In my quest to find a suitable successor for my Scorpio DX 2.6L behemoth, I'm on a mission to test drive all the wheels that fall in the same category. Having driven this mass of turbo-charged metal monster, I'm not going to settle for less.
Please excuse the instances where mentions of the Scorpio pops up. The Scorpio has been a car that served me well for nearly 2 years.
A couple of dials to the Chevy dealer and I earned myself a test drive.
The Tavera dude was prompt and he brought along with him the SS model (which is the top of the line variant). A handshake later I asked him to give me the sneak peak...
Here's the conversation (a tad enhanced for effect)
Me: So I read that this isn't actually a Chevy but a marriage between Isuzu and GM which lead to Isuzu rechristening its Panther to Tavera (Panther sounded way too cooler than Tavera)...
He: Yes... its just our effort to capture the Qualis market since the Qualis has gone extinct...
Me: Ok... so give me the story about this car...
He: Well its got a 2.5 litre engine (2499cc) that delivers 80bhp (the Scorpio on the other hand delivers a cool 109bhp)... we got a handful of variants starting from around 6 lakhs on the road all the way to 10 lakh plus (for the top of the line variant)... we got 8 and 9 seater versions... etc etc.
Me: So whats the perks on the top of the line variant?
He: Its got better seat covers.... three row air conditioning... dual tone paint job (yeah... like its worth paying major cash for a dual tone paint job)
Me: Lets take it for a spin...
The Tavera
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At first glance, the Tavera looked like a Qualis that went through plastic surgery. Its also very long and sports a decent looking bull bar on the front. The ground clearance is also pretty decent. But sitting inside, it felt much lower than the Scorpio. The insides had nice plastic-wood paneling and all the controls were pretty easy to access and use. Seats are comfortable and looked like they'd hold you together during those long drives.
What appealed to me was the fact that it was pretty spacious inside with loads of leg room (something that my Scorpio lacks especially in the second row).
Its a pretty car.
The Variants
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The Tavera has a lot of variants starting from the non-ac one to the fully loaded SS. Only the SS and the variant below that one has dual tone paint jobs. All the variants have the same engine and its just the bells and whistles that create the variance in price. The low end variant is around 6 lakhs and the higher one is over 10 lakhs on the road.
The Drive
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The Tavera seriously lacks the bite of a Scorpio but then there is a significant difference in power so thats to be expected. Also, the Tavera is pretty heavy but it responded pretty well.
It took the potholes and bumps pretty decently - so the dude was right about the clearance (the Tavera's got leaf spring suspensions like the Scorpio). The Scorpio's braking was pretty bad at high speeds so thats one thing I checked on this one... it scored ok at low speeds but at higher speeds you could feel some resistance from the vehicle.
The gearshift is one sore point - not very good. It felt pretty clunky and uncomfortable.
Its a decent cruise. A bit shortchanged on power.
Mileage
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The guy claimed that it gave around 14k's per litre of diesel even with the AC on. Thats very decent. This car is good for the city.
Post-drive Remarks
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Its got some positives like Fuel Economy, plenty of room inside, Decent interiors and fixtures, good looks and a nice Sound System. The three row Air Conditioning is also very good. The seats fold back to create storage space at the back too.
But it lacks power. Revv it up and it thinks before it moves... not my kind of wheels. And the SUV / MUV market has more choiced for us folks now - at the same price you can get more power.
So who should buy it?
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A large sized family could use all the room inside the Tavera. Its also good for those who prefer mileage to power. And personally, it makes better sense to buy one of the lower end variants than the 11 lakh plus one.
Good car... but not for me... the Innova is next in the list...
~ finis ~
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