Tata Sumo Grande (A rhino in an elephant’s disguise)

Pros : Good Style, excellent comfort, nice fuel economy, very spacious even in the 3rd row, responsive engine, good pick up and effective braking

Cons : Tacky looking plastic interiors, rear suspension, after sales service and less reliable on long tours

I was looking for an SUV within 12 lacs, took test drive of Bolero, Scorpio, Tata Safari and finally Sumo Grande and decided to go ahead with Sumo Grande. I think Tata's marketing geeks are useless like anything, otherwise how dare they gave the 'Sumo' tag to such a good looking vehicle.

Sumo Grande looks stunning in black, muscular hunk has got all the looks of an SUV, vehicle is a solid stuff and when you ride it you will feel like you are ruling the road on your own terms. Its very spacious, clutch is smooth, but gears are not that smooth, breaks are pretty good, AC is good and provides uniform distribution in all the 3 rows, the roof mounted AC vents can be adjusted 360 degrees in any direction, very easy to handle, turning radius is very less, interiors are good for the money we pay, good music system, interiors are sound proof too and engine’s sound is really soothing to ears.

Some issues I have noticed are as follows; grills are made of inferior plastic, rear suspension needs improvement and the ground clearance needs to be improved but as a whole, vehicle is far better than Scorpio mHawk Vix which is the top end model in that class(Such a crap vehicle I haven't seen, not even driver can sit properly).  The best part of Sumo is the availability of lot of space for luggage and reasonably priced spares and is really rugged and fully equipped to go on a long off road journey.