[HappyRoadie]

Congratulations on your purchase. But why are you selling your Scorpio so soon?

[HighwayofLife]

Originally Posted by HappyRoadie

Congratulations on your purchase. But why are you selling your Scorpio so soon?

New company hasn't agreed to take the car over. So I have to sell here and buy new in Bangalore.

Sad but it has a nice silver lining.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

Sad but it has a nice silver lining.

Welcome to Bangalore. Let me know if you need anything here in terms of anything.
The LX 4WD is unbeatable when it comes to its VFM aspect and it will be interesting to see what you choose as your next ride.

[gd1418]

I'm not a great fan of interiors or anything cosmetics in a car. What excites me is the mechanics.

Having owned a Safari 4x4, Scorpio Glx and the mHawk LX 4x4, I can confidently say that as far as the VFM factor goes, the LX 4x4 has no competition in its segment and what it offers.

On a comparitive level the Storme costs almost 50% more. I am a bit worried about the kind of mileage you are getting in city driving. I get close to 12kmpl with AC in the city and around 14 on the highways.

[HighwayofLife]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Having owned a Safari 4x4, Scorpio Glx and the mHawk LX 4x4, I can confidently say that as far as the VFM factor goes, the LX 4x4 has no competition in its segment and what it offers.

On a comparitive level the Storme costs almost 50% more. I am a bit worried about the kind of mileage you are getting in city driving. I get close to 12kmpl with AC in the city and around 14 on the highways.

Spoken like a true automobile lover sir.

The city mileage factor is something I fail to understand. Highways I get about 13 on the plains, which is very comparable to your Scorpio. May be things improve after second service. But if I sell the car, that is for the new owner to figure out.

All I can say is that if I sell, the new car would also be an LX 4WD.

[HighwayofLife]

Well- An interesting week with some good developments. Turns out I'll not be selling the car after all.

I decided to stay back in Gurgaon and the vehicle continues to be with me. It just went for its second free service at 9300 km yesterday.

Will keep you all posted on the service bill and the issues resolution

[HighwayofLife]

Like I mentioned before, I took my Scorpio for its second service on August 3rd, 2013. The servie was long overdue after the Ladakh trip, and some interesting issues had crept in, such as the fact that the AC is working perfectly, and all of a sudden, there's no air blowing out of the vents, which requires some putting off and putting on and some other stunts, after which it blows properly again.

Turns out the blower needed to be cleaned. Also, (surprise surprise) I come to know that there's no air filter in the Scorpio LX 4WD, and that it is available only in the "higher" models.

Work done in second service:

1. All oils replaced
2. Brakes and clutch checked
3. I complained of door rattling, but Sterling Motors did not repair that (more on that later)
4. Adjustment of previous loss of my floor mats (this I was happy about)

I'm getting very unhappy with Sterling Motors overall. Though they refunded me the cost of buying new floor mats (which they lost in the first service during the car wash), they haven't attended to the door rattle issues.

Another very funny issue I'm facing is that the door sensor on one of the doors is malfunctioning, and causing the roof light to come on and switch off intermittently when going on bumps and potholes (previous door rattle issue combined with the faulty sensor is causing this). Sterling Motors says that the sensor would be replaced by the team from Autocop, and that they can only repair the door rattle issue. Really sad that Mahindra doesn't have parts for the accessories they themselves install.

Not a great experience overall once again- I'm going to have to try Koncept at Noida the next time around.

In the last two days, I've made some very cool additions and changes to my ICE, and got some amazing results, which I'll post into a dedicated ICE thread.

Meanwhile, here's the service invoice:

[HighwayofLife]

Well, since I decided not to sell the car, I thought some upgrades/ changes were in order, as per the suggestions provided to me by all of you. First the bull bar:


I must admit that this was a very welcome suggestion, and my beast does look much better in an all-black avatar

Next the ICE. I found that the active sub was absolutely insufficient. In addition, I was encountering the following issues:

1. Sound output of the system was not good enough
2. Active sub as not delivering the deepest bass well, and again was insufficient
3. Rear speaker placement being on the boot door, was resulting in poor sound in the middle seat
4. Tweeters near the windshield were resulting in a bit of tinny distortion on treble heavy tracks

Hence, I decided to add a pair of Polk Audio DXI 690 speakers, mounted in good quality acoustic boxes. These are fully sealed boxes of heavy wood, and the sound became much better with this change, but I encountered a new problem, which was that the sound from my component speakers in front was being compromised , and it seemed like all the sound was coming out of the rear speakers.

Hence, the following changes were made:

1. Tweeters removed from dashboard, and placed on the piece of plastic that contains the mirror adjustment levers
   
2. Rockford Fosgate speakers on the boot door were removed and placed in the middle doors. There's a handly little gap just below the quarter glass in the middle doors that were used for mounting, with appropriate sound damping
   
3. Hertz HE4 Amp was added to the car, and a Rockford Fosgate Punch series Subwoofer added, to replace the Active Sub. I shifted the active to my Tata Nano
   
4. The front components, and the rear Polk Audio speakers, as well as the sub were connected to the Amp, and the old Rockford Fosgate speakers in the middle doors were connected directly to the HU. My idea was to ensure effective sound distribution, with the middle door speakers being under-played, thus ensuring that it seems like a very uniform distribution of sound across the entire length of the vehicle.

The results are to be heard to be believed- I've not exactly spent a lot on this system, but anyone who listens to it asks me if I've spent a six figure number on it. It's not even close to a six figure number in truth, and all made possible thanks to the wonderfully knowledgable folks in Team-BHP, who've turned me into an audiophile really fast

You'll notice that I've removed the rear jump seats entirely to create more space. These seats were never going to be used, so I decided to entirely do away with them.

There's another little low-cost mod that I'm working on, which I'll keep secret till I complete it later this week and post pictures- let's just call it Project Extensio for now

[HighwayofLife]

So, after about 3 weeks since my last post, I've finally got Project Extensio completed.

The idea is derived from both Doctor Who's TARDIS (which is bigger on the inside than the outside), and from Harry Potter (where there are tents and bags bigger on the inside than the outside).

The question I began with was this- how do you get excellent boot capacity in a Scorpio, despite having an ICE with a relatively big sub-woofer installed?

Criteria to be met:

1. Should not compromise or damage the sound system components in any way when fully loaded with luggage
2. Should maintain or enhance the original luggage storage capacity of the Scorpio's boot
3. Should look good and not be susceptible to corrosion. Also, the finishing should be good enough that there is no damage either to the luggage or people handling the luggage

The Answer. Voila!- I'm attaching two images to give you an understanding of what I've done:




Some details of the construction:
Material: Mild Steel Square Section Pipe
Method of Construction:

1. Removed read jump seats
2. Post measurement, pipes cut and welded. Note that the stand is sized such that it is easy to put in and take out without touching any part of the vehicle. Also, there is a good amount of clearance above the sub-woofer. Also, the design ensures appropriate spread of cross members across the long side. This ensures stiffness and bending resistance
3. Welds ground to smooth finish. Please ensure that any holes are filled at the joints. Fabricators are notoriously careless and will cut corners unless you supervise
4. Whole assembly powder coated to prevent corrosion

Net Cost: INR 2500


What this has accomplished:

1. The actual storage space of the boot has been enhanced by this mod. Earlier, the wheel arches used to prevent more than one big suitcase (29 inch) from being placed . This mod allows for two 29 inch suitcases and a really large kit bag or three 26 inch (middle size) suitcases to be placed side by side
2. Luggage can be kep on top of the suitcases without hampering visibility, since three people sitting in the back set would reach about the same height
3. One really large kit bag and/or a significant amount of smaller luggage and other stuff can be placed under the stand in front of the speakers and sub
4. The luggage shelf is supported on legs that are spaced perfectly to accommodate my sub and speaker boxes, as well as on clamps, that are attached from the mount points of the erstwhile rear jump-seats (the jump-seats were, in any case, useless for a journey of any length, since there is no AC for the last row). This construction ensures redundancy in the support structure of the luggage shelf, as well as a vibration-proof set-up.

Do let me know what you all think and if you need more details.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

....
Do let me know what you all think and if you need more details.

Now that's an interesting mod! I remember our ace tourer ADC had also done something similar on his Safari. But that was not as permanent and was for his son to sleep!

Anyway, once your luggage occupies the top shelf, seems like your sub box gets bigger Just curious, does it 'boom' too much then?

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

So, after about 3 weeks since my last post, I've finally got Project Extensio completed.

Do let me know what you all think and if you need more details.

Nice mod within a sensible budget.
I believe you have kept the provision to take that shelf out (if required) - right?

[HighwayofLife]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Now that's an interesting mod! I remember our ace tourer ADC had also done something similar on his Safari. But that was not as permanent and was for his son to sleep!

Anyway, once your luggage occupies the top shelf, seems like your sub box gets bigger Just curious, does it 'boom' too much then?

Haven't really tried the sound system with a full load so far. So I'll check and update this thread when I do.

As for the mod, it isn't permanent. All fixed with a system of nuts and bolts that allow removal of the shelf as needed. Also, I've used the same mount points and even the same fasteners used for the jump seats

Originally Posted by blackasta

Nice mod within a sensible budget.
I believe you have kept the provision to take that shelf out (if required) - right?

Yes. It's fastened with nuts and bolts, and sized for easy removal (48 inches wide. The Scorpio's boot is 54 inches across)

[windiesel]

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

Haven't really tried the sound system with a full load so far. So I'll check and update this thread when I do.

As for the mod, it isn't permanent. All fixed with a system of nuts and bolts that allow removal of the shelf as needed. Also, I've used the same mount points and even the same fasteners used for the jump seats



Yes. It's fastened with nuts and bolts, and sized for easy removal (48 inches wide. The Scorpio's boot is 54 inches across)

Nice review.I am also planning to buy this very vehicle (LX 4X4) albeit, in white. PM me if you decide to let it go.

[HighwayofLife]

Originally Posted by windiesel

Nice review.I am also planning to buy this very vehicle (LX 4X4) albeit, in white. PM me if you decide to let it go.

Thanks. I suggest the Military Green or Black colors in this variant. IMHO, these two colors go very nicely with the black bumpers, that give a very rugged and distinctive look to the vehicle.

No plans to sell at present, but will sure let you know if I decide.

[girishglg]

Congrats on acquiring a personal favourite SUV and a very classy color in that. Came across the thread and read thru it completely and must say that the partition/ secured woofer bay is an excellent idea.

Also read some where that the beast is designated for Leh runs so hoping to hear from your in the travelogues section some time. Till then have a great time with the LX and keep us updated regularly!