[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Goandiaries

However, I have seen many people doing it, claiming increased performance.

I have upgraded the bulb projector setup with Osram's 35W HID 4200k - the output is better than halogens and good enough for highway drives with rain.

Interesting. Because I've read that since the light throw from an LED is different from halogen/HID bulb, they don't work well the in-built beam setup for halogen/HID. So while a higher intensity is perceived at the headlight, very little is focused on the road and most of it just gets scattered and blinds oncoming traffic.

Did you fix the HID bulbs by self or is there a shop in Bangalore that you'd recommend?

[Goandiaries]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Interesting. Because I've read that since the light throw from an LED is different from halogen/HID bulb, they don't work well the in-built beam setup for halogen/HID. So while a higher intensity is perceived at the headlight, very little is focused on the road and most of it just gets scattered and blinds oncoming traffic.

Did you fix the HID bulbs by self or is there a shop in Bangalore that you'd recommend?

What you said is correct about the reflectors. I'm sorry if I've confused you in my earlier post. Only the low beam projector is what I upgraded. The high beam is still the same.

[krishnakumar]

Ok folks!

It has been just over 7 months since Yoda has been with us. And I haven't been able to update this thread much due to various other commitments. So far we have completed a little over 7500km and I'm hoping to cover as much update as possible on this post!

Side Note:
I was working on a DIY dashcam thread with a few specific details on some hacks in an XUV300. Not finding enough time to get that written out. However, if anyone would like me to post it, please do let me know and I'll post that as part of this thread itself.

So how has the last 7500km been?

Overall - FANTASTIC!! While there have been a few hiccups on the way, some of them are resolved and some of them are still continuing. So without further ado, here's the update:

What has gone well so far?

• Excellent highway stability: This just stands out in the XUV300 and I love the comfort it offers for long distance trips. I have done multiple rounds of Bangalore <> Trivandrum runs (750km one-way) and reached the destination with no fatigue.
• Smothers rough roads: The XUV300 excels in rough patches. I love off-roading and have a KTM 390 Adventure in the garage specifically for this but I wanted a car that can tackle mild off-roads with ease. The 300Nm torque and excellent suspension setup ensures that those faraway resorts and homestays are always accessible to us.
  
  On the way to an estate resort. It felt so easy driving up these estate trails.
  
  
• Surprisingly quiet cabin: The XUV300 diesel mill is already a refined one but big props go to the sound-proofing in the XUV300. With the windows up and eyes glued to the road, it is very difficult to guess the speed. Thanks (or not so much thanks, debatable) to the 80kph chime, I know when the threshold is broken. Without that, it'd be really hard to say.

What were the hiccups along the way?

I'll break this up into two.

Issues that are resolved:

• Issue with ICE where the Bluetooth keeps getting disconnected: The issue is explained a bit in detail on this post (Mahindra XUV300 : Official Review) on the official review thread. Happy to report that it was indeed a software bug and was resolved when the ICE update came through. I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the technical manager at Sireesh Marathahalli service center about the software update. Mr. Sridhar had promised me that he'd call me when the update comes but I actually did not expect him to follow through. So big props to that!
  
• Mild DPF scare: Between 6000km-6700km, the car was almost exclusively driven for short city commutes. The duration of this was around 3 months. The lapse was from my side and while I thought of taking the car out for a highway run every weekend, one thing or the other came up and I kept pushing it. One fine day, I get the DPF alert on my instrument cluster while dropping my wife off to work (one of those typical short city commute). I came back and did a park regen and the issue was fixed. Now the plan is to at least do a short breakfast run every weekend.
  
• A rear-end resulting in bonnet replacement: So this was completely my fault. We were at an intersection (Hope Farm signal for the Bangaloreans) and there was a water tanker truck in front of us. I had to take a right turn but had no visibility of the traffic lights (which was getting blocked by the tanker in front). There was a Creta in front of me that was taking the right turn and I was following the Creta's cue (#1 mistake). The truck suddenly stopped (no rear brake lights of course) but the Creta proceeded to complete the turn, possibly under the Amber light and this confused me a bit. I braked immediately, or so I thought, but the car had already rear-ended the truck on the passenger side corner; basically went below the under-ride with the under-ride protector squeezing the bonnet from top. The speeds very extremely slow, less than 5kmph and hence nothing serious happened. I believe the truck didn't even realize. We were taking our puppy to the vet as he was sick and he was constantly wailing in the car, so I was already a little stressed; possibly the reason why I didn't function well because I have never made such silly mistakes in the past. Well there is always a first and it was an important lesson. Got the bonnet replaced but totally not happy with the painting job done by the service. Thinking of leaving it as is for now and go for some detailing later this year.
  
  Thankfully no mechanical or electrical damage. The bonnet had to be replaced and everything else was good to go.
  
  

Ongoing Issues (that were reported/found earlier):

• "Whup whup whup" sound while releasing throttle at around 40kph speed: I had posted this on this post (Mahindra XUV300 : Official Review) but didn't see many others facing similar issue. One theory was on the intercooler pipe which I checked with the service center and they said my batch of cars did not have that concern. The issue doesn't manifest always and there are specific trigger patterns that I have not been able to fully recreate every time I test. So that has been a problem in explaining exactly what's going on to the service center guys. Anyway, planning to take a technician on a slightly longer test drive and show them in person.
  
• Gear knob vibrating at the 5th gear position while accelerating from 60kph-80kph (which is the recommended speed range for 5th gear): This issue is specific to 5th gear position and the knob vibrates while accelerating from 65kph-80kph. Beyond 80kph, it doesn't vibrate and below 60 kph, there are chances to stall so I always shift down. Again, there are specific instances when this doesn't vibrate and I haven't been able to figure out why it doesn't. These "ideal" instances are 1/10; the rest 9/10 times, the knob vibrates. Again issue with replicating this to the technician was within city limits it was simply not possible to get up to those speeds.

New issue that has cropped up in the last 500km
A mild creaking/squeaking noise from the driver side door pad/b-pillar - can't exactly place where! Hoping that this is something minor that can be fixed but since it's right next to my ears, it's very difficult to ignore. Also, FINGERS CROSSED, no other rattles so far and hoping it stays that way.

What are some quirks that I have gotten used to?

• Oversteer on rumble strips: Realized this is more a function of the suspension setup. Basically, if I steer while on the rumble strips coupled with braking or acceleration, there is a terrible oversteer that needs immediate correction. Having driven cars for many years, I have been confident in tackling those scenarios well but this might catch an amateur off-guard! Not sure if there is a fix to this though. Typically, I do trail braking on sharper corners as it is much more matured way of driving/riding (certainly carried over this habit from my riding days). So while I would normally trail brake on these sharper curves, if I see rumble strips on one I slow down much earlier and hold the steering a bit loose to quickly adjust for any corrections that might be required. So far this has been working well!
  
• Extremely sensitive cold brakes: Again something that's difficult to replicate to a service station as by the time I reach there the temps have already gone up. But when the brakes are cold (first start of the day or after a long park), the brakes are extremely sensitive. Even a light tap causes a sudden halt which is nerve-wracking. I have to be extremely soft and gentle with brake inputs for the first 5 minutes beyond which this sensitivity goes away. That doesn't mean the brakes are at their best, which leads me to the 3rd quirk.
  
• Spongy brakes: Clearly, the brakes are a weak-point for XUV300. I would have certainly like a bit more of bite to the input, giving me some crucial initial feedback. Although, I have now learnt the braking input required and managing around this by controlling other inputs. Yet, this is one thing that I'd want to get checked once again at the service center to identify a fix.
• Lastly, the annoying rear washer wiper quirk: Even started a thread for this here (Annoying rear wiper/washer behavior in the Mahindra XUV300). Planning to get this checked out and fix this in my next service visit.

What's the fuel economy offered?
No ownership update is complete without an update on fuel economy, especially in India. After all, it's the most basic metric to ascertain ownership costs. On highways, the car has been giving an economy of ~16kmpl and in city traffic ~14kmpl. I'm still looking at ways to improve this and putting to practice some of the techniques mentioned on this lovely thread (ARTICLE: How to get the maximum Fuel Efficiency).

Following DBHPian Arun Josie's steps of diligently logging refuelling, I've managed to plot a graph as given below. Note how the MID is always showing 1.5-2kmpl higher than the actual (measured by Tank-to-Tank method, stopped at auto-cutoff always). The last 16.3 kmpl is with the IOCL XtraGreen and while this is no different than the earlier economy I've managed to extract, this particular trip was to Coorg involving some good amount of offroad, hilly roads and Bangalore traffic. Will try this fuel for another trip and see how much economy the car offers.



Verdict?

LOVE THE CAR TO BITS. Looking forward to many more happy miles with Yoda.

[Rekjavik]

New issue that has cropped up in the last 500km
A mild creaking/squeaking noise from the driver side door pad/b-pillar - can't exactly place where! Hoping that this is something minor that can be fixed but since it's right next to my ears, it's very difficult to ignore. Also, FINGERS CROSSED, no other rattles so far and hoping it stays that way.

This maybe due to the seatbelt. I had similar issue and when I showed to service center they said something got unstuck in the seatbelt down housing. They fixed it easily and now it is gone!

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Rekjavik

This maybe due to the seatbelt. I had similar issue and when I showed to service center they said something got unstuck in the seatbelt down housing. They fixed it easily and now it is gone!

Woah. Thanks for this input! Yes, it does feel very close to the seatbelt housing.

I tried pressing on the door pads and all but the sound didn't stop. So I concluded it has to be within the door pad (near the B-pillar) or within the seatbelt housing on B-pillar.

Can you throw some more light into how this sounded like and what it was exactly?

[Rekjavik]

It was just like you mentioned. It was creaking/squeaking noise. Not sure exactly what the service guys did but they fixed it quickly. To confirm just drive once without wearing seatbelt and see if you are still hearing the noise.

[msonwheels]

Hello Krishna,

That gear nob vibrating issue is also felt by me in my Nandighosh. It always felt in 5th gear. Apart from this issue and some minor ones, I am happy with my Nandighosh and soon I will be writing my 15K experience with my Nandighosh.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by msonwheels

Hello Krishna,

That gear nob vibrating issue is also felt by me in my Nandighosh. It always felt in 5th gear. Apart from this issue and some minor ones, I am happy with my Nandighosh and soon I will be writing my 15K experience with my Nandighosh.

Oh!! Did you check it with service center? Also, what other issues are being faced?

Great to know that you are also loving the machine.

[msonwheels]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Oh!! Did you check it with service center? Also, what other issues are being faced?

Great to know that you are also loving the machine.

Yes, I got it checked at service centre but somehow the issue was not resolved and I moved on with it as most of the time either I am at 6th or at below 4th gear.
And Yes the machine is amazing.

[Goandiaries]

Hi Krishna Kumar,

I had my 30k service recently during which they did an ECU update. I was told that it will resolve the turbo issue. After the update I didn't do any highway trips yet. But there's a positive improvement in the city where the turbo spools much before 1500 rpm now. I did hear the noise when i drove on the NICE road to see if the issue is completely disappeared. Maybe I've to check my gear changes. I'm in the process of writing all my experience with the car so far and haven't found the time to finish it yet. I'll post this week if possible.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Goandiaries

I had my 30k service recently during which they did an ECU update. I was told that it will resolve the turbo issue. After the update I didn't do any highway trips yet.

I'll post this week if possible.

Hi Maha! Thanks for writing in!

That is seriously some impressive mileage! 30k!

Does the “chu chu chu” or “whup whup whup” sound come even now for you?

I did take a technician and the technical manager on a long highway test drive. Was able to replicate the sound multiple times, but lo behold, for some reason they weren’t able to spot it at all. The technician towards the end of the test drive did say that he caught the sound but not really sure.

Planning to give the car for a checkup next week for a few of the issues reported earlier in my post. Hoping to get them fixed.

In any case, haven’t found any issue with driveability of the car. It has been excellent so far and hoping it stays the same!

[anantpoddar]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Woah. Thanks for this input! Yes, it does feel very close to the seatbelt housing.

I tried pressing on the door pads and all but the sound didn't stop. So I concluded it has to be within the door pad (near the B-pillar) or within the seatbelt housing on B-pillar.

Can you throw some more light into how this sounded like and what it was exactly?

Is this sound a mild squeaking one coming from the right of the driver seat, and is amplified when you are going through bad roads that shakes up the driver?

If so, it is the rubber boot at the bottom of the seat belt. This rubber dries up after a couple of months and makes the squeaking sound. You will have to lubricate it with a silicone based spray/lubricant.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by anantpoddar

Is this sound a mild squeaking one coming from the right of the driver seat, and is amplified when you are going through bad roads that shakes up the driver?

Yep that’s exactly it. Mild squeaking sound that sometimes goes away but on bumpy or rough roads gets louder!

If so, it is the rubber boot at the bottom of the seat belt. This rubber dries up after a couple of months and makes the squeaking sound. You will have to lubricate it with a silicone based spray/lubricant.

Thanks a lot for this input!! But when you say bottom of the seat belt, are you referring to the height adjustable mounting on the B-pillar?

[anantpoddar]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Thanks a lot for this input!! But when you say bottom of the seat belt, are you referring to the height adjustable mounting on the B-pillar?

This rubber boot (circled in red) is what I'm talking about. It dries up over time and the squeaking sound comes when it rubs against the plastic trims (circled in blue). Use any lubricant near the blue circled part and you will notice the sound disappears. I would recommend using a silicone based spray lubricant.

If you want to confirm the source of the sound, just wear your seatbelt and give a slight tug to the portion that goes around your waist.

[krishnakumar]

Hi everyone!

A couple of quick updates on Yoda.

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Accessories/mods planned for future

• A DIY project to fix a boot lamp. Mahindra deleted this feature some time ago. My plan is to add a push-button LED lamp which can be hardwired via fusetaps to the domelights.
• OBD2 scanner
• A better horn!
• Spruce-up the audio system by getting some better quality speakers at a later point

Boot lamp

Well, after some thinking I ditched the plan for anything more involved (like connecting via fusetaps etc) to something extremely basic. The boot light will only be needed once in a while to be honest and I thought I could easily get along by sticking one of those generic LED lights available on Amazon.

Did some searching and found this great option on Amazon.

This particular light sits perfectly on the parcel tray mounts. I don’t have a parcel tray and don’t intend to keep one, so this space works for me perfectly.


The light output is quite decent and lights up the boot very well. The only gripe that I have with this setup is that the light isn’t diffused enough and since it fires sideways it does cause glare in my eyes. But I guess, a minor inconvenience I’ll have to put up with.



Horn Upgrade

I upgraded the stock horns to Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns while achieving a native connectivity to the stock wiring harness. This was a much awaited weekend fun DIY project.

The full details on the upgrade are available on this thread.

That’s all for now! Happy and safe driving