[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Why are those knobs for folding down the seats so huge! Not only does it look ugly but may potentially hit someone IMO

It's good to be big - else, it'll be difficult to hold it proper and release from the loop (especially if we put a seat cover on). I remember once breaking Versa's (old Maruti) because, I couldn't manage to grip it well - plus, it was too small to take the pressure.

I don't think it'll hit anyone unless bab(i)es jump around.

[veyron-w16]

Saw XUV300 at T3, the build quality seems to be nice, interior is best in any Mahindra car till now, the red buttons look outdated though. Clutch was soft with slick shifting gearbox. luggage area is very small, passenger area is spacious.

There was Nissan Kicks also parked next to it, but no one was even interested in looking at it, XUV300 definitely looks better in real.

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by veyron-w16

Saw XUV300 at T3, the build quality seems to be nice, interior is best in any Mahindra car till now, the red buttons look outdated though. Clutch was soft with slick shifting gearbox. luggage area is very small, passenger area is spacious.
.

These were my exact thoughts when I checked it in a mall. The exterior build is great, the red buttons look pretty bad in an otherwise nice and spacious cabin.

The front facia is very wide, looks much wider than the Brezza and Nexon. Clean side and rear profile. Boot space though could've been much better.

[arindambasu13]

Did a quick test drive of both diesel and petrol versions at a Mahindra showroom in Kolkata. Though they had initially told me that test drives would be available only from 14th February once officially launched, got a call yesterday saying that the dealer had got the cars already and were holding a launch party today! Needless to say, I headed straight to the showroom which was close to my house, and proceeded to take the car for a spin. Lots of people milling around, with free snacks and drinks thrown in. I ignored those and headed straight for the test drive vehicles parked outside.

Very preliminary/ initial thoughts are as below:

1. Looks: Personally, I quite like the way it looks. It has a compact, yet meaty and muscular stance, especially from the rear three quarter angle. The test drive cars were in the Aquamarine shade, which is a subdued but different shade compared to all the colours seen on the road today.

2. Interiors: Look pretty good overall, but there are areas which look low rent. Especially, the bottom part of the centre console which looks positively archaic in today's day and age. Sticks out like a sore thumb, just like the Ecosport's outdated instrument cluster! Seats were more comfortable for broader individuals than those of the Ecosport. However, the Ecosport seats hold you more snug, if you are of average/ slimmer build.

3. Drive: The most critical part and the one I had been waiting for ever since the first test drive reviews surfaced.

I first drove the petrol, which was the dark horse, with no reviews at all till now. The gearshift and clutch combo in this car was super smooth and slick shifting. Nice and light, really very easy to use. What took me aback, however, was the performance of the petrol engine. The 200 NM of torque kicks in quite early in the rev range, starting somewhere around 1500-1600 RPM and gradually building up by the time its 2000 RPM. The engine seemed sufficiently powerful to propel the heavy car with reasonable gusto. The car seemed very eager to get off the blocks and turbo lag seemed quite minimal. Overall, its certainly not lacking in power and is very sprightly to drive. Need a longer go in this one. Its a capable engine, for sure.

I then took a drive of the diesel. Going by all the reviews, I was expecting all hell to break loose once the tachometer crossed 1500 RPM, but actually, there was not much of that bedlam to be had. Instead, the torque swelled and built from around 1400-1500 RPM and when the needle crossed 2000 RPM, there was a proper slug of full torque. It was a bit of an anti-climax , to be frank. I wasn't sure whether to be disappointed (at the lack of a brutal kick at 1500 RPM) or relieved that it was much more driveable between 1000 - 2000 RPM i.e. typical city driving rev range, than I had thought it would be, and therefore much more manageable in daily driving. To make things clearer, its certainly nowhere near what the S Cross 1.6 engine used to be like. Its much more progressive and quite a bit tamer than that Multijet wild child The gear and clutch in this version is also very light and easy to use. The gear lever however, is quite tall and the throws are longer than I would have liked.

4. Ride quality: Quite comfortable. Flattens out most city road potholes and undulations without much fuss. Should be a comfortable car to drive around in the city, and definitely better than the stiffer ride of the Ecosport and Brezza. I purposely drove the car into all the potholes I could find on the short test drive route to test this, and the car came out with good marks.

Slated to go for more extensive test drives tomorrow, when the crowds will be less. Will report back once I get to do that.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

I first drove the petrol, which was the dark horse, with no reviews at all till now.

Excellent - That's the first report of the petrol anywhere I think - great to hear. Quick question only based on first impressions - petrol or diesel?

How is the refinement / NVH levels of the petrol?

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Excellent - That's the first report of the petrol anywhere I think - great to hear. Quick question only based on first impressions - petrol or diesel?

How is the refinement / NVH levels of the petrol?

Refinement and NVH is pretty good, from what I could figure out. However, given the ambient sounds around when I was driving, I will reserve my judgment on this till I get to drive the car in quieter settings.

Diesel or petrol- hmmm, thats a vexing question indeed, and one that I am now asking myself as well. I was all ready to denounce the petrol as being underpowered for a heavy car, and pronounce the diesel as the way more superior engine. That has pretty much been the experience on this class of car till now. But, like I said, I was taken aback at the sprightly nature of the petrol and no way I can vote for the diesel over the petrol blindly and without a second thought- at least, on the basis of the short test drive that I could manage. Again, will need to do longer drives to figure out whether the petrol is as capable as it seemed to be. It seemed eager to rev and overall, quite light and nimble on its feet.

But certainly it will not be a pushover of an engine, and I believe this same engine is destined to make its way to Ford cars in the future.

[sandx]

I must have received this kind of a flyer for the first time. A lot for bikes or scooters but never for a car personally. Mahindra looks to be trying very hard and rightly so for a product that looks good and seems to feel good as well.



Right time then to create a new poll for the xuv3oo vs the rest. A day to go for the price, waiting eagerly for it but I got a feeling its going to be a little beyond expectations. Let's see.

[Turbokick]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Refinement and NVH is pretty good, from what I could figure out. However, given the ambient sounds around when I was driving, I will reserve my judgment on this till I get to drive the car in quieter settings.
.

How is the power delivery of the petrol engine in general? 3 cylinder engines (particularly the smaller ones) are notorious about their jerky power delivery in start stop traffic, especially throttle inputs. How does the xuv manage here? 200NM and 110 bhp are impressive numbers (atleast on papers, hopefully on road as well)

[drmohitg]

Assuming that it is priced competitively, this car would hurt the Nexon the most as per me.
Brezza sells due to the MSIL tag and would in all likelyhood continue to do so.
The Ecosport has lost some numbers to the competition but I feel it still has its USP intact in being the best in terms of looks, exterior and interior build quality and offers a proper AT transmission.
That leaves us with the Nexon which like the XUV300 has an Indian origin and hence quality is suspect at places, after sales service may have some issues ( as per the years of reviews, might have improved now) and long term reliability is relatively poor as compared to the rest. Feature wise it would get trumped by the XUV while having the upper hand by way of offering AMT units in both Petrol and Diesel and also sporting a bigger boot.

[veyron-w16]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

What took me aback, however, was the performance of the petrol engine. The 200 NM of torque kicks in quite early in the rev range, starting somewhere around 1500-1600 RPM and gradually building up by the time its 2000 RPM. The engine seemed sufficiently powerful to propel the heavy car with reasonable gusto. The car seemed very eager to get off the blocks and turbo lag seemed quite minimal.

till now a good petrol engine (performance and efficiency) was missing in the category, this one seems to fill the gap. With all the regulations on diesel engines, petrol is the way forward for majority of people.

[Waspune]

Originally Posted by veyron-w16

till now a good petrol engine (performance and efficiency) was missing in the category, this one seems to fill the gap. With all the regulations on diesel engines, petrol is the way forward for majority of people.

The Ecosport has a good variety of petrol engines and the Nexon is also not bad per se. The XUV300's petrol engine speaks a lot on paper but a thorough review would only close the matter IMO. Remember the XUV500 petrol engine?Spec wise it matched the diesel counterpart and it drove like a diesel as well and didn't like to revv, which is a crucial factor for petrol engines. I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this but I don't think petrol engine is Mahindra's cup of tea.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Waspune

The Ecosport has a good variety of petrol engines and the Nexon is also not bad per se. The XUV300's petrol engine speaks a lot on paper but a thorough review would only close the matter IMO. Remember the XUV500 petrol engine?Spec wise it matched the diesel counterpart and it drove like a diesel as well and didn't like to revv, which is a crucial factor for petrol engines. I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this but I don't think petrol engine is Mahindra's cup of tea.

This not so revv happy nature of Turbo petrol is evident in most of the turbo petrol reviews on T-BHP, Turbo petrols designed for every day commute may not revv as much as their non-turbo cousins and that is inherent to its design is what I could gather. Powerful? Sure yes, but that feeling of more power as you push the pedal may top out a bit earlier than an NA engine.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by Waspune

The Ecosport has a good variety of petrol engines and the Nexon is also not bad per se.

The Ecosport 1.5 dragon is the best option because of its power and flexible nature. The Nexon petrol when driven in sports mode is a great performer with a 0-100 timing of 12sec. XUV300 petrol will be up against a reasonable selling competition, so it will now boil down to pricing.
Nexon gets around 40% of its 5000 per month sales from petrol so it's not a small number to ignore for Mahindra.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by damodar

The Ecosport 1.5 dragon is the best option because of its power and flexible nature.

This new Mahindra 1.2 turbo petrol is going to replace both the 1.5 Dragon NA petrol and 1.0 Ecoboost turbo petrol engines in the next generation Ecosport.

Hopefully that is due to technical merits - and not cost factors alone.

[sunilsoft]

Originally Posted by CarStruck

I am also in the hunt and had zeroed in on XUV 300 as a potential buy. What other options are you looking at?

Waiting for Kia Sp2i to arrive as there no perfect SUV in the Indian market right now. Brezza- Engine is Small and 5-Speed transmission. Ecosport- 5-speed transmission and interior quality. Nexon- Doesn't have cruise control. Creta- No tilt and telescopic steering and not automatic lights and wipers. XUV 300 most promising but not practical (due to lack of boot space).

I want my next SUV to be around for another 6-7 years thus I have decided to wait for some good SUV to arrive. Sp2i looks promising. Until then I have my polo doing the job for me.