[mustang_shelby]

Wonderful, thorough and balanced review, carrying on the hallowed tradition of TBHP official reviews.

Seems like a competent car, and well priced. Mahindra seems to have got the knack of making interesting(!) cars and then creating a buzz around the launches. And they certainly have been quite busy with them over the last 6 months or so.
One thing, that I think is an oversight by Mahindra, is placing the ISOFIX mounts on the right side of back seat. Should have been on the left side of the seat in India, away from the traffic lane.

[MorePower]

Amazing review! While design is subjective, one cannot deny that the overall packaging of the car will appeal to a huge section of buyers out there, across demographics. A female colleague of mine, who currently drives a Nano and faces intimidation on the road by bullies in bigger cars, mentioned she would prefer buying this SUV'ish' hatch, just so that the bullying stops.

Mahindra has certainly stirred the hatchback segment with this quirky offering. Love it or hate it, you certainly cannot ignore it!

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by mustang_shelby

One thing, that I think is an oversight by Mahindra, is placing the ISOFIX mounts on the right side of back seat. Should have been on the left side of the seat in India, away from the traffic lane.

Interesting observation mustang_shelby!

I think I can imagine why they did that - mind you I am just guessing!
As an example, if the car is parked on a road - it is on the left side of the road.
Now imagine a father or mother putting the baby inside. If the child seat is on the left, then he/she would have to make the baby comfortable and then open the right side door (which is in traffic) to get in.
On the other hand if the child seat is on the right, then he/she can get in from the left door, sit down comfortably and put the child in the right hand seat easily.

Just my two bits!

Girish Mahajan

[mustang_shelby]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Interesting observation mustang_shelby!

I think I can imagine why they did that - mind you I am just guessing!
As an example, if the car is parked on a road - it is on the left side of the road.
Now imagine a father or mother putting the baby inside. If the child seat is on the left, then he/she would have to make the baby comfortable and then open the right side door (which is in traffic) to get in.
On the other hand if the child seat is on the right, then he/she can get in from the left door, sit down comfortably and put the child in the right hand seat easily.

Just my two bits!

Girish Mahajan

Interesting viewpoint. I would think it is much harder for a person to get into a car while carrying a baby in her arms and then put the baby into the car seat on the other side, as opposed to first putting the baby in the car seat and then get into the car just like they normally do. Even otherwise, adults get into the car from the right side door on the traffic side all the time, and the person driving always does. So don't think the idea is to protect the adults from getting into the car from the traffic side.
Moreover, the car seats are not just for babies, children upto the age of 8 should be in car seats until they are tall enough (4ft 9inches) to be safely seatbelted. And it would be better to not take children out from the traffic side. Thats why I felt it would be safer to mount the child seat on the side away from traffic.

[fiestarry]

This vehicle from Mahindra shows that the company means business. The earlier vehicles were mostly SUVs or the acquired Logan versions. It is now obvious that Mahindra will play in all formats of the game and even take on the behemoths Maruti and Hyundai in their strongest areas: the small car segment.

The underseat storage and the host of such features listed in the review are a clear pointer to the fact that Mahindra, in this decade, will grab a big chunk of the automobile pie !
It is very encouraging to see them work with such intent. May God bless them with success.

[tifoso]

Originally Posted by mustang_shelby

One thing, that I think is an oversight by Mahindra, is placing the ISOFIX mounts on the right side of back seat. Should have been on the left side of the seat in India, away from the traffic lane.

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Interesting observation mustang_shelby!

Girish Mahajan

Very interesting viewpoints guys! I would have thought that the safest position for a car seat is the middle of rear bench.

However, if it is on the side, i feel that a kerb side positioning would be better. Apart from the obvious logic of it being away from traffic, which has already been mentioned above, i also feel that in instances where a parent is driving and the child is alone on the rear bench, being placed on the kerb side makes it diagonally opposite the driver and it's so much easier for the parent to keep an eye and monitor the child from the driver seat itself!

[carwatcher]

So this child seat goof up is as straight away foolish or poorly thought as the people asking for lift on the wrong side of the road in the KUV Ad.
Wake up and Rise Mahindra!

P.S. In the side profile pic on the first page, KUV's front half and rear half look as if two extremely different cars are joined together.

[Dr.Naren]

I drove diesel variant few days back. Except for the styling, I liked the car. Engine felt more peppier than my grand i10 diesel. Gear shifts are super slick. There is substantial difference in power delivery in Eco and power mode. Eco mode is driveable but with reduced turbo spike. Ride was good on broken roads and handling is average.

[AN2k]

Great Review as always! This is something which we have come to expect out of Team-BHP. I have booked the K6+ variant in Diesel. Did three test drives and overall satisfied.

One point of concern however: during one of the test drives, my daughter was seated on the middle front seat. While the car was parked with handbrake on, it got disengaged as her leg accidentally brushed past it. The car started to roll backwards but we noticed in the nick of time. So I jumped in and applied the brakes.

This can be a potential hazard.

[jpcoolguy]

Fantastic and detailed review, Aditya - your eye for minute things will even leave the manufacturers stunned. Rated the thread a well deserved 5 stars .

There have been lot of things said about the exterior, but I would say Mahindra has succeeded in their attempt to portray the car as a "SUV" - this shows in their sales figures too.

Coming to the car, there are some serious blindspots due to the thicker C-Pillars and the car is not equipped with a parking sensor even on the top trim - quite surprised when they are providing puddle lamps they missed out on one of the important feature. May be they want the customers to fit them as an extra accessory.

Also, the small display screen looks out-dated in an otherwise nice looking interiors. The ORVM looks quite small and they have done over-styling here too - "clenched fist" design.

The dead pedal looks like it has been placed for the middle front passenger to rest his/her leg, rather than the driver.

[msk_kapoor]

Originally Posted by jpcoolguy

Coming to the car, there are some serious blindspots due to the thicker C-Pillars and the car is not equipped with a parking sensor even on the top trim - quite surprised when they are providing puddle lamps they missed out on one of the important feature. May be they want the customers to fit them as an extra accessory.

Yes you are spot on, there are many blind spots and this might take some getting used to for the short persons and sometimes even for average height adults. The first thing i added when i got as an accessory was parking camera with sensors in my KUV100

Originally Posted by jpcoolguy

Also, the small display screen looks out-dated in an otherwise nice looking interiors. The ORVM looks quite small and they have done over-styling here too - "clenched fist" design.

The audio system was the one which made me to downgrade from K6+ to K4+. The oem audio sounded good, but the design is old fashioned.

The ORVM's i felt are just adequate, but the placement of back door handle with blackened quarter glass area somewhat makes the ORVM feels smaller than it is.

Originally Posted by jpcoolguy

The dead pedal looks like it has been placed for the middle front passenger to rest his/her leg, rather than the driver.

Actually the dead pedal is there just to avoid rubbing your legs with the dash. Initially i was facing some pain in the left knee area when it constantly was rubbing with the dash area, but once i started using the dead pedal your leg will be slanted in such a way that the entire leg area will be supported by dash and wont be having rubbing issues.

[anandpkumar]

It seems that deliveries have already started in some places. Happened to spot a white KUV100 somewhere near Thane a couple of days ago. I was travelling between Kalyan and Mumbai when I spotted it. It's definitely an oddball look - especially from the side. The front looks are livable and the rear is quite plain. However, the side view is quite sad - looks like the vehicle has been compressed from the 2 ends, and developed a 'hunch'. Reminded me of a tortoise!

I think that the vehicle in black will probably look better. The one I spotted was white. Unfortulately, didn't get a chance to click pics.

[MDED]

Aditya, such an eye for detail, such patience for every features and specs, is testimony to the great work and hard work being put in by pro-Bhpians like you. Bhpians like us are getting immensely benefitted out of your hard work.

Coming to the point of the "KUV" aka "SUV" of Mahindra, I think they are able to pull the numbers to their respective showrooms. In Chennai I have seen large number of crowd at their showrooms and during my tour to places in Bihar, Jharkhand also I have seen people go gung ho for this car. For first time buyers definitely this car offers great preposition in terms of looks. Those who know the nitty-gritty of cars will be underwhelmed by the packaging. Pricing could have been little more competitive.
Application of handbrake is a real pain in the car.

Nevertheless, rating the thread a fully deserved paanch sitaara

[satz581993Mille]

Excellent review! Saw two of these up close in the office parking. Many people do check out the car and thats a good sign. The one in the white shade looks much better compared to the rest. Have seen a lot new registration kuvs as well on the roads which means that people don't really seem to be bothered by the quirky side profile. Mahindra has given a fantastic offering for the price , super gearbox and gear level, a good diesel motor and interiors which look posh and fresh in the segment. Kudos to Mahindra for this and it sure will get some numbers and change the company's image as from just an SUV maker.

[Iksvaku]

Aditya, a truly comprehensive review!

Team BHP has raised the standard of reviews to such an extent that other reviews seem drastically shallow and no car can be deemed to have been explored until a TeamBHP member has reported on it.

I have a question for the BHP community: we are in the year 2016 and every Indian manufacturer now has experience as well as access to global technology. Why then, are some manufacturers still struggling with ergonomic flaws in design and inconsistent quality levels?