Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV500 : Test Drive & Review

Finally, after a long long wait took my XUV for a much deserved vacation.
The route was:

Amritsar to Chandigarh to Solan
Solan to Nangal.
Nangal to Amritsar.

Total distance covered: 692 kms
Fuel Economy: 14.6 km/l

It was my first long trip with my almost 2 month old purple beauty. I was waiting for it to happen to test the true abilities of it.
Following are the observations.

1) Tireless journey: Even after almost 6 hrs of continuous driving, fatigue was almost non existent. The awesomely bolstered seats and high driving position helps.

2) Good back seat journey: This is completely from the feedback received from my wife and 4 yr old kid. They were very happy at the back although my wife had one complaint that she was able to sit cross legged on the back set of linea but not in XUV (? short bench length)

3) Performance: This is one area where the vehicle never disappointed. Even with 5 adults, 3 kids and luggage, the car was never out of breath on the hills.

4) Road/Weather conditions: During this trip i was able to test my car on
- Good roads
- Bad roads
- Worst roads
- No roads
- Sunny weather/ rains/fog
i must say that XUV passed all of the above with flying colors.

5) Features: I used the cruise control, hill ascent, hill descent, auto wiper during the trip and never did any of these give me headache. they worked flawlessly.

6) NVH: The top speed attained during the trip was 130 km/hr and the nvh levels were well controlled (6th gear to the rescue here) although initial vibration on just starting from standstill is present.

All in all, it was a very good experience with XUV and i hope it continues :Cheering:

Mahindra XUV500 Facelift lined up for 2015.

Quote:

The facelifted version of the 2015 XUV500 is expected to refine the various features of the crossover, apart from bringing more features to the table. A revised infotainment system sourced from Dijen, a Ssangyong supplier is one such major change.

http://www.cartoq.com/mahindra-xuv50...d-up-for-2015/

After considering a lot of cars, sedans and SUV's included, I am planning to book a XUV5OO soon in the W8 trim. However I am confused between the Dolphin Grey, Opulent Purple and Volcano Black shade. I like the black color but have heard that the beige interiors reflect badly on the windscreen and also they might get soiled easily. However the grey and purple shades come with a darker walnut brown interiors which look better to me. I will probably book the car next week and wait till I get a 2014 manufactured vehicle.

My truck just came back from 40K service. Sent it out yesterday but due to extra work had to keep it there and today i got it.

I had complain bout bonnet sensor being erratic (again) hence told them to either disable that sensor or replace it. Since the hooter had fallen off long time back hence i wanted to be sure that this bonnet senor got corrected before asking for hooter replacement. However they did add new hooter and told me that they have update new software hence you would not get this bonnet open error again. Had no choice so took it. Also my RM (santosh) told me that clutch was very hard so needs to be corrected. Now he got me new DUAL Clutch added to my truck. He said this is a new one which got out recently thanks some Bhpian complaining it to Anand Mahindra. So now i have Dual clutch playing in my truck. Will update how it stands out. As of now, it feels smooth, no more knew pain for me (touch-wood).

Also suspension issue was corrected as well. New bushes were added and as of now they seem ok, however i still feel they would go back to same old state in some time. Let see what happens. Hope i am wrong.

All in all,i am happy with the work done. Total damage being 11.5K. Though i hate that whenever i send my Truck for some work, they end up ruing my music system. This time round, my entire system is not working. No amps, no sound processor, no comps, no woofer :Frustrati Now i would have to send my Sunday with my music system installer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitinralli (Post 3335853)

...Also my RM (santosh) told me that clutch was very hard so needs to be corrected. Now he got me new DUAL Clutch added to my truck. ....

So now i have Dual clutch playing in my truck. Will update how it stands out. As of now, it feels smooth, no more knew pain for me (touch-wood).
....

Dual Clutch? That's very interesting Nitin!

Was the entire clutch assembly changed?

Took a test drive of the XUV500 W8 yesterday. It is good value for money. However, the ride still needs to be improved as there is still some bobby and crashing of the supension. I asked the sales rep if it was the improved version that is manufactured from Oct 2013 where they did some suspension and brake upgrades. He wasn't sure and said that he will bet back to me on Monday regarding this.

If Mahindra can sort out the suspension, I think this vehicle makes a lot of sense.

Is there any after market suspension kits available from Bilstien or something like that for XUV500 ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitinralli (Post 3335853)

Now he got me new DUAL Clutch added to my truck. He said this is a new one which got out recently thanks some Bhpian complaining it to Anand Mahindra. So now i have Dual clutch playing in my truck. Will update how it stands out. As of now, it feels smooth, no more knew pain for me (touch-wood).

Forgive my ignorance stupid: but isn't dual clutch for meant for Automatics?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDP (Post 3335925)

Dual Clutch? That's very interesting Nitin!

Was the entire clutch assembly changed?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aajohn (Post 3336077)

Forgive my ignorance stupid: but isn't dual clutch for meant for Automatics?

Dual clutch or double clutch, dont remember which one he said.

Would like to thank the forum administrators for letting me become a part of this great community.

Thanks to the inputs and experiences shared by all of you about XUV500 beacuse of which I got enough confidence in the vehicle and booked one for myself.

Shall get the delivery on 15th Jan of my personal 'Beast', a Purple coloured, W8 FWD variant . Shall be sharing my experience of the entire process soon

I am planning to book a XUV500 W8 soon. I have never had an experience with a diesel car, so I was a bit apprehensive of the fact that my running is quite low to warrant the need for a diesel car. My monthly running would be an average of 1000 kms over average and bad roads. With such low usage, I have learnt from various sources that a petrol car makes more sense, however the XUV500 has been a love-at-first-sight car for me.

Gurus please tell me if it makes sense to buy a diesel car with such running. Heart says the XUV500 but I am not sure if I should go for a petrol car or a diesel car.

stupid: