[sulliavi]

Congratulations and best wishes. What a Beautiful-Beast this machine is !

This variant Z4 has to be the best VFM ScorpioN and one should be lucky to get it so early

Thanks for sharing your wonderful buying experience and I really enjoyed reading. And now, I am thinking of cancelling my AX5 booking for Z4

[Ibanez_70]

Congratulations on your car and wish you happy miles with it. I have been going all over YouTube to get a glimpse of what the Z4 variant offers. I think anyone who has 4X4 as an absolute necessity will appreciate the value for money proposition of this variant. We too have an ecosport S TDCI in our family and your review just confirms how awesome the M-hawk is.

I have set my eyes on this same exact car and color except I would prefer manual. I would keep myself updated to this thread.

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by ThatCarGuy

It's only my personal opinion, the wheel caps look a bit odd on the beauty due to its Seltos'ish design and doesn't gel well with the overall design I feel. The black steel rims without any wheel caps (pic before delivery), looked raw and macho.

Originally Posted by powertrain

One suggestion - IMO, those wheel caps spoil the looks of the SUV. Black rims actually makes its look more purposeful. Just my 2 cents,no offence.

I agree, and I too have mixed feelings about the wheel caps. They are much more interesting than the stock wheel caps though. A colleague who owns a Seltos thought I had fitted Seltos wheels on the Beast, until he had a closer look...

I have some ideas for the stock steel wheels. I wish that Mahindra had given the Scorpio-N the "Structured wheels" they had in the 2006 Scorpio. They looked good even with plain silver paint.

Originally Posted by Zinger_Winger

I got the XUV700 AX7L D AT within a month of booking from a dealership (a sheer fluke) and even though it was costing almost 6 lakhs more than the beast, I went with it because I tend to speed things up a bit, even on curves and my use case was majorly highway travels and city drives occasionally.

I loved the XUV when I test drove it. It's extremely fun to drive. But once I sat on the Scorpio, "Nothing else would Do".. And while I do enjoy speed, I try and keep it under limit nowadays, because I mostly have kids in the car. The Scorpio's 5 star rating did wonders to it's acceptability, IMO.

Originally Posted by s4ch

Congrats! Would you mind posting the final on road price? I have a previous gen Scorpio and the N seems very tempting!

I actually forgot to give the final price, Thanks for reminding me. The final price was almost 19.25 lakhs. I skipped out on the extended warranty for now, paid for the roadside assistance.

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

I loved the 'NRI driven' tag on the pre-owned XUV Another tag joining the more popular 'doctor driven' we see in second hand markets.

For me though, the NRI tag usually means that the car is lying idle and slowly rotting for most of the year, until the owners some and drive it non-stop for some weeks. It also reminds me that if there are teens in the house, they have probably taken it for joyrides. At least that's what we used to do...

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Go places with it and other than perhaps a set of alloy wheels avoid spending money on it, especially all that garbage they sell as accessories, be it at the dealership or aftermarket!

NeoWheels have added a section for ScorpioN recently so you can safely buy them and they are usually not that expensive.

Since you have black color, it would help to invest about 5-6K rupees on a pressure washer, wash it at home once in a few weeks yourself.

Thank You... I am planning on upgrading to alloys when I find the right set with the look I have in mind.

I did check out Neo Wheels, and they have just 2 designs for the Scorpio-N and they're both 18 inches. They do have more for the XUV500 in 17 inches, but none really appealed to me.

I do have a small Bosch pressure washer at home. It is very useful, especially the foam bottle. Love using it...

Originally Posted by alexpaul

Good that you have done graphene coating to protect it from swirls and mild scratches.

Thanks. The graphene does hold up well against small scratches. I saw some paint and dirt on the bumper the other day, and it just washed off without a mark left.

Originally Posted by sulliavi

Thanks for sharing your wonderful buying experience and I really enjoyed reading. And now, I am thinking of cancelling my AX5 booking for Z4

Thank You... The Z4 is rather spartan compared to the plushness of the AX5. As I said, there are times when I wish it was a bit more plush. If you can afford the AX5, it would be a better vehicle overall, and much more modern in terms of conveniences. The Scorpio-N requires some compromises, IMO. All the Best...

Originally Posted by Ibanez_70

I have been going all over YouTube to get a glimpse of what the Z4 variant offers. I think anyone who has 4X4 as an absolute necessity will appreciate the value for money proposition of this variant.

Yes, the Z4 is excellent value for those who need the 4x4, or even an AT at a lower price point. That is what attracted me to the Z4 specifically. The mHawk is a perfect upgrade from the 1.5 TDCi, and is a definite upgrade in terms of power and driveability. I did drive the manual, and it was easier than the Ford to drive in traffic due to the light clutch and needing less gear changes. The power is a bit down on the Z4 manual, but you can get most of the safety features now with the E option pack. And the extra power is just a remap or tuning box away...

[vredesbyrd]

Congratulations. I love your review!
It really makes me think if I really need a Z8L. I can "Karol Bagh" it later (since it is literally 530km from my place).
Like it has all the basics like Carplay/AAuto, reverse parking sensors and Automatic. Only thing that is a fly in the ointment is manually folding mirrors. But I guess that can be "Karol Baghed" too.

Also, I am never going to Markarth again. Silver Blood? Forsworn? Screw that place!

[rudra_shiv]

Congrats on taking home the "BIG DADDY of all SUVs".

Hope you are enjoying it. Do see if you can add TPMS through dealership itself.

[vivekgk]

First Free Service and 1300 km update:

The Beast has now completed 1300 km, had the First Service, and took us on a 300km trip to Kottayam.

Kottayam trip:

On a Friday, Dad called me and asks if I’d be interested in visiting my aunt’s place at Kottayam, as he hasn’t seen her in a long time. I was thrilled to have an opportunity for a longer drive than the usual city commute, so of course I said yes. My wife and kid weren’t coming as my kid had a bad cold and needed rest.

So, on a fine Saturday morning, me, Dad and my Sis set out on this 300km round trip, mostly on MC Road. Since it was a Saturday, there was less traffic than usual, but it was still chaotic, and we took 5 hours to cover just 150 kms.

Apart from the frustration of the slow pace, the trip was comfortable for the most part. The Beast’s low speed ride is a bit “Busy”, but it is still so easy to drive, especially once you put it in the ZIP mode and enjoy the low steering effort and smoother performance. Though people say that harder seats are better for longer trips, I think that these Scorpio-N seats could use a bit more cushioning. Maybe the leather seats on the top versions are softer, I’ll have to check again.

I did an FE check, using both the indicated FE figures on the trip computer, as well as the tankfull to tankfull method, and both showed 11.3 kms over 243 kms. I was not trying in any way for mileage and used the ZOOM mode many times for quickly zooming past others. And it is a big heavy SUV being driven on busy roads. Also, it is good to know that the FE figure on the display is very accurate. I was expecting it to be optimistic as is often the case with most cars.



I slightly modified my driving style and drove a bit more sedately for the remaining 60-odd kms and the FE improved to 13.4 kpl, despite the heavy evening traffic. I’m happy with this, as my expectations were lower. In the city traffic, I have been getting 7.5 to 8.5 kpl in stop and go traffic, and it improves dramatically by 20-30% when the traffic clears even a bit and I can take it above 40 kph.

First Service – 1200 kms

I took the car in for the first service at the SS Mahindra, Peroorkada, the same place I bought the car. The service centre is located at the same premise, behind the showroom itself.

As it was just the first service, there was not much to be done, other than checking the car over, and topping up the fluids. In my case, there were a couple of issues regarding the accessories. As I had mentioned, I had opted for underbody coating and mudflaps from the dealer. The mudflaps were fitted with steel screws, which started rusting in just a week. Also, there was overspray of a black, gummy, underbody coating material all over the engine bay. I requested them to correct these issues.

However, the overspray issue was not attended to, and the car was also delivered very late, in a rather poor condition as the washing was not properly done. I gave scathing feedback and a 1-star review on their customer feedback sheet and escalated the matter to their GM of Service.

Their team responded very well and assured me that the issue would be resolved without delay. The vehicle was picked up from my office the next day and returned it with the issues mostly resolved and the vehicle got a proper cleaning inside and out. There is still a bit of the overspray in the engine bay, but most of it is gone, though you can spot some of it if you look closely.

"Official" Rain Visors

I also had the MGA Rain visors fitted during the service. This cost about 3800/-, and IMO it is not worth it. They look too small for the vehicle. I wish I had waited a bit longer, for better models to start hitting the accessory market. They cost about half as much on Amazon, and local accessory stores here don’t have them in stock yet. I feel I’d have done better to buy them off Amazon. They look easy enough to fit by myself.

Oh, and as several folks here have commented on the wheel caps, I decided to take them off for a while at least. And here’s what the Beast looks like without them, and the new door visors. Personally, I like how it looks, but some have told me that it looks very bare. I think that a centre hub cap would improve it a bit, and I am also tempted to paint the wheels a creamy white, like the Thar AX. Please do post your thought and suggestions on this.





First Puncture

A couple of days ago, as I was dropping off my wife and kid at the Kindergarten, she pointed out that the left front tyre was looking odd. I checked it out, and yep, the tyre was almost flat. As it was not fully deflated, I drove the half km to my home and tried to re-inflate the tyre with a foot pump.

Fortunately, the tyre was filling up which meant that the leak was a slow one. I inflated it and drove to the nearest tyre shop. The guy there found a black 1-inch-long screw fully driven into the tyre. Something like this...



He repaired it immediately with a puncture kit, but had a hard time, as the tyre was new and resisted his efforts to push in the rubber strip and the tool. I asked him to deflate the other tyres and fill with Nitrogen.

So that's it so far. I have some slight modifications planned, details of which will be posted soon. Cheers!!

[Car Stalker]

Dear VivekGk Sir,

Many congratulations on your Scorpio N !!!
Thank you for the detailed writeup on your aspirations, search and final buy. A lovely unbiased, true to heart ownership thread, I must say.

Can you give a review on the zip mode of your beast? Like hows the powertrain during drives? Will it be underpowered for inclines or regular hill station drives? Couldn't find a single thread or youtube link for the zip mode. Will be relying on your revert for my future purchase of Z2 diesel (132 bhp tuned, similar to zip mode of higher trims). Kindly revert at your convenience after a thorough ride !!

Thanks in advance !!

Love & Light

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by Car Stalker

Can you give a review on the zip mode of your beast? Like hows the powertrain during drives? Will it be underpowered for inclines or regular hill station drives? Couldn't find a single thread or Youtube link for the zip mode. Will be relying on your revert for my future purchase of Z2 diesel (132 bhp tuned, similar to zip mode of higher trims). Kindly revert at your convenience after a thorough ride !!

Love & Light

Thanks for the comments...

I use the ZIP mode a lot in the city, because the power delivery is very smooth, and the steering becomes very light. But I have to say that when you want to overtake or want to quickly close in on a gap, or are just in a hurry, the ZIP mode feels inadequate, compared to the default ZAP mode. The throttle response is a lot less in ZIP, and you need to rev the engine to get it to move. Combined with the automatic box, it feels slow.

But, I don't think that the tuning will be the same for the Z2. For one thing, since it is only available in manual, it will be differently tuned, with better low end torque. I think that will definitely give better driveability. For example, I had driven the Scorpio Classic which came with the same engine in a 130 bhp configuration, and it had excellent torque low down, which made it feel very peppy.

I think there is someone on Tbhp who has a Z4 manual. They can probably give a better opinion about the engine feel in ZIP mode. For me, the only thing that is good about the ZIP mode is the lighter steering. But even in ZOOM mode, the steering is not heavy.

[Car Stalker]

"For example, I had driven the Scorpio Classic which came with the same engine in a 130 bhp configuration, and it had excellent torque low down, which made it feel very peppy."[/quote]

Thank you very much for your revert. Yes, in my Scorpio Classic's multiple test drives, I found the engine pick-up to be good for my needs. Hoping it to be same for the Z2 inspite of the weight difference in both.

Warm regards,

[vivekgk]

Hi,

It's been almost 9 months since I got the Beast, and I have just crossed 5000 kms. I have been meaning to update the thread for months, but just couldn't get down to it. I've been writing this in bits when I can find a bit of free time, and 5000 kms sounds like a nice round number to post an update, so here goes.

Getting used to the Beast:

With the exception of three out-of-town journeys to Munnar, Aluva, and Thodupuzha, the majority of my driving has been in and around the city, with the occasional weekend jaunt of 100–150 km. I'll be posting a separate write-up for the Munnar trip, as it was quite special.


A snap from the Munnar trip in February, taken at a cardamom estate on the way to Munnar.

The Beast has been serving as my daily commute, and it has happily—if slightly gluttonously—performed its duty. The one-finger-light steering is a boon, enabling effortless "Zip"-ping through traffic. ZIP is better suited for a very leisurely commute because it has less power than the other two modes, plus the steering is light, almost too light. Acceleration happens gradually, and the throttle response is somewhat muffled. It resembles driving a Suzuki K15+AT, in my opinion. Furthermore, it's the perfect mode if you're handing the car over to someone who hasn't operated a vehicle this powerful or large.

I have to avoid narrow gullys as it is easy to get stuck. Unfortunately, the way to my home is through such a narrow road, with there being barely enough room for the Beast and a 2-wheeler to pass. Thankfully, it is a rather short road and I got stuck only a couple times, when somebody had left their vehicle parked unattended, or if a 2-wheeler was a bit lavishly parked too far out into the road.

Fuel Efficiency:
The FE for these city runs has been quite low, hovering around 7-9 kpl. This was not unexpected though, as my commute is barely 4 kms and through dense traffic. I've had to do the DPF regen once, at about 3500 kms. It came up again recently for a second or so, but then disappeared. If you give it a chance to stretch its legs, the FE immediately climbs to above 12 after just a few kms, and rises further with longer trips. Best I've gotten is 14.7 kpl on a Tvm-Aluva trip. The return journey was through MC road's heavy traffic, which resulted in the lower overall figure.

The First big scratch!!



This happened in January, while I was still getting used to the size of the Beast. I was a bit careless while reversing and swiped a parked auto rickshaw. It was in a narrow lane near my home, and I had moved to the extreme left to let him pass comfortably. Since there was an electric post right in front, I needed to reverse a bit to get moving again. I assumed, wrongly, that the auto had moved on, but he stopped to pick up a phone call. I backed into him, and got a long scratch on the right side bumper and fender. Despite this, the auto driver did not create a scene. I suspect that the contraption didn't have any papers and neither did the driver...

As I didn't want to claim insurance for the small scratch and the ASC was all the way across town, I opted to get it touched up at a FNG that I knew. Took two visits to clear it up properly, and I'm still not fully satisfied. Never going back to that place again.

[vivekgk]

Modifications Done So Far:

LED Lighting:

I made the decision to change the headlamps to LED before leaving for the Munnar excursion. I had learned a lot from my trials and errors with the Ecosport, so this time I was better prepared. With the Scorpio-N, I could upgrade the low and high beams separately because they come with separate beams. Both beams had a nice beam pattern, with the high beams having good reach and the low beams having nearly no dark areas. I'd say that the factory fitted 55W halogens were adequate.

The only options available while I was upgrading the Ecosport bulbs were obscenely expensive branded options like Philips Ultinon or unbranded Chinese items from AliExpress or accessories stores. This time around, accessible branded alternatives were available online. After a few weeks of consideration, I decided to go for Osram 25W LEDriving lamps from Amazon.in. which cost me around Rs. 3600/- per pair. These came with a separate driver unit, which meant that the heat dissipation from the actual LEDs would not affect the driver unit and damage it. Since they were only 25W and came with a fan, the heat would be less of an issue. The chinese units that I had on the Ecosport got so hot that I was forced to take off the rear dust caps from the headlamp housing. I faced no issues here, even after continuous night drives.





I had Car Park, Tvpm fit them on the Beast. Despite the fact that I had bought them online, they readily agreed to fit them and charged a very fair rate, IMHO. For the parking lamps, I got a pair of Osram T10 LEDs from them. The LED headlamps deliver excellent performance and are an improvement in practically every aspect. We drove at night a lot on our Munnar+Vattavada tour, and the LEDs lighted up the road like day. What I did miss, though, were some fog lamps to highlight the sides as I navigated several steep, tight twisties.

I also upgraded the reverse lamps (PY21W spec) to really bright LEDs. The right one was easy to replace and I did it myself, but the left one was obstructed by a humongous DPF/Adblue unit that completely obstructs it. Again, the Car Park guys came to the rescue and got it fitted somehow without removing the bumper.

Here's how the LEDs look like at night

Coming to the negatives of the LEDs, I would have liked a slighly lower 4300-5000K color temp, as the 6000K is pure white and has scattering issues in heavy rain. But then, it is the same case or worse with every LED equipped car. At least these are powerful enough that some light penertrates the rain and lights up the road. I also feel that the beam is now higher than the original, so I need to set the beam adjustment from 0 to 1 or 2 to lower it a bit.

[vivekgk]

Mods/Upgrades Contd...

Silver Accents:

Initially, I had considered going for a full-on "Mafia-Black" look, but decided that it wasn't for me. I opted for the "Tasteful chrome/silver accents" look, but you guys be the judge on how tasteful it turned out...

At the time of re-touching the scratched bumper, I also opted to get the front and rear skid plates, and the lower door claddings painted silver to match the top variants. I forgot about the roof rails though, so they're still black.


Re-painting the skid plates and sides cost me about Rs. 2000/-. The silver skid plate accessories would have cost me twice as much on m2all.com, and I's still have to get the sides painted.


One unintentional benefit was how well the silver finish on the door trim matches up with the aluminium footsteps.


I also decided to switch back to the OEM wheel caps at this point. They are quite durable and held on through the Munnar trip even without the zip ties. The ones I bought off Amazon did not survive a pressure wash unscathed. The paint finishing was not up to the mark and ended up getting peeled off in places. That was a waste of 1700 bucks, as the looks lasted just about 2 months.

By this time, the side window chrome garnish that I had ordered were also delivered (after about 2 months). Local Accessory stores were unwilling to fit them for me, because these replaced the original beading and were a screw-in replacement rather than a taped-on affair. The chrome trim for the rear quarter glass was a simpler taped-on bit. This means that the finish doesn't quite match up between the two. The door trims have a satiny finish while the rear quarter glass trim is glossy chrome. The only way to match it up is to replace the whole rear quarter glass with the one from Z8. Thankfully, it doesn't show unless you're closely inspecting them.

Around this point, CBC Mahindra had opened their service centre just about 2 kms from my home, and they got it fitted for me for a very nominal fee. They forgot to return the the original beadings to me though, and I didn't realise it until much later. By then, they were unable to locate them. I didn't follow up further and let it go.

[Pythonista]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

It's been almost 9 months since I got the Beast, and I have just crossed 5000 kms.

Hello there! Awesome car! Looks beastly. May I ask about any niggles or problems faced in the car so far?

Wishing you many more happy miles!

[vivekgk]

Originally Posted by Pythonista

Hello there! Awesome car! Looks beastly. May I ask about any niggles or problems faced in the car so far?

Wishing you many more happy miles!

Thanks for the Wishes...

I was planning a separate write-up for the niggles, but here are the ones that bother me the most:

1) The Trip meter resets almost randomly. I have no idea what causes it to reset. It seems that it rest to zero automatically when a I am stopped for a specific duration. This is a major issue as I can't properly track my trips and have to rely on a paper note or take a pic on my phone of the odo reading at the start of each trip. I have been meaning to get a solution for this or at least find out what is causing it, but I simply didn't have the time.


2) Auto start stop is enabled by default on every start. Its a menace of a feature, and I hope there is some way to disable it altogether. If you press the drive mode button while the engine is stopped then it gets stuck and doesn't turn back on. You have to turn off the ignition key and start over.

3) Seat belt hooks have no parking slot and tend to noisily tap against the door pillars. I spent weeks trying to find any loose items in the door pockets ans under the seats before I figured out the source.

4)The speakers bleed sound to the outside a lot. If your volume is at 50 to 70 percent you can hear it very loudly outside the vehicle. This was never an issue in my Ecosport.

These are the ones I can think of rightaway. I will add anything I omitted in the next post. See ya!

[Cool-Shine]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

These are the ones I can think of rightaway. I will add anything I omitted in the next post. See ya!

Hi Vivekgk,

I also own ScorpioN Z4 D AT. I am facing one wierd noise issue since day one. Here is the video of this issue. You can here that noise at the end of the video when I released the accelerator.

https://youtu.be/mmV_2zUx41c?si=DMx84bM4DWpet5hB

I have escalated this issue to the higher most authorities at Mahindra. But they don't have any solution for this issue. Infact , they are saying that it's "ESP prefill sound coming while deceleration at high speed” which is normal. I am not agreeing with their assessment as there are lots of cars in India equipped with ESP functionality and none of them is having this issue.

Please let me know if you are also getting this kind of noise in your SN.

Thanks

Kuldeep