[Axe77]

Random fun fact.

The odo on top is from my N Torq (delivered to us on 29th Jan 2021) while the one below from the Meridian (delivered 14 June 2022) - Meridian ODO click is from 30th June.

In less than 17 days, the Meridian has clocked more kms than the N Torq has in 17 months!!! Heck, I think I had crossed 1000 km on my Multistrada also in less than 6 weeks or so if I recall correctly.

Not entirely surprising of course given the use case but even so, I really didn’t expect the N Torq to be SO under-utilised - had expected my wife to use it somewhat more at least.

[viky_s]

Hi Axe77,
Many Congratulations and thanks for an in-depth review of the Meridian. Being following this thread closely. We are also looking for a spacious 5 seater SUV and i happen to take TD of both the Jeep Compass and the Meridian. Coming from 1.8TSI DSG and BMW X1 (remapped) I definitely missed the kickdown of the gearbox but as you mentioned the Meridian is a different beast. My SA also said the same thing and also hinted me on letting go off the A-pedal a tad and again pressing it for over taking manuveurs.
Very impressed with the handling and ride quality of the Meridian. Now waiting for to TD the Tucson.
I am seriously considering the Meridian as of now.

I did take a small TD of XUV700 and found the engine to be more enthusiastic than the meridian but it lacks the in the handling/ ride quality. Considering its 15lacs cheaper than Meridian i thought XUV700 is a good package overall. Would like to know your views on XUV700 also.

Once again thanks for the wonderful review.

Happy Revving….

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by viky_s

Now waiting for to TD the Tucson.
I am seriously considering the Meridian as of now.

…

I did take a small TD of XUV700 and found the engine to be more enthusiastic than the meridian but it lacks the in the handling/ ride quality. Considering its 15lacs cheaper than Meridian i thought XUV700 is a good package overall. Would like to know your views on XUV700 also.

Thanks Viky_s. Its hard to advise what will work for someone else so I’ll try to just outline how I see each of these options.

I’ve not driven the XUV 7OO so will avoid commenting on anything to do with the drive but I did sit in that car (at the front and back) for two drives of 8-10 kms each over Friday and Saturday and it is really VERY plush and impressive and punches well above its weight when you see the price to value equation. Definitely give it a serious consideration just given the massive price delta involved.

On body roll and pitch though, I felt the Meridian is a bit better than the XUV (not a substantial difference though) and between the current Tucson and Meridian, perhaps the Tucson has a slight advantage (again very slight if at all).

The 2022 Tucson too looks like a very spacious package and having sat at the back of the current gen Tucson, the 2022 Tucson in LWB guise might be the most spacious and comfortable of these three options. The older Tucson’s Diesel engine was also quite a stonker so I would say definitely wait to test drive this one as well. It will likely provide better initial grunt for sure although the Meridian is likely to be more engaging on the steering response, ride and handling front (I’m unfairly presupposing this from the times I’ve driven the current Tucson and other Hyundais too in general - of course please judge the 2022 based on a specific test drive).

The Meridian’s Achilles heel will undoubtedly be that lack of kick down, specially for someone like you coming from a very sophisticated DSG experience of the Octavia combined with your remapped X1. My only advise is think very hard before you decide that the lack of initial grunt in the Meridian works for you because there are definitely other options out there that are likely to be better on this front. Ultimately its choosing the full package - the Meridian likely gives the best ride and handling combo in contrast so there’s some give and take overall.

I felt (lets hope I don’t regret this over a longer period) that I’ll be able to live with the Meridian’s Achilles issue, but there’s no doubt that lack of urgent push is definitely felt in various situations and it IS annoying to adapt to it. My other consolation is that I do have an alternate car for outright driving pleasure on the performance front and if the Meridian was my ONLY car, I’d have given other options a much more serious think, possibly gone an entire price point and a half up though in that case or considered the Kodiaq more seriously.

If you don’t plan any unusual hard usage and the styling is acceptable to you, my intuitive sense is that its the Tucson that might just be the most complete and compelling package amongst these three options. Do test drive each of them and figure which one works. The Meridian barring that one factor is truly fantastic on every front - it looks properly sophisticated inside out and on the styling front, specially on the outside, it appeals to me more than the 2022 Tucson as well as the XUV.

[shauryadabas]

Well-detailed ownership review. The Green shade looks so distinctive and cool!!

[ampere]

Some really amazing photos of the car! And I don't need to repeat what others have already mentioned! One hell of a review! The car itself is well rounded and serves a particular segment very well. That's what even I had mentioned in another thread too. If Compass is too small and Fortuner too bulky and the new Kodiak too thirsty (thanks to Petrol); look no further!

If only Compass was a few notches more spacious! Also curious to see how the two siblings perform; given the new Tucson is in town.

Also waiting to hear more on the long distance cruising experience. Well I guess we already know the answer.

Here is to wishing you many many miles!

[Axe77]

Fuel Efficiency: 100% City driving: heavy bumper to bumper traffic.
Imagine copious amounts of time at Elphinstone signal at Lower Parel - & similar.

The pure in-city fuel efficiency is pretty abysmal at this point. Although I do have a pretty terrible office route which is a combination of some horrid bumper to bumper conditions combined with a short distance - 3-4 kms one way.

I’m getting anywhere around 6.5 kmpl in pure in city driving in the above conditions. Other than the obvious issue of cost, which is not the primary nuisance, what is more annoying is the frequency of petrol bunk visits, which are required in under 300 kms at this range.

In comparison, I hardly recall visiting a fuel bunk before 450 kms in my 3 GT.

One point of note - the readout is shockingly accurate - it showed me 6.6 on the Trip 1 meter (ignore the image below I had reset that a little later than my last top up - the readout under tripmeter showed exactly 6.6, same as what my tankful to tankful calculation threw up.). As you can see, I’ve only been able to make it to about 290 kms as per Trip 1, which is the distance from the last fuel top up. I would really have appreciated better FE and consequently, better tank range. Some folks have mentioned that this improves after the first couple of services but I have heard mixed responses on this - time will tell.

The calculation as per tankful to tankful.


~44 litres filled with auto cut method. I filled once the FE indicator showed below 25%

Ignore the 6.5 km/l readout since I reset ‘this’ FE counter a bit later than my last FE top up. The Trip 1 meter FE data showed exactly 6.6 km/l.

Three key data points here:
Bottom right: How much fuel left as per gauge
Top right: Distance travelled (~290 kms)
Middle left: Distance to empty (~78 kms)

[shansense]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I think in terms of cooling it does its job but two caveats here.

One: is the limited mileage I’ve had so far and this is something I’d watch for carefully going forward and update as and when I can.

Two: is that at the time of my car delivery, we’ve already had the onset of MH monsoons so I haven’t really been able to put this to test in severely hot conditions.

That should be a better litmus test to whether the air conditioning is up to the mark. Your concern is valid and I will be sure to update more on this in the time to come as best as I can.

This is literally *the* reason I’m not pulling the trigger on buying this wonderful car. We tried two different cars (one 4x4 and another FWD) on our two different test drives and none of them could really satisfactorily cool the cabin. (Outside temp - 28C). Both the cars had been driven just about 2-3k KMs only.

If this is the case with new cars what’d happen once the AC system is a few years old?

Anyone has further thoughts?

Meanwhile thanks a lot Axe77 for the review.

[shansense]

Took our third (!!) test drive with the manager. He explained how the A/C works. There are some unnecessarily intelligent things there, it seems. two points:

1. Always keep the A/C on "Auto" (the light must be on). If you don't keep on Auto, it will show speeds 1-7 and you have to select the speed. This is *not* the best way to use the A/C and it will run suboptimal.

2. Strangely, the "recirculation" button is actually *not* recommended for long drives and it goes into some automatic mode which is not ideal. So it must be turned *off* for A/C to function well.

Once we tried this, the difference is night and day! I suggest Axe77 and others please try this out and let me know if this sorts your issue. It certainly solved ours!

We are in love with the car and just paid the booking amount to PPS on Outer Ring Road Bangalore. Can't wait!!! :-)

[gulmohars]

Congratulations Axe77!

And Thanks a lot for the detailed ownership review.

Cheers!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Fuel Efficiency: 100% City driving: heavy bumper to bumper traffic.
Imagine copious amounts of time at Elphinstone signal at Lower Parel - & similar.

I’m getting anywhere around 6.5 kmpl in pure in city driving in the above conditions.

That’s painful.

My Compass consistently delivers 11-12 kmpl even in heavy Delhi traffic. There has been only one instance where I have seen 6kmpl on the display - HEAVY traffic jam where we actually covered just 5km in more than an hour. I had refuelled and reset the meter just before we got stuck, and I distinctly remember 5.9kmpl. That was absolutely worst case possible scenario.

My in-law’s Kodiaq petrol is also averaging 7-8kmpl in traffic.

[gulmohars]

On the test drive of Meridian 4x2 for approx 35kms I had reset the readings and got approx 10kmpl. This was ofcourse not on bumper to bumper traffic.

Ofcourse Mumbai traffic is a lot different.

My Pajero sport used to return 6kmpl in Mumbai and in Chennai got 8.5k mol on most ocassions.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

There has been only one instance where I have seen 6kmpl on the display - HEAVY traffic jam where we actually covered just 5km in more than an hour. I had refuelled and reset the meter just before we got stuck, and I distinctly remember 5.9kmpl. That was absolutely worst case possible scenario.

That’s pretty much my daily routine. Takes me about 35 - 45 mins to cover the 3.5 kms from office to home in the evenings. Morning is a bit better. So I guess the 6-7 kmpl is perhaps something I’ll have to accept. Although I’m pretty sure my GT still delivers better mileage in the same conditions.

[Axe77]

Had a really nice long drive today in the Meridian today. Around 420 kms, which took the odo past the 2000 km mark.

Had some work in Pune followed by something in the far interiors of Karjat (Dhamni). I went a little further than Pune on the way out to say hi to some Jeepers from Bombay and Pune who were meeting there before they drove onward for their longer weekend trip. Thought it’ll be a good chance to meet some of them since I was anyway close enough.

Will give the FE update once I tank back up but at least the MID shows a rather uninspiring ~10.2 kmpl from these 420 kms, most of which were on the highway. My GT definitely would have delivered far better FE on this exact same route.

[EDIT: Just filled her up and both the MID and tank to tank method threw up 10.2 kmpl exact]

Some pics from the drive today. Tomorrow, I’m planning to ride the Multi on our usual Sunday ride with the ADV boys. So overall going to be some good quality miles this weekend, on four wheels as well as two!

Mumbai Pune expressway. On the return leg.


Branching out to the old Bbay - Pune highway for the descend to Khopoli - I absolutely love this section of that highway, whether on two wheels or four. Will be on this exact road tomorrow on the Multistrada.




Last mile section around Dhamni, Karjat. These are the kind of roads that make the Meridian (or similar SUVs) totally worth it as a purchase.


Just today’s drive alone is a clean (~)20% of the total miles clocked on the Meridian so far.


10.2 KMPL - per MID as well as tankful to tankful.

[ScorpWarp]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Had a really nice long drive today in the Meridian today.

Happy mile munching.
I am closely following this thread What's your opinion now about the gearbox response during quick overtaking maneuvers? Have you got used to it ? Do you use the trick mentioned in other threads to release the gas pedal momentarily and then push again for the kick down?

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by Axe77

That’s pretty much my daily routine. Takes me about 35 - 45 mins to cover the 3.5 kms from office to home in the evenings. Morning is a bit better. So I guess the 6-7 kmpl is perhaps something I’ll have to accept. Although I’m pretty sure my GT still delivers better mileage in the same conditions.

Do you use the parking brake or the foot brake to hold the car stationary? If so, please try putting it into neutral when you're going to be stationary for more than 10 seconds to take the strain off the engine and get better fuel economy. Worth trying out to see if you can get better than 6-7kmpl in such a commute.