HomeCar News2015 Tata Safari Storme Automatic variant spied on test

2015 Tata Safari Storme Automatic variant spied on test

Many were left disappointed when it was learnt that the 2015 Tata Safari Storme Automatic variant was not offered with the recent facelift. Apart from the bump in power by 10 PS, there is no change made to the engine or transmission of the new Safari Storme Facelift. They remain same as before.

 

But it seems like Tata Motors have not given up hope on the automatic variant of the Safari Storme SUV. Thanks to Aniruddha Joshi, who managed to click the image above, we can confirm that the Safari Storme AT is still in the making.

So why did Tata not launch Safari AT with the facelift, which is now available at dealers for a starting price of Rs 10.41 lakhs. The reason being, Tata Motors is going to offer a 6 speed ZF transmission with the Safari. This gearbox has not been tested with the existing 150 PS VARiCOR engine, but with the next gen VARiCOR 400 engine. It is this engine and gearbox under the hood of the Safari Storme in the image above.

Once launched, it is this engine which will power the Tata Safari Storme Facelift Automatic variant. Capable of generating 163 hp and 400 Nm torque, Team-BHP.com reveals that the 5 speed manual would not be capable to handle 400 Nm torque; and hence Tata is testing the VARiCOR 400 with a new 6 speed AT gearbox. This same gearbox and engine combination will also be seen on the upcoming Tata Hexa crossover.

 

Another interesting fact to note here is the EX badge. This indicates that the test mule in the title image above, is a mid variant. This means that automatic variant will be on offer with the mid variant. It remains to be seen if Tata Motors will offer the Safari AT in only RWD or AWD.

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Images via Autocar India

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