[ahmad.007]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

I have a question for the engine gurus now.

Since this UV has a 2.5 liter diesel engine having only a power output of 63 bhp and 190 Nm of torque, how can we get more power out of it? In comparison, my Palio Stile 1.3 MJD has 75 bhp and 185 Nm of torque, which in totality is almost equal or more than the Bolero.

Question - Does the engine cubic capacity affect the driveability of the vehicle, or is it purely the power and torque capability that does that.

Question - Would a 2.5L common rail diesel having an ouput of 63 Bhp and 190 Nm of Torque perform the same as a 1.3L common rail diesel engine having an ouput of 75 Bhp and 184 Nm of Torque in the same vehicle? In this Bolero? What is the point of having such a massive volumetric engine if it doesn't translate into actual output?

I know that's a mixture of a lot of tiny questions, but they all revolve around the same central issue. Thanks in advance.

Yes, displacement matters, atleast from what I have observed and figured out. The figures you quoted for Palio-75bhp 185 Nm are only the 'peak' power and 'peak' torque ratings of the engine. So, we actually don't know the power and torque figures at different rpms. What if I tell you a car makes 200 bhp, but that it makes only 50bhp from 1000 to 5000 rpm, and 200 bhp from 5000 to 6000 rpm, see, it would be like fooling the customer, right? Bigger unstressed engines make healthy amount of power and torque all through the rev range. While small stressed units lack torque/power in lower end.
I felt this when I test drove a diesel Micra(1.5 64bhp 160 Nm) and a diesel Beat(1.0 58bhp 150Nm), though the power, torque figures are not much different, the two cars are very different. The Micra feeling much more powerful and enjoyable even without the turbo kick which the Beat offered, this was because of the displacement, Micra made healthy power/torque right from 1400 rpm, while Beat's turbo fully kicked in after 1800 rpm, and the motor started losing breath sooner than the Micra's unit.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

The speedometer (digital) was stuck at 0 kmph, the voice messaging system wasn't working, the odometer wasn't moving (it was stuck at 64 kmph), and the digital gear indicator was always showing 'N' (for neutral). I was a couple of kilometers away when I actually noticed this. The fuel and temp gauges were working fine, and the tachometer was fine too.

The salesman assured me that the problem was minor and that a couple or wire must have come undone during the pressure hose washing or some such hoo haa.

The next morning I drove to the showroom, a technician ducked under the front left side of the car for about 3 seconds and all the features started working! Though I was happy that this was so easily resolved, it shocks me to see that if that coupler is removed, the kms aren't recorded on the odo!!! That's proper 'jugaad' to me. Just imagine what dishonest people could do with that. Take your car anywhere for a spin, and make sure the miles don't show up.

Looks like the technician reconnected the speedometer cable that had been disconnected .........so as to not record kms driven when its given to others for drives

[getsurya]

ByDesign,

Congratulations on your new ride which as said by others, looks very nice with the alloys and the tyre trim!

I have couple of friends, who swear by their Bolero's even after having two or other cars at home.

Happy motoring!

[chaunfa]

"This claim intrigued me. Do you have any evidentiary support to your claim of black boleros being stolen more? I'm definitely getting a gear lock soon. "









Well let me say that I became a statistic some seven or so years ago.
I had a black bolero that was stolen, I got it back when the thief met with an accident. Unfortunately, he got away.
Now, I have a chocolate bar and all fingers and toes still crossed. But beware...beware the car thieves of Delhi, they are rated as the best in the country.

Regards,

Chaunfa

[desertfox]

Great guys, you all love Boleros. I have owned a Bolero for almost 5 years now. It was Purchased on 14 August 2008, Turf Green SLX with a DI engine.

It is a reliable car, DI engine starts with 1/2 a turn of the ignition even in coldest winter of Delhi, fuel average is 15 kmpl of diesel.

I never felt the need for speed, even with this DI engine. Even on the Delhi Agra Taj Expressway I drove it at 120 kmph and that is how much safe it gets in India. No need to exceed this speed.

On toughness. My vehicle has been to the worst of terrains. Crossed riverlets, waded through Gurgaon rain floods, driven on bad dirt traccks, farmlands, mud tracks, sheer slush, rocks, stone cobbled roads, worst possible potholes on an Indian highway ( Shamli to Karnal road ).

So far it has survived abuse of 3 elections.
Not less than a 100 off road trips on my wildlife photography missions, including a more of a road trip to Sariska with GD1418 and Harjeev.
Survived and came out of a double roll in an accident where I escaped with just an arm fracture, the vehicle was driven back, and the driver had just a cut on his hands ( a drunk was dancing on the road at 10 PM and the driver had braked hard to avoid him )

Its true that I must have driven it just 2000 of the 130,000 km it has done so far it has always been driven by one of my chauffers but I have spent a lot of time in it.

So many road trips

Delhi - Corbett park, ranikhet, Nanital with North India Offroad Club. Here I had driven it mostly along with my cousin. There was no driver on this trip.
Delhi - Chandigarh - Shimla & back. I drove the Kalka to SHimla and back to Kalka sectors and had enjoyed driving it on the hills.

Delhi to Haridwar on business
To agra a few times
To Aligarh and Kasganj numerous times.

In and around to Tijara, Pataudi, Rohtak etc.

The bad parts about a Bolero :

No AC Airflow controls, wind shield fogs.
Front passenger seat where I usually sit, fully slid back is extremely uncomfortable. After long journies I get a shooting pain in my lower back muscles.
There is a constant sqeaking sound from the leafsprings.
Suspension rubber bushes need frequent replacements.
Silencer bushes, bindings need frequent welding and replacement.
The areas where it takes a serious hit off road is :
Fog lamps - break off frequently
Sump cover has taken hits after hits on those typical culvert bridges where the decent is dirt from a concrete span beam.
Rear number plate is too low, takes hit after hit.
Rear mud flaps and all must be thrown off if you go off road. I have removed and thrwon off the front as well.

The side steps are of poor quality and take hits off road. They are virtually sheared off now in my car.

The dashboard instrument panel is of poor quality. A little tap from the fingers gets the speedo going again.

The hydraulic clutch capillary is very low indeed. It has taken a hit off road, had to get it changed in a rural location.

The OE CEAT Formula 1 tyres were a dog.
In 2010 i changed all 4 rims to new Mahindra original rims and fitted tubeless radials. The frequent puncture problem vanished.

THe Yokohama

[ahmad.007]

Originally Posted by desertfox

Even on the Delhi Agra Taj Expressway I drove it at 120 kmph and that is how much safe it gets in India. No need to exceed this speed.

+1. 120 kmhr is the upper limit of the safe speed here. No matter what car you are in, at 120 things are moving quite fast, there is always a chance of tyre getting burst, if not yours then the car running ahead/beside you.

[desertfox]

Yes of course, 120 KM is the extreme of safety. I keep my tyres, tyre pressure and overall the car perfectly tuned and in greatest possible shape. And at that speed I was driving it personally.

I was going to ALigarh and then on to Kasganj. It was a hot June afternoon so no Jeep was following me, it was a Bolero alone, a friend was to join me ahead in a 4x4 scorpio.

There were no cars near me in any of the three other lane and for miles ahead, so I hit this speed. But about 100 is safer on this road, it is not an international standard highway.

[desertfox]

Had run out of edit time on post # 80.

The Yokohama Geolanders ran OK for 45,000 KM but after that the sidewalls of 2 of the tyres gave away.

I threw the set of tyres and installed 4 x Bridgestone A/T 693 Tread II of the same size, 215/75/R16. They have run about 15,000 KM in 12 to 14 months and seem to be doing OK.

After 5 years of yeoman service, withstanding the abuse by drivers the Bolero is still running strong and good enough for another 5 years.

Even if I choose not to sit in it the Bolero can do good work at the farms or in elections or as a support vehicle in some off road expeditions.

Suspension rubber bushes need frequent changes in it.
Silencer mountings come off loose frequently.
SUmp base takes hits in rural areas specially on culverts where there is no graded slope between the concrete span and departure track.

Major parts replacement so far - SHockers full set.
Steering rack & pinion with tie ends.

Major breakdowns - 3

Clutch line is really low, broke off once in a rural area.
Wishbone joint - broken twice once offroad and once in friends colony Delhi.

Oil change, break pads change is normal stuff.

Care for the tyres is essential. Send it for regular wheel alignment and balancing to a good source in Gurgaon regularly, every 10,000 KM.

Mahindra service for Bolero in Gurgaon - pathetic.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

And she's home!
.....
POINT TO NOTE
The speedometer (digital) was stuck at 0 kmph, the voice messaging system wasn't working, the odometer wasn't moving (it was stuck at 64 kmph), and the digital gear indicator was always showing 'N' (for neutral).
....

Many congratulations! The Tank is looking great! Any thoughts on replacing the aluminium side steps with 'rock slider' type ones? - as seen on the Getaway.


The odo not working at the time of delivery raises a question in my mind. I remember reading that Bolero is driven from the factory to the showroom. Is it really so? Even for the higher versions, or is that only for the low end and pickup versions?

[rahul4321]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Many congratulations! The Tank is looking great! Any thoughts on replacing the aluminium side steps with 'rock slider' type ones? - as seen on the Getaway.


The odo not working at the time of delivery raises a question in my mind. I remember reading that Bolero is driven from the factory to the showroom. Is it really so? Even for the higher versions, or is that only for the low end and pickup versions?

All Bolero's are driven from the factory to the showroom irrespective of which variant's they are. I got my DI with 675 on the odo in Ahmedabad (Nasik/Navi Mumbai to Ahmedabad), a guy in Kolkata got his SLX with roughly 1300 kilometers (Nasik/Navi Mumbai to Kolkata) on the odo.

I am not sure why they disconnected the odo on this car though. Its not like they try and hide the fact that the Bolero's are driven down from the factory!

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Many congratulations! The Tank is looking great! Any thoughts on replacing the aluminium side steps with 'rock slider' type ones? - as seen on the Getaway.


The odo not working at the time of delivery raises a question in my mind. I remember reading that Bolero is driven from the factory to the showroom. Is it really so? Even for the higher versions, or is that only for the low end and pickup versions?

Thanks! No such mod plans as of now. I haven't heard that bit before! That means the jeep is already run-in before delivery! I'll ask my friend at the showroom tomorrow and update the thread.

Originally Posted by rahul4321

All Bolero's are driven from the factory to the showroom irrespective of which variant's they are. I got my DI with 675 on the odo in Ahmedabad (Nasik/Navi Mumbai to Ahmedabad), a guy in Kolkata got his SLX with roughly 1300 kilometers (Nasik/Navi Mumbai to Kolkata) on the odo.

I am not sure why they disconnected the odo on this car though. Its not like they try and hide the fact that the Bolero's are driven down from the factory!

Hmm...I guess it makes the customer feel special when he sees 50 km on the odo! Makes the car feel more fresh.

[akshay4587]

Just today i had a nice run with 2 quickly driven almost new Bolero ZLX's early in the morning on a open highway,as the figures suggest,the new bolero is not a slouch by any standards,i was doing a shade over 120,when the Bolero went ahead pretty comfortably,and kept pulling further,even the acceleration was pretty decent.So in all do not go just by the low numbers,in real world its performance is more than adequate.I wish that Mahindra at least had ABS in the ZLX.

[jp1]

Originally Posted by desertfox

....
I never felt the need for speed, even with this DI engine. Even on the Delhi Agra Taj Expressway I drove it at 120 kmph and that is how much safe it gets in India. No need to exceed this speed.

At that speed it can be quite dangerous. Speed above 90 on a Bolero can be unsafe during panic breaking. Chances of wheels getting locked is very high. I am telling you from experience. After 13 years of ownership of Boleros, I switched to a Quanto only due to absence of ABS in Bolero.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Just today i had a nice run with 2 quickly driven almost new Bolero ZLX's early in the morning on a open highway,as the figures suggest,the new bolero is not a slouch by any standards,i was doing a shade over 120,when the Bolero went ahead pretty comfortably,and kept pulling further,even the acceleration was pretty decent.So in all do not go just by the low numbers,in real world its performance is more than adequate.I wish that Mahindra at least had ABS in the ZLX.

Nice post. I agree here. I have had no doubts or trouble overtaking at various speeds/rev ranges/gears!

Here's a quick show off pic of my tank churning out a more than respectable FE of 16.7 kmpl. Though the average FE would be more close to 13.5 to 14 kmpl, this is pretty fantastic for a car in triple digit odo kms and not even a first service.

[jeepster_chd]

But in a nutshell, thats what engine size in terms of displacement does, it gives you pulling power.. And show it a steep slope and it can shame cars thrice its cost by just chugging along like a steam locomotive.

What all the 'gyan' you gave about the pulling power of Bolero (I own m2dicr), I have experienced it first hand (steam locomotive), however, didn't knew how it correlates with cc. What you told in nutshell was indeed an eye opener. Thanks!

Bolero is fun to drive, put it in the second gear and it will climb the basement parking at the mall or office with ease without accelerator inputs and would instead require brake inputs. You don't fear halting on an incline anymore, I remember it was scary to stand on an incline in my Santro, though it would race like a mouse down the highway