[andafunda]

I have been keenly following this thread and the comparison between the XUV700 and competition.

I have one question and it still puzzles me, and maybe it's just my perspective that's wrong - but what soft touch material do the Seltos / Creta / Alcazar have? By soft touch material are people talking about the fake leather stitch plastic?

I've always felt that the quality of plastics (not presentation) was quite bad in the Korean cars. I was quite shocked when I sat inside the Creta and Seltos for the first time. Again, not talking about the presentation but the actual quality of the plastics - a polyester shirt designed by Rohit Bal.. remains a polyester shirt, even a basic cotton shirt is better on the skin.

[kpkeerthi]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

https://Youtu.be/9nLfy51p8rA

https://Youtu.be/KU9X4mEimIo

Thanks for sharing this video. Exceptionally precise, clear and detailed (no fluff) articulation my Mr. Velusamy.

[wildsdi5530]

Will the safety features be common across variants. I know that number of airbags will increase, but the other features.

Boron steel monocoque, DSC, Torque vectoring, ABS with EBD, Frequency selective dampners, 4 wheel disc brakes, TPMS, rear camera/ sensors. Will all these features be in the MX series as well? If not, will the chassis be able to handle the 200 bhp engine?

In the MX series, why is the petrol engine not retuned, but the diesel loses about a 1/4 of it's power? Also why is the cost difference between petrol and diesel 50k in MX series and 1L in AX series?

Are we doing to see a feature list anytime soon or do we wait till October?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Somehow I never understood this fuss behind paddle shifters. Unless on a track, why would anyone miss paddle shifters on a AT SUV.

Some of us are very particular about engine braking. I use the paddle shifters a lot for this purpose, whether in the city or driving fast (even in an SUV). Taking your hands off the steering wheel to move the gear lever up / down is so inconvenient compared to paddle-shifters which make the entire exercise a pleasure. And ergonomically sweet.

I also use paddle shifters a lot in some situations where I prefer to select gears myself. Say, when encountering a tricky uphill & downhill road.

It's not about sportiness. It's about driving habits & preferences. IMHO, every premium AT car should have paddle shifters. End of the day, they are just buttons with a different style and thus, cost effective to deploy. No reason for any 20-lakh car to skip them.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Somehow I never understood this fuss behind paddle shifters.

Originally Posted by GTO

Some of us are very particular about engine braking.

… in some situations where I prefer to select gears myself. Say, when encountering a tricky uphill & downhill road.

It's about driving habits & preferences.

@Akshay4587
I echo every single word in GTO’s post and use the paddleshifters for exactly all these reasons. As on date, whether or not an AT car has paddle shifters is a massive factor for me while short listing any vehicle, since my earliest exposure since 2009 to automatics was with the Civic and City, both of which were paddle shift equipped. I too fail to understand why any 20L + car should not have this easy to provide feature.

To put it in context, I am SO particular about this that in my 3 GT, I got a paddle shift enabled M sports steering installed subsequently (and at a meaningful expense) because in my 2015 iteration the stock steering came without paddle shifters.

My paddle shift usage is entirely intuitive and in numerous scenarios both in city and on highway and not necessarily for spirited driving. It’s just about being particular about choosing a specific gear instantly in a particular situation / engine braking etc.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by GTO

It's not about sportiness. It's about driving habits & preferences. IMHO, every premium AT car should have paddle shifters. End of the day, they are just buttons with a different style and thus, cost effective to deploy. No reason for any 20-lakh car to skip them.

Is this more of a preference wrt AT cars? Or the preference flows over folks driving manual cars too? Wondering if the lack of (use of) a gear shifter enables this shift in habit.

For me, one of my hand by habit moves to the gear pedal flawlessly. It's like how our legs don't need to be seen to move towards the brake pedal on a sudden obstruction on the road. Majority of my driving has been on MT only.

[vineetsynergy]

Excellent Review @Omkar. Wonderfully detailed and informative.

Appreciate your attention to detail and no nonsense approach to writing the review.

Thanks!

[callmeneo]

Originally Posted by GTO

I also use paddle shifters a lot in some situations where I prefer to select gears myself. Say, when encountering a tricky uphill & downhill road.

I echo this sentiment . They are super useful during overtaking's as well. Makes the drive safer as well as you can now always be in the power band with the press of a paddle during overtaking maneuvers. I experienced this in my Seltos Auto test drive recently. I would have never changed gears using the stick in an auto in any car but I did it in Seltos because it had paddles.

I agree they were a part sports cars but I feel they should be made mainstream now as they have more uses than in a racing/drag scenario.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Is this more of a preference wrt AT cars? Or the preference flows over folks driving manual cars too?

While that might be a minor contributor there is a more direct reason.

I can switch gear even in D mode when using paddle shifters.

If I want to use Tiptronic instead, I would first need to move it to Sports mode and then use the Triptronic. It just doesn’t make ergonomic sense, when the alternative is so much more convenient.

Also, the behaviour on using manual is different when you use paddle shift in D vs S mode. When I use paddle shifters in S mode instead of D, it holds the gears whereas in D mode it resumes the auto box override shortly.

In Tiptronic its going to remain in manual mode I would imagine once you use the tiptronic. Which may not be the intention so you’d have to slot it back into D mode for usual course automatic operation to continue. All in all its a distinctly inferior experience overall compared to the paddle shifters.

[Manojah]

I have driven MT's all my life and I recently test drove an Alcazar Diesel and found Paddle shifters to be a blessing in steep hilly terrains.

I then asked this question of lack of paddle shifters in XUV 700 in the forum, since I felt it is something really important and something I might sorely miss in if I buy an AT XUV 700 Diesel.

Originally Posted by Axe77

While that might be a minor contributor there is a more direct reason.

I can switch gear even in D mode when using paddle shifters.

If I want to use Tiptronic instead, I would first need to move it to Sports mode and then use the Triptronic. It just doesn’t make ergonomic sense, when the alternative is so much more convenient.

Also, the behaviour on using manual is different when you use paddle shift in D vs S mode. When I use paddle shifters in S mode instead of D, it holds the gears whereas in D mode it resumes the auto box override shortly.

In Tiptronic its going to remain in manual mode I would imagine once you use the tiptronic. Which may not be the intention so you’d have to slot it back into D mode for usual course automatic operation to continue. All in all its a distinctly inferior experience overall compared to the paddle shifters.

[fhdowntheline]

I think the '7OO seems to be a great package for the segment. But here's the deal- if it is going to disrupt the mid-CUV/SUV market significantly, then it had better do it with finesse, i.e. without quality niggles and After Sales issues. Otherwise the customers are likely to be disillusioned about getting value for money. At the moment, they are in a sort of a TINA (There Is No Alternative) situation with Hyundai/Kia.
The Skoda/VW group do not have the inclination to disturb that, by all accounts. Others like Safari/Harrier are trying, and so is MG. In terms of what XUV7OO offers, its going to be a competition between XUV and Hector/Astor combo, because both those brands want to bring the latest and greatest in a combo kind of a package.
But if Mahindra do not execute this properly, then people will continue to rely on the Koreans, and the others will be in the periphery.

[vinodvaddi]

While the review has made it clear that the road manners of XUV700 is better than that of Harrier and Safari, I would like to know how it rides and handles in comparison to Jeep Compass. The suspension of XUV700, at least on paper, seems a step ahead of Compass (with cross blade independent suspension & FSD). This, along with a capable chassis, should translate to good dynamics, unless the sheer size of the vehicle plays spoil sport.

[Pedalmasher_20]

Originally Posted by Pedalmasher_20

Mahindra XUV700 Speculative Pricing

Gasoline/Petrol Powered Variants:-
AX-7 6AT AWD - 7 Seater - 19.99L
AX-7 (O) 6AT AWD - 7 Seater - 20.69L

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Prices may be correct but this variant is not on cards as of now. Mahindra may shock us again by launching this variant but as of now what's been told by them, AWD with Petrol is not on cards. Only diesel AT with AWD is being launched. Prices of other yet to be launched variants may be little more than what is documented here.

My bad. I made an error while tying. The AWD is going to be offered only in the Diesel AT guise. Thanks for pointing it out BoneCollector. So the Diesel AX-7 6AT AWD 7 Seater is going to priced around 20.99L while the Diesel AX-7 (O) 6AT AWD 7 Seater will be priced at 21.69L.

This makes the XUV700 quite pricier than it's lower models but it is still VFM compared to its competitors. I am thinking of getting the AX-5 (O) MT 5 Seater variant of the XUV700 in Q4 2022 as I feel that it's the most VFM variant of the lot. Let's just hope that M&M don't increase the prices rapidly after tasting the success. If M&M is able to hold on to these prices even for 6 months after launch then the competition is going to be in a serious danger.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by GTO

Some of us are very particular about engine braking. I use the paddle shifters a lot for this purpose, whether in the city or driving fast (even in an SUV). Taking your hands off the steering wheel to move the gear lever up / down is so inconvenient compared to paddle-shifters which make the entire exercise a pleasure. And ergonomically sweet.

I also use paddle shifters a lot in some situations where I prefer to select gears myself. Say, when encountering a tricky uphill & downhill road.

It's not about sportiness. It's about driving habits & preferences. IMHO, every premium AT car should have paddle shifters. End of the day, they are just buttons with a different style and thus, cost effective to deploy. No reason for any 20-lakh car to skip them.

I am a MT guy by heart, even though I own 3 AT vehicles.
I barely use Manual mode, just put it in sports mode, and let the GB do the work.
But yeah someday I will probably have a car with Paddles and will end up using them.

[abirnale]

I have been closely following this thread and thought I would comment from my perspective on a few things: I am a current XUV5OO owner W10 - first refresh from 2015 and the car is cruising happily at 145K Kms as on date.

Though I love my car (like everyone else does to their car), there is no reason why I should be looking for replacement unless it is the new car itch or something seriously lagging in the current car or vitamin M is in abundance. Considering the first being the most obvious reason at this time (itch), I started looking at Endy, TFort and Kodiaq as potential upgrades. Then the Vitamin M deficiency and current car working absolutely fine, I was holding myself back. By the way the size of the car growing and thats not great thing as I drive on really narrow and country roads more often than not.

Now as an existing owner of XUV5OO, what is my opinion on this XUV7OO - consider I am just comparing this with if I change my car, would this be the one to go for? Note i used the word "change" and not "upgrade".

Things that I missed most in my car are:

• AWD - I wish i had got my car with AWD back in 2015!
• The NVH and handling - the current car isn't really the gem in handling section: read suspension and dynamics.
• Music System - my current car isn't even worth mentioning in this department.

What I liked/ got me excited in the XUV7OO:

• The powerful engines - my options would be limited to Diesel AWD AT top of the line combo
• Updated suspension - Koni FSD
• Effortless handling
• Creature comforts: Sony Music system, Adaptive cruise control - i love tp drive non-stop for 12+ hours and these small features are huge safety/ comfort additions
• Powerful LED headlights - not sure if they really are but will know once I see this myself in test drive whenever that happens.
• This thing in Red colour is dope! I always wanted to own such red car.

What I think I will miss in XUV7OO (over XUV5OO and from my wishlist):

• Auto dimming IRVM
• Pull over sunshades
• Paddle shifters
• Sensor based tailgate opening - wave your feet below tailgate to open or button to close it
• Cabin NVH - Need this thing to be quiet - I don't want my wife to use her voice at highest volume when she shouts at me in the car

None of these are actually blockers - except - I just need few folks to really beta test this product and clear for my usage sometime by Q2'2022! So there you have it - just to replace the car with something equally better, XUV7OO would be just fine! And with my existing relationship with MASS, I would be fine managing the minor niggles if any. And yes, I still wont dare for first day first show!