Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV300 : Official Review

As always, it's fun to read whole review along with illustrating pictures side by side, Nice review indeed.

EcoSport does look sportier, more aerodynamic, more balanced than XUV3OO, when viewed from front and the side.

XUV3OO front fascia looks unduly strained (like prognathism, a medical condition of protruded jaw bone).

Rear design is actually good-looking than nexon, the new tail lamp design of XUV3OO gives it a fresh look, but when viewed from side, you can see abruptly finished rear end (in order to keep it sub 4 meter segment car), the roof line sloping toward end make it odder

I think company will soon come up with dark colored seat option as well.

Great review and excellent photos. This car is a looker.

While I'm super impressed by this car, but I will not buy it or can't easily recommend it to people. The boot is a deal-breaker. Even if I wanted a city-only car, I'd buy the Ecosport AT or Baleno AT. Went to the UK website and found out that the car is actually 4195mm long and has a 423 L boot.

Wonder if Mahindra would have been more successful competing with the Creta and S-Cross by undercutting their prices rather than being an expensive sub-4m SUV with a small boot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aditya (Post 4575106)

• An electric version of the XUV300 is rumoured to be coming in 2020. About time Mahindra did something with EVs! It bought Reva years ago and still has nothing really to show for it. So much for a first-mover advantage.

Mahindra had the E-verito. But that was forgotten.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arindambasu13 (Post 4575174)

The official review more or less confirms the initial conclusions that I drew when I test drove both petrol and diesel variants in February, just after launch- that the XUV 300 is more suited for the open road and expressways than city drivability.

Where did you get that impression? The driveability of both engines is actually pretty good. The opening post as well as the engine reviews talk about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by locusjag (Post 4575200)

I personally am saddened by the high costs of cars these days. The weight of prior knowledge is surely to blame; there was a time (around 2008 roughly) when Rs.10 lacs would get you a Scorpio. I know that and these facts as well - there's a 4-6% YoY price increase announced by OEMs, there have been a lot of features added to cars viz. safety, comfort etc. Inflation being what it is, prices overall have gone up. The power of compounding does astound me.

Tell me about it! I have to rub my eyes with disbelief sometimes when I'm checking the on-road prices on Carwale. Hatchbacks for 10 lakhs, Compact SUVs for 14 - 15 lakhs and a Honda City for 17 lakhs :Shockked:. Looks like the world has moved past the two of us stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by traV_mach (Post 4575201)

Aditya, that's a fantastic review. I remember GTO's quick review on XUV300 on the driving stability on highways during his Pune meetup. How did it behave in highway? Did you notice any stability issues / steering lightness in the highway?

Please refer to the Ride & Handling post which talks about the defective test car and then, how the behaviour was with the sorted car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rajshenoy (Post 4575308)

I wonder what is the breakup of these cars being sold. While the top-end has all the fancy features, It is priced at a premium and this i believe is a gamble by Mahindra to drive away Creta 1.4 sales.

The lack of a proper mid-variant won't hurt them at the start due to the product freshness & excitement. Majority of bookings will be for the W8. But they'll need to make the W6 better for the longer term.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kubectl (Post 4575476)

For what it's worth, I took 2 test drives of XUV300 and rejected it for the following reasons (my frame of reference is the Ecosport S 1.0) -

- The driving dynamics are way inferior than the EcoSport. The car just does not feel planted at all; body roll is significant and the ride feels very bouncy and light.

Agreed that the EcoSport is dynamically superior. However, based on your post, I think you also might have driven an XUV300 with defective rear dampers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by landcruiser123 (Post 4575567)

Wonder if Mahindra would have been more successful competing with the Creta and S-Cross by undercutting their prices rather than being an expensive sub-4m SUV with a small boot.

Damn interesting point! Sure makes one think. Thanks for sharing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4575639)

Where did you get that impression? The driveability of both engines is actually pretty good. The opening post as well as the engine reviews talk about that.

Perhaps I went into the test drive with higher than usual expectations given the considerable power and torque figures which were published (in case of the diesel version, especially). When I did drive the diesel, I found the performance below 2000RPM to be fairly underwhelming - in other words, till 2000 RPM there was noticeable turbo lag and not much of excitement or pull on offer. Yes, once past 2000 RPM there is certainly a strong slug of torque, which is why I mentioned that highway driving with this car will be a fun experience, given the strong mid range performance.

However, in a city like Bangalore (or any of the crowded metros for that matter), one will very rarely get to use mid range performance. It is mostly low end performance which is critical. To meet that spectrum of usage, the Ford's TDCI is a much more suitable powertrain where power starts coming in from around 1500 RPM. Possibly, for drivers who are able to exploit midrange performance more frequently, the XUV300 will be a good vehicle to own.

The petrol XUV 300 however is much better, and should be a better city slicker. Haven't driven it much though, since I was more interested in the diesel variant. Anyway, all these points became moot once the Rs. 15 lakhs on road price in Bangalore for the top end variant was made public!

I did a small test drive of the car last week; even after making a tight / will knit product, the behavior of M & M Dealership is far away from Maruti (I don't own a Maruti and hopefully would never want to own given their built quality, yet there showroom experience especially NEXA is good). M & M should learn how to sell a premium product.

Here are my two cents:

- In the era of floating ICEs, M & M design is a let down as it is difficult to look into the Map while driving, floating display gives almost heads-up kind of experience which I was not able to get in this car. Let me give you a comparison with i20, wherein this problem is not there because i20 seating is low-slung and thus the ICE display in map mode is easily visible without taking eyes off the road, which is not the case with XUV3OO because of high seating

- The in-city driving around BikaJi Cama area was not up to the mark as low end torque is at par with other cars; gear shift was required from 3rd to 2nd to keep the engine at boil

- The steering is quite sensitive, yet there is a complete lack of feedback. It is also dead in the straight line drive condition (few degrees on either side)

On almost every other aspect, it looks and feels great. The car gives a premium feel once you are inside, ergonomics are good and no hunting for controls is required.

Kudos to M & M.

Quote:

Originally Posted by traV_mach (Post 4575201)

The highway stability is nowhere as bad as what it was on that day. That was due to the faulty rear shock absorbers. The steering needs better calibration though. Read more here. The XUV300 is a pretty good highway car, but not as dynamically sorted as a Ford EcoSport, which is based on a Fiesta platform. And we all know how good that is.

Excellent and well compiled review. Thank you for filling up my boring Monday office routine. I really loved this car, and owning a TUV300 for last 2 years I taught myself to live with M&M niggles. As I write this reply, my TUV is resting in service center due to AMT issue.

Missing rear AC vent is a big bumper, I know the pain as my TUV also doesn't have rear AC vent and my wife complains everytime we go on a long ride. I have to sacrifice my side of AC vents to face back passenger. Such features rich car should have it figured out.

I loved the road presence of XUV500 and its sibling continues it. I am eagerly waiting for the EV version of this to get my hands on. Hopefully M&M will listen to customer feedback and improve on this model and include things like rear AC vent, bigger gas tank, better wipers and more mordern looking center facia.

I too feel pricing is a big miss here, M&M cars are known for their competitive pricing. This was one of the reason why i took TUV instead of overpriced duster. Hopefully they will adjust the pricing.

Thanks, Adiyta, Vid6639 & Suhaas307 for this detailed review.

IMHO, XUV300 is quite an impressive package. It a good looking vehicle with fantastic engines. The Compact-SUV segment is one of the most happening car segment in India. And XUV300 successfully added some more vibrancy in this already vibrant segment. Apart from the smallest boot space in the segment, I am not able to find any other point which is a deal breaker "what you won't like" factor. Yes, It is the most expensive Compact SUV in India. However, due to the segment first features and bells & whistles, it doesn't look overpriced (like Creta).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aditya (Post 4575672)

The highway stability is nowhere as bad as what it was on that day. That was due to the faulty rear shock absorbers. The XUV300 is a pretty good highway car,

Thanks, Aditya for clarifying this. GTO's one (or two) liner on stability issue on the highway in XUV300 launch thread actually disappointed me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by narayan (Post 4575650)

I like this car quite a bit and agree to the view that it's not overpriced. Anyone who is concerned with the boot size should consider the below
1. How often you will need a larger boot that too with all 3 rear seats occupied ?
2. Do you carry large suitcases or smaller soft luggages ( which can be stacked better )
3. Are you open to storing the excess stuff on the roof for that odd occasion
4. Does a larger boot volume in competition necessarily suffice for an extra bag or larger suitcase or will that extra volume be lost in un-useable space.

At the risk of going off topic, I would like to respond. Boot space is very important for me (and few of my close friends). The XUV300 boot space is quite similar to the space in my WagonR. In my current car, the boot is insufficient even for the luggage for a 3 day trip for two people. We have to use the rear seat or fold the seats almost every time we travel. And I hate doing that.

We carry variety of luggage based on the requirements and duration of trip. Most big suitcases won't fit or will eat the whole boot space. And I have carried 2 or more of those in few trips.

Sometimes for a single day trip and 4 people on board, we carry food, quite a few water bottles, a mat, etc. This is enough to eat the whole boot space and then of the seat space as well.

I am against the roof loading idea as I find it inconvenient (lazy!). Also for long trips, keeping the luggage inside the car protects from the elements and risk of theft.

I was shortlisting CSUVs as potential upgrade options for future and boot space is a major criteria for my next car. I would choose lower models of the next segment than fully loaded CSUV for that extra space.