Battle of the Entry Level UVs: Sumo Gold vs Bolero

[THE XOVER]

^^
Look buddy the purpose of this thread is to discuss merits and demerits of both these entry level UVs, and then to reach the conclusion which is better.If everyone believes that Sumo is better than Bolero but outdated design than fine so be it.But fact of the matter is that now Tata have priced Sumo at the throat of Bolero with much more powerful 3 lt engine.So the battle is on me think.

 

[raj_5004]

If everyone believes that Sumo is better than Bolero but outdated design than fine so be it.

Judging by poll results only, everyone believes that Bolero is better than Sumo and not the other way round.

Sales figures of both is another pointer to the same.

But fact of the matter is that now Tata have priced Sumo at the throat of Bolero with much more powerful 3 lt engine.So the battle is on me think.

Why are you saying powerful engine everytime? You were talking about some magazine review... dint you notice that both have exactly the same acceleration timings. Its all about gearing & power to weight ratio my friend.

 

[THE XOVER]

^^ In real world condition buddy, the hefty torque of Sumo Gold would come handy when climbing an incline with full load.

 

[raj_5004]

^^^ Maybe true but not necessarily. Bolero has always been known for its low end torque. I have driven a Bolero many times & just to show off, I used to pull the vehicle from standstill in 3rd gear without using the throttle. Thats the magic of low end torque. Not sure about the Sumo as I have not driven the Gold.

 

[Akash]

This is a request to all members to kindly maintain the discussions healthy. No personal attacks would be tolerated.

Thread Cleaned.

 

[THE XOVER]

@ raj

I agree the low end torque of Bolero and as a matter of fact all Mahindra vehicles is awesome.BUTTTTT.....

Don't for one second discard the low end grunt of this 407 derived cr4 3lt engine. To tell you a story of my experience with this same engine when it used to come in its crude avatar in Tata Spacio jeep.Our family was shifting our home way back in 2001 from Bokaro Steel City to Hazaribag, and we hired a truck and this Spacio jeep to carry our entire home luggage.We put our refrigerator, Washing machine, television etc in the Spacio jeep and our entire family with other people was also travelling by this jeep.That's where I felt the monstrous low end grunt of this engine, man it pulled like crazy, and accelerated from stand still to 80 kmph in no time.Even in gear acceleration and pick up was mind blowing.Our entire family was impressed with the pulling power of this engine.

To tell you the truth Xover was never a fan of Sumo, until he knew that tata are going to introduce it as Sumo gold with his favourite 3 lt 407 engine and that too with refined NVH and better fuel efficiency in common rail guise.

So Bolero better watch out, now to take on its torquey mdi engine tata have launched Sumo gold with super torquey truck derived engine, game on THE XOVER says.

 

[Umang]

well dont argue guys! if you like one car doesnt mean everyone will like it!

i vote for bolero. sumo gold is old but mahindra has done great by adding new looks and features in bolero!

 

[THE XOVER]

Sumo has sold more than 3000 units back to back, really Gold is rewriting the Sumo saga.Otherwise who would have thought that a dead/old 20 year horse like Sumo will sell more than 3000 units at the end of its life circle.

 

[raj_5004]

Since we are comparing Sumo v/s Bolero, sales figures of both in -

Jan '12:
Sumo + Vista + Grande - 3453
Bolero - 9338

Dec '11:
Sumo + Vista + Grande - 3243
Bolero - 9165

Bolero is the 6th top selling car in Jan '12. The top 5 cars were hatchbacks, so technically Bolero is the top selling SUV in the country.

 

[THE XOVER]

^^

Yes totally agree, Bolero is definitely the best selling MUV of India, but the point is Sumo before launch of Gold was selling about 1000+ units but ever since its launch especially last few months Sumo series has seen a never before rise in sales.Lets see how much it improves further though once again I reiterate the 3.0 litre CR4 engine is complete beast, something which even Bolero 2.5 m2crdi can not match, period!!

 

[raj_5004]

^^^ When you compare figures on paper, you are right.

According to ACI's VBOX timings,

0-100 kmph timings -

Bolero - 25.61 secs
Sumo Gold - 25.87 secs

20-80 kmph in 3rd gear -

Bolero - 16.56 secs
Sumo Gold - 18.37 secs

40-100 kmph in 4th gear -

Bolero - 24.17 secs
Sumo Gold - 21.15 secs

Both are identical on performance but when it comes to efficiency -

Bolero - 15.9 kmpl
Sumo Gold - 14.7 kmpl

So what's the use of Sumo's 3.0 engine when a smaller engine from Mahindra can keep up with it & be more fuel efficient as well?

 

[THE XOVER]

There is old saying buddy," no replacement for displacement" and though in modern times thanks to use of turbo chargers not very true yet not very far way from it.You have to feel the raw 250 NM torque of Sumo Gold cr4 to believe how different its from that of Bolero.Sometimes real world usage of power and torque makes all the difference.

 

[Crazy cat]

I prefer Bolero over Sumo anyday. Bolero looks better, is more reliable, fuel efficient and its engine with its wide powerband is better to drive than the 407 engine which redlines at 3000 RPM(unless you drive cargo vehicles on a regular basis).

Sumo gold is surely a big improvement, but its still very tall(high COG), too big for city use, looks like a big box and can't rely on it as much as a Mahindra.

 

[raj_5004]

There is old saying buddy," no replacement for displacement" and though in modern times thanks to use of turbo chargers not very true yet not very far way from it.You have to feel the raw 250 NM torque of Sumo Gold cr4 to believe how different its from that of Bolero.Sometimes real world usage of power and torque makes all the difference.

So how does the 250 NM of torque help the Sumo? Cant see it in the acceleration or in-gear timings. Reason? The tall gearing & narrow power band of the Sumo.

Have you driven the Sumo Gold and the Bolero?

There is a new saying - "a truck engine will always be a truck engine"

 

[THE XOVER]

I prefer Bolero over Sumo anyday. Bolero looks better, is more reliable, fuel efficient and its engine with its wide powerband is better to drive than the 407 engine which redlines at 3000 RPM(unless you drive cargo vehicles on a regular basis).

Personal opinion respected.However Golds' engine produces 85 bhp at these 3000 rpm and 250 NM of massive torque, which I am sure will make it better to drive than Bolero(63 ps and 190 NM of torque).

Sumo gold is surely a big improvement, but its still very tall(high COG), too big for city use, looks like a big box and can't rely on it as much as a Mahindra.

Exactly Gold is vast improvement over Victa:
1. New softer front suspensiom with new Anti Roll Bars.

2. Softer parabolica leaf springs for more pliant ride at the back.

3. Even though 3000 cc engine of GOLD is truck derived yet thanks to common rail technology its much smoother to drive.Remember this same engine in different state of tune served Tata Safari way back in 2006.The low end grunt of this engine is awesome, one has to drive it to understand.

4 . With best in class turning radius of 4.9 meters its even more easier to drive and park than Bolero in cities, so no problem on this front.

Sumo prior to Gold was selling around 1000 odd units, thus Gold must have something good in it to shoot Sumo sales from a thousand to 3000 plus.