Re: Mahindra Scorpio : Official Review Am on the look out for an Automatic to replace my current Scorpio. Test drove Honda Jazz CVT, Honda City CVT and Hyundai Creta AT. The Scorpio AT initially wasn't in the contention list as the online reviews I read (non team-bhp) said the gear box is sluggish.
My family rejected the Creta AT as they didn't find the back seat good enough. As per them the back seat bench was not supportive and lacked under thigh support. Also the window were placed a little higher compared to the seat bench height and this made them feel a little uneasy during the drive.
City, though was very comfortable, was ruled out for very low seating height in the rear bench.
Jazz CVT was almost going to be our next car - I had contacted @gkmahajan sir, regarding a query I had about the Jazz. In the ensuing nice discussions that happened, he suggested that I look into Scorpio AT as well and so it happened.
Test drove the new generation scorpio W10 2WD Automatic for about 10-12 kms inside Bangalore city. Disclaimer - The car was relatively new - only 6000kms done.
Likes
* Contrary to what I read online, the automatic was a breeze to drive. Shifts were very smooth and barely noticeable at city traffic. Very easy to keep up with the traffic.
* Acceleration was very brisk from dead stop. I was the first guy at a signal and oh boy just like the manual, the automatic put smiles on my face when the signal turned green
* Tried the manual mode. The box upshifts only at red line close to 4000 RPM. In a crowded city like Bangalore, you will never get to see the upshift as you usually don't get a clean stretch to rev all the way up to red line! I got lucky, got a clean stretch and checked that. It did upshift. 1 to 2 happened at 4000 RPM and 2 to 3 at the same RPM as well. Remember in a diesel revving all the way up to read line doesn't get you anything. Just that the engine gets extremely noisy. However where I think it would be of immense help is coming down hair pin bends, where you want to hold on to lower gears as much as possible. In the city Manual mode is useless. D mode is quite good
* The ride quality was very good compared to my current ride - 2010 model
* The commanding position you get from the driver seat
* Steering is chunky and very nice to hold
* All the features, especially cruise control
* Mid indicated 11kmpl for my test drive. I was watching the gear indicator in the console as I was driving. The gear box does upshift quite early to ride the torque wave and doesn't wait for the revs to build up. Net result is good fuel economy as well as very silent drive, but no knocking
Dislikes
* Ignoring the dash and all the features, if you look around the interiors, it doesn't justify the 17L on road, that its asks for.
* Stupid grab handle at the rear
* No ideas about who makes the gear box (DSI, Aisin or Bosch) and its long term durability
End result - I am very confused between the two. But glad that the choice has now narrowed down to just two cars.
PS: Though this is not the Jazz thread, I will mention this. The Jazz CVT is simply awesome. Coming from the Scorp, one big concern I had was about the GC of the Jazz. To test it out, here's what I did. Me at the driving wheel (height 5-11), fairly well built SA at the co-passenger seat. My brothers family, along with one of my daughters - 5 people in all in the rear seat. 3 adults and 2 -10 year old children in their laps. With this load, I tried all the notorious speed breakers/ruts/pot holes around my home. Not once did the Jazz scrape. Not only that, the pickup was still very good. No issues with keeping up with the traffic. Accelerated to 80kmph with this load - seamless. Kindly note that I do not encourage loading a car like this, this was a test I put the Jazz through and it came out with flying colors. Much much better than what I had expected.
Last edited by chandras1 : 2nd April 2016 at 09:09.
Reason: Correct grammar
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