[shankar.balan]

this is excellent insightful info.
I dont think the XUV has the 4WD LOCK like the Tucson has.

At best the XUV is a soft roader but its large-ish overhangs will prevent it from things like even minor rock climbing etc.
it is meant to save you trouble in conditions of light slush, snow and possibly ice and water on the roads.

One cant really take it to a serious hard core off road job unless one wants some large bills for repairs of electronics and mechanical parts which may get damaged.
If one wants to go into rock climbing and seriously slushy scenarios there is nothing quite like the old Jeep, Landrover and Gypsy etc.

the hill descent control and traction control etc in vehicles like the XUV, Subaru and Yeti etc will help a lot when for example one is driving in the hilly areas of India on smaller internal roads that may be overgrown with longish grass etc. Particularly when the long grass is wet, the vehicle tends to aquaplane. Its own weight can be dangerous in such conditions as the wheels find very less traction.

I have faced trouble with my 2WD Scorpio in situations as described above (in the Nilgiris and in Coorg) and it is only a combination of good luck and a little skill/ knowledge and earlier experience of such conditions, that helped me and my vehicle come out unscathed.

A similar situation involving wet grass that I encountered in England (in the higher areas around Yorkshire) while driving a Subaru Forester some 6 months back, made me feel extremely confident, on account of the Forester having all the bells and whistles - ESP, ABS, EBD, traction control, all wheel drive and plenty of torque.

This is one reason why I would like these features to be available to me in my next vehicle.

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

The AWD sytems of Soft Roaders are generally not meant for the kind of off-road situations. It is basically a traction aided system no different from a Subaru AWD station wagon or Audi Quattro system.

The sensor is supposed to sense wheel slippage within micro seconds and engage AWD so the scenario you described about getting stuck only because you were not in 4WD mode is very unlikely as AWD will kick in almost at the first recognition of loss of traction. In addition to that having ETS (Traction contol is almost like having front/rear/center diff locks as the ETS will lock the wheels that are slipping and you may even be about get out with traction on just a single wheel.

Most soft roaders have a 4WD Lock switch that can lock the 4WD in place upto a certain speed limit. Not sure if Mahindra has omitted this feature like it omitted the manual gear selection in the Scorpio Automatic.

[Latheesh]

Just came back from Sireesh Auto, man what a crowd!! Businessmen, executives, goons, kids...showroom is almost jam packed.

Vehicle looks better in real than in pictures, especially black and grey. Was eager to see white but they did not have. Looks like booking crossed 200 in two days in this showroom. I saw 2-3 bookings happening in front of me.

Front looks ugly but looks OK in black and grey. Rear and side profile looks OK. Major plus points of this vehicle is features and price. Nothing comes close to it.

-ves
Interior quality is good but not top notch
ugly air vents
Third row - I felt claustrophobic when someone came and sat in second row. Even worst than Swift.
Vehicle is filled with Chinese lights
Luggage space is nil
Inconsistent panel gaps - but not major
Some of the interior plastics are rattle prone - Will come to know within few thousand KMs

Vehicle is already successful. Around 200 booking in 2 days for a 10+ lakh vehicle that too without test drive!!

I saw a TBHP stickered ARIA in front of the showroom. psbali???

[Priyan]

Noticed the front wheel fenders are made of plastic and not metal, not sure whether this was discussed/noticed in this thread...just wondering why for a suv or xuv whatever it is bracketed under...any thoughts folks.

[sindabad.sailor]

Dadu:
I dont think TATA will provide a Knee-Jerk reaction to XUV launch immediately, perhaps 2-3 months or next financial year would see price corrections.

But SUV Price wars have definitely begun and at the right time(for consumers) when the sales numbers are anyways not moving up.

I am also wondering about the used SUV market. Only couple of days back I saw a few CR-Vs listed around 10Lac tag with close t 60K on odo and 5-8 yrs on age.
How would they take a beating? I for sure at this price point look for XUV even if it means 3 months waiting.

Anyway, rgd hill hold function kindly some one clarify if this is exclusively for AWD only because there are a few comparison sheets and there seems difference of opinion.
Also kindly enlighten me how it works and how is it engaged in XUV?

Rgds.

[shankar.balan]

as far as I am aware the HIll Hold etc is only available in the top end version of XUV.
some info on how these things help can be found on 4x4 addict's post and mine in reply to his a couple of posts below.

Originally Posted by sindabad.sailor

I am also wondering about the used SUV market. Only couple of days back I saw a few CR-Vs listed around 10Lac tag with close t 60K on odo and 5-8 yrs on age.
How would they take a beating? I for sure at this price point look for XUV even if it means 3 months waiting.

Anyway, rgd hill hold function kindly some one clarify if this is exclusively for AWD only because there are a few comparison sheets and there seems difference of opinion.
Also kindly enlighten me how it works and how is it engaged in XUV?

Rgds.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Just came back from Sireesh Auto, man what a crowd!! Businessmen, executives, goons, kids...showroom is almost jam packed.

Vehicle looks better in real than in pictures, especially black and grey. Was eager to see white but they did not have. Looks like booking crossed 200 in two days in this showroom. I saw 2-3 bookings happening

Same mob story in SKS Koramangala. BTW SKS has the white one on display so you could go there tommorrow if you are keen.

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by sidwadia

Hi AKS,
can u pls elaborate on the power delivery/Braking experience.
Power : is it not linear, not powerful enough, turbo lag is significant etc etc (since its a tuned up motor that does the job on the scorpio, one would assume a better responiveness)
Braking : this kinda baffles me..... with all 4 disc brakes/EBD/ESP if it still doesnt meet expectations, then there must be something seriously wrong with the vehicle .
Request your inputs.
cheers
Sid

Did you TDed the car.
Brakes are leathery and stopping distance is more than what we expected.
Power is more linear and no turbo lag, but Power is not good as compare to Scorpio and that's why I highlighted that my expectations might be more.

Originally Posted by dadu

Merlin(selectable 4x4) is actually not a right comparison for XUV(AWD) unless you are looking at the 2WD versions only. For 2WD versions too XUV's newer structure/design will provide more creature comforts as its the new kid on the block.

I am looking for 4x4 only or AWD machines and 7 seater+ some luggage space. XUV 500 fails in this test miserably.
Though it's good enough to buy for the VFM composition.
Scorpio too can accommodate the above said things very easily.
Let's see whether Mahindra will update with 2nd row seat rail to adjust forward/backward movement to get more leg space for 3rd row seats.

[Ym-enjn]

Everyone going to dealers and telling about crowd, please post pics also.. Whatever you click.. XUV interiors, exteriors, crowd, models, salesmen, showroom, your own etc.. we are interested..

I called Jaipur showroom but as expected they told it has not been launched in Rajasthan yet and will take at least a month or 2 to come here :((

[rm_arjuna]

hyd launch on 15th , expected ex-showroom price 11.3 to 11.5 for w6

[harimakesh]

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

Did you TDed the car.
Brakes are leathery and stopping distance is more than what we expected.
Power is more linear and no turbo lag, but Power is not good as compare to Scorpio and that's why I highlighted that my expectations might be more.

Even there was a quick update by GTO as Stratos of Team Bhp finding the brakes twitching bubble gum like soft

Anyways unbiased Team Bhp review will give true understanding of XUV prior putting money on it for prospective buyers of the community.

[dockap]

need some advice guys. I am in mangalore and the local mahindra dealer said that it would take a month or two for the launch here.
My sister is in bangalore so will it be possible if i book the vehicle through her in bangalore and then at the time of delivery she transfers the allotment to my name and i do a temporary registration in bangalore and get the vehicle to mangalore and do the permanent registration?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

this is excellent insightful info.
I dont think the XUV has the 4WD LOCK like the Tucson has.

Since XUV is a AWD where some amount of torque is distributed to all wheels at all times, it doesn't requires a 4WD lock button.

[Anarchy83]

Man, just came back from the Mahindra showroom at Sony signal in Bangalore. I can completely understand sibling rivalry now. The Xylo, the Scorpio and the Thar were relegated to the background and the crowds swelled around the imposing new XUV 500.

I wasn't kidding - I had to rugby my way through the crowd to get a glimpse and snap some pictures. But here are my initial thoughts when I caught that first glimpse.





a) It's not as huge as I expected it to be (first thought that came to mind was Suzuki Grand Vitara)
b) The front is beautiful, period!!! I had some reservations about the weird black honeycomb section below the headlights, but in person, it looks beautiful.
c) The running lights could be better. They're placed too far apart and looked like a cheap after-market job. I personally felt this car didn't need the running lights.
d) The tyres are a little smaller than I thought they'd be, but it suited the car to the T. The ground clearance looked deceptively low, but it is in fact definitely 200-210 mm.
e) The cheetah rump and front lines are clearly visible - while I believe they give character to the car, I did not appreciate the melding of the line at the front. The door side line is straight but abruptly joins a rather severe curve around the front wheel. It actually feels like somebody broke this car near the A pillar.
f) I still don't like the back. Unfortunately, the Xylo was close enough to draw a comparison - and the XUV rear looks like a flatter, bad Honda CRV rear imitation.

Having said this, I stepped into the car. And it blew me away!!! I kept on expecting Mahindra to skimp on something to accommodate the price point (10.98 for the base model and 13.07 for the top end approx. in Bangalore), and I take back most of my apprehensions. The interiors do not have that cheap plastic feel. The seats seem solid enough and they have put in all these thoughtful little additions in the car (A/C controls and cup holders in the last row). I'm 5'8", and I felt very comfortable in the front row as well as the middle row seats. The last row was definitely more comfortable than my Endy, and felt more luxurious as well.





The dash looked nice enough. The arm-rest cooler was brilliant. The laptop holder is a farce though - its only a metal casing with holes in it. Didn't feel so innovative to me. The twin exhausts are beautiful, and peek out just below the rear bumper brake-lights. The driver side door controls for the power windows still looks cheap, but this would be one of the only things I felt didn't shine about the car's interiors.











All in all, I think Mahindra has a winner here. The parking lot was filled with Volkswagen and Endys and even a Fortuner - a telling sign about some segments which might be swinging the Mahindra way pretty soon.

[sdp1975]

Initial video review on TOI :

First drive- Mahindra XUV 500 - Video | The Times of India

[Raps]

Hi,

Had been to India Garage today afternoon. Wow! Hugeturn out.

Price list in BLR

W6 FWD OTR - 1345763/-

W8 FWD OTR - 1488488/-

W8 AWD OTR - 1603909/-

My views
Wonderful package all in all.

Interior Plastics would have been better but not bad at all for that pricing.

Mid row seats is really spacious.

3rd row bit cramped and no luggage space

40 bookings already done, waiting period 4-6 weeks.

Tomorrow I will go early for a test drive and decide upon. Also expecting review from Team-Bhp folks.

Cheers,
Raps