HIDs or LEDs? Or should I just get Osram Nightbreakers?

I would recommend Osram Night Breakers although I am still on stock bulbs as I don't drive too much at night.