Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV500 : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinucv (Post 3273785)

Done my first long drive (1600 KM) after I got my XUV in September. Quite happy with overall performance of Cheetah. Was able to touch 165 without even letting others know. Of course my wife got alerted due to the beep sound when crossing 150 so couldn't go any further. Have used almost all the features without any flaws (Cruise, Auto Wipers, Bluetooth,Auto Lamps, Static Bending lights etc..) Even had chance to experience the ESP effect :)

Exception was with MMI (GPS). This guy misguided me several times which made me very uncomfortable relying on it. Also felt slight lagging in 4th gear (at times when slowing down from 5th gear and then accelerating again) and couple of times had to jump the gears from 5th to 3rd. Not sure if this is an issue or normal behavior.

Another funny incident - One day I started getting noise from AC blower unit and upon taking it to the ASC, it was found to be a rat stuck inside the unit. It took one and a half hours for the guys to remove and clean the mess. Treatment received at the service center was excellent and they haven't charged anything for this :thumbs up

Overall happy with the Cheetah so far... fingers crossed....

Of course I donot want to experience ESP effect :) but how is Cruise mode? where did you try this? I have done 35K+ in 18 months so far on my XUV but never tried Cruise mode. Anything specific to remember if I try this time?

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Originally Posted by Maky (Post 3273896)

Thanks Sommos but I was inquiring about On road prices. I'd go to the dealership myself but this is season period for my business and can't seem to find the time.
I would also like to know dealer recommendations for Mahindra in Mumbai : ).

Just call up NBS International.
Google and you will get their numbers.
They will email you OTR prices.

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Originally Posted by xuvian (Post 3273998)

Drove in almost 60-65% cruise mode during my last 1500+ km trip - the first time I could make the best use of this feature. And was pretty happy with it. The roads I took were pretty good with possibility of cruising easily at high speeds. Now though the roads were good, there ofcourse was all those trucks and other slow moving vehicles. So I used a technique to reduce the strain on my legs, which I wont say is the exact way to use the cruise control, but something I consider the Indian way. :D

The technique I used was set the cruise at a slightly higher speed range. Everytime I had to slow down the car without the need to downshift from 6th gear, I would just press the RES button to re-engage the cruise and the car would accelerate from the current speed to the set speed. So basically most of the times I could drive with just using the brakes to slow down and the RES to accelerate. And where possible I was able to cruise at the set speed for stretches.

FundaG

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse (Post 3274082)

Just call up NBS International.
Google and you will get their numbers.
They will email you OTR prices.

Thanks will do.

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Originally Posted by fundagenie (Post 3274360)

Drove in almost 60-65% cruise mode during my last 1500+ km trip - the first time I could make the best use of this feature. And was pretty happy with it.

Thanks for sharing.

Could you tell me how was the ride quality like? As mentioned in the earlier article they have made efforts to improve ride and handling and I would like to know if you are satisfied with both the high speed and low speed ride quality?

Why not W2 version Mahindra? With W4 they are not omitting the features like Air bags and ABS with some other small features. If they remove that they can surely price it below 10 L and that will be really great to gain the large numbers. Even Base models of Duster, Terrano, Safari don't have these features. So its OK to have one model like that. It will make sure that Mahindra gets large numbers. Not sure why Mahindra is not thinking about it. If they can launch W2 with price tag of say 9.49 L, it will be really great & will steal many numbers from others IMHO :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by xuvian (Post 3274375)

Thanks FundaG. Truck traffic would slow you down to 30km/h speed lot times. Its interesting that you could maintain 6th gear.

Yup it does. But those times I will have to downshift. But the times I dint have to downshift and there was enough RPM, I used the technique. Also the road I took was the NH7 from bangalore to trivandrum and back, which is a pretty good highway with the trucks/buses not creating much fuss. Which meant I could drive without slowing down too much. And the reason I could manage 60-65% of cruise mode driving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maky (Post 3274432)

Could you tell me how was the ride quality like? As mentioned in the earlier article they have made efforts to improve ride and handling and I would like to know if you are satisfied with both the high speed and low speed ride quality?

Mine is a Aug 2012 model and have done close to 20k kms so far. I was always happy with both the ride quality, handling as well as the driving experience. Except during the initial long trips when some niggle or the other used to surface and I also was just bonding with the beast. Also the brakes were replaced to the latest models prior to the trip. Infact it was the first time after a year of ownership, I could make the full use of the car. During the last few long distance trips something or the other would not be working.

FundaG

Quote:

Originally Posted by fundagenie (Post 3274360)

The technique I used was set the cruise at a slightly higher speed range. Everytime I had to slow down the car without the need to downshift from 6th gear, I would just press the RES button to re-engage the cruise and the car would accelerate from the current speed to the set speed. So basically most of the times I could drive with just using the brakes to slow down and the RES to accelerate. And where possible I was able to cruise at the set speed for stretches.

FundaG

This is exactly what I was using :) This way you can go in cruise mode as long as possible and after you are required to slow down a bit, just press "RES" to get back to the earlier speed without straining your legs. It works well on highways and I was on Chennai - Trichy road. Had to use "RES" a lot due to slow moving trucks but was worth it.
I too liked the handling and stability of Cheetah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aniketi (Post 3274489)

Well, we on team-bhp have been shouting over rooftops as to how manufacturers should stop skimping on ABS and Airbags for any variant, so I would rather say three cheers to Mahindra for not compromising on the safety aspect. They might also not want to reduce the price too much rest it overlaps with the Scorpio, specially when a new one is around the corner.

And more so, since people are driving the XUV at 150 plus speeds as per this forum :Shockked: Where do you manage to do such speeds guys? I feel jittery taking any vehicle beyond 100 Kmph, no matter how good the highway.

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Originally Posted by avisidhu (Post 3274966)

And more so, since people are driving the XUV at 150 plus speeds as per this forum :Shockked: Where do you manage to do such speeds guys? I feel jittery taking any vehicle beyond 100 Kmph, no matter how good the highway.

Please bring it to the moderator's notice by using the report post button.

Sorry, to play spoil sport here, but couldn't help. Mention of high-speeds on public roads is no no.

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Originally Posted by avisidhu (Post 3274966)

See my point is not all follow T-BHP and not all Indians are T-BHP members. I know its sad but its true. People in India looks for how VFM (read Cheap) car is when they buy one for them. That is how our market works. All the manufacturers are doing same thing, so i dont see any problem M&M doing it for their XUV.

Also one point to note here is many people in India (i have seen some) use their cars mostly in city. They hardly travel on highways. Also their driving style is very sedate and they hardly exceed speeds like 100 +. So they dont feel that they require such things in their cars. I somewhat agree to them also. So my point is, if M&M launch such a version (W2), it will be a sure shot hit in the market. They will gain large numbers with that. Not bad thing for them. Also i dont think it will overlap Scorpio as audience is different IMO. Even though it happens, at the end of the day Mahindra will sell either XUV or Scorpio, not bad thing at all lol:

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Originally Posted by aniketi (Post 3275377)

What you are saying does make sense, its just that the way things are going downhill wrt road manners and highway incidents, it feels nice to see a manufacturer (an indian one in fact) not skimping on safety features.

As for city vs highway, it has been an entire topic of discussion in earlier forums here. But just to cite one instance, a person doing city runs between noida, delhi and gurgaon on the ring road will frequently reach triple digit speeds. Not to forget late nights/early mornings that let a vehicle strech its legs no matter where.

Friends in Bangalore, need help on recommended Mahindra dealer for test-drive, buying XUV. Started thinking of upgrading. Tight race between Storme and XUV. Would like to give XUV a shot first as owned, driven enough Tata in my life. No grudges, all well for me with their cars.

Or is isn't there anything called as recommended dealers :D

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Originally Posted by ambujlal (Post 3275703)

Hi I got mine from Anant. But had heard good reviews for sireesh from few friends. While Anant experience has been good but nothing I think that sets apart from the other. So I think it's all left to the deal process and certain vibes u get...