[ramradcliff]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I saw that when XUV7OO is loaded to the brim with weight (luggage or people or both) the rear appears to be going lower than normal. It feels as-if the GC is super low. The car behaves well and didn’t face any issues with underbody clearance or so but it just looks weird when seen from the rear. I forgot to check the GC of the car loaded - should do this sometime.

I am attaching a couple of images from the review thread posted by PrasannaDhana. Is that how your car looked like while loaded? If yes, it's surprising that it didn't impact the way the car drove or any issues with GC!

Have you seen observed this behavior while driving at higher speeds? When I saw these pics for the first time, I assumed that this is something to do with FSD setup. While at 0/low speeds, the damping is low and the car squats but when we go to higher speeds, the damping increases and thereby the GC. This is probably the reason why it didn't impact the driving dynamics. Thoughts?

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by ramradcliff

I assumed that this is something to do with FSD setup. While at 0/low speeds, the damping is low and the car squats but when we go to higher speeds, the damping increases and thereby the GC. This is probably the reason why it didn't impact the driving dynamics. Thoughts?

FSD doesn’t work like that. The damping force of the suspension is not dependent on speed of the car but the frequency of suspension load. The full form of FSD itself is Frequency Selective Damping. While frequency of suspension load is dependent on speed of car as well, it’s not the only factor.

At low frequencies (e.g long undulating surfaces like highways) the suspension stiffens (damping reduces) and at higher frequencies (e.g rough roads) the suspension softens (damping increases).

In any case, the variable damping offered by FSDs have no bearing on the ride height. The suspension isn’t getting raised or lowered in this mechanism. Only the stiffness of the suspension is modulated.

[100Kmphormore]

I think this is the highest run XUV700 on the forum, the car looks great! Only one question though, how do you manage the time for weekend trips, as corporate life just does not allow a Monday/Friday holiday most of the time unless it’s a festival/national holiday.
Also, had seen your pictures on your SX4/Orange Cheetah thread and the positive trend of you fitter and the cars deservedly gaining weight looks good!

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by ramradcliff

I am attaching a couple of images from the review thread posted by PrasannaDhana. Is that how your car looked like while loaded?

Not exactly - I saw the car from behind while it is moving and not sideways like these pictures, so I cant exactly confirm. To me, it appeared like rear is lower than I am used to seeing when loaded. Maybe someday I will click a picture again when i get a chance to do this and post it.

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Only one question though, how do you manage the time for weekend trips, as corporate life just does not allow a Monday/Friday holiday most of the time unless it’s a festival/national holiday.
Also, had seen your pictures on your SX4/Orange Cheetah thread and the positive trend of you fitter and the cars deservedly gaining weight looks good!

Thank you It’s all about priorities - and blessed to have family who also loves to be driven around in the car. Whenever as a family we take road trips, we eventually are driving. And that’s our WE time - we connect better, talk more, enjoy more. Work is crazy always - but I guess I am lucky there again as I have great team which doesn’t need to be involved every now and then!

[abirnale]

Apple CarPlay Update:

This was probably the most pending, most talked about and desired ICE feature for me - literally I wanted to get rid of using google maps on phone. With such a large flat display on the dash, I sorely missed google maps there. But then the wait is over - after much drama and wait, finally today RedSparkle was updated with the Apple CarPlay.

As usual the chrome CoTek engineer Prasad was well prepared and ready for me to receive today. A quick appointment and within 2 hours in and out of there - thats it! No fuss, no drama. The visit also addressed a Service Action on the DATC flashing (for Dual zone Automatic Climate control). The process involved flashing the main software to 10.07.51 for AX7L variant (10.07.52 for non L), Offline/ Local Navigation Maps data update and then few other steps to be performed from iFlash/ CoTek Laptop tool. During the flashing steps, a lot of warnings and errors will appear - they need to be cleared before concluding the process. Also, since the battery is disconnected in one of the steps, loosing all the TPMS last read info is normal. And due to main software itself being flashed along with maps data, loosing recent destinations, MID settings for ADAS are normal. You need to set them back again to your preferences. Also note that the lengthier steps would require your car to be kept running - ensure you have at least about 10 litres of fuel in the fuel tank

Here are the pictures at various stages and then bunch of interesting screens for reference:































Though the update was long due, I also had an opportunity to use CarPlay for about 15+ kms on my way back to home via NICE road. I noted below observations:

• The setup is fairly simple and easy to follow - just don’t rush, read carefully what each screen during setup, pairing says and do the needful.
• The wired as well as wireless connections will work. The wireless connection needs ICE to turn on it’s WiFi and if for any reason the WiFi gets switched off, the Apple carPlay in wireless mode will get disconnected.
• The Wireless connection will drain battery faster. The phone may heat up. I am using iOS 16 (build 20A362) on my iPhone 12 Pro.
• The CarPlay screen is either this or that: You cannot use normal ICE menus like AC, pull down or pull over menus from the ICE. You got to select Mahindra Menu from Apple CarPlay screen to go back and vice-versa.
• If you set the ICC control knob to control volume, the screen navigation inside CarPlay is only by touch or through Siri. If you use otherwise, volume is only through steering mounted controls.
• The Music sounds better when on CarPlay instead of Bluetooth.
• The Siri and Alexa work without fighting with each other. Since I am not a Alexa user, I have signed her out of car now.
• If you were outside CarPlay and text messages comes, the CarPlay screen will come back for display. Same applies for the Phone calls.
• There are bunch of applications like MS Teams, Zoom, Skype which will be handy for doing the meetings while on the move! I am yet to try them. Technically any application that works well with Siri will give better user experience on CarPlay.
• The Maps (Google or Apple) will not come on MID display unlike how Android Auto does or the in-built navigation maps in car do. Not sure if this is how Apple CarPlay itself is designed or some pending feature enablement. The Android Auto also does not show the full map on secondary display like MID but definitely shows the direction hints/ arrows like a heads-up display would show. I am hoping this will be fixed either in upcoming releases of when the new CarPlay with iOS 16 goes live with M&M’s next software update. Too much to ask?
• I prefer to use the phone in wired connection mode (to avoid disconnections on WiFi, Keep phone charging without too much heating).
• Don’t raise your hopes too high - all you needed was better sounding music source and google maps on the ICE so that the phone need not be mounted on dash or can simply be stashed away somewhere. I re-iterated this to myself and made peace with what is offered - M&M did exactly that with this update. Hope to see better integration in future though.
• Be mindful that the update process is sometimes tricky and things can go wrong - if something beyond recovery in flashing, your silverbox will be the most affected unit. Although rare, this is the only issue to watch out for - hence don’t rush through the updates. Budget full three hours minimum and schedule your appointment accordingly.

The overall feel is good - only time will tell if something else screws up or breaks - being in Bangalore I know software engineers fix issues

Stay tuned for more updates on this and other travels as I continue to explore the car further!

[Tanmay007]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The process involved flashing the main software to 10.07.51 for AX7L variant (10.07.52 for non L)

Thanks for clarifying this. I saw a screen grab on FB group where it had x.52 and was wondering if that is why Apple Maps wasn't working for me on x.51 in IC.

Apple Maps in IC is working for some people, so Mahindra wasn't lying about that. Just wished there was an option to let users download the update and install it themselves like how BMW does.

[pramodsudhindra]

Hey team. Mine is an XUV 7OO, AX7 L, automatic. I got the the apple carplay update earlier this morning and have been playing around with it.

As mentioned in the above post, it works quite flawlessly for most parts, but one thing that does not seem to be working for me was voice search in Google maps. The keyboard-based typing and search seem to work normally. Any similar observations for members who are on the same software setup?

With the new flashing, I am now on s/w version 10.07.51. This build has a few bug fixes in my observations, compared to 08.01.41.

a. The range information under Fuel info is back. For the last few weeks, I had this missing, after I had my Silver box replaced.
b. The drive, more specifically the acceleration under the Zap mode seems to be smoother.
c. The release of Auto Hold is far more smoother and makes less noise. I feel they have made some changes to this. Earlier the noise, jerk and shake when you started from an auto hold position was quite hard.

I got this update at PPS Mahindra at Adugodi earlier this morning. The Service manager Vinay and his team are quite equipped.

While I was at it, I also got the memory card for DVR recording installed. I found it a bit odd that the memory card placement slot is quite inaccessible.


Cheers

[BleueNinja]

Originally Posted by abirnale

[*]The Wireless connection will drain battery faster. The phone may heat up. I am using iOS 16 (build 20A362) on my iPhone 12 Pro.

This has been the case on my Harrier as well. Whenever I use wireless connection for iPhone battery starts draining quicker then it normally would. I am currently running iOS 15.6.1 on my phone.

[TorqueIndia]

Great integration compared to Harrier/Safari units, Mahindra never disappoints on features.

How about lower variants?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by pramodsudhindra

…
One thing that does not seem to be working for me was voice search in Google maps. The keyboard-based typing and search seem to work normally. Any similar observations for members who are on the same software setup?
…

The voice search works fine for me - on Apple maps via Siri. I will try on Google maps and report back. I have disabled Alexa on my car though. I have seen one drawback on navigation: while in navigation mode, the ICE screen does not allow me to zoom in or out the maps to see things ahead on my route manually! Its like - be dumb and just follow the directions. It’s telling me indirectly - don’t try to guess ahead of time if you want to change the route. Maps will tell you what to do, put your brain to driving use, smarty!

There was a challenge connecting with the Apple carPlay in wireless mode. Fearing battery drain and heating issue, when I re-paired, I chose wired/ usb only. And then I again changed my mind - I wanted it to be wireless. I did try everything repetitively and it still wont work. It was stuck to wired only! I was confused on what did I miss - instead of following the BT pairing, I followed the Apple instructions: Settings > General > CarPlay menu and the instructions there. Still no luck.

Then I thought of checking something on wifi as I know this thing will only work with Wifi @ 5GHz. So I went to Engineering Menu > checked the Wifi Settings > changed the Access Point name, and also changed the password. Restarted the car, restarted the phone. Manually connected the Phone to this access point wifi. And then did the pairing steps via carPlay - Steering Speech button. Things started working flawlessly!

I did a short drive from Bangalore to Mysore - took Kanakapura Road to Mysore and returned via Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore. The phone and car worked perfectly, no disconnections, no issues whatsoever.

I am enjoying my music from phone and podcasts along with the google or apple maps on the screen!

have a great week ahead! Cheers.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I am enjoying my music from phone and podcasts along with the google or apple maps on the screen!

With the new iOS 16 rolled out and now with 16.1 Public Beta, I faced the disconnection only once in last week plus time. Some of the things I noticed in the week gone by are:

• The wireless CarPlay connects automatically at every engine-crank cycle.
• The disconnection can happen if I have been switching on and off the wifi an Bluetooth on my phone. I haven’t touched the ICE settings at all.
• The hard-buttons form the consoles work as before. The drive mode, SVR are the most frequently used buttons for me. I have observed that if I try to access the drive mode immediately after cranking of the engine, the screen doesn’t come up. But if the full boot of system and engine idling is completed, the drive mode button works just perfect.
• The SVR screen comes up flawlessly every time I slot the gear between D, R and immediately in P. It’s my wish list item that when in the morning I slot from P to D, the front camera should come up first. I really want to see if a rat or cat is around the corner hiding behind the pillar in basement parking lot
• The displays of in-cabin temperatures, AC settings, I want to see every time I touch the panel buttons to control it. In the 5OO, every time the auto-climate triggers any change on fan speed, a large pop-up dialogue used to come and occupy the entire screen - that is not what I want. I just need to see if the temperature is 23 or 25 degree celsius.
• And yes, the mute button on the cluster of steering controls works as pause for music when it’s being played from the iPhone. I use podcasts, apple music a lot and this is super helpful when I have to pay attention to the shouting in the car. I just don’t want to miss the beat or lyrics or sentence
• I have observed that the car and the iPhone works with each other well. The phone disables the charging when kept on wireless charging pad when its already at 95% or so. It does have some safeguards around when to charge and when not - I don’t know the specifics but haven’t seen it heating in a week. I must drive for about few hours continuously and see if this is the case for longer charge/ connection cycles.

And that is all with small list of observations to add to.

In the hope of having some drive over weekend, signing off for the week.

[srirambr]

Hi and many congratulations on your XUV 7OO. Your ownership review thus far has been really helpful. I'm seriously considering upgrading my XUV5OO after 6.5 years of ownership and am unable to think beyond the 7OO.
During the test drive, I observed in the test vehicle, that the edges of seat rails of the front seat were left unprotected. For the mid row seat passengers, this is kind of a hindrance and can also cause injury. Is this the case in all cars? in the 5OO, this space is neatly covered with a cap.
Thanks in advance for your responce.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by srirambr

During the test drive, I observed in the test vehicle, that the edges of seat rails of the front seat were left unprotected. For the mid row seat passengers, this is kind of a hindrance and can also cause injury. Is this the case in all cars? in the 5OO, this space is neatly covered with a cap.

Yes, that’s right. That’s how it is! After about 26k kms of usage, my family who uses the second row extensively did not have any issues with this - although the rails appear open, they DO NOT intrude in general passengers usage. Additionally, if you use 7D mats like mine, this will be a non-issue.

Update after long time:
I have been busy with work and some family stuff. The car continues to munch miles happily. Nothing extraordinary to report - other than the odometer now reads 26k kms.

Maybe I can highlight few minor things hunts, good and bad mixed:

• The CarPlay is NOT as stable and useful as I thought. It has a lot of rough edges! Frequent disconnections, music and phone volumes and sources getting messed up are a few major issues. By the way when you take a phone screenshot while it’s connected to CarPlay, it will take three pictures - phone screen, ICE screen and MID screen!
• The blank screen isn’t scary but irritating - happened with me a couple of times. All I need to do is wait it out for a few minutes or allow the system to reboot by switching off and on the car.
• The continental tires are great - silent and grippy. Comparable to the Michelins I had on my old car, loved them and loving these. Been to bad roads and good roads and nothing to complain!
• The car continues to give great FE if driven sanely (120kmph, 15-18kmpl). You are never out of power - zap is my default mode and never needed to zoom.

And to round up, a few pictures:

































And we look forward to a few more trips in the car! Stay tuned, happy Diwali to all readers!

[yuvmudapa]

Originally Posted by abirnale

[*]The blank screen isn’t scary but irritating - happened with me a couple of times. All I need to do is wait it out for a few minutes or allow the system to reboot by switching off and on the car.

Has your car got the silver box replacement or is it still on the original silver box?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by yuvmudapa

Has your car got the silver box replacement or is it still on the original silver box?

It was already replaced once when we were investigating ESP blinking on speed breaker issue. Long time ago. It is happened once before replacement as well as happened many times after replacement too. The trick to not let it happen is allow the system to boot properly instead of rushing to start! Car needs warm up before it can sprint forward!

Whenever I rush through the start procedure, screen blanking *may* happen - I kind of know how his now after carefully observing the pattern.

The proper routine is:
- ACC ON/ Start car ICE and not engine. Allow the needle to do their startup dance.
- When the MID shows press brake message to start engine, only then start engine. Or wait for main ICE screen to come to its default Home Screen.
- Gove a 30-45 seconds engine idling time before you slot from P to D.

In the similar way, when you stop the car, slot into P, allow 45-60 seconds of idling and then switch off. I typically use the idling times for switching On or Off AC, pick or stow safely my stuff from car like wallet, keys phone, look around the car or inside car, check if all is well and then move.