[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

SHOWOFF SHOWOFF SHOWOFF !!!

LOL, what else is left in life after you've done the mother of all trips?!!
And driven singlehanded all through without any backup to take over if AMS hits! And to do it in the golden years!?

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

LOL, what else is left in life after you've done the mother of all trips?!!
And driven singlehanded all through without any backup to take over if AMS hits! And to do it in the golden years!?

The grand daddy of all trips is supposedly a route somewhere in the midst of central america. Have been seeing pictures of it now and then forwarded to me. My god, thats one helluva a trip.

ofcourse the other must do is route 66 on a harley or indian

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

The grand daddy of all trips is supposedly a route somewhere in the midst of central america.

Are you talking about the Peruvian Andes?
Not much more difficult than the single carriageway between Sonamarg and Zoji La. It's just that whatever the Americans say becomes the last word, LOL! Many of them don't have a clue what India is all about! They think it's something to do with snake charmers and people living in trees!

And indeed, it is popular perception that Ladakh is the mother. IMO, it would be Spiti, especially the Kaza to Gramphoo sector! But then I did that almost a decade ago! There is not a soul for hours on end; that was the scary part. Stalled used to mean 'the end' back then!

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by manson

There is a good chance he must've just gotten done the Micro Hybrid badge as well.manson.

This was a new M2DI with Temp number, the new owner had not even taken delivery, it was with the dealer for Cladding & accessories.

Originally Posted by nishant kar

freinds MicroHybrid is available in only Vlx and M2Di and its standard

This clears the air, but I am still not sure why M&M would provide a the same feature in both the lowest & top end vehicles, and not in the middle order.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

This was a new M2DI with Temp number, the new owner had not even taken delivery, it was with the dealer for Cladding & accessories.



This clears the air, but I am still not sure why M&M would provide a the same feature in both the lowest & top end vehicles, and not in the middle order.

Yes you are right M&M introduced Micro Hybrid first in M2DI and then in VLX.
Reason is very simple , Bosch developed this start and stop system and sold to both Tata and Mahindra and technology was not proven in mass market when it was sold to both TML and M&M.

Tata are still apprehensive they just announced thet it will be introduced in Nanao but have not introduced in any vehicle as of now.( including nano). Mahindra took the plunge early and experimented on M2DI first and then in VLX to test waters before they can put it to bread and butter varients .

Micor Hybrid can save 5% fuel but it can be a reputation distroyer if too many start stop cycles in crowded cities result in burnt up starter moters or premature aging of engine. IMHO it is a big risk they took.

Tata IMHO is playing wait and watch game as they can not afford to have one more issue which can damage the reliability of newly launched Nano.

[raj_5004]

that means micro hybrid is a standard feature in the VLX. why should i pay 10 grands extra when i am not interested in such a feature?
if they provide it as optional, then that will be acceptable.
thank god they atleast provided a switch to turn off this system!

[m_upreti]

Absolutely right Raj, anyway the VLX comes with a lot of non essential gizmos which should be optional, viz. the Rain Sensors, Light Sensor & the Cruise Control, now they have added one more.

I primarily bought the VLX because of the ABS which was not available in the lower versions of MHawk back in Sep '08.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

that means micro hybrid is a standard feature in the VLX. why should i pay 10 grands extra when i am not interested in such a feature?
if they provide it as optional, then that will be acceptable.
thank god they atleast provided a switch to turn off this system!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Absolutely right Raj, anyway the VLX comes with a lot of non essential gizmos which should be optional, viz. the Rain Sensors, Light Sensor & the Cruise Control, now they have added one more.

I primarily bought the VLX because of the ABS which was not available in the lower versions of MHawk back in Sep '08.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

that means micro hybrid is a standard feature in the VLX. why should i pay 10 grands extra when i am not interested in such a feature?
if they provide it as optional, then that will be acceptable.
thank god they atleast provided a switch to turn off this system!

VLX is a test bench for M&M to test technologies by paying testers. But good point is with in 8 months M&M corrected mistake of mHawck only on VLX by launching SLE and LX .

Around 8 Lakh Rs variant was largest selling for Scorpio and Mahindra rightly thought that 12+ lakhs VLX on road will be a niche market so they can afford to do test launch and service that many customers by appropriate replacement of parts. Cruise Control and Auto Transmission is a must for US launch which M&M keeps talking about for quite some time and they need to iron out all the issues before US launch becuase USA is extreamly unforgiving market.
Frankly speaing US launch seems to be a streached goal given the current Diesel prices which are hovering 2$ above gasoline and recession I do not think they can launch a Diesel SUV at this point. Australia and South Africa is more realistic for M&M given the right hand drive and no aversion to diesel.


In India the Sub 10 Lakh variants were always best sellers so they will not put any experimental thing in SLE and LX.

When I was looking for SUV last year April / May only VLX was available and that turned me off from M&M.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

that means micro hybrid is a standard feature in the VLX. why should i pay 10 grands extra when i am not interested in such a feature?
if they provide it as optional, then that will be acceptable.
thank god they atleast provided a switch to turn off this system!

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Absolutely right Raj, anyway the VLX comes with a lot of non essential gizmos which should be optional, viz. the Rain Sensors, Light Sensor & the Cruise Control, now they have added one more.

I primarily bought the VLX because of the ABS which was not available in the lower versions of MHawk back in Sep '08.

Guess Mahindra realized that people want the performance/abs of the Mhawk but not necessarily the othe electronic crap. The revised SLE version is just that and is reall VFM.

[m_upreti]

Yes Sir, We are the Guniea pigs with surplus cash (atleast at the time when ressision was lower)

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Guess Mahindra realized that people want the performance/abs of the Mhawk but not necessarily the othe electronic crap. The revised SLE version is just that and is reall VFM.

[raj_5004]

sorry, i beg to differ. i bought the VLX because i love the features offered in it. features which have never been offered in this segment or in this price. i absolutely love the automatic wipers, they are very convenient. same goes for the tyre pressure sensors & reverse sensors. i use the cruise control regularly on the expressway & also the steering mounted controls. i have had no problems & even if i were to opt for a scorpio today, i would go for the VLX M/T, not SLE.
secondly, atleast i have not been a guinea pig because none of the so-called useless electronics have failed or created a problem in my car. they have only added to the the excellent driving pleasure the scorpio offers.
so i dont think the VLX was a test bench of any sort.

the latest autocar india issue reveals the sales figures of 2008-2009 of all cars, here are a few:

bolero: 55,921
innova: 38,199
scorpio: 31,502
safari: 14,677
tavera: 13,470
sumo + grande: 24,465
xylo: 7201

EDIT: this excel sheet says, micro-hybrid is optional!!!
also, the optional alloys offered is only four in number whereas on the VLX, we get 5 alloy wheels. even the spare is an alloy. why such discrimination?

[Red Liner]

Sorry Raj, but I have to differ with you here.

------------DELETED--------------

They offer exclusive colors only in the top end version. Why? More class distinction? I pay more for a brown? or a purple? For what damn bliss?

All those extra features are not fantastic. They are nice but not fantastic at this stage of rapid car development where Manufacturers have to SPOIL you - like the brilliant Linea does. Now if they had offered heated OVRM's, yes thats fantastic. If they had offered seat coolers or warmers, yes I find some use for that. If they had offered an easier manner in which you can remove and slot back the 3rd bench of seats, I would have offered my prayers to the great men who started M&M. Man, the Safari has so many goddamn features, why cant M&M just nick a few from them? I find the Safari spoils you (until you start reclaiming spare parts ofcourse). God, where are the airbags even?!

ah and before I forget - there is no DDIS - Driver Display Information System which is there in the top end Xylo which is cheaper than the SLE.

The reason why VLX sold so much is because apart from the Safari, there is really nothing else which does not look like a people mover (the innova is a people mover). People had no choice but had lots of money bags - so they bought. People like me also had no choice and also no money bags, so we waited until the recession knocked some sense into Pawan Goenka. I hope he does not read this now and ask Sireesh to put sugar and salt into my engine.

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[nishant kar]

i guess this would clear the air regarding Microhybrid. also i would like to throw some light on the wear and tear on the fly wheel and clutch assembly in heavy traffic situations (say in delhi mumbai hyderabad bangalore etc) because microhybrid kicks in just after 5 seconds of idling.
and i agree that thank God they provided a on off switch for it

[4x4addict]

Raj:

I think it is fine to have the electronics in the high end version and I am sure who want these features like yourself will appreciate them. My point was that for someone who wanted the mhawk engine but not the extra electronics/price that came with the V series there was no choice so for someone with a budget constraint would have to go for the older CRDe mill.

But in the revised scrorpio range you can get the mhawk performance across the range including the LX which I think is nice.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

They offer exclusive colors only in the top end version. Why? More class distinction? I pay more for a brown? or a purple? For what damn bliss?

so whats new in that? every manufaturer does that. these colours are so called premiuim colours and they are to lure customers to go for the top end versions.
toyota does not offer a black in base model, does not offer a white in top end variant.
so its nothing new!!!

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Raj:

I think it is fine to have the electronics in the high end version and I am sure who want these features like yourself will appreciate them. My point was that for someone who wanted the mhawk engine but not the extra electronics/price that came with the V series there was no choice so for someone with a budget constraint would have to go for the older CRDe mill.

But in the revised scrorpio range you can get the mhawk performance across the range including the LX which I think is nice.

yes, you are absolutely right on this point. and even i am glad that mahindra has made amends by providing the mHawk on all variants. the only point where i did not agree was that all the electronics provided in the VLX are useless.