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-   -   Back to Diesel Power - Diamond White Mahindra Xylo H8 with ABS (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/139213-back-diesel-power-diamond-white-mahindra-xylo-h8-abs.html)

I started driving in Mahindra Jeeps and Ambys. The first car we owned was a 1997 model Tata Sumo. It was with us for almost 6years. Once me and brothers grown up and started our career in different cities and countires, we decided to sell it. After this, when my brother moved to Singapore, I was using his Santro 1.1 ZipPlus LP. After few years and birth of my second kid, I bought a pre-owned 2005 Model Honda City 1.5 Exi. This was serving us very well, but whenever my parents are travelling with us my kids used to complain about lack of space for them. If I am in the driving seat, the driver seat will take most of the legspace for rear passenger. At 8years and 65k Kms, the NHC started showing issues in clutch, suspension, lower arms and steering rack. So we finally decided to part with Honda City and buy a new car with big on space.

My primary requirements for the new car are

1. A 6-7seater with loads of space (I am 6ft4inch). Once I sit in the driver seat, my wife (5ft7inch) should be able to sit comfortably in my backside passenger seat.
2. Decent amount of power to pull and good GC.
3. Security features like ABS (+EBD), Airbag
4. Acceptable bodyroll and basic requirement like a/c vents on all the rows.
5. Provision for 2DIN ICE, and
6. All should be within 12L budget.

Vehicles considered : Safari Storme, Ertiga, Scorpio and Innova

Safari was in my dream always, but I am not ready to own the Safari Dicor mainly due to the niggles and big turning radius. I was waiting eagerly for the Storme's launch. I went through Tanveer's review multiple times, and requested Concorde motors to provide me a test drive. There was no reply from them, untill my friend called up his friend who is one of senior official in TATA Motors. Through his influence the test drive vehicle was in front of my office within 10minutes. But I was highly disappointed when my knees touching on the steering wheel. I tried all options and positions to avoid to this, but no use. After some distance, I got used to this, but still its a pain mainly in case there is any unfortunate accident situations. Other than this, I like the car even with the side facing last row. Again the Vx version with ABS and Airbag are much more than my budget, and there is no 2DIN options.

Ertiga : Went to Sagar Motors at BG Road to see Ertiga. I felt it is so congested and if I am sitting in driving seat, only my kid can sit behind me. The last row seat is not flat fold and Ertiga was rejected without any test drive.

Innova : Everything is fine and perfect, but not my budget. Though engine is bit underpowered and noisy at 3 digit speeds, I was ok for this if it is fitting in my budget :Frustrati

Scorpio : When I sat in the driving seat, the door handle was hitting my thighs. Felt Xylo is better in space and reduced body roll.

Some how I didn't consider Aria at all

Xylo was never in my radar untill they launched with mHawk engine. When the launched the new Xylo with E9 variant, I started following this in many of the reviews and TBhp discussions (There are very less ownership reviews in TBhp). Got some confidence after going through the ownership reviews V12, Rajesh Sundaram, etc multiple times. When Mahindra launched with H series, I decided to take a test drive and asked Anant Cars in BG road to provide a test drive. They initially came with an E9 variant, so after a few kms drive I insisted them to come with H series test drive car. After few days, they called me back saying that the H series test drive car is ready and can take for test drive. Went to the showroom with my family and saw the vehicle. It is a new H8 car with properly marked as Demo car. Every one in my family like the car. It is spacious and Kids were absolutely happy that they will get seperate seats and can even sleep in full length.

Initial impression after the drive

What I like:

• Engine Power
• Easy to drive in city hope the same will be for highways
• Small Turning radius comparing the size of the car
• Cabin noise lesser than expected
• Seating position & comfort
• Arm rest for front and middle rows
• Powerful air-conditioning
• Music system performs above my expectation

What I dislike:

• Plastic quality could have been better
• There are big pannel gaps at places.
• Below average paint quality
• The indicator and wiper lever are looks solid, but the AC nob build quality is very poor
• If brakes hard, then rear passengers come in front seat. One way this is a good feature to bring my kids to front seat if they do some mischief in rear seats..!!

Space:
There is enough leg room for rear passenger to sit comfortable even if I am sitting in front seat. The front seats have lumbar support. The captain seats are very comfortable. The third row is big enough to accommodate me, but it lacks thigh support and headroom due to seat positioning. But for a sub 6ft person, this will be very comfortable.

Handling:
The Car is very easy to maneuver in the bustling city traffic, only thing you need to be aware of the size. Taking sharp turns at high speed are big no no. But if you slot into the right gear, the car will glue to the road.

Engine:
Powerful engine, no need to worry even if you are fully loaded.

Audio System:
The stock audio system and speakers are above my expectation. This saves my 25-30k for ICE upgrade. Its Nippon 2 DIN system with USB and SDCARD support. If you are using a long USB stick, please be careful while moving your left hand back to steering wheel after changing the gear.

Air-conditioning:
This comes with a dual a/c and cools extremely well. There is option for high and low cooling. There are individual a/c vent for each seats

Gear Shift:
As its a new vehicle there is little bit of roughness in moving the gear, hope this will improve once the car is got used to. Many people complained that second gear is tough to slot, but I didn't feel any issue with the second gear.

The initial offer which Anant car gave me was not tempting at all. So I decided to check with Sireesh Auto, it was better that Anant. Now again I went back to Anant and asked them to give a better discounts in terms of insurance, exchange or any other. Finally settled for discount of total 30500 from the OTR pricing of 11.96L. So booked Diamond White H8 with Airbag, 7seater variant. Booked the car on 19th June'13 and started the preparation for Loan from SBI @ 10.45%. The car reached the stockyard on 27th June'13 and I got a call from SA to come and do any inspection if I want. So reached the Dealer premises and done a close inspection, VIN number was pointing to manufactured in May'13 at Nasik plant.

My first snaps of the car.

The same day got call from bank to come sign the loan papers. Loan is approved and got the money released to the Dealer. Now its time to part with my trusted Honda City to Anant Cars.

Parting shot


The registration process took one more day and I was told that I can take the delivery on 29th Saturday by 12:15pm. Reached the showroom by 11:45am and they arranged a pooja by their in house poojari and I got the key exactly at 12:15pm


In the evening took the car to nearby temple for Pooja.


Some of the random shots

Sunday being a holiday and Parents are with us, decided to have a one day trip to Shravanabelagola (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shravanabelagola) which is around 170km away from my home at Bangalore. I want to feel the highway experience before hitting the Bangalore's heavy city traffic.

We took NICE road and Mangalore Highway to reach Shravanabelagola. The car is easily touching 3 digit speed, and I didn't took it beyond 100kmph as its a new vehicle. It has very good road view and presence. While we are running at 80kmph, the feel inside is around 40kmph only.

+Ves

• Very good road view, and awesome power
• I felt pulling is better than my Hoda City
• Very comfortable seating. My parents (73 & 68) absolutely like the ride. Happy legs, no doubt.
• It was very easy ingress and egress for my Parents (thanks to their tall build)
• Good feedback from steering, though it felt little heavy
• The AFE consistently showing above 16 in highways.
• Stock 2DIN music system has average+ sound quality. So not planning for any upgrade in near future. clap:
• Cabin noise insulation is very good for these kind of big diesel engine.
• Highway maneuvering is good, but you cannot drive like a sedan
• Body roll was minimal and far less than what I expected. On highways, its comparable with Innova.
• If you are in the right gear, cornering at 60-70 speed is not a big deal.
• Turning radius is less considering the size of this car.
• Cool features like illuminated keyhole, puddle lamp, followme headlamps etc. Another interesting feature is, if you use the wash+wipe(r) windshield, the wiper will do one delayed wiping even after removing your hand from wiper lever. This will ensure complete wiping, I haven't seen this in my previous cars.

-Ves

• Brake are hard, just keeping your foot will not have any considerable effect unlike my old Honda City
• Clutch is smooth, but harder than Scorpio
• Its Mahindra, so expect some untraceble noises from here and there..!!
• Plastic quality could have been better and there are big pannel gaps at many places
• Parking needs more space, cannot squeeze any where like Honda City
• Below Average Paint quality.
• Boot space is very limited, you need to well plan your luggages in case there is 5+ passenger and not planning for roof carrier. You can accomodate enough luggage under the seats.

Team BHP marking




Little one curious know what is this..



Illuminated Keyhole



Vanity mirror with light



Rear Fog Lamp



Interior lighting


Interior space

Middle row when the front seat pushed back to max, its correct fit for me (6ft,4inch)


Last Row. This seat is not for people like my height. Though I can fit in, but head will touch the roof badly and there is very less thigh support due the positioning of the seat.




If one of the middle seat is folded


Tray behind seats


Boot Space


Storage space under the driver seat. I am yet figure out how to open it with just one pull.


The manual fuel lid opener is placed such a way that person sitting in last row can open. Usually my kids are sitting in the last row and its very tempting for them to try this.


I didn't get the logic of child lock placed for the tail gate.


Got very early chances to realize the Mahindra quality. While I was in NICE road running at above 60kmph, whenever there is some road undulations I was hearing some sound from right side front wheel. It was a tuk-tuk sound and was not consistently coming. I observed for some time and felt it can be ignored for now as it was not increasing or no difference in driving.

After reaching home done some inspection and found the culprit


The nut was missing and went to Anant Cars to fix it.

Another case : I was getting the sound of Silencer pipe touching some metal part when ever the car starting and some times even taking turns. Found that while they are fitting the rear nudge guard the clamping rod kept is very close to the exhaust pipe. There is no solution other than re-fitting, but this will take some time and I was not willing for that. So got rid of the sound by wrapping cycle tube on the metal clamp.. stupid:

After a small polishing with collinite 845

After buying the car, we decided to have a visit to Parassinikkadavu Muthappan Temple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muthappan) and had to attend a marriage over the weekend at Home town (Payyanur, Kerala). So planned the weekend drive to home town starting on 11th Jul'13 Thursday and coming back on Sunday.

Before starting the trip, I decided to upgrade the stock headlamp to Philips Extreme Vision. Since it has the same wattage (55W/60W), I haven't changed any wiring/relays for this, just a bulb replacement. All stock bulbs including spare bulbs (total 4) are of different brands but same wattage. One of the Bulb was Osram and made in Germany. The light throw from the headlamp dome is very good, now with the improved bulb the light is very good.

Started from Bangalore around 3pm and crossed district, Makkutta forest and reached home later in the night. It was raining heavily from the moment we reached Coorg district and there was thick fog in the forest area, visibility reduced to only few feets. Monsoon was in full glory in native, enjoyed the trip in rain.

Takeaways after the trip(total 920kms)

• Stock headlamp doesn't clearup the road in night. Upgrade of Philips Extreme Vision was a great boon
• Stock fog lamps does the duty, but surely need more wattage/illumination. Specially when fog coupled with rain.
• We were 5 Adults and 2 kids, Wife was sitting in last row, but no complaints about body roll.
• Last row has less thigh support, but you can stretch your legs if middle seats are captain seats..
• Better don't slow down in small potholes, let the car swallow it.
• The FE was 13.5 for this trip.Measured in Tank full to tank full method. While going down the ghat section, the AFE reading was showing 20km.
• Stock Bridgestone Dueller works well in wet, dry or slush conditions. So no plan to upgrade it now. But it has pronounced road noise.
• Don't do sudden hardbraking unless it is very much required. Or do it when you want your kid sitting in rear seat to be in front..!! rl:

Couple of Pictures,

Xylo enjoying the rain


A drive in the rains


Wife wanted to has muddy drive..!!!

Congrats Rajesh on acquiring the most spacious MUV by far in our market with loads of space and good mechanicals to boot. That is a very well written initial ownership thread with some nice pics out there.

However was positively surprised to hear that the body roll is lesser that you had expected. Was curious if the suspension has been tweaked in the H series from the earlier version.

If so then one of the biggest bugbear would have been taken care of and must aid its sales to a great extent only if they publicise it well.

RajeshK

Quite a useful review for me especially since i am planning on the same vehicle and the same variant (H8 with ABS and Airbags). contemplating going for the Dolphin Grey Colour, I will keep a track of your ownership experience closely. Thanks alot !

Heartiest congratulations on owning my favouraite MUV!

Innova now is priced way too high for its value. Anyways, I must say, the interiors are smashing. Love them.

You will feel that the xylo has more pulling power due to the torque. Its inherent in all diesels today. Enjoy the car and please do keep on posting regular updates.

I have booked its small sibling, the quanto. I wanted to ask you few questions:

1. Have you registered with the withyouhamesha website?
2. By chance do you plan to use their at home service? Its available for the xylo.
3. Are you aware of anyone who has used this at home service?

Thanks,
Simple_car

I expected the body roll in line with Scorpio, but I am surprised to see that the roll is far less inside Xylo. I haven't driven earlier versions of Xylo much, but travelled as a passenger and I felt that H series is better, comparable with Innova specially on highways.

Please note that Xylo's paint job is below average compare to its siblings. (I don't know about Quanto). The dark colours are getting faded so fast and looks very old within 2-3years itself. This is the main reason for us to select the White one.

1. I am unable to register at withyouhamesha, it is asking me to contact Dealer for updating the DMS (dealer management system). Wrote a letter to the customer care last day on this.

2. No, there is a full fledged M&M workshop (Anant Car) very close to my house. I always prefer to go to the workshop and be around the car while there is some work.

3. No, will check with few of my friends and let you know.

Congratulation on your purchase!!!
I like Xylo in white, it looks good!
especially after the face lift!
But somehow the drivability is always an issue for me.
So Ertiga became my choice last march.

RajeshK

Your right about the dark colours. I currently have a figo and went for a white colour and later found that any small scratch is very visible. hence the reason to try other colours.. Will have a look at it in person and decide.

Funny thing with Odo..

Can the trip meter show more KMs than Odometer..? Can any experts educate me on this?



The trip meter shows 50Kms more than the Odo reading..

Correct me if i am wrong but i am assuming one of the below
1. Trip meter was not reset to 0 before going for the drive.
2. Tripmeter calibration isnt accurate.
3. Car has run excess and the meter might have been tampered from the dealership. This might be the last option although i dont think this could happen .

Congrats RajeshK! :thumbs up Xylo is one very good family UV which will make you smile always. It has got more pros than cons. Wishing you many happy miles and wonderful ownership.

About the audio system, good to know that you are happy with the system's performance. But I find it just average. It is not a real 2-Din. It is actually a single DIN system, with a 2-Din sized front panel. Whenever I listen to some music at VOL 20 or above, I experience something like "audio-suffocation" (I dont know how to put it exactly) which makes me switch off the LOUD option, and reduce the BASS and TREBLE to just 4 points. Few months ago, I spotted a pair of boston co-axials, and fitted in the rear doors. Either the Nippon music player is bad or I bought fake bostons. The output is just average. So I am planning for decent audio upgrade or at least a good speaker upgrade.

Oh.. let me say "same pinch". I too upgraded for the Philips Xtreme Vision 60/55. I am happy with it, though considering a pair of HELLA RALLY 500FF for highway driving.

The AFE shown by the DDIS is misleading sometimes. Could be the way it calculates the FE. On the average my Xylo E8 returns 11 to 13 KMPL.

As you are in Bangalore, how about a meeting on some weekend?

I really don't know the reason. If there is a trip meter calibration issue, the delta will keep increasing, but its not happening. I don't think there is a tampering on the meter happened. Chances are very rare, but who knows. Any way the difference is 50KMs only.

The music system is just fine for the type of music I used to hear, light melodies. I generally keep around VOL 10 without LOUD and play from SDCARD. Currently I am out of budget for any upgrade, I may plan for a proper 2DIN DVD Player with navigation at a later stage.

Please post your reviews once the HELLAs installed

I use the Tankful to Tankful in calculating FE, last tankful in City driving I got 11.8

Sure, sent you a PM.