“The Blue Elephant” My Safari 4x4 Review & Mods

[mayankdixit]

A few facts to make myself (or any DICOR 4x4 owner) Proud-
Safari DiCOR Off-Road Features:

• 8.07-Inches of Ground Clearance
• 45° Climb Gradient (100% Gradeability !!)
• 11.8-Inch Water Wading Depth

• Wonderful thread BHVM

First of all congrats for maintaining the safari so well!!This car is lucky to have you.
No intention to spoil your party sirji, but you may want to correct the gradeability. 45 degrees is unheard of. The figures I have posted below are in percentage.
It should be more likely around 24 degrees.
2nd pic shows fig of Xenon recce 4x4.
3rd pic is Armoured storme.Even that fig is 26.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

@mayankdixit you might be correct, but the 26 degree one is a Safari Storme, not Safari Dicor(the big hefty one).

 

[mayankdixit]

Even then the gradeability of any car cannot go beyond 45°
When 60% is converted to degrees it comes out to 30.9° which must be the fig.for Safari in 4x4 mode.
It's very rare to find a car with more than 45° gradeability. Still I accept that old Safari was having good gradeability and maybe better offroad prowess.

 

[bhvm]

View attachment 253463
This is what my User manual States. 78% is 35 Degrees. Mine is DICOR 2.2L
I have read somewhere the figure about 100% (100 Gradablity is also known as 45 degrees). The source was official. Maybe some user manual or TATA website or something. But I could'nt find it today.

Now.
If Storme is 26 Degrees,
Dicor is 35 Degrees
Guess what! (My eyes light up like a kid in a candy store)
Its very much possible that DICOR 3.0L was rated at 100% (45 deg)

Some Respect I have for that Hulking Beast. I would'nt think twice to Get a 3.0L 4x4 home if found in good condition and not abused.

Coming to Storme. @THE_DRIFTER is right.
I guess TATA did'nt supply DICORs for military maybe beccause they were too expensive to make (Prices matter a lot in Govt tenders), DICOR is also heavier than storme. Perhaps longer. But DICOR 2.2 or 3.0L would have been the first choice for Military or any rugged use. Storme has traded a lot of its Off-road Prowess for On Road Dynamics, and they have failed when compared to XUV still.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

View attachment 253463
This is what my User manual States. 78% is 35 Degrees. Mine is DICOR 2.2L
I have read somewhere the figure about 100% (100 Gradablity is also known as 45 degrees). The source was official. Maybe some user manual or TATA website or something. But I could'nt find it today.

Now.
If Storme is 26 Degrees,
Dicor is 35 Degrees
Guess what! (My eyes light up like a kid in a candy store)
Its very much possible that DICOR 3.0L was rated at 100% (45 deg)

Some Respect I have for that Hulking Beast. I would'nt think twice to Get a 3.0L 4x4 home if found in good condition and not abused.

Coming to Storme. @THE_DRIFTER is right.
I guess TATA did'nt supply DICORs for military maybe beccause they were too expensive to make (Prices matter a lot in Govt tenders), DICOR is also heavier than storme. Perhaps longer. But DICOR 2.2 or 3.0L would have been the first choice for Military or any rugged use. Storme has traded a lot of its Off-road Prowess for On Road Dynamics, and they have failed when compared to XUV still. View attachment 253465

Safari dicor was not used by military just because of 3 reasons
1. It is discontinued.
2. Longer wider than storme.
3. More heavier than storme.
Otherwise if point 1 was not the i really think military must've used Dicor instead of storme.

 

[bhvm]

ODO- 83.2K Kms
Journey 700Kms
Route- NH3 Bombay-Nashik-Malegaon-Dhule (And back)
Target Speeds- 90KMPH, Max speeds 100KMPH
Terrain Encountered- 100s of speedbreakers, Kasara Ghats (Both ways), NH3, And regular tolls & time pass.

1. The beast Managed a smashing FE of 14.31 KMPL on the entire run. This is the highest Ever FE on my charts when it comes to a Safari (That too a 4x4).
It am Impressed how this humongous, Heavy elephant can run on diesel vapors when handled with respect.

2. Some Absolute, Utter M0r0n Decided that its wise to install some speedbreakers on EXPRESSWAYS. So They did. The ENTIRE Bombay-Nashik-Malegaon-Dhule is reeked with Speedbreakers. Some are marked. Some are not. Esp the ones around Nashik Outskirts are not Marked and sometimes difficult to spot due to Traffic/Inclines/ Curves etc. There are times when there are 2 breaker patches in 400 Meters. But believe me, max you can cruise before hitting another cursed path will not me much more than 5~10 Minutes. The Rant continues below-

3. It so happened that I was merrily following a Blue swift along the way (With respectable distance). The Swift guy spotted a sudden, Unmarked speedbreaker and panic braked. So did I. Thankfully, I stopped about 6~10 inches of the swift. I really wonder if the swift guy had his pants dry after this. After all, This was a big , Hulking 2.5 tonner elephant, Complete with Bright LED DRLs.

So, I think My adamance to buy a VX with ABS brakes has paid off.

4. The beast was a pleasure to drive as usual. I am noticing, that with all the Seal & Foam packing work I did, the Beast has become very Fortified against dust and Smells. We passed Through sections where Roads were being laid. And I could not smell Burning Tar nor dust. Infact, Driving the beast for half a day has cured my allergy and I can breathe again properly. My XUV on the other hand, has started leaking since last few thousands Kms and smells enter the cabin.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

Well most of the India is filled with speedbreakers, and even at those locations where it is not supposed to be.

I really wonder if the swift guy had his pants dry after this. After all, This was a big , Hulking 2.5 tonner elephant, Complete with Bright LED DRLs.

hehe, they must've been wet. Especially if it was night-time and he saw a big Beast coming to tame him in the night with 2 big eyes!!!

 

[bhvm]

Was'nt there some ruling to remove speedbreakers, Atleast from the expressways?

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

Was'nt there some ruling to remove speedbreakers, Atleast from the expressways?

Yes, i think an order was made to remove ALL speed breakers from expressways, but, we all know if order was passed in 2018-19 when would it get completed.

 

[bhvm]

b14- Adding LED Aux lamps (Cree)

As you might know, Safari VX comes with Stock Triangular Fog lamps as below- (Image only for reference)

Whilst, I am usually Full of Praise for Stock fog lamps, The safari Fogs (Or any Tatas of those era) come with some really Pathetic H3 fogs. Now H3 is a flawed standard in many ways, Simply because it uses a Transverse filament compared to All regular bulbs. Which means its poorly focussed as well as does not take any upgrades well.

The Safari Fogs, Suffer from Following flaws-

• 
  
• Bulbs last 6 months max
  
• Replacing Bulbs is quite a chore. Either undo the front grille or do some yogasanas under the car to remove entire fog housings etc. Really a Pain.
  
• Always get a cut on your finger due to stupidly designed retention pin and sharp edges
  
• Never gets alignment right
  
• Poor, Almost non existent beam
  
• Cannot be upgraded properly or have LED Retrofit.

Knowing all these from my Safari 3.0L, I said, well lets get rid of these and plan something better. So I did.Got these brackets made up from local welder-

Do note that these brackets have been rust treated and painted before install. I just could not get enough shots before the install as I was quite excited. The Brackets mount on the chassis existing bolts, which also hold the front part of bumper (really thick solid bolts).

The Lights I choose were Cree 20W (10w x 2 LED) Smart LED aux lamps. Some of you might remember these on my XUV. These were lying idle as I had XUV upgraded to HID 4300k Kit.

Thankfully, The rectangular lamps more or less fit inside stock fog orifices without sticking out too much. Here is how the beast looks with everything done-

These lamps are powered using stock Fog wiring harness and stock switch. Since the LED fogs are now only 20w x2 Compared to 50w x2 for stock H3 lamps, I have eased out the load on wring and battery. The beam pattern for these is medium high beam and I have wired them as dual way High beam assists. (This Is Mr BHVM's Trademark wiring pattern)

Mode 1- Turn on stock fog lamp switch, These turn on & Stay on. This mode is really Great for DRL puproses as the dual “eye” designs gleam from far and look atleast as bright as Audi/Merc if not more. Good for dual carriageways.

Mode 2- Engage regular High beam headlights and these bad boys come on. They go off with low beams. This is the best mode AKA BEAST MODE! And provides really decent illumination combined with my Upgraded LED headlamps.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

Now your Safari has basically everything it wamted and i wanna say again, this would be the luckiest Safari.
Do post some pics of using these in night- time!

 

[bhvm]

b15- Adding High reflectivity tape

My Safari 4x4 VX came with Stock reflectors embedded in rear fog lamps. I thought these are placed too low and much too small (there's just a small strip inside red fog housings) to be of any use. So I pasted a 2 inch thick, full length Reflectivity tape on Rear glass. Here is how it looks-

At Times I think it's looking a bit too loud but maybe the safety factor is worth it?
May I please have maximum comments on this?

 

[mayankdixit]

Bhvm you are doing lots of things on your car.I know you are working very hard,scratching your head all the time for how to improve it further,or how to add something substantial which will add and enhance its appeal etc etc.
I congratulate and commend you for your effort,but somehow all these colours are not adding up.Its getting more and more confusing. I can't pinpoint but pink +blue +matt black are not gelling together,if you know what I mean.The safari in the start of your post 115 is looking beautiful and is a good example of it.You have already made such a huge effort,now maybe just switch to a better colour scheme.


p.s It was not intended to damp your spirit,but just my opinion.Even if you don't agree with me ,I am now,and still will be 100% with you in your project.

 

[THE_DRIFTER]

Sir, very nice efforts from you to mod your Safari. These mods will surely make it unique while standing in crowd.

The safari in the start of your post 115 is looking beautiful and is a good example of it

Sir, that one is a Brand new Beast ready for it's delivery. It can't be compared to a 10 years old car Sirji..

 

[Nairrk]

Good addition which looks nice. In the meantime, your car looks like a new one so I can imagine how beautifully you are maintaining your ride