[Supercool]

Congratulations Ankur. I must say that Xylo is a good choice. My family has been using Mahindra vehicles for long so could say that Mahindra vehicles are real value for money.

How is gear shift in Xylo?

How about material like febric and plastic used in the vehicle?

My personal observation and experience is that plastic quality could be better.

Enjoy the drive.

Supercool

[ankurd]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Today we had a look at both, Innova and Xylo.
My question is related to Xylo.

1) How is handing of Xylo as compared to Esteem ? We have 800 and Baleno, both of which have direct steering and Baleno is a good driver's car.

I am afraid about handling of Xylo. Since you were used to a low slung sedan, you views/experience will be valuable for me.

2) How is high speed stability ? I know you have not visited very high speeds, but still, as compared to low slung sedans, how much is loss ?

3) And if you have test driven Innova, how do you compare handling, high speed stability of Xylo to Innova ?

I am inclined towards Xylo as its excellent VFM, but my father is not having full trust on Mahindra. We have to keep this car for around 10-15 years atleast, so its a very tough decision.

Hi there,

Answers to your queries:
1. A baleno and esteem have a similar feel and driving experience. Xylo is a different story. I have been always used to resting my one hand on the steering with the esteem, never consciously "driven" the vehicle, its more instinctive. A Xylo is different, for that matter any of the SUV/MUVs will be different. However, the Xylo did feel more nimble than the scorpio.

2. High speed - I did extensive test drives on the NICE corridor in Bangalore before choosing the vehicle, and here's my opinion:
over 90% of a highway drive is a straight road, a Xylo performs better. You need to keep one important fact in mind while driving this as compared to your baleno - This vehicle canNOT take a sharp curve in 80 kmph speeds, unlike a Baleno where the max would be tyres squealing, a Xylo would topple. That said, so would an innova, a scorpio or a Safari. Am saying this as I did test drives of all these vehicles, and somehow felt that they need better handling in curves than the Baleno's and Esteem's of the world.

3. A Xylo is faster than the innova, if we were to get them to race each other suppose..from Mysore to OOty, it would be the hair-pin roads near the foothills of Ooty where the innova would handle better. Xylo is great on straight roads, gets sluggish and needs more care on turns, while you can be a little more enthusiastic with the Innova. But yes, you need to be careful with both, an esteem or a baleno would have handled those roads like a dream.

Hope this helps
A

p.s. a mahindra is perhaps one of the vehicles, that you see around for over 15-20 years, isnt it? I'm one of the guys who has driven Mahindra MM 540 in the past, extensively. Am sure, trust on Mahindra is possible (I am bound to say that now, lol!) Bear in mind, overall maintenance costs thru Mahindra could just be the cheapest.

Originally Posted by Supercool

Congratulations Ankur. I must say that Xylo is a good choice. My family has been using Mahindra vehicles for long so could say that Mahindra vehicles are real value for money.

How is gear shift in Xylo?

How about material like febric and plastic used in the vehicle?

My personal observation and experience is that plastic quality could be better.

Enjoy the drive.

Supercool

The gear shift is ok, I did feel some resistance during reversing at times, but this is expected. After a few days when I was driving my esteem, I felt like I was only giving a small nudge to the gears and the shifts happened on its own! Yes - you need to consciously shift gears. I think, over time, habit will take over and you wont notice that its slightly tougher than the normal sedan.
Plastic could have been better, in fact, they could have given more fibre inside. The seat quality is good, so are the floors and I'm told that with 6 thousand bucks, I can get rid of the plastics and go for wood. That is something I might invest over time.

[Amartya]

I hope you wouldn't mind my chipping in and answering the question, these are my views as I have driven both the Innova and Xylo, and from my avatar you should be able to guess what car I used to own .

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Today we had a look at both, Innova and Xylo.
1) How is handing of Xylo as compared to Esteem ? We have 800 and Baleno, both of which have direct steering and Baleno is a good driver's car.

The answer is simple, it's rubbish. If you have a round-about in your city, take the Xylo to that place. Once you have driven round it, you won't buy it. Do the same for the Innova, leagues ahead.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I am afraid about handling of Xylo. Since you were used to a low slung sedan, you views/experience will be valuable for me.
2) How is high speed stability ? I know you have not visited very high speeds, but still, as compared to low slung sedans, how much is loss ?

The Baleno is one of the best driver's car ever sold in India (along with the OHC VTec). Truth be told, I've only taken the Xylo upto 80kmph, but it's scary after the Baleno. To answer your question, the "loss" is unbearable.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

3) And if you have test driven Innova, how do you compare handling, high speed stability of Xylo to Innova ?
I am inclined towards Xylo as its excellent VFM, but my father is not having full trust on Mahindra. We have to keep this car for around 10-15 years atleast, so its a very tough decision.

The "only" good thing about the Xylo is the space, in every other department, the Innova beats it hollow. If you plan to keep the car for a long time, this is a no-brainer, and I would go with what your father says. Do not go by the price-tag, if you can afford to stretch the budget to get the Innova (maybe even getting a lower spec Innova).

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by ankurd

A baleno and esteem have a similar feel and driving experience. Xylo is a different story. I have been always used to resting my one hand on the steering with the esteem, never consciously "driven" the vehicle, its more instinctive. A Xylo is different, for that matter any of the SUV/MUVs will be different. However, the Xylo did feel more nimble than the scorpio.

High speed - I did extensive test drives on the NICE corridor in Bangalore before choosing the vehicle, and here's my opinion:
over 90% of a highway drive is a straight road, a Xylo performs better. You need to keep one important fact in mind while driving this as compared to your baleno - This vehicle canNOT take a sharp curve in 80 kmph speeds, unlike a Baleno where the max would be tyres squealing, a Xylo would topple. That said, so would an innova, a scorpio or a Safari. Am saying this as I did test drives of all these vehicles, and somehow felt that they need better handling in curves than the Baleno's and Esteem's of the world.

A Xylo is faster than the innova, if we were to get them to race each other suppose..from Mysore to OOty, it would be the hair-pin roads near the foothills of Ooty where the innova would handle better. Xylo is great on straight roads, gets sluggish and needs more care on turns, while you can be a little more enthusiastic with the Innova. But yes, you need to be careful with both, an esteem or a baleno would have handled those roads like a dream.

Hope this helps
A

p.s. a mahindra is perhaps one of the vehicles, that you see around for over 15-20 years, isnt it? I'm one of the guys who has driven Mahindra MM 540 in the past, extensively. Am sure, trust on Mahindra is possible (I am bound to say that now, lol!) Bear in mind, overall maintenance costs thru Mahindra could just be the cheapest.

The gear shift is ok, I did feel some resistance during reversing at times, but this is expected. After a few days when I was driving my esteem, I felt like I was only giving a small nudge to the gears and the shifts happened on its own! Yes - you need to consciously shift gears. I think, over time, habit will take over and you wont notice that its slightly tougher than the normal sedan.
Plastic could have been better, in fact, they could have given more fibre inside. The seat quality is good, so are the floors and I'm told that with 6 thousand bucks, I can get rid of the plastics and go for wood. That is something I might invest over time.

Originally Posted by Amartya

The answer is simple, it's rubbish. If you have a round-about in your city, take the Xylo to that place. Once you have driven round it, you won't buy it. Do the same for the Innova, leagues ahead.

The Baleno is one of the best driver's car ever sold in India (along with the OHC VTec). Truth be told, I've only taken the Xylo upto 80kmph, but it's scary after the Baleno. To answer your question, the "loss" is unbearable.

The "only" good thing about the Xylo is the space, in every other department, the Innova beats it hollow. If you plan to keep the car for a long time, this is a no-brainer, and I would go with what your father says. Do not go by the price-tag, if you can afford to stretch the budget to get the Innova (maybe even getting a lower spec Innova).

Thanks a lot ankurd and Amratya!

1) Xylo is not as good handling as a car.
This is a big loss. Baleno has spoiled us. We did Vadodara-Somnath-Vadodara in one day approx. 19 hours. This includes roads with corners also. Baelno is forgiving, but Xylo and Innova are not. I hope that they make up for this loss by being capable bad road eaters.

2) Space is one of the best features and easily better than Innova.
Xylo is clear winner. The comfort is good and a very strong point against Innova. Dad had finalized Innova, but Xylo has added to confusion. I am trying to convenience dad not to sell baleno and not buy a new car. Both these cars are practical options as compared to sedans.

3) Xylo is faster than Innova, but in corners, Xylo is not as good as Innova. None of them are sedan like. Xylo has a very high mounted engine. This is good since we are in a city where 4 inch of rain = flooding. Innova again good.

One more point I would like to say is refinement. I am not able to figure out how silent Xylo cabin is. Innova, no road noise enters cabin. Even altis allows some road noise, but not Innova ( the Altis was TD vehicle along with Innova ). This is one area I am not clear about for xylo. I hope its better than Baleno/Esteem. Do tell me about this difference.

Once again thanks for replying and clearing my mind!

PS : Now as compared to current gen. cars, Baleno seems like Gold. Even Altis feels cramped after sitting in Baleno.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Thanks a lot ankurd and Amratya!

1) Xylo is not as good handling as a car.
This is a big loss. Baleno has spoiled us.

One more point I would like to say is refinement. I am not able to figure out how silent Xylo cabin is. Innova, no road noise enters cabin. Even altis allows some road noise, but not Innova ( the Altis was TD vehicle along with Innova ). This is one area I am not clear about for xylo. I hope its better than Baleno/Esteem. Do tell me about this difference.

Once again thanks for replying and clearing my mind!

PS : Now as compared to current gen. cars, Baleno seems like Gold. Even Altis feels cramped after sitting in Baleno.

Well, the Xylo has more road noise than the Baleno, I don't know about the Esteem.
OT: The less said about the Baleno the better, I had to sell the Baleno as I came to grad school abroad, and it was painful. To me, the Baleno is a fantastic driver's car (seats, handling, engine and gearbox et al.), a super rear seat and the best A/C ever. Ahhhh... Do try and convince your father to keep the Baleno, the resale value isn't too hot either.

[ankurd]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Well I don't know about the Esteem.
Ahhhh... Do try and convince your father to keep the Baleno, the resale value isn't too hot either.

I would agree, although with the esteem and now the xylo, I dont think there's much of a difference, actually there's the grunt of the diesel engine, and beyond that the traffic noise isnt a bother. Its close/similar to the esteem. Yes, if possible retain the baleno - its a very nice car. Maybe have it as a 2nd car, hmm ?

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Thanks a lot ankurd and Amratya!

1) Xylo is not as good handling as a car.
This is a big loss. Baleno has spoiled us. We did Vadodara-Somnath-Vadodara in one day approx. 19 hours. This includes roads with corners also. Baelno is forgiving, but Xylo and Innova are not. I hope that they make up for this loss by being capable bad road eaters.

Innova is a better road eater than Xylo - because of superior body control. the less you get bounced around in the car, the fresher you will be. In fact my wife loves driving the Innova because it is so easy to drive. We did Thekkady to Hyderabad, including a car service break in 22 hours in the innova-1100 kms in total. My longest in the Baleno has been 780 kms at a stretch.

2) Space is one of the best features and easily better than Innova.
Xylo is clear winner. The comfort is good and a very strong point against Innova. Dad had finalized Innova, but Xylo has added to confusion. I am trying to convenience dad not to sell baleno and not buy a new car. Both these cars are practical options as compared to sedans.

Yes, the third seat of Xylo is better than Innova - but then Innova has some boot space while Xylo has none. also, 6 persons and their luggage can travel easily inside the Innova (fold one side of the rearmost seats) while doing the same in Xylo would require a roof carrier as the rear seat does not split and fold.

3) Xylo is faster than Innova, but in corners, Xylo is not as good as Innova. None of them are sedan like. Xylo has a very high mounted engine. This is good since we are in a city where 4 inch of rain = flooding. Innova again good.

Innova is very much sedan like - not a sedan but pretty forgiving to drive and pretty stable at high speeds.

One more point I would like to say is refinement. I am not able to figure out how silent Xylo cabin is. Innova, no road noise enters cabin. Even altis allows some road noise, but not Innova ( the Altis was TD vehicle along with Innova ). This is one area I am not clear about for xylo. I hope its better than Baleno/Esteem. Do tell me about this difference.

I guess refinement is similar but the economy classs plastics and other materials in Xylo might mean that the car might age sooner.

Once again thanks for replying and clearing my mind!

PS : Now as compared to current gen. cars, Baleno seems like Gold. Even Altis feels cramped after sitting in Baleno.

I love both of them - Innova and Baleno. Wanted to buy the Xylo but one test drive and I did not like the stability and body control. My wife could not reach the pedals comfortably . We finally paid a bit more and bought the Innova V but guess you have to pay if you want the refinement and a bit of luxury (whatever that means in an MPV!)

[drrajasaravanan]

Hi
Innova is better than xylo in all ways. But being a owner of xylo i feel certain things are exaggerated. Recently on the ECR a innova toppled killing two people as the driver tried to negotiate a turning at high speed. A car is as safe as the person driving it.
I am comfortable driving Xylo both in the city and on the highways and car behaves well at high speed. But i am a very cautious driver and dont go crazy for speeding or turning corners at more than 80mph. Xylo suits me well.
Having said that if the budget can be stretched Innova would be a better buy.
Cheers.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan

Hi
Innova is better than xylo in all ways. But being a owner of xylo i feel certain things are exaggerated. Recently on the ECR a innova toppled killing two people as the driver tried to negotiate a turning at high speed. A car is as safe as the person driving it.
I am comfortable driving Xylo both in the city and on the highways and car behaves well at high speed. But i am a very cautious driver and dont go crazy for speeding or turning corners at more than 80mph. Xylo suits me well.
Having said that if the budget can be stretched Innova would be a better buy.
Cheers.

Three points where xylo scores
- peppier Engine
- better third row space (but no boot) and better captain second row seats.
- Better Value for Money

[swiftnfurious]

Congrats on your buy ! I think 9 kmpl is quite a decent mileage for an MUV of this size in City. How much is the company / dealer claiming? I remember seeing a test drive in Overdrive where they pitched Xylo against an Innova and they declared Xylo the winner. They said the same thing -- Innova can carry the speeds into the corner but Xylo cant! And Xylo makes up for that in straight roads.

Drive Safe !

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by ankurd

The gear shift is ok, I did feel some resistance during reversing at times, but this is expected. After a few days when I was driving my esteem, I felt like I was only giving a small nudge to the gears and the shifts happened on its own! Yes - you need to consciously shift gears. I think, over time, habit will take over and you wont notice that its slightly tougher than the normal sedan.
Plastic could have been better, in fact, they could have given more fibre inside. The seat quality is good, so are the floors and I'm told that with 6 thousand bucks, I can get rid of the plastics and go for wood. That is something I might invest over time.

Hi Ankurd,

How that its been a few months since you bought the Xylo, has the gearshift become smoother?

Were you able to get the wood interior?

[BigWheels]

Hi Ankurd,

Can i ask if, in your xylo, you had a lock/key for the small tray under driver's seat?

[ankurd]

Hello Everyone,

Been a long time that I was away! Well, some myths got busted with me crossing 4k kms on the Xylo this month:

1. Long drive back from Dharmasthala (Place near mangalore), an innova really wanted a race, and had one - Xylo won. I could see even the innova straining on turns, and a little more than the Xylo. Xylo held rock steady at 120!
2. Had a friend, who's an innova owner drive the Xylo, who mentioned -
a. Steering is more responsive
b. Engine noise lesser in the cabin than his experience on an innova


Well, i'm not going against an innova here, but trying to establish that this people's car is a STEAL for the price and value it brings. Have lugged a lot of pots and plants with ease, went off the road to a farm with no issues, very powerful headlamps (Yes, I got the 110/100 lights and relay done at mahindra prior to delivery)


Some answers:
@BigWheels - Nope, the tray did not have lock/key
@nowwhat - The gearshift is much better now. But even now when I drive my esteem...the esteem's gearshift feels like it offers no resistance anymore! so smooth...perhaps, a Jeep's gearshift will remain slightly tough, but I am sure its so much better than the 1st month. No wood interiors yet.
@swiftnfurious - Dunno about the co claim, one of my office colleague who works out of Chennai took part in some Xylo mileage challange and clocked 16, and the winner was 23!!!! I asked what did he really do (Didya sneak some diesel in lol) and he responded "Kept at 60, minimal gear shifts, and neutral downhill". I suppose i'm too impatient to try this formula.

@buffetfan - Boot space isnt needed on a regular basis, when you do need it, the seats fold to create amazing amount of space.

@drrajasaravanan - you said it. I couldnt agree more.

I have taken the Xylo for one of those speed tests on nice road, and came back quite impressed, it goes much much beyond the esteem, and ZERO feeling of it being unstable or steering wobbling. And yes, 140+

Cheers Guys, more next time. Have a safe drive!

[ankurd]

Hello Everyone,

Finally found time to send another report on the drive. Had completed my 5k 4 weeks ago and got the 1st service done. Didnt find any difference in the performance though? Wonder what was usually expected that I missed, any idea folks ?

After the 5k kms, I took multiple trips to a place called Byndoor that's about 120 kms up mangalore towards Karwar. Have completed 8k+kms, this weekend expect to cross 10,000. So am doing some heavy driving and crunching many miles on my Xylo, and here are my observations;


- Handling: It's still a beauty. Had no issues so far, went to some amazing ghat sections, namely - Charmari (mangalore to chikmanglur), Shirdi Chats and the Ghats prior to Kollur. The vehicle felt stable, smooth and didnt squeak. I didnt do much of speed driving, but one of the journeys, went from bangalore to Byndoor in 8 hours, non stop. Didnt feel one bit tired and was amazed by the way the Xylo held up
- Body noise- I did feel some vibrations on the left windshield portion appear and would visit the service stn sometime next week to get it checked. Isnt a big deal but a bother.

- Engine Check - This sign appeared a few times when I was trying to accelarate from a higher gear on slow speeds, never happened in Bangalore city drive, only takes place on long drives so another item on my list to verify

I added a nice bullbar/crashguard from Carryboy, neat little sturdy thing for 9k, a pair of Hella Rallye 4000's on the bull bar. The light is simply amazing. Did anyone try this out? I would think its a nice add-in light esp for night driving. Might have a better opinion after i've driven a thousand kms this weekend. So might add a couple of lines on this thread about the light. I also noticed a philips xenon (I think) which was priced 1300 and the guy at the accessory store said its 80% better than my present 90/100 halogen on my headlamps. I'll wait to hear from another friend who's planning to install it and then take a call of getting it for mine.

Also, for the laptop and gizmo people, I found a neat 220 volts AC converter for 1800 bucks that i've kept for powering my laptop and cellphone if needed, whoever has seen it is sold by the idea and plans to get one for their own. Its made by Belkin.

So far, so good. Havent thought of any more investments, unless something really catches my eye!

Another neat event that happened was a call from mahindra offering me to participate in their 4x4 Mahindra Great Escape. They offered me a Bolero 4x4 to drive. I took the offer, went to Chikmanglur and did a day long gruelling offroading which was really superb! Manindra vehicles were all in full form, realized the importance of the 540 jeeps which outdid the bolero and scorpio's easily...those are a boon for the people in plantations and estates that doesnt have roads. Was also treated to checking out the new Mahindra Thar. I am very keenly keeping track of this vehicle. Has a scorpio engine, power steering, AC ready, and soft top. A guy called Mr. Dawar from mahindra heading the R7D for this vehicle got his R&D Thar vehicle that had clocked 200,000 kms and was really going smooth over the offroad track...amazing new vehicle when it launches. Dont have an idea of a price yet.

Will post pics of the Thar if someone tells me where as I do realize this is a Xylo ownership thread.

Rest Later, Safe Driving !

Cheers!

[druva]

Great Ankurd.

I also closely evaluated Mahindra Xylo, but decided not to book it. My head was screaming for Xylo, but I booked by what my heart said. Lets see If I regret later. But, Xylo is totally VFM.

Did you change to wooden interiors? Can you post pics of those?

Yes, pl upload pics of your 4x4 experiences too.

Cheers