[Nilesh5417]

Great review manson! Makes me want to loot a bank Honestly, its a crime to compare the XUV500 with any other SUV esp since most fall in the higher price bracket. Its probably the first feature packed SUV that people can afford. People who buys sedans cause there is no SUV option in reach.

The proof that the pricing and package is right from Mahindra's is in the sold out board! Further bookings deferred says the TOI today.

[raul]

Can anyone confirm the kerb weight and gross weight of the car, I have it as 1750kg kerb and 2450kg as gross but some folks mention 2450kg as kerb weight which would be a lot.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Most of my long ride were never on super smooth highway. It is mostly remote part of the India and the road surface were not smooth. My Palio handles it very well with 2 on-board, but if it is fully loaded, 4 occupants, the ride become hard.

How it is with XUV 500? is it bumpy or soft on remote side of the country? Most of the time I will drive with my Wife and Son.

[Ksingh544]

Just to add my 2 bits onto a comprehensive review, the 1 review which everyone on this forum waited with baited breath. Great job, thanks a lot.

The clutch for me is too light for a vehicle of this size, but then as a friend pointed out my last 2 vehicles have been a tempo trax & 2.6 crde scorpio so maybe im used to a heavier clutch.

I know the vehicle is heavily overbooked but im worried M&M may take this to be a sign of over confidence and their customer service is going to become slack. having been for the launch in delhi & then again for the TD i could sense a cocky attitude; the sales exec didnt even bother explaining anything of the car to me during the TD(not that we at bhp need it) but all the same that sale experience should not ever be compromised.

I hope they get this aspect of their sales delivery together because as GTO put it this is truly a game changer ; all eyes on Force One now !!

[man_and_machine]

Great! So the XUV deserves a consideration when a 12L budget for a diesel is set aside. There is and ad in the TOI in Bangalore from Mahindra for thanking/apologizing for the booking/stopping of booking on the XUV.

I would really wait and watch for ownership reviews on Team-Bhp especially on the ***.

[Silhouette]

Originally Posted by manson

The Smaller yet significant things:

Body-coloured white scuff plate looks terribly out of place here:

Thats vinyl sticker to protect chrome...

Thanks for the super cool review and specially awesome pics !

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by skuz

~have a stupid doubt.. Say i am standing in the middle of a GQ, and the following vehicles are coming at me at say 150 km/hr (no brickbats, am not driving, am just taking the role of the stupid jaywalker) - XUV, fortuner, innova, crv - which car should i jump in front of, to save my skin

None, its not the brakes but about the person who supposed to be pressing them

[sahakar]

Awesome review as always.

Expect a flood of bookings when they reopen.

Only concern is the reliability.

Hope Mahindra can make sure that the niggles are rectified quickly for owners as I don't think the reliability factor is gonna stop people from buying this one.

Cheers

[naveenvenkatesh]

Awesome review. Tbhp is getting better with each review and raising the bar higher.

Coming to the vehicle, its one superb package. This vehicle can easily conquer the 12-20 lac rupees market. Makes a compelling case for itself. I only hope MM can match the package with similar after sales.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

Why is such a hoopla being made over the lack of space in the 3rd row? This car is not a people mover. Having a 3rd row is a 'good to have' feature, not a necessity. If you want a 3rd row, get a Xylo or an Innova or an Aria. This is an SUV. 5 people is what most people will ever want to seat in it.

Originally Posted by nevertouchme

exactly, I wonder why?
take a safari, those jump seats are simply useless & no complaints there? rightly said, it's an SUV and not an MUV.

There is no hoopla, it is just an observation and a drawback of the vehicle. Also, the XUV is not an SUV IMHO, it just looks like one. A colleague was interested and booked one, but had a tough time explaining to his family that this is not to be considered as a 7 seated as the last 2 seats cannot be used by any other than children or adults under 5'2". They were like, what's the point, the Innova is better.

I don't mean to suggest in any way that the Innova is better, it is just to point out that a lot of people do think that way. And it is amplified by the fact that this will be the first step into the 10+L bracket for a number of people, my colleague included.

Separately, that also brings me to think that a lot of people will be happy with the A.S.S provided by Mahindra and their Purple Club. I don't really expect there to be many complaints about the vehicle, except the last row. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm reasonably sure.

[kaiserketkar]

Originally Posted by manson

Ample 200 mm of ground clearance. Spare wheel will not be easy to remove. Meaty looking exhaust tips:

Is the process of taking out the spare tyre the same as in the Scorpio? Why do you think the spare will not be easy to remove?

Originally Posted by manson

Seen here are the controls for the start-stop system, ESP OFF and the hill descent (extreme left):

What is that last switch beyond the hill descent control? Why would you need a switch for seat belts?

Originally Posted by manson

The clutch isn’t too heavy, but it isn't effortless to use either. Whoever drove the XUV5OO had some sort of complaint with the clutch pedal.

Although I didn't get a chance to TD the 500, the clutch pedal at standstill did seem quite a bit more tense than my 2.2 mHawk Scorpio. Wonder if we'll have a repeat of the 2.6 Scorpio days!

Originally Posted by GTO

Mahindra would do well to make free pickup and drop-off mandatory for every XUV5OO sold. The lesser the number of XUV customers that visit a Mahindra workshop, the better

Amen to that! Current facilities at M&M workshops are at best suitable only for drivers and taxi owners.

Originally Posted by manson

The exact intervals would be indicated in the owner's manual. However, I expect the XUV to have identical service intervals as the Scorpio, i.e. 5,000 kms because the XUV uses the same 2.2 MHawk motor in a different tune.

Although, the Scorpio has a 5k service interval, alternate intervals are pretty much checkup and topup services. I hope they'll change that to the more convenient 10k intervals for the 500. Would make the load at the workshops also lighter [especially considering the initial response- the fact that there'll be a sudden surge of vehicles for free service a few months down the road]

[manson]

Originally Posted by R.I.P

What i fail to understand is how were they inspired by a cheetah.

Neither is it lean as a cheetah, nor does it look like one from the front. I mean from which angle do they think it looks like one?

From the 'PR' talk I gathered their Cheetah angle implies the 'go anywhere' character of the XUV. IMHO the XUV would have sold as many numbers even without that cheesy resemblance.

Originally Posted by Guna

One of the things I noticed is, the door trim is all hard plastic. Soft Padding around the body contact points would have given nice feel

The door trim is infact done in soft touch material.

[niks_devil666]

Great review ! the xuv looks great and the pricing is spot on
is the AWD version a full time 4wd?

[inomad]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

Why is such a hoopla being made over the lack of space in the 3rd row? This car is not a people mover. Having a 3rd row is a 'good to have' feature, not a necessity. If you want a 3rd row, get a Xylo or an Innova or an Aria. This is an SUV. 5 people is what most people will ever want to seat in it.

You said it mate! And that is not just a functional difference between an Aria (essentially an MUV) and XUV... but a difference of character trait! which comes through in it's stance and radical design.

I'd like to borrow the term from bicycles where they have 2 kinds of hybrid cycles: road focused and mountain focused. Even in crossovers there should be 2 types: Aria is a people-mover focussed Crossover whereas XUV 500 is a off-road focussed crossover!

[revved_up]

Fantastic review guys and totally agree, this one is a game-changer!

Originally Posted by kaiserketkar

What is that last switch beyond the hill descent control? Why would you need a switch for seat belts?

I think that might be the passenger airbag off switch.