[PGA]

Just picked up Bolero Power Plus SLE for my trips to the farm. Cost me Rs 7.15 lakh on road. Few thoughts after having driven it for 500 kms in heavy city traffic and highway over last one week.
Engine - Noiseless (pl keep reference of old bolero in mind)
Pickup- Superb, effortless takeoff in second gear from near stop situations.
Mileage- Above 16 kmpl
Power - Not tested above 100 kmph as yet so cannot comment.
Vibrations- Vastly reduced, again reference old Bolero

Safety, Interiors and Comfort: Nothing more to add than what is already known.

Brakes : Serious problem with brake pedal located so much higher than accelerator pedal. I think it is a big road safety hazard in today's fast moving highway traffic or bumper sticking city traffic. Your braking reaction is likely to increase considerably in the event of emergency situation as you need to move your foot back considerably from accelerator and then move to apply brake. Small left movement of foot lands it below the brake pedal further compounding the problem. Already moved the case with Mahindra's about it lets see how do they resolve.

Suspension : Good longitudinal control, perfect for pot holes. Lateral control less said the better, enough roll to make oldies sea sick. But no complaints, it is meant to be that way.

Steering: Already discussed in earlier threads, no further inputs.

Niggle: Engine immoboliser doesn't seem to work, servicing staff little clueless on the issue. WIP as of now (Mahindra cannot live without them, , but again no complaints, my experience is that they make serious effort to resolve it.)

[Torqy]

Mahindra, when you relocated the rear door handle, you had the perfect opportunity to relocate the number plate from the most stupid place (below the bumper) to where the door handle was. But you didn't. Why Mahindra??? WHY?

[JediKnight]

In the latest issue of OVERDRIVE, they have done an AC test. Among SUV's Bolero AC is a top performer. It was ranked 3rd among SUV's almost same as the 2nd place Volvo XC90. It bettered its bigger brother Scorpio by a big margin. Even defeated the likes of Innova crysta Tata Hexa and the mighty fortuner. No wonder it sells so much.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by PGA

Just picked up Bolero Power Plus SLE for my trips to the farm.

Hi PGA, how is it going with the Bolero Power Plus. I am in half a mind in picking up one for my home/office commute. How has been the reliability? Looking at the niggles on the TUV thread makes me doubt how bug free the baby mhawk power train is.

[PGA]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Hi PGA, how is it going with the Bolero Power Plus. I am in half a mind in picking up one for my home/office commute. How has been the reliability? Looking at the niggles on the TUV thread makes me doubt how bug free the baby mhawk power train is.

Hi JediKnight, I am quite happy with the performance, no issues with the engine at all, let me summarize as I see after operating it for six months now.
Engine: No issues till about 100kmph, (2700rpm) very linear acceleration and no issues with vibrations. Beyond 3000 rpm it just runs out of all the steam and doesn't want to be in that region at all. However it did give me one scare when it was only about 1000 kms old, it did knock for about 30 seconds for no reason after starting up but became ok after that, I attributed it to some valve sticking and breaking in of a new motor, but nothing since then. Another thing it doesn't like is rough handling for first 2 kms of the ride in the morning, normally other engines tend to get into the groove earlier than that.
Mileage: My drive is 90% on highway and low traffic farm roads and 10% city, above 17 kmpl. Avg speed 90+- 5 km on highway but no hard pushing or pulling
Transmission: What one expects from a jeep, but neat and ratios help easy glides in 2 and 3 gears in city traffic
Suspension: Same what one expects from a jeep, but with the dominating driving position and decent longitudinal stability it goes galloping over potholes but do not roll it, very uncomfortable with that.
Brakes: Could have been better, much better.
Comfort, fit finish and trim: Have low expectations
AC : No complaints, very good
Loading: I regularly load it upto 650 Kgs with farm produce or bags of urea it doesn't complain on kutcha road or the highway.

Hope above mentioned helps, anything else you wish to know, do let me know.

Lastly, what I have written on top is what my head has been telling me and now I will tell you what my heart says, I just love to ride this gallant charger, and when it is on the road, our Indian road, nobody dares come close, iron bumper, side steps and a poky nose scares even most hard boiled auto rickshaw chaps.

Rgds

[JediKnight]

PGA thanks for the update. Wish you many kilometers of blissful ownership.

Originally Posted by PGA

Brakes : Serious problem with brake pedal located so much higher than accelerator pedal. I think it is a big road safety hazard in today's fast moving highway traffic or bumper sticking city traffic. Your braking reaction is likely to increase considerably in the event of emergency situation as you need to move your foot back considerably from accelerator and then move to apply brake. Small left movement of foot lands it below the brake pedal further compounding the problem. Already moved the case with Mahindra's about it lets see how do they resolve.

Did this get fixed?

[samwagon]

PGA, apologies for borrowing your post for a technical query. I am on the verge of picking up a new Bolero Power Plus SLX. My question to all the technically educated members is whether it is possible to retrofit the DIS display available in ZLX trim into a SLX. I know it can fit in the slot provided but what I need to know is if I buy a new DIS and it’s connection cable from MASS will it be possible to connect and power it up through some existing connector on the SLX version. Attaching a pick from website boodmo with the relevant parts mentioned. Thanks

[PGA]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Did this get fixed?

Apologies JediKnight, my reply is eons late, no its not fixed and would require considerable modifications at M&M's end.

While driving back from my farm yesterday, I thought its time for an update on the car. The love has worn off a bit and some creases are now more glaring. As usual sticking to the brevity I will narrate them in bullet form.
Mileage done : 22000 kms approx in last 15 months.

-Brakes, need substantial improvement, especially on the highway, I don't drive really fast, keep in the zone of 80's and maintain more than adequate braking distance, yet it has the capability to scare you. One learning of this fact is just don't come in the way of speeding Bolero.

-Steering and suspension. The car behaves like a bronco billy even on mildly rough road, jumping around when not adequately loaded with atleast 500 kgs. Understeer is the name of the game, I have had quite a few close shaves, saved partially because of slower speeds. I have managed to convert this weakness of the car to my advantage while managing traffic, as I let the car rock and roll to scare errant drivers in the front and the back and they maintain respectable distance.

- Brake Pedal needs special mention, it crazily pops in the well, my mails to Mahindra have always landed with S&M guys and not engineering design chaps, don't know how to take it forward without use of disproportionate effort.

- AC either it chills you to the bone or keep you sweating, I don't mind it that way, I get a feel as if I am flying an aeroplane while driving, I keep on fiddling with the adjustment knob every now and then.

- Now lets talk about the motor, it continues to glide and give me a mileage of 16+ in hot summers of Punjab. With power available on demand I have no complaints. I enjoy it at times when I give those perky swifts and polo's a run for their money and can stand eye to eye with Endy's and Fortuners.

In my area, it seems the trend is changing with many more guys going for this Bolero than for TUV, it wasn't the case last year.

[Aroy]

The jumpy nature is due to stiff leaf springs designed for high load, similar to a Gypsy. One method used by many users is that if you do not need the full load capacity, take a few leaves out. Or else search for more pliant leaf material.

For breaks see if a stronger brake booster can be fitted. A bigger booster did improve the breaking if Thar, so it should be feasible for Bolero.

For AC check if it has a thermostat control. If there is one it may be sticking, if it is not there then you have to live with it, or else get a thermostat fixed by third party AC repair shops.

[PGA]

Thanks a lot for these inputs Aroy, I think I have learnt to live with the mentioned kinks, vaise bhi 'kabhi kisee ko mukamil jahan nahi milta'

Another reason is I hate to take the car to workshop unless absolutely necessary, least of it for tinkering with whats it been designed for.

[rajvardhanraje]

Hi PGA, any updates on the workhorse? How has it been performing lately?

[PGA]

Originally Posted by rajvardhanraje

Hi PGA, any updates on the workhorse? How has it been performing lately?

It's doing fine, nothing much to report or add from whatever I mentioned in the past as far as driveability is concerned. Done about 40k on the odo, there are however two issues which I would like to flag for future monitoring.

Whenever car goes through stop/ move traffic and gets little more heated than what it normally will be, say on the highway the throttle response becomes little sluggish, the car tends to labour a bit on acceleration. This could be normal behavior of the engine due to lower ambient air pressure during summers. I will test it during coming winter's to see if it persists. But this is of very minor concern.

There is a major issue as well which has come up in last 10000 kms. Once again in hot conditions if the car is switched off and restarted in a minute or so say on a traffic signal then about once in 20 attempts it will not start, the engine lights up but rattles infact judders and cuts off. It feels as if one the Piston is not firing or accessory like AC compressor or alternator is stuck, the judder is huge and was quite scary for my son who was once driving it. But switch off and re crank it starts off like a dream.

I had shown it to the A.S.S but we couldn't replicate it. Lately I think Mahindra has come to know of the problem. I was talking to the SA during my last visit and I found him very evasive on the issue so I feel it is WIP on the issue. Anyways car is under warranty till Feb next year I will certainly get it resolved before that comes to an end.

[raj_5004]

Reviving this thread with pics of our beater car which we use in our native.

It's a Bolero Power+ in SLE trim. This car was barebones and we have recently done a few convenience & cosmetic mods to it -

• Central locking
• Power windows
• Roots Windtone Horn
• Android Head Unit
• Rain Visors
• Leather seats
• Fog Lamps with DRL (looks tacky but gets the job done)
• Front grille change (not to my taste though)

Driving the Bolero is an adventure in itself! The new 1.5 ltr motor can be termed 'adequate' at best. It picks speed decently till about 90 kmph, after which it is a struggle. But the good part is that its torquey, so even if you load up the UV, it will still pull cleanly without any hiccups. I was pleasantly surprised at the NVH of this engine though... Gone are the days when a cold start of a Bolero used to sound like a tractor. The 1.5 mHawk engine is smooth and silent.

The steering is vague without any feel, so keeping the UV pointing in the right direction at high speeds is sort of a guesswork.

Ride is good at low speeds, but hit an undulation at high speed and the passengers are bound to puke. Braking is again mediocre and engine braking is a more of a necessity rather than a good driving technique.

Reliability is the major forte of the Bolero. It keeps performing without any complaints and I can vouch for the fact that it can take any abuse you throw at it with minimal complaints or issues. Service costs are low since the parts are cheap.