[supertinu]

I was one of those who loved the way KUV100 looks in the pics that were being posted online and had a chance to see one on the road yesterday. My views are kind of inline with what most felt

• Front is nice looking and imposing. Certainly better than a small hathback. The DRLs add some bling. The side plastic decals give it a different touch

• Rear is a smart and very hatch like. Lights remind me of chevy's new models running in US

• Side, this is where the entire plot gets lost and seems that car got pushed from both sides and squeezed to reduce length. I think somehow Mahindra wanted to keep differentiation from 4M TUV, otherwise no reason why KUV couldn't be around 4M and lot more balanced looking

• Wheels should have been a size bigger

• Looking at the driver changing gears, it was quite obvious that the gears have a very short throw. Good job there by Mahindra given there past products including XUV

Overall, still a smart product that does stand out and I believe it will create a market for itself.

[mazda4life]

Visited Ananth motors in Bangalore to see how the KUV looks , completely echo the sentiments of majority that front and back looks good but profile is a mishmash of ideas. Good head room and personally like the grey colored KUV

[satrikon_454]

Whether good or bad, this car is sure to grab attention.
The best feature IMO is the 6th seat that folds into an armrest. Mahindra could have marketed this the other way. An armrest that can be converted into a 6th seat! I guess that would've had a positive impact on the folks who dislike the 6th seat connotation (me included!). An armrest in this segment is still a "feature".

[narenteam]

I went to a mahindra showroom to see the KUV. While I couldn't drive it because of the crowd, the SA told me that Mahindra is launching 5 new vehicles in 2016 besides launching 5 refreshed versions of existing cars.
Any idea what these 5 new vehicles could be?

[msk_kapoor]

Called dealers in Chennai to see the 30 day delivery period mentioned in Flipkart and Carandbike as they were also serviced by local dealers only. (we need to select the dealer when placing order). But to my surprise I was told the 30 day period is just approximate and said depending on variants the delivery time will be anytime between 8 to 16 weeks. I am not sure why Mahindra has then provided a false 30 day delivery promise. Or am I missing something here? Any experiences in other locations?

[karthick_b]

Originally Posted by narenteam

I went to a mahindra showroom to see the KUV. While I couldn't drive it because of the crowd, the SA told me that Mahindra is launching 5 new vehicles in 2016 besides launching 5 refreshed versions of existing cars.
Any idea what these 5 new vehicles could be?

I am pretty pessimistic about the 5 new vehicles and 5 refreshed models. It could be 5 models overall and here are my guesses.

1. Mahindra Canto/Quanto with AMT (may follow the moniker TUVx00)
2. Mahindra Verito Electric
3. Mahindra Scorpio with Aisin 6 Speed AT Gearbox
4. Ssangyong Tivoli
5. Mahindra KUV100 AMT

[zee_bat]

Originally Posted by karthick_b

I am pretty pessimistic about the 5 new vehicles and 5 refreshed models. It could be 5 models overall and here are my guesses.

1. Mahindra Canto/Quanto with AMT (may follow the moniker TUVx00)
2. Mahindra Verito Electric
3. Mahindra Scorpio with Aisin 6 Speed AT Gearbox
4. Ssangyong Tivoli
5. Mahindra KUV100 AMT

They are bringing out the 1.9L Diesel engines to circumvent the Supreme Court ban in Delhi as a future proof measure, the engine change could come as a refresh!

[needforspeed88]

Mahindra are making a massive mistake by trying to promote this ''car'' as a mini SUV. Barring long travel suspension i don't see anything which helps it case as a mini SUV. The side profile and the rear simply do not do justice to the mini SUV tag. The ground clearance is less than Kwid. The tyres are puny 185/65 R14. I think a TOUGH hatch back would have been a much better catch phrase than a mini SUV cos when you look at it from the perspective of a mini SUV you will be underwhelmed. A good effort from Mahindra but i feel the positioning of the vehicle as a mini SUV is a mistake. One thing people are not noticing is that Mahindra have omitted the kerb weight stat from the specifications on the website which points to the fact that this Vehicle may not be light.

[veyron_head]

Test Drove the KUV (k8, diesel) this morning. It was a short test drive. But here are my observations:

a.) THe looks of the car is really deceptive. The front looks imposing like an SUV. But the side and rear profile very clearly look like hatch. It also doesn't look too tall, in fact, I am not sure if its even as tall as the wagon R. All in all, this car is not here to win a beauty contest, yet its not something I would call as ugly.

b.) Once you step in, the ambience is quite welcoming. The center console and the dash all look well put together. The plastics dont seem cheap all.

c.) The dash mounted gear level is a master stroke on this car. Its so incredibly convenient, especially in the six seater where the front-row middle seat doubles as an awesome arm rest. The arm rest also has cupholders where you can even conveniently park your mobilephone. The gears slot effortlessly. Also, The gear is stick is fullmonty! - No leather wrap for the lever, but it doesn't look out of place.

d.) The seats are pretty wide and offer enough support for its class. There are couple of secret storage spaces below the passenger and rear seats. All doors have pockets that can hold a 1 ltr bottle.

e.) The diesel that I drove did not feel under-powered at all. The car also was well insulated from outside noise.


The bad:

a.) The much talked about front middle seat in the first row. This dichotomy is quite puzzling. On one hand, Mahindra offers safety features across all variants. On the other, they design a front seat which looks very dangerous.

b.) The airbags don't extend to the middle occupant in the front seat and hence there is no safety gear for the mid occupant. In most cases, that seat would be occupied by a poor kid. This seat faces the centre console and the gear lever and hence in an accident, the occupant would ram against the protuding gear lever and the AC/audio buttons. Unthinkable! Mahindra should have made this a proper armrest (which it sure is) without the option to use it as a seat.

c.) I would have liked the steering wheel to be one size thicker. Even coming from an ALto K10, I thought the steering wheel should have been both thicker and may be a bit bigger as well. For a car that is marketed as an SUV, the boot space looked small.

e.) No climate control, no 60-40 split seat on any variant. Also, in this day and age of jazzy looking head units, the audio system of the KUV has a very boring mono-color display.

f.) The bonnet visibility is nothing like what you are used to with their cars like bolero or scorpio. In my seating position, I couldn't see anything beyond the dash board.

g.) The on-road price of the K8 diesel is around 8.5 lacs onroad in Bangalore. This looks definitely overpriced to me for what it offers. There is no exchange bonus, and obviously no discounts.

[atulsian]

For anyone interested here is the price list for Hyderabad.

[engine_charan]

I saw the KUV100 in flesh today. Nothing great about the car and it looks like a small car like Beat and no SUV. Also, I think it is priced 50k more on each variant so many variants which is confusing and they should have simple with three variants. The market Mahindra is penetrating is very competitive and it has compete with Wagon-R, Celerio and Grand I10 and I dont see any Wow factor or out of the box to buy KUV100.
Anyday, i would buy a Grand I10 or Wagon-R instead of KUV100
BTW. I think Renault Kwid looks Value for Money and they can launch it with 1 litre engine.

[thatsdileep]

Came back from Mahindra India Garage showroom in Chennai. Test drove both Petrol and Diesel KUV 1OO (K8). Below is my favorite experience:

Exterior:
The front looks quite decent and chunky, while the rear looks like a taller hatch. The side seems squished and compressed. All in all it looks much better in reality than in pics.




The exterior fit and finish looks pretty good. The gaps are consistent and are far better than Scorpio or TUV. Only the top end gets the fog lamps, alloys, Eco/power mode (only in diesel K8 version). None of the versions get ORVM integrated turn indicators not electrically foldable ORVMs.

Here is a pic of the K6 version without fog lights:


One thing I've noticed is that the side plastic strips with falcon and KUV badges above the fender do not sit flush with the bonnet. There is atleast 1/2inch gap between the bonnet side line VS the plastic strip top edge. From the online pics I thought it was flush with bonnet. May be this is to avoid damage to the plastic strip while closing the bonnet.



The paint job looks decent but can see some primer at the edges or creases especially on darker contrasting color. May be a few of the vehicles have been rushed to the showrooms for display and test drive without full finishing.

The alloy design is nice but the tyres are definitely one size smaller. There is plenty of space in the wheel well and even 16inchers can be squeezed in which can greatly enhance the looks as well as improve the ride quality.

Here is a picture of the wheel cap on K6:


Interiors:
Here is where it scores highly. These are the best interiors so far from Mahindra. The plastics feel good quality and the fit and finish is great. The dash is simple and elegant. Audio controls and a/c knobs are easily accessible and feel nice. Only thing is there is no big touch screen in the middle which became a norm these days. All doors get 1 lt bottle holders. The ingress and egress is quite easy in and out of the cock pit.




The middle seat in the front is very uncomfortable for adults and is best used for kids for very short stints where the 30-40kmph is not exceeded. Otherwise it is huge safety concern. Below is a pic when I sat in the middle seat and my knees are hitting the dash. This is when the passenger seat is set to comfortable seating position. To have some leg room for the middle seat, the front passenger seat needs to be pushed all the way back. But that will cramp the rear passenger.

Also the hand break is just below the gear shift section of the dash. When engaged it sticks out quite a bit.



But it is still preferable to opt for the 6 seater version for the comfy armrest (it's pretty big with cup holders...unfortunately i don't have a pic). Below is a pic of the funny holes in the center console for 5 seater option.


The driver seat is quite comfortable eight good under thigh support and the cushion is just about the right density. The lumbar support is also decent. Steering offers tilt functionality and the seat offers height adjustment with decent range. So finding a comfortable position won't be an issue.


Note that there are no vanity mirrors on either sun visors.
The rear view from IRVM is very limited with the hindrances from the small rear windshield, rear bench headrests. Also there will be a big blind spot due to thick C pillar as well as lack of rear quarter glass (sacrificed for the rear door handles).



The foot well and the pedals are well spaced out. There is also a dead pedal which is almost use less as you leg will be hitting the dash when u want to place the foot on dead pedal. See pics below:



The rear bench is wide enough to squeeze in 3 adults and again the height and under thigh support are adequate. The head and leg room are plenty. There is also a foldable arm rest integrated in the rear middle seat with cup holders. It is at good height and wide enough.

There is a 12 V outlet for the rear passengers behind the rear bench. Also note that the seat belts are not height adjustable in the front not in the back. The parcel tray behind the rear bench is narrow but usable.


The trunk is quite narrow with a very high loading lip. Almost 3/4 foot from the floor of the trunk to the top of the loading lip. There is a light in the trunk. There is a full size spare (not an alloy) under the trunk floor with full tool kit.




Under the Hood and Body:
The engine bay is just about right size and it's not too hallow. There is fire protective film on the back wall of engine bay and sound proofing under the hood.

[thatsdileep]

Attachment 1464183
Attachment 1464184
Attachment 1464185

Drive and Handling:
Coming to the most important part now, the test drive was very short...not more than 2 Kms for each of the petrol and diesel so can't really speak a whole lot about the handling. But still here are a few observations:
First one was diesel. First thing I noticed was how refined the mill was and the NVH levels are best among Mahindra considering a 3 pot mill. No vibrations felt on pedals or steering or the seat. Although I felt some vibrations in the pedals and steering when trying to rev up in 2nd and 3rd gear. Not sure if it's the particular TD vehicle. The clutch action should've been better as it started only from half the way. There is no lag or surge of power but it's more linear. There is just about enough low end torque to keep ambling in 2-3rd gears in city traffic. The steering feels light enough for city traffic (lighter compared to others in M&M stable but not as light as Hyundais). Can't speak of the high sped feedback from steering as the TD was short and thru a lot of traffic. The suspension is slightly soft and could feel rear swinging with 4 people onboard. Need a longer TD to ascertain these aspects. It's not a powerful mill but is enough to keep up with traffic in city and will have enough push when you need a quick move on to close in on traffic ahead. For normal city driving this diesel mill will be suffice.
Coming to petrol, I could definitely notice the poor refinement or NVH levels compared to diesel. I could feel the vibrations in the pedals, steering and even the seats quite a bit at low rpms. Petrol also was lacking in low end torque which means lot more gear shifting will be required in city traffic. It was not a rev happy engine either and seemed sluggish. The suspension and steering setup seem similar to diesel.

If I were to choose, diesel mill would be the pick.

Dealership Experience:
I'm happy with the overall experience at India Garage. I was attended promptly and the SA was knowledgeable enough to share the details. He made sure he held the TD car for me both petrol and diesel. It seems they have 80 bookings and will start delivering in Feb.

Price and Availability:

Any variant or color 4-6 weeks delivery.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by thatsdileep

Came back from Mahindra India Garage showroom in Chennai. Test drove both Petrol and Diesel KUV 1OO (K8). Below is my favorite experience:

Thanks for the details. Nice pictures.

From the side, the car looks better in white color (with those stickers) than in the aqua green color. The sharp curves are not noticed much.





Am I the only one who finds the central console layout little odd and unexpected?

[thatsdileep]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

From the side, the car looks better in white color (with those stickers) than in the aqua green color. The sharp curves are not noticed much.

Yes indeed. The subtle color like white, grey and may be even black (didn't get to see a black vehicle) will hide those side character lines better than in contrasting colors in which they do appear distinctively.

Am I the only one who finds the central console layout little odd and unexpected?

Initially even I had the same feeling from the online pics. But once you get into the cockpit and get a grab of the wheel...it feels alright. The buttery smooth gears (Hyundaiesque) with short throws slot into place without any fuss and are the best from M&M so far. It takes a few minutes to get used to the positioning of the gear shifter being on the dash, but with the big comfortable armrest in the 6 seater option it is so easy to slot those gears in. In the end the 6th seat did work out well...may not be so much for seating itself but as an arm rest. All the controls on the dash are very much accessible from the driver seat.