[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Sandegov

Had a question for you on the AWD - on your highway drives have you observed the AWD getting engaged anytime at speeds 90+/100+ ?

Yes, it does kick-in automatically at higher speeds too. Anytime I push the pedal all the way down, the AWD widget shows the torque being shared to the rear wheels. Even at the speeds of 120-130, the widget shows the one or two bars of power given to rear wheels. I have never experienced the torque steer or kickbacks on the steering whenever I tried sudden acceleration at high rate (pedal to metal).

On the other hand, the Ghat roads are generally done with slow speeds but the time to accelerate is much lower - I do not use manual AWD lock on speeds above 25-30kmph ever. So all of the above is auto-AWD kicking in. And once the AWD is kicked in, the widget shows the power being given for some time until the car moves at uniform speed. This may be a case that rear wheeled were powered for brief moment, and immediate returned to front wheels but widget may be slower by a second or two to reflect that on MID.

Hope this helps.

[Sandegov]

That's great, just what I was looking for. Thanks

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by abirnale

......
I hope this episode ends here and we resume our good times with The Red Sparkle!

I missed updating another important thing:
The DEF quantity was at 11 ltrs approx (about 58% or so). I have observed that typically about every 1000 km, it consumes about 1.5-1.75 liters of DEF. Since I was any way at the ASC, I asked them to top up the DEF to 100%. The intention was to not worry about this for as long as possible.

[abirnale]

The car is a little dirty - it was good for the highway runs and going to off-beat places! Once back in the urban jungle, it should look ready for the week's office runs This is my third visit to the washing center - I don't wash the car at home, just dust it off using Jopasu duster. And the only other time it was dry-washed was at the last visit to ASC. So total of four washes in the last 2+ months. And let me mention this - the car doesn't have any coating, no wax or polish or any PPF, etc. I intend to keep the car this way - without any special treatment, just some monthly or fortnightly washes, occasional wax, and wash. And we are now not afraid of picking up the battle scars (scratches).

When it goes for the wash, we ensure that its underbody is in good condition without any damage and is cleaned properly (though we aren't seeing much slush yet).

And seldom such chances - traffic-free road in front of Vidhan Soudha to click in the morning!

The exam seasons have kicked off. We will see just the routine ferrying urban runs for the next three weeks and hopefully thereafter we kick off our longest runs yet again.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by abirnale

And let me mention this - the car doesn't have any coating, no wax or polish or any PPF, etc. I intend to keep the car this way - without any special treatment, just some monthly or fortnightly washes, occasional wax, and wash.
.

I also believe in keeping the paintwork original. But would advise to put atleast 2-3 layers of good wax with in days of delivery on the car. I learnt this hard way in my new pearl white Innova which was getting heavily stained by impurities, bugs, bird droppings, tar marks etc. Simple wax gives best protection against stains and dust compared to other costlier methods. Spent 2-3 hours in putting multiple layers of wax and the results are awesome. You can easily swipe away dust with a duster and the stains are not reaching the clear coat anymore.

[abirnale]

A few slow weeks so far - nothing super interesting yet but a few notes to share.

Now since the car is well settled and we both are used to each other, we have started noticing each other's limitations - the things I have observed in the car that -
I have started to point out as flaws:

• The Co-Passenger seat does not come with height adjustment. Any 6ft or above tall person there is sure to touch the roof. That's not just it. The middle row is also felt inadequate for the tall people. So far it was fine - I tried sitting in the boot with the third row folded, I am 5'7" and it's tight for me. I often park the car under trees etc and sit in the boot watching things around or working on my computer. And I noticed this isn't the same as used to be with Orange Cheetah (XUV5OO).
• The Spare Wheel does not come with TPMS Sensor, neither it is a full-size. This is not the dependable tire on the long runs - just too many restrictions to manage. I am upgrading that to a full-size alloy with the proper tire.
• The ICE has its own mind - it doesn't like to be rushed. If you crank the car without waiting for the ICE to fully boot, you will see some or the other niggle popping up on the display.
• The Drive Mode physical button from the dashboard console sometime doesn't immediately bring up the drive mode selection screen. Takes more button press/ clicks or Fun with XUV menu to use.
• The AC temperature setting knob almost always never changes the temperature at first click. From the second click onwards it starts reflecting on the ICE that the temperature is decreasing/ increasing by 0.5 Celcius.
• The TPMS needs some running of the car to accurately show the values of pressure and temperature. So if you were looking to level up first thing in the morning without running the car using your portable inflator, depend on the inflator reading and not the car's TPMS readings.
• The offline maps POI database isn't the perfectly spelt database. You need to experiment with names to find what you were looking for. If you are used to Google maps, it's going to be an extra effort. The best is to locate the POI on google maps, take the lat-long and input it on the ICE maps.

Full Size Tire as Spare:
As part of the accessories procurement, now I have procured a full-size alloy wheel. Also bought a Yoko G055 SUV tire to go with it. The full-size alloy fits nicely under the car where the spare used to. The tire width is more than spare, it slightly shows up when looking at it keenly. It doesn't intrude with normal operations, no GC impact. I will have to see if it affects departure angles but I am sure I will not be that close ever in any terrain to struggle.

The alloy is procured from the dealer and also bought a TPMS sensor to use on it. I will now have to check with ASC if I can see the spare tire pressure/ temp on the MID console.

New mats for the car:
Working with a contact in Ludhiana, I got the mats custom made: see the images below:

The fitting is amazingly perfect. The mat sits nice and easy with velcro and has additional noodle mats on top of it to gobble up the first and dust. The third-row seatback and an additional piece to lay on the back of the second row make the base for a perfect mattress for an in-car night out. The flat laid out boot mat now covers all the holes and gaps through which I used to lose items to the floor. The mat base has velcro all around them so they fit on the seat back without moving from their place. I will click a few more pictures of the mat at some other time and post them for readers to see the fitting. This thing cost me about Rs.14,500 excluding shipping.

[Sandegov]

Originally Posted by abirnale

• The TPMS needs some running of the car to accurately show the values of pressure and temperature. So if you were looking to level up first thing in the morning without running the car using your portable inflator, depend on the inflator reading and not the car's TPMS readings.
  

Have you tried using tire fill assist? or does that require a few km drive to get initial readings correct as well?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Sandegov

Have you tried using tire fill assist? or does that require a few kms driven to get initial readings correct as well?

The fill assist is just a checkbox on the MID settings menu - I have it always checked ON. haven't seen any specific difference. The Rate at which you fill the air and the display on the MID - there is a delay if you are trying this without wheels rotated for a few km (typically first thing in the morning). The readings on the MID are more accurate if you have driven for a few KM and then start filling the air. I guess it's logical to have sensors "awakened", receiver "ready" and then display. But then this who;e drama is easily 8-10 mins. It's just more convenient to use an independent gauge and fill.

On the mats - I missed adding the picture of the second and third-row laid flat:

Sunday, I drove to Markonahalli Lake, just to pile some miles on the odometer. I was able to click some pictures there - an amazing level of water at this time of the year! And as a bonus, sighted a large pied kingfisher and a flameback - it's amazing to see many special birds away from the cement jungle. The sad part is, junior didn't accompany me this time and missed these sightings - which he enjoys the most! And on our way back, enjoyed the Tawa fry - basa fillet at Empire. Loved it most!

Sharing the pictures -

Thanks for reading - more to come soon.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by abirnale

[*]The TPMS needs some running of the car to accurately show the values of pressure and temperature. So if you were looking to level up first thing in the morning without running the car using your portable inflator, depend on the inflator reading and not the car's TPMS readings.

I think the reason for different readings is also because of the tyre heat due to running. The reading when you see in the morning is the accurate one. The TPMS on the XUV3OO works just brilliantly. The screen shows pressure on all the tyres including the spare one (with temperature). The low pressure warning on the spare is also a boon. Once you run the vehicle for a few kilometers, the readings tend to increase by 5%. When I fill air in the tyres, I keep a watch on the TPMS and ask the guy to fill air for 3 to 4 secs. The readings increase instantly and help me maintain accurate psi. Hope this helps.

[MarutiGuy1977]

How has your experience been after substituting the spare tire with the full size one? My SA told me that there isn't space for the full sized one (which obviously isn't true). Any noticeable difference in GC or departure angle?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

The TPMS on the XUV3OO works just brilliantly.

Technically, that is how it should work but the sensors in XUV7OO are slower than the car owners and the car itself be it an outside temperature sensor or TPMS sensor! The car when woken up from slumber, takes time to come back to its best!

Originally Posted by MarutiGuy1977

My SA told me that there isn't space for the full sized one (which obviously isn't true). Any noticeable difference in GC or departure angle?

I haven't been able to take the car off-road after this switch so can't reliably comment on that. But So far, there are absolutely no issues with GC or any other way. I strongly suspect that the departure angle would be affected for sure - but then, it's not going for hardcore offroading anyway, so no worries there.

[abirnale]

So finally, I had an opportunity to drive the car out of state to my native - a longish 700km drive! The good part of this was fantastic NH48 stretch between Tumkur to Belgaum. The rains accompanied us all the way upto Dharwad. Even when the it was pouring on the road, we were able to maintain easy 100km cruise control! Looking around, it seems like this year, summer was very short - greeneries already all around.

We clicked many pictures of the car, enjoyed the good music and great drive. Some pictures from his drive and a few earlier too:















I have observed this AWD widget showing the rear wheel having some min power even at highway cruising speeds too: contrary to what I expected (AWD is only when the speeds are below 80kmph, else its pure FWD all the time).


The car now stands at 9100kms, by the time I am back in BLR, it would be around 10500 and should be well within range of second service too.

By the way, the observation from the onward drive in rain are listed below:
- The MRF Wanderer tires aren’t as great as I thought. Especially the wet grip part of it. On the six lane smooth highway, there were few puddles on the inner most fast lane. When the car went over it at about 110-120kmph speeds, I experienced the clear aquaplaning. So much so that, at one point the car almost skid and was to hit the median. Since the speeds were not very high, I was able to steer and not end up hitting the curb. I think these tires aren’t anywhere close to the Yokos I had or Michelin for sure. I definitely want to replace these sooner with something that is grippy on highways as well as good for mild offroading.
- The Auto-sensing wipers do they job perfectly well. Unlike the old car where the auto mode used to get reset after every power recycling, this one holds the settings. The reason is, in XUV7OO, the auto wiper is a left side stalk position and not any soft button. That is a good change form the earlier car. The speed at which it wipes the windshield is good too. And this time, the rear wiper has normal and INT mode. The old car had just ON or OFF - you got the angry wipe actions or just standstill!
- In the rain, as the muck and dirt gets tossed around, the 360 cameras get dirty and the visibility gets impacted. The SVS doesn’t help unless you get down and clean the cameras. The SVS is also not as great as I thought for night time. The headlights, cameras are all slightly dirty to throw light and catch the light to show on the console. Result - very poor view all around in an unlit area. I had challenges in reversing car in our narrow village roads at night. I think I need to make sure that even slight dust or dirt in camera is promptly cleaned. I was hoping for the better camera covers/ glass that repels some level of dust or dirt. Asking for the headlight washers is too much to ask for I guess :(
- The door pockets have umbrella storing holes - they are truly useless. Neither they have am ergonomic placement to use nor large enough to hold the regular short stalk umbrellas. The best is to use the ladies handbag umbrella whose stalk is less than 10 inches (overall less than a ft height).
- The white interiors get dirty very fast, especially with our village soil and rain and mud. They can be cleaned up easily too but while it is dirty, they just look real eyesore in the cabin. I can’t force my family to every time clean their feet, hands and then enter the cabin. Never if its raining…

Mahindra has a lot of such nuisance “features” in the car - which presumably are features but at least me as a user, doesn’t use them the way they have designed it. May be I am spoiled with ability to customise things on my smartphone and this isn't a smartphone!

Anyway, more to come as we continue our drives - this year’s monsoon would be a great fun!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by abirnale

We clicked many pictures of the car, enjoyed the good music and great drive. Some pictures from his drive and a few earlier too:

The car now stands at 9100kms, by the time I am back in BLR, it would be around 10500 and should be well within range of second service too.

Nice pictures, @abirnale, and great to see you enjoying this car. 10,500 km in such a short time is quite amazing. You are doing full justice to this car and that is great to see.

The car looks nice in every picture. Looking forward to seeing more of your trip updates in future and also driving together on some monsoon drives that we have been talking about.

Originally Posted by abirnale

On the six lane smooth highway, there were few puddles on the inner most fast lane. When the car went over it at about 110-120kmph speeds, I experienced the clear aquaplaning. So much so that, at one point the car almost skid and was to hit the median. Since the speeds were not very high, I was able to steer and not end up hitting the curb. I think these tires aren’t anywhere close to the Yokos I had or Michelin for sure.

Glad to hear that you recovered quickly from this aquaplaning incidence and it was all fine.

However, I would suggest driving slower when you see water puddles on the highway. Regardless of which tyres you have, 110-120 km/h is way too risky when driving through puddles, and is very likely to result in aquaplaning even if you had Yokos or Michelins that you mentioned about.

Quoting from the Wikipedia article on aquaplaning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaplaning), here are some facts:

It's possible to approximate the speed at which total hydroplaning occurs, with the following equation.

Vp = 10.35 * (square root of p)

Where p is the tire pressure in psi and the result Vp is the speed in mph for when the vehicle will begin to totally hydroplane. Considering an example vehicle with a tire pressure of 35 psi, we can approximate that 61 mph is the speed when the tires would lose contact with the road's surface.

However, the above equation only gives a very rough approximation. Resistance to aquaplaning is governed by several different factors, chiefly vehicle weight, tire width and tread pattern, as all affect the surface pressure exerted on the road by the tire over a given area of the contact patch - a narrow tire with a lot of weight placed upon it and an aggressive tread pattern will resist aquaplaning at far higher speeds than a wide tire on a light vehicle with minimal tread. Furthermore, the likelihood of aquaplaning drastically increases with water depth.

As the equation shows, for 35psi tyre pressure, aquaplaning speed is 61mph, which is about 98kmph. If you assume the tyre pressure to be slightly lesser than 35psi, then this speed further decreases.

In short, about 100km/h is the speed at which aquaplaning will happen in our typical cars (with tyre pressures around 35psi) regardless of which tyres you are running. Of course, better and newer tyres will reduce this probability compared to older, balder or in general poorly designed tyres. However, even with new tyres with deep treads, aquaplaning possibility is real and very high if you hit a puddle at speeds above 100km/h.

I generally slow down to 80km/h when I see water puddles on a highway. Anything more than that is just risky when there is water on the road.

[Sandegov]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I have observed this AWD widget showing the rear wheel having some min power even at highway cruising speeds too: contrary to what I expected (AWD is only when the speeds are below 80kmph, else its pure FWD all the time).

My understanding of the AWD implementation in XUV 700 - 80kmph limit is only for the AWD lock engaged via the dedicated switch (with fixed torque distribution), AWD lock should get disengaged and get into auto mode at speeds >80kmph. Additionally once disengaged, within a drive, the AWD lock does not get engaged back automatically when speeds reduce below 80kmph.

In the default auto mode the AWD should be available across all speeds - as confirmed in your observations. And I am assuming/expecting this should translate to better grip and handling at cruising speeds.

I am yet to get my hands on my AWD, so my above understanding is all from YouTube+your earlier answers to my queries

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

….
Regardless of which tyres you have, 110-120 km/h is way too risky when driving through puddles, and is very likely to result in aquaplaning even if you had Yokos or Michelins that you mentioned about.
…

Thanks AD for the information and great to learn this. Makes sense to follow what you said. What I was actually wondering is - the car weight may have something to do here too - the older XUV5OO was heavier and probably I never felt similar situation in the rain in about 1.5 lakhs of KMs I put on it. This was something of a “first” on the XUV7OO and hence I related it to this car and most likely the tires. But anyway, its better safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by Sandegov

In the default auto mode the AWD should be available across all speeds - as confirmed in your observations. And I am assuming/expecting this should translate to better grip and handling at cruising speeds.

Makes perfect sense! This is my first time with AWD and there are just way too many “statements” I heard from other owners that made me worry a little. I was more concerned from the perspective that the car wont have any trouble in first 2-3 years with these mechanicals but sometime down the line, there can be some issue if this AWD behaviour was not what it is supposed to be. Again, as usual, there is no competent SA or expert who can give a little more detailed answer than just saying - saar, thats how it is. Your explanation is far better Thanks.