The "Storm" has already covered about 3190 Kms in less than a month. Sunday afternoon I crossed the 3k mark running errands around town when the sudden urge to go on a drive took over me and I went on a 80 KM spin. Some more driving yesterday and long test drives by M&M Folks took the odo to what it is today.
Anyways, continuing from where I left, these are the things that I dislike most in order of their dislike quotient:
Dislikes
Brakes: This is one thing that has been getting on my nerves. The presence of ABS on a vehicle of this size is definitely required. I have already aquaplaned the "Storm" twice. Pressing hard the brakes locks them up and then all you can do is pray to god. Braking behaviour on the dry also has been erratic with very good braking till 60 KMPH but beyond that I have been double pedalling and using engine braking to stop the vehicle. There have been scary moments when I have had to swerve in order to avoid hitting someone. I reported this problem to M&M Folks (right upto the Regional Service Head) and they checked the entire system, did a few things and dropped it back last night. Braking behaviour seems to have improved but I would like to drive more before I comment further.
AC: This has been another letdown. Even though the A/C cools quite well, its effectiveness inside the cabin is considerably reduced due to the angle of the vents. Firstly the A/C works only on recirculation mode with air blowing out only on the front and the movement of the vents restricting the direct air coming on the face of the driver or co-driver. Too much of glass area also reduces the effectiveness and I being against tints (due to their impact on night driving), have to put news paper on the windows along with shades. But the chhupa Rustam in the whole thing is that the glovebox can be used as a chill try for your beverages without any mods.
Factory Fitted ICE : All I can think is the less said the better. The headunit is so bad that everything sounds flat and uninspiring. I have had it changed to another Kenwood unit from my Uno and the whole scenario is changed now. The speakers are good and music sounds awesome.
Irritants
There are quite a few things that are becoming real irritants and I further get frustrated knowing that these are part of the Jeep package and I will have to live with it.
This is my first diesel and even though the cabin is quite well insulated with almost no engine sound with normal volume music, but the vibrations through the cabin below the torque range is not exactly pleasant. Also in true truck tradition, I have stopped using the inside RVM as the damn thing keeps vibrating due to the body vibrations and produces blurred images. As quoted by another Scorpio owner that in a Jeep-ish way, one needs to master the art of shifting from 2nd to 3rd, I have become used to double declutching. Another area that M&M needs to improve is the dashboard fitments and the various sounds that keep coming from here and there.
Recently my in-laws had a ride in the "Storm" and after feeling all the vibrations that the vehicle had to offer, FIL wanted to know how come a new vehicle had so much of vibrations and noises. I smiled and said "Its a Jeep that has PS, AC and Music System"
Summary
Now the million dollar question is am I happy with the Purchase. Hell YES!!! My driving style is slowly getting changed with me driving over road undulations or other abnormalities at twice the speed of what any sedan would do in such conditions. I love the torque range, the point and shoot characteristics and lording over those indicabs who think they own the roads. I am loving every moment of my ownership of the "Storm" inspite of all these shortfalls and not to sound very harsh, a point of advice to those thinking of buying, "it's not for the faint hearted".
P.s: Quality of mahindra Service coming up.