Tata motors has finally stopped the production of their iconic SUV, the Tata Safari Dicor recently. The most luxury SUV of its time, the Safari that made its debut in 1998 is finally dead. It has also been vanished from the official website of the Tata motors.
Safari was the first SUV that gave Indians the utmost taste of a luxury SUV. It will only available in the history books after the production of the same finally came to a halt at the Tata Motor’s factory situated in Pune. However, Tata Motors will keep-on producing and selling its successor, the Tata Safari Storme, but it will only be the available in the topmost 4×4 version in India.
The Safari Tale…
The SUV was introduced at the Indian Auto Expo held in 1998 for the very first time, much before the Common Rail Direct Injection (DICOR) Technology became standard. Back then, the Safari became Tata Motor’s most sought after vehicle due to it being massively comfortable and the amount of luxury that it was offering. Moreover, it was very well priced at 8.25 lakhs rupees (ex-Showroom, Mumbai).
Initially, the Safari came with a 2 Liter TCIC (Turbocharged, Intercooled) Diesel engine that made 90 Bhp and 186 Nm of peak torque. Definitely, it wasn’t a powerful SUV but still performed fairly. With a Kerb Weight of about 1,920 kilograms, Safari felt underpowered but still it became a huge seller due to its price being highly appealing and the amount of luxury and comfort it was offering.
About Half a Decade later, Tata came out with a 2.1 Liter Petrol version in 2003 that produced 135 Bhp on tap. That amount of power was quite enough for it, but due to an extremely poor fuel efficiency of about 5-7 kmpl, this engine died quickly. The petrol version of safari was rather expensive than its diesel counterpart. With a price tag of about 9.35 Lakhs, the Petrol version wasn’t able to survive longer.
A couple of years more down the line, Mahindra launched the Scorpio and emission norms got tighter. It was time for Tata to respond to the same, so in 2005 Tata not just launched the Safari with a new 3 Liter DICOR diesel engine, but also performed a complete facelift along with some new features that effectively reduced the price.
The Safari’s new engine offered 115 Bhp and 300 Nm of peak torque, the performance boost that the safari was waiting for. And, its new price came out to be around 6.4 lakhs, which definitely was a Value for Money. Moreover, this new 3 Liter Dicor engine was un-reliable. That forced Tata to launch a smaller engine but with more power.
Later in 2007, the Tata Safari Dicor was born, with 2.2 Liter turbo-diesel engine, it came up with Common Rail Direct Injection Technology. This new engine produced 120 Bhp and 320 Nm of peak torque. Tata, as always, was offering both RWD and 4-wheel drive options. Now this was a complete all-rounder SUV as it offered not just ABS and twin air-bags, but with a huge list of other features as well.
The Tata Safari Legacy continued for a well 10 years, but sadly now it’s time to say Goodbye to the SUV that taught us feel what a luxury SUV is all about, but now, the Storme has taken over the Dicor.