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Why I chose the Scorpio-N 4X4 over the Hyundai Tucson

6th June 2023, 12:05 by Ananth Iyer

The overall cabin feel for night highway drive, is excellent and there is even an option to switch off the glaring illumination of the speedo and tacho, which I found very useful.

BHPian gviper recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After a lot of research for a bigger car, I had finally booked the Scorpio N 4WD AT in the first week of January 2023. Previous cars I have owned and driven include a 2013 VW Polo Petrol Highline and a 2018 Hyundai (Next Gen) Verna 1.6AT SX(O). Along with the Scorpio N, I had also made a booking of the Hyundai Tucson Platinum Diesel. The Tucson is definitely a level above the Scorpio N but I just could not let go of the thought of getting a Four Wheel Drive Automatic SUV for the price being offered by Mahindra.

After a lot of follow ups with both the dealers, finally decided to go ahead with a Silver Scorpio N 4XPLOR AT, and got the delivery on 14th of April. Once I had seen the first glimpse of my Scorpio N, I cancelled the Tucson booking and the booking amount was swiftly refunded by the dealer.

First job after getting delivery of the Scorpio N was at 3M Car Care (Topsia, Kolkata) for a full PPF, CR70, etc. After that, installed Autotech 7D mats and a much deliberated (and unhappily decided) rear bumper guard. Although the bumper guard heavily reduces the departure angle, could not imagine cycles/rickshaws/scooters hitting the bumper in bumper to bumper traffic (happened a lot on the Verna).

After these jobs, headed straight to the hills of North Bengal, chose a farmstay at Bijanbari (almost 2 hours from Darjeeling). These farmstays almost always have nil or poor roads leading to them and I thought it was a good way to test all the 4XPLOR features to understand the vehicle better. The highway drive from Kolkata to Siliguri was sublime, with an FE of 15.0 kmpl. Siliguri to Darjeeling stretch saw the FE dip to 12 kmpl, and further reduced to 10.5 kmpl once we reached the farmstay after the steep ascent and off road session. We experienced heavy rains, hailstorm, high winds as we travelled from Darjeeling to Bijanbari and had to select 4WH for the last 7 kms or so leading to our stay. After experiencing the 4WD system and the amplified confidence it provides in tricky situations, I was beaming with happiness for choosing this vehicle over the 2WD Tucson.

As for the discussed niggles of the Scorpio N, here are my observations:

On an extremely Hot afternoon (real feel almost 45 degC), both front and aft cameras stopped working. It did not recover that entire day even after a lot of restarts. Read the manual which said cameras may not operate at extreme temperatures (less than -20 deg, more than 60 deg). However the cameras worked fine the next day and did not have any issues in the entire trip of over 1500kms. Cameras are not at all laggy like I had noticed on the Test Drive vehicle and I am not facing any issues with the quality of either cameras during use. However I cannot stop thinking of the high def resolution of the Tucson 360 camera system.
Wireless Android Auto works like a charm
The overall cabin feel for night highway drive, is excellent and there is even an option to switch off the glaring illumination of the speedo and tacho, which I found very useful.
Windshield wiper controls are very convenient. I really liked the single button press spray and wipe pattern.

Things which are slightly irritating and would require me getting used to are:

Auto Start/Stop system
Cruise control cancellation only through the brake pedal
Lack of good storage spaces around the driver
No pitch angle adjustment of the driver seat electrical adjustment

A query regarding the 4WD system if any other owner can clarify:

I can hear a single 'clunk', everytime when the steering is moved to either extreme left or extreme right, with the 4WD engaged. Can anyone throw some light on this?