Is Tata Safari Storme better than XUV500?

Pros : Turning circle radius, braking system, roof mounted rear AC

Cons : looks (not very SUVish), no airbags, alloy wheels

I had a look at the comparison table of Tata Safari Storme with market leader Mahindra XUV 500, Mahindra Scorpio and Toyota Fortuner (which I don’t believe to be an SUV of this segment at all) presented by Tata Motors on their official site but I am now confused which one to buy. If I compare the first three SUVs, all of them come with the same engine – 2179 cc delivering varied amounts of power.

The fuel tank is smallest on Storme and advanced safety features like airbags is missing. This has certainly put me down. Airbag is something even hatchbacks have these days. Among the three, only XUV500 comes with McPherson type front suspension with anti-roll bar. It also has disc brakes in the front but Tata Safari Storme wins the game by being fitted with ventilated disc brakes with twin pot calliper. Such brakes easily vent out the heat produced during braking and prevent wear and tear of wheels. Moreover, Tata Safari Storme has the lowest turning circle radius of just 5.4 meter.

Any ways, this two wheel drive version is powered by 2.2 litre DICOR engine that produces 140 ps of power and 320 Nm of torque. Tata Safari Storme EX 4X2 is equipped with roof mounted AC at rear, arm-rest on driver seat, rear washer and wiper, clear lens fog lamps as extra features compared to variants sitting lower to this (LX and LXA).