[Off Roadie]

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How to train your Dragon – Maximizing your Scorpio.

Well this is going to be an honest review of my family’s 4wd M-hawk, it is the second one we have purchased the first being a 2wd Leaf Sprung CRDe.
Brief intro about me before I begin, me and my family loves road trips and the Previous CRDe has taken us to a lot of places across India all the way from Leh to Kanyakumari, so touring and cars is in our veins. Being a Marine engineer I am a pretty DIY kind of guy and take active interest in the vehicles upkeep and would like to believe that my vehicles are as good and maybe better than “Parsi Owned” ones.

So to start with well the heading is a little ‘hatke’ but it so happened that during third week of ownership just days after running in and days before commencing a Himalayan / Wildlife expedition I sprained my left ankle so bad that I tore my ligaments and was confined to bed rest and I have been able to resume normal foot movement after almost 2 months. Still can’t run but hey at least I can drive now and that is more important to me =) The whole incident reminded me of the movie and so I chose this name for the thread.

Now I had prepared a first draft but that just sounded plain boring so I a going to keep the info condensed and stuff as many pics as I can.

Prepurchase:
I was at sea and the Booking etc. was done by my father and the experience was less than satisfactory, things could have been done a lot smoother but there was a lot of chaos and the NCB from our previous car was not transferred to the new one, but it should be arriving in a few weeks now.
Delivery:
1)Vehicle was not clean enough, heck our 4 year old was cleaner when delivered to its new owner by us.
2)Sales people really don’t have a decent Idea about the Do’s and Don’ts of a 4wd so as a customer one must go prepared, which was not an issue for me but is just sad because with the right marketing and sales team a 4wd can do decent numbers but showrooms focus on sales figures and not the customers needs.
3)Besides the NCB the rest of the paperwork and formalities at time of delivery were done without much trouble.
Delivery Issues:
1)Vehicle was tilting to the left by a couple of cm at the front and back wheels (torsion bar issue - sorted)
2)Vehicle was pulling heavily to the right noticed a few days later on the highway enroute to Shirdi after the torsion bar issue was sorted. (alignment issue – now sorted)
3)Radio antenna had shredded in a few places at the centre of the stalk. (replaced under warranty)
4)Found that the central reverse parking sensor sockets were disconnected and left dangling, the tow hook interferes with this sensor so the sockets were taped and stowed in the bumper to prevent them from shorting
5)High Idling noise and a metallic clatter every time the engine was turned off (sorted by slacking and retightening the engine mountings)
6)Piece of foam between the radiator and its plastic casing was dangling loosely from the car (repositioned)
7)Left hand side ORVM used to vibrate while the car idled, I ignored it but when my father pointed it out to the guy who had come for a vehicle Demonstration he said it would get replaced, however further analysis revealed that the vibration was high (after the engine mounts were retightened) so the whole body/frame was torque tightened and now the vibration is barely there.
Well it seems like a lot but had we not been extra observant a lot of the issues would have gone un-noticed and this once again is sad because a customer paying that much should get a niggle free product. It also goes to show that PDI carried out by dealers is largely cosmetic.
At the same time I would like to point out that all Issues were attended to without hassle but the car made about 3 trips to the Service station for the same.

Coming to the main course, the ownership experience and the journey beyond.

Now most people here love naming their cars and I understand their passion, I do talk to mine occasionally but its more like cheering /coaxing her along and appreciating what she does for me. Yes ‘SHE’, not ‘HE’, ‘SHE’, it’s a dragon but it’s a Female with a Walt Disney name. Snow White, now before you macho male SUV walahs start hounding me with what the hell am I doing hear me out.
As Marine Engineers’ we address Super tankers as ‘SHE’ so a tiny suv (whose 2200 cc engine displaces less than the compression volume of one cylinder of an Oil Tanker’s diesel engine) can’t be male enough. Plus if cars were male we would not be fussing so much over them, so that’s my take on the car’s gender issue.
edit: Another point that came to my head, guys don't accessorize, cars do.
So why a dragon well they have huge bodies, tiny feet and tiny wings and that is pretty much the Scorpio, lets just call her Snow (which can pass of as male and female). Snow has the tiniest of wheel bases coupled with a tall body and a tiny 2.2 litre engine, which sure as hell can’t perform like a ballerina but is huge slightly clumsy and pretty lethal, like a mighty dragon.

Basic Exterior Shots











Well its been on the road for donkeys years and everyone is well aware and has already formed opinions about the looks so there is no use commenting much really.
The front has been tweaked and while earlier Scorpios would splash water on their own windscreen while speeding through water the current ones dont.
The rear spoiler which has smartened the cars looks does not really help a car which suffers from excessive drag that plays havoc with its fuel efficiency at speeds above 100.

Seating and Cabin Comfort


Driving Position is really relaxed with good underthigh support, as you can see my thighs are flat on the seat. Body mapping has improved and the back rest also offers good support but an adjustable lumbar support would have been a welcome addition. All round visibility from the drivers seat is really good and since the drivers seat is high and really upfront in the cabin the A pillar does not really hinder visibility which is a good plus on twisty roads. Clutch has a long travel which makes you push your seat a little close to the steering wheel so that your foot can press the clutch all the way with ease.
Note: I actually did not want an air bag but due to a communication gap between my father and me while I was at sea he booked one with air bags. The wheel is too close to the body and with the high probability of low speed collisions in India, there is a good chance of the driver getting knocked out by the air bag and the situation can go from bad to worse if he or she loses control. Plus mine is a 4wd so I have to be extra careful off-road. I am 5'10" and I have pushed the seat a notch further behind so that you get an idea of the legroom available in the second row even if a taller person were driving the car.


Drivers seat set to the driving position described above and me sitting with the second row pushed all the way behind. Leg room is more than sufficient and underthigh support is pretty good, in fact (underthigh support) is slightly better than the Fortuner and miles better than the Endeavour. Have sat in both cars and am being honest about it.


Back rest can be reclined further if so desired, but a Scorpio can't do a Xylo, as in, the add where they show a model stretching her legs, is just not possible, I tried doing it but was not successful.

Lot of people complain about the lack of space in the Second Row of a Scorpio and that it is cramped. If you choose the 8 seater version or the 7 seater captain chair version as the one in the pic, you can slide the middle row behind and liberate quite a bit of space, plus the whole row or the captain chair can recline to the desired comfort level. So although no match for the Safari, she can hold her own.


With the middle row being maximized for comfort the third row takes a beating and get bare minimum room. The picture above shows the leg room available with the middle row pushed all the way back and sorry I could not squeeze myself there.


However a tall person can sit in the middle of the third row and stretch his legs all the way ahead in the huge gap between the captain chairs.


While the front 2 rows have their seatbelt fasteners integrated into the seat, the third row seat belts and fasteners are secured to the floor and remain neatly tucked in the carpet as it is cumbersome to put them in use and if one wants to complain we can say that the third row is not great from a safety point of view. On long drives I request the middle row passengers to belt up as well.


If you follow the central stitch across the seats back rest you will notice that the door armrest and seat armrest are at a different height and it just feels awkward to have both arms resting at different angles.

Ergonomics


General view of dashboard.
Overall fit and finish is decent, panel gaps are ok, plastics are hard but will last the vehicles life. Dashboard is not very deep and the wind screen is really steep, but this is a boon as there is barely any dashboard reflection on the windscreen. Dashboard reflection specially in cars with beige interiors can be really painful and I had a tough time driving a Toyota Innova on a tree lined twisty Mumbai Goa Highway where the road is shady and sunny in patches, the dashboard reflection blocks out the view of the road momentarily when you move from a shady to a sunny patch and it is really irritating and can be dangerous.


Steering wheel is nice and chunky, having grown used to its size and thickness, every other cars wheel feels like a toy. The cruise control features are integrated to the right hand side of the hub and the audio controls on the left. Syncing your phone with the audio system via blue tooth allows you to answer or reject calls using the buttons on the left. The buttons are fairly easy to operate and their positioning won't cause you to activate anything accidentally a problem I found in a friends Aria. The voice assist system is pretty decent as it tells the driver about the door being open, the seat belt not being fastened, the hand brake lever not being disengaged, car running on reserve etc. It is a lot better than a continuous beep that other cars emit.
Important to operate the horn one has to press the top corners of the wheel hub and not the center with the horn symbol, a lot of owners complain about the horn being too hard but it is just a matter of bad labeling by Mahindra which they have surprisingly not corrected since inception.
The gear lever tilted towards the driver is easy to reach and operate while the armrest is down but one may face difficulty engaging and disengaging reverse with the armrest down.
Steering wheel is adjustable for rake only.


Instrument cluster is pretty decent, the TPMS is now integrated in the central area under the clock and odo /trip meters. Note high reflection as I had not removed the plastic above the cluster.


The top half show the HVAC switches and I must say that older Scorpios without tower tail lamps had really good quality switches, these feel really bad and give the feel that they need to be taken care of, the older thermostat too felt nice and firm this is just not on par with its predecessor and is a step down. Another step down is that the AC in the M-Hawk is a lot less effective than the older CRDe. Earlier the whole cabin would cool down at a blower speed of 1 while in the city but now you have to run the blower at 2 during the day to keep the cabin cool and that makes the cabin just a tad noisy.
The switches on the lower half are quite decent in feel and are for the fuel cap, Auto head lights, which I have found useful on the Mumbai Pune Expressway, Micro Hybrid on off switch IMP please keep it off for the first 1,500 kms and I would recommend keeping it off all the time as the 2 second timer is just too short for Indian traffic conditions and excessive on off operation is not good for a diesel engine. Manually starting and stopping your car when stationary for a longish duration is better. To the right we have the rear defogger & the rain sensing wiper switches along with the 12 volt power socket. Have been told by a fellow 4wd owner that the rain sensing wipers work beautifully in the rains. Central pocket is great for mobiles of all sizes.


2 Din music system is decent. It has an aux input, cd/mp3 player, usb and an SD card slot too but lacks bass, plus in Scorpios with a rear 3 seat row the speakers get muted out by the seats position as shown in the photo below.



A good way to improve it marginally without rendering your entire electrical warranty void is by adding 2 speakers in the pockets above the rear windscreen (see pic below), this will just render the warranty of the rear speakers void. Upgrading to bigger speakers at the rear will improve the bass marginally but once you flip or remove the seat and stuff the car with luggage, the rear speakers will be rendered mute. I am saying this from experience.


This wont help you with Bass but will ensure that the acoustics are nice and crisp.


Front doors don't get power switches instead they are located at the center of the car and this confuses every new co passenger. Door pockets are good for maps and magazines only.


Rear door gets a power switch (whew), a bottle holder good enough for a 1 liter bottle and a cellphone holder. The hard plastic and a bumpy road may make the phone rattle though, but it is a nice touch none the less.


Door handles have improved in design and deteriorated in quality. As in they now get a separate button to lock/unlock and a longer but flimsier lever to open the door. Passengers have reported that the handle is too hard or that they cant open the door and the way the handle feels I wont really blame them, it is a little flimsy and while operating one wonders if it is broken.

Since I am commenting on doors please see the pic below


Just pushing the rear door from this distance will close it easily without any trouble, lot of owners struggle to close their doors during initial days of ownership until they learn this trick, some have actually sent complaints to the service centers on this matter.

More ergonomic bits/pics to be added

[Off Roadie]

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Positioning of Second Row AC is much better compared to a host of cars as the vents are tilted upwards. There is also space for 2 bottles under the vents and a 12 volt socket for rear passengers. There is no roof mounted AC or B / C pillar AC vent but for an additional Rs. 10,000 or so (cant remember the exact amount) a roof mounted blower is available to improve circulation, this is a dealer option so it won't void your warranty.





A good thing about the scorpio is that the cabin air is always refreshed continuously even with the AC on recirculation mode. The rear vents continuously vent out the air from behind and I am sure its heavy drag must be assisting it further. If you are driving through a really dusty/stinky patch for a short time, turning the ac blower off will prevent the outside air from coming in.


AC filter located behind the glove box is easily accessible and can be cleaned by owners. Pulled out halfway in this pic.


Glove box is nice and deep. But it needs to be nudged to close, banging it hard won't help your case.


Centrally located, power window switches take a while getting used to but the one touch up and down for the drivers side is a lovely welcome when speeding off from toll booths. Bottle holders and pockets for various condiments. A total of five bottles can be placed in the central area and all are accessible to the driver so thirsty you will never be.



Wires running under both front seats look cheap, not that everyone peers under there but that is no excuse. I usually tuck it under the plastic mat but have pulled them out for this pic.


Foot Rest / Running boards could have been placed higher, hampers the ramp break over angle.


Front wheels get Ventilated Disc Brakes, do a decent job of stopping the car but Sedan and hatchback wallas might take some time getting used to longer breaking distances. The front mudflap is very vulnerable while off roading.


Rear Wheels get drums and they have a tough time holding the car stationary when loaded and on a steep slope. Yank the hand brake as much as you like, there is no stopping this dragon from rolling back until you use the brake pedal. Something you just have to get used to and work around.
Short overhangs give it a decent approach and departure angle.


Central Reverse parking sensor needs to be kept disconnected for niggle free operation as the tow hook interferes with it. Some 4wd owners on the forum have reported that it works satisfactorily but I will have to see it to believe it. Removing the tow hook as suggested by service centres is not an option, a Dragon with no tail won't make a great tale.
Integrated rear footstep in the bumper, is a smart, neat addition.


Headlight beams are really decent and this is one car you wont feel the need to upgrade.




Complimentary chrome cover with turn indicator lamps fitted by the dealer without our knowledge have already saved the paint on 2 occasions but poor fitting and large clearences ensure that they start whistling at speeds above 100 and I will be padding or taping them up to reduce the sound.


Have given more importance to the ergonomics as its the small things that really matter.

Engine and gear box.


The 2.2 litre M-Hawk is quite a powerful engine, but never having revved above 3000 RPM I can't talk about its smoothness and refinement the way road testers do. Shifting up at an RPM of 2500 will ensure that she is at 1800 RPM in the next gear and the turbo has the boost to keep you going at a decent clip. Shift up at 3000 RPM and you will be chasing other cars like a dog chases birds on a beach.
Idling noise when standing outside the car is pretty high and quite a bit filters inside as well, the older CRDe's were a lot more silent at idle but as you up the pace, the M-Hawk is pretty silent and composed at 100 km/hr, beyond which mine starts whistling (mirrors remember) but upto 120 she is just great. She can cruise at 140 all day long but the brick like aerodynamics really affects the fuel efficiency and the wind noise is quite high and it mutes the engine noise. This leads to a lot of people feeling under-confident, including new co passengers so 120 is the best recommended cruising speed.
The gear lever is nicely titled to the drivers side and is easy to reach, its not one of the smoothest and has a long throw. Changing gears takes time but with practice you will be able to do it faster. The clutch is really nice and light but has a long travel.
Imp: The owners manual recommends a max cruising speed of 140 (CRDe & M-Hawk) and for that reason alone I have never exceeded it and have found myself pulling back on the throttle on numerous occasions with the CRDe.


Under bonnet insulation is fairly well laid out and is good at cruising speeds but it cant dampen the high idling noise.

Kitna Deti Hain
A bit about my driving style before I give you the figures. Being a turbodiesel I usually keep the engine revving at 2000 RPM even in the city so it impacts my economy but at least I know that the turbo won't foul.
That said my typical city average with ac always on and Microhybrid always off is 9.5 kmpl with a tyre pressure of 32psi front and rear. Plus this is a 4wd so a 2wd should give marginally better returns. Using Microhybrid and by driving in higher gears this could reach 10.5-11kmpl.
Highway average as follows:
80 km/hr - 13.5 kmpl
100 km/hr - 12.5 kmpl
120 km/hr - 11.5 - 12 kmpl
140 km/hr - 10 - 10.5 kmpl
People who love to rev get less than 10 kmpl at speeds of 120 and above.
Maximizing tip
To get the above mentioned fuel figures shift up as follows
1st to 2nd @ 20 km/hr
2nd to 3rd @ 40 km/hr
3rd to 4th @ 60 km/hr
4th to 5th @ 80 km/hr
Sweet spot 2200 rpm in 5th gear @ 90 km/hr, might not be most fuel efficient but the engine sounds really relaxed at this point.

Using cruise control can increase or decrease your fuel efficiency, here's how. On the highway when there is an upward slope I keep my throttle input the same and allow the car to slow down a bit there by saving fuel and I let it gather speed as she comes downhill, in cruise control however you will find that the engine increases throttle while going up the slope in order to maintain the set speed and this can impact the economy by 0.5 kmpl. Going down hill it does reduce the throttle input but that saving is not enough to compensate for the uphill climb. Hence in my case the FE actually drops but for people who love going harder on the throttle during normal driving the FE will increase if they choose to engage cruise and relax a bit.

On Road Handling / Dynamics
Basic Facts, Independent Front suspension Up Front, Multi Link Coil Springs at the rear, (Softly Sprung ahead and behind) (torsion bars on 4wd's only) Body on Frame Construction, Short Wheel base and a Tall Heavy Body, recepie for disaster if you ask me. The Scorpio is good for bad roads (but I will add that the Safari Handles them better). She has good straight line composure but thats about it, she rocks like a boat if swung hard over curves. Infact the leaf sprung CRDe's had lesser body roll than the coil sprung Scorpios, but the coil springs are more comfortable and less jarring. She still nosedives (a little less due to the smaller engine now) under hard braking, locks up her wheels and continues sliding forward until she comes to a halt (Non ABS), the ABS does work well in the new VLX but there is a lot of roll/screech/roll from the tires and corrective steering inputs are required to maintain a straight line of travel, her top heavy body not really helping her much. So why did I and quite a few other owners go in for one all over again??
If the tarmac is what you want to enjoy, go buy yourself a Civic or a Corolla, you will be really happy, no doubts about that. I just don't understand why people look for cornering abilities in an SUV, an SUV is bought for the splendid view of the countryside, their ease of handling bad roads, ditches and going places where regular cars get beached. Cars shine when it comes to going from point A to B in record time. The Scorpio shines when it comes to going from A to B to C all the way to Z and back to A over a period of days together, without sapping the driver and co passengers of any energy, in fact you might just return more energized and refreshed.

Being a tall vehicle with the smallest of footprints in its category, she has the funniest of behaviors and gives new drivers the jitters. Its like a cowboy hanging onto a wild raging bronco that's trying desperately to throw him off. Ok so its not that bad but having seasoned my driving skills on the CRDe and then going to a Swift VDI as a second car, I can guess how single car owners who shift from hatchback / sedans to a Scorpio may feel. Her proportions and body on frame construction really make her sway, bounce, pitch, roll, yaw, over steer, understeer (depending on road surface and throttle input) but the one thing I can assure you is that those grippy bridgestones make sure that she always holds the road. So all you have to do is take a leap of blind faith and she wont let you down. Now I am painting a really stark picture here but that's how it is for people moving from down there to up here.
Please don't go forming an opinion that I am one of those reckless SUV drivers, hell no I cruise at 120 on the open road and give way to people if they are even slightly faster, squeeze into open gaps and make the best of what I have, check my rear view mirrors and run wide to take a corner faster, smoother and without body roll or just drop my speed if there are cars around and let the passengers and other drivers be at ease.
Coming down to facts again, when cornering on ghats it is not as fast as a car can go but if you don't mind the body roll she can overtake other cars with ease. There was one occasion when my CRDe could be heard creaking as she rolled left to right as I pushed her up Mount Abu to catch the Sunset in Time, (road was empty), She was rolling like a boat but holding her line, I guess being a Sailor the body roll does not affect me much.
The Scorpios Steering adds to her woes for first time users but long timers will begin loving it. The steering is loose and lacks feed back at a high speed is the popular complain, well once you keep driving it you will find the feedback and then you will love the fact that very little effort is required to steer the vehicle at a high speed which means your arms will be quite well relaxed at the end of the long drive.

Off Road
Big vehicle tiny foot print, well here is where she scores big and in both jungles, the natural and the Urban one. Her short overhangs, Short wheel base, narrow body, small turning circle great all round and road visibility from the drivers seat, help her triumph where bigger SUV's have a tougher time. She is easy to park, squeeze between trees and maneuver in tight spots compared to the others, not that the other SUV's dont have their own advantage. When it comes to maneuvering the Scorpio wins but Safari has a few more bells and whistles up its sleeve, a Limited slip differential for one and a pair of rollers around the rear differential so that even when beached she will be easy to pull/push out.

This section would have been filled with Snow, off-road in the desert, but my foot gave way and I performed 6 weeks of off-road duty in bed.
However I did put 4wl to good use while negotiating an other wise risky slope while off-roading at Tansa Lake, with members of another forum but the guy who clicked her pics lost his camera at the end of the meet.


Squeezing effortlessly between trees, pic courtesy Shardul Naik.

More off-road pics and reviews will be added over the coming months of ownership.


In a Nut Shell
So this is what you get, the smallest big car, with a gem of an engine, that makes driving on highways and cramped places a breeze. She is no cornering queen, but that was not her target market in the first place, she is a dragon not a ballerina.
2wd owners crusing at 80 can get a fuel efficiency of 14 kmpl or she can really zip through and give you 10 kmpl. the 8 seater version can actually seat 8 people for short drives but she is best as a 5 seater with loads of room and tons of luggage space when the third row is placed at home (very easy to remove).
She has lots of electronics, that make life easy and she sure as hell makes you want to go on a drive every weekend.

If big space for 5 is what you want, nothing beats the Safari.
If you want a good people mover for 8 people the Innova or Xylo are best suited to your needs.

[Off Roadie]

Other random tid bits

Front and rear cabin lights light up whenever any door is opened and stay on for 20 seconds after doors are closed.
Captain seats could have been wider, I guess they were meant for people with a fit and active lifestyle
Spare wheel is no longer an alloy but is fitted with a Tyre pressure monitoring sensor that will only start displaying the pressure if it is low.
Dead pedal sorely missed but since the seating is high you can just sit like you would on a chair. (possible only on long open stretches)
Service centers are well spread through the country but the reviews are a mixed bag, although I have been lucky in 4 places outside Mumbai.

Ownership experience and the journey beyond
Well at the time of typing this report, she has clocked in about 5,500 kms and has completed her first service. Most niggles were attended to as and when they were discovered. Snow has settled down well now and is ready for any challenge we throw at her.
Her long distance flights so far:
maiden flight on her maiden weekend with the family was to Shirdi, with the Ojhar Ashtavinayak Ganpati and Malshej covered on the return stretch. She tasted dirt for the first time and seemed at ease, 4wl was not required.



Second weekend, second flight, was to Ambadevi at Kolhapur, followed by an overnight sleep in the mountains at Panchgani and a return via Mahabaleshwar and Poladpur.

I was taking it nice and easy as it was the running in period, so I never exceeded 80/90 km/hr. Fuel efficiency in both trips was in the 12.5 and 12.8 range.

Third weekend, third flight, was spent in the Mountains at Khandala, cozying up with a family friends Aria. Cruising speed was upped to 110 km/hr and she still averaged about 12.5, she had covered 2500 kms by then.

Fourth weekend was to have been the start of the Himalayan run, but humpty dumpty (me) had a great fall and no body but time can put torn ligaments together again. So there I was lying in bed (actually a reclining couch), getting bored to death. Dad would take me out of town on weekends for short drives while I lounged in the back seat, like the good old Fiat days.
Eventually seven weeks later, was finally given permission to drive and boy what a drive it was. Mumbai to Bhavnagar and back, for my dads business trip. The train would have been the cheaper and more convenient option, but not when you have a dragon, huffing and puffing for action, under your window.
So off she went, flying at 120 with ease and returning between 11.8 and 12.5 across various stages enroute, and whistling at other cars while checking them out through her mirrors.
Back in Mumbai it was time for her first service.

First Service
As mentioned earlier all of the issues were attended to as they cropped up, the first Service was just the routine oil changes and I requested for torque tightening all the body mounts and other linkages. Total bill was around 2,200 the front differential oil change being the only extra bit needed as she was a 4wd.

How to handle Service Station Staff.
1) Pyaar mohabbat, well, hysteria and loud music can get you the results, but you will be surprised at the long term results the former can deliver. Of course some service stations are full of thugs and I have been to one such place which gave me a chor bazaar vibe and I have stayed clear and advised fellow mahindra owners to do the same. You still think they are a bunch of thugs and the former is not possible, not true, read on.
2) Prepare yourself, busy lifestyle, not possible to give a lot of time to the car you say, not true buddy. While you are waiting for the service adviser to attend to you, stop twiddling with your thumbs on your blackberry and read the Service interval chart in the owners manual, so that you know the jobs that need to be carried out. Make a note of all the complaints you may have, infact as and when you notice something amiss with the car during usage use your blackberry then to make a memo.
3) Insist that no additive is to be added if you are changing the oil and filter of your car. Subsequently when not carrying out oil changes adding the additive could be a good thing. If some fluid has to be changed during that service, sample the fluid for color in front of the service adviser while taking inventory.
4) When taking inventory elaborate how clean your car is and that you want it back in the same condition.
5) Don't push them for time, being an engineer who works on machinery I can tell you this, if you squeeze us for time, the job is not going to be well done. One long stay at the Service Station is better than 2 short stays.
6) Opt for carbon cleaning only if you are the kind who tries to keeps the RPM low in the city to get a better fuel efficiency as there is a good chance that your gas passages and turbo may have fouled. Carry out self carbon cleaning (if you are a city user) by using a premium fuel when going on a long drive out of town, you will find her performance has improved.
7) They always forget that your car is under extended warranty (first hand experience with Maruti and Mahindra), so let them go about changing whatever it is that they want and then when you go for delivery, ask for the bill break up, flash the extended warranty booklet and watch all hell break loose until you get a heavily discounted bill.
8) Last ace up my sleeve, between my father and I we play the good cop, bad cop routine, it is not required any more but has worked wonders during the initial months of owning the CRDe.

Maximizing tip
Cleaning your air filter by just dusting the dust off it every couple of months or so will keep you engine breathing nice and clean.




MODS, fellow bhpians, some inputs, critique please.
Have read my thread umpteen times and have always found typo errors, if you still do my apologies.


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[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

More ergonomic bits/pics to be added

.................................................. ...........................................

Have read my thread umpteen times and have always found typo errors, if you still do my apologies.

Most comprehensive review of the mHawk Scorpio on this forum. It certainly makes up for the lack of an "official" review. Rating it 5 stars. Kudos!

My SLE [4x2] has clocked 24k kms in 16 months, and the ownership experience and the service experience has been mostly positive so far [touchwood!]. One piece of [unwanted?] advice that I'd like to give you is to stick to a 10k kms engine oil change interval, instead of the 15k kms [2nd oil change] interval and the subsequent 20k kms [3rd oil change onwards] interval as suggested by M&M. It will go a long way in ensuring the longevity of the engine, and also reduce the engine noise and vibrations over the long term [although this may be just my perception].

Cheers,
Vikram

[Guderian]

Hi Rohan,
This review is a truly delightful one, for more reasons than one - for me at least !
Firstly - must compliment you for a throughly exhaustive review of all aspects of Snow. Quite certain that you haven't missed many things.

Secondly it was a pleasure for me to get into a Scorpio and check out the various elements through your photographs. Almost took me back into my ex ride Guderian, the Scorp.

Thirdly all your experiences also took me back to my days/experience with the Scorp. And they appeared to be excatly the same.
The number of times I went back to the ASC with niggles in the first month, the approach with the ASC chaps during servicing or niggle/s rectifications etc.
In my case it was standing on the shopfloor and yelling or cajoling if need be and ensuring that everything gets done ! And this was done for one day, every quarter for 5.5 years ! It was worth it though.

I am not sure whether you took the snaps of Snow before or after you got the torsion bar adjusted. Because in the snaps I see a few MMs tilt to the left.

And what I most vehemently disagree about is deeming Snow to be a female dragon.
Firstly as per common understanding you rarely find female dragons (unless one is married to one !) - 99% of dragons are males. Check it out !

Secondly if you were to peer under Snow you'll find one differential ball in the front and a diff ball in the rear. Now anything with two of such things, in any species, will surely be a male right ?

Wonderful write up and will be be constantly reading about Snow's progress in life.
May you have many thousand KMs of safe run/s with Snow !

PS: Of course a 5* review !

[Off Roadie]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Most comprehensive review of the mHawk Scorpio on this forum. It certainly makes up for the lack of an "official" review. Rating it 5 stars. Kudos! ].

Cheers,
Vikram

Thank You for the kind words and the rating, it was just me paying homage to the Scorpio. Have kept the review as fair and neutral as possible though.

@ General Saab,
Firstly, thanks for your kind words and rating
The tilt has been rectified in my presence and verified by me. Pic was not taken on a flat ground and in my rush for putting this thread up I have not worked to ensure that all photos are straight etc. Exterior pics were taken, last Sunday.
For regular servicing, I don't stand on the shop floor but whenever something out of the ordinary has come up, I am right there in overalls.
Infact when the CRDe was in Ladakh she got a major hit on her left rear leaf spring and one of the leaf's had broken. She was holding fine but when we rushed to the ASC in the evening, they were quite busy and just wasting the next day was not an option. So we took one techie who knew the procedure and father, son and techie did the job themselves and replaced the leaf, plus the rear differential gasket seemed as if it were leaking (faint oil patch) so that was also done by us just to be safe.

Now regarding Gender, well accessorizing, is not done by men, so female she is =P
Oh and I did not know that female dragons (existed in Shrek) were so rare, in fact, it suits her well as 4wd drive Scorpios are an equally rare sight =)

[bluevolt]

Hi OffRoadie, Congratulations for your Mahindra Scorpio.

This is one comprehensive review I ever read on team-bhp IIRC. Fantastic review and those loads of photos are fantastic.

Wishing you lakhs of kilometers of Happy and Safe riding.

[HappyRoadie]

@Off Roadie it is really awesome review of Scorpio. I have not seen a better review than this. You have covered every single aspect of Scorpio. Now I got the idea of space inside Scorpio. I am also planning to buy Scorpio LX. This review has really helped me. The colour also looks too good. I would like to know from members here that should I go for black colour or some other like golden etc.

Wish you many happy and safe miles. Hope that you will keep this thread updated.



Regards

[Off Roadie]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Hi OffRoadie, Congratulations for your Mahindra Scorpio.

This is one comprehensive review I ever read on team-bhp IIRC. Fantastic review and those loads of photos are fantastic.

Wishing you lakhs of kilometers of Happy and Safe riding.

Thanks for the kind words

Originally Posted by Guderian

And what I most vehemently disagree about is deeming Snow to be a female dragon.
Firstly as per common understanding you rarely find female dragons (unless one is married to one !) - 99% of dragons are males. Check it out !

Secondly if you were to peer under Snow you'll find one differential ball in the front and a diff ball in the rear. Now anything with two of such things, in any species, will surely be a male right ?

PS: Of course a 5* review !

I think the size of the differentials would deem her female

Originally Posted by HappyRoadie

@Off Roadie it is really awesome review of Scorpio. I have not seen a better review than this. You have covered every single aspect of Scorpio. Now I got the idea of space inside Scorpio. I am also planning to buy Scorpio LX. This review has really helped me. The colour also looks too good. I would like to know from members here that should I go for black colour or some other like golden etc.

Wish you many happy and safe miles. Hope that you will keep this thread updated.

Regards

Thanks and I am glad that you found it helpful. I will keep updating this thread but there may be months of incativity in between, during the time that I am out at sea.

[n.devdath]

That is one heck of a review OffRoadie. You pretty much echo my sentiments on the Scorpio.
Hariya is now with 50k under his belt (Yes, he is as stock as he was born, so he is a male for me..!!) and every kilometer we have travelled together across the country has been fun, safe and exciting leaving me yearning for more.

Do keep updating your thread regularly spiced up with those small details that you seem to capture so well.

[shankar.balan]

nice set of reviews and a nice flowing writing style! i enjoyed reading your revew. very nice title choice too!
enjoy!

[Jetblast101]

Absolutely amazing review, this is by far the most detailed and unbiased review I have read on this forum. I too am a proud owner of the Scorpio but mine is a 2WD-AT. The issues you mentioned are definitely present but they are small compared to the good bits.

[predatorwheelz]

A very very detailed review, and a most enjoyable reading. What I liked most was the honesty with which it was written. Carry on!

[getsurya]

Offroadie,

WOW! what an review for an Scorpio. M&M should use this for refinement of thier product.

Very well written, shows lot of eye for detail and would be great for potential buyers. Good job done! Me too rate this 5 stars!!

Happy Motoring!

[Skye1592]

Excellent review! 5 star rating from me too
The pics with you sitting to give us a better idea of leg room and the first picture of steering positioning are helpful. Gives us a realistic idea. But I have to admit, the way you posed for them made me laugh