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-   -   Mahindra Scorpio : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/157090-mahindra-scorpio-official-review-31.html)

Recently, as part of the Mahindra Himalyan Spiti Escape, I drove the 4wd-S10 version for 10 days for approx 1500 KMs over highways, hilly tracks, bad roads, no roads, hill climbing, and some offroad also.

The detailed travelouge is here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...adventure.html

My observations on the 4wd-S10 (The vehicle had done ~10K kms and is part of the Mahindra Adventure fleet):

• The 2.2 mHawk engine is one gem of an engine. For a diesel, it's revv happy and has good low end torque. A good highway cruiser and mile-muncher. The engine has a different characteristics at cruising speeds (barely audible/refined) and noticeable roughness at lugging/slow highway speeds and distinct diesel clatter.
• At high altitude, as would be the case with most other vehicles, I could see a perceptible difference in power delivery. The rpm at which it idled increased a bit and had to revv a bit more to get it into the power band. However, no where it felt that it would not go through.
• The ride/handling is LOT better than outgoing Scorpio but still there. You can get a bit queasy if not in the driver seat -- especially on hilly roads. However, the suspension works great on rough roads and can take lots of abuse. One can go though rough sections at speed and it handles nicely for a ladder on frame vehicle (not in same league as a duster though)
• Creature comforts - Good. Liked the entertainment unit which integrates a LOT of stuff into it. Used the cruise control at highway sections and found it to be nice. However, the buttons on the steering wheel for music control/etc are not so intuitive. Not sure if it's just me but I couldn't get used to using them without taking my eye off the road, even after a week of using them. The wipers can be better. Used them a LOT while driving (dusty roads) and they feel from a segment down. I mean, they do their work -- just about -- but they can be a lot lot better.
• I personally found the seats to be lacking lumbar/back support. Seats (in totality -- fabric included) do not befit the top-end-trim. Seating position however is great with all round visibility. The dimensions of the vehicle are good (compared to other expensive SUV's or even a Safari) for our narrow hilly tracks. No where we felt that size was an issue on those narrow switchbacks.
• I was personally satisfied with the 4WD capabilities of the Scorpio. It had enough of torque/power and I felt comfortable to take on any terrain that this vehicle will ever go to. 2nd/3rd gears in 4WD-L is what i used to crawl up the hill tracks for offroad. I personally feel that the low end torque in Scorpio feels lot more than the Thar -- maybe this is due to the different gear ratios also. If one needs a vehicle for farm/village tracks, once a while hill road/track drives, broken roads, and an all rounder with all creature comforts, the S10 4WD can fit the bill nicely. (I have no idea of the cost part, so will refrain from the VFM aspect of this version)

Here is a small update I had with Mahindra and the Scorpio. Registered for the Test drive n the website for the automatic and within 24 hours got a call from the Call Centre in Mumbai, confirming all the details and explaining the main features of the car. 48 Hours later get a call from the dealer, he asked me to come to the showroom, to which I told him I would like to have the test drive at my residence. He claims you can have the test drive but of the manual, Mahindra does not give test drive of the Automatic. I ask him, how does one decide then, he claims customers buy it without a test drive, I was quite surprised as the Hyundai dealer also told me this regarding Creta. I immediately tweeted regarding the same to Mr Anand Mahindra and Dr Pawan Goenka, within minutes I get reply back tweets from Mahindra Customer Care and within an hour I get a call from the GM of the Dealer claiming that they do not have a automatic test drive vehicle in entire Delhi NCR. HE requested me to come to the showroom, would then take me to the workshop and then would offer me a small test drive. My question is are Automobile Brands taking the Indian Consumers for a ride or we have all turned a blind eye to the whims and fancies of dealers.

I had a totally opposite final experience. I too showed my interest in AT Scorpio online on Mahindra website. Got a call from Mumbai and then subsequently call from Delhi dealer who offered me test drive of AT at my residence. I asked them again and again that I want AT only and trey confirmed every time that yes, it's an AT.

Finally one Sunday the guy comes to my home as agreed and I see the Scorpio AT at my building. Took a TD, mighty impressed, though coming from MT vehicle (with spirited driving always), I am still clueless on AT transmission, esp the pickup.

However would give 5 stars to Mahindra for the follow up and test drive of the vehicle at my doorstep.

The other day I saw AT Scorpio at CP with test drive stickers.

Do call Koncept Mahindra, they have AT car for test drive.

After thinking a lot between options, where none other than Scorpio AT ticked, I will be soon booking the AT Scorpio.

Do let me know if you need the phone number of the sales agent who brought AT Scorpio to my home for test drive.

Thank you so much for letting me know about your positive experience :) Instills a lot of confidence. I have also heard good things about Koncept Mahindra. If you could share the number of the Sales Agent will be really helpful.

Coming to the point you made that you are clueless about the AT transmission, weren't you happy after the TD as you said that the AT ticks all the boxes. By when are you planning to book the vehicle, I could join you and we could book it together?

Sure, here you go. Call Narendra at 9711610465. He had come to my home with Scorpio AT for test drive.

I am yet to understand the AT behavior (in general) of cars. Since I do spirited driving of manual box car, the AT transmission doesn't give me that pedal to metal driving exhilaration.

I will book the car most probably from Mumbai. However, that might be Jan 2016.

Scorpio has been a car I had been leching on for past several years, so its my first choice. Plus it can handle abuse of UP villages of non-existent roads where I travel very frequently. It ticks all my requirements. (Diesel, big vehicle, nice driving seating position, 8 seater option, strong build etc etc)

All the best to you for your car purchase.

MSN report here comparing Scorpio against Creta!

Especially in the AT segment MM's got a USP with a 4x4 CVT.

A "real SUV" vs an OEM claimed "perfect SUV!"


http://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/...a3T?li=AAaeRVN

Friends,

I am in the market for my next car. I had almost zeroed on Scorpio S10, untill I drove a XUV last week (W10). To be very honest, my budget is 15 lac, now I am totally confused! Need suggestions and directions too!

I am looking at picking up a S10 4x4 AT soon. Appreciate if you can briefly describe how your TD with the Scoprio AT went.

Best,
Krish

It was good, however coming from manual transmission I didn't get that kick to squeeze and shoot. However the car is fantastic to drive. I somehow didn't like small door window, my santro door window is much wider than Scorpio.

But you don't get everything in one package.

Would also recommend you speak to purohitanuj, he has already bought S10 AT.

On the steering wheel of S10/XUV & maybe S8, what is the ACK button meant for? I tried pressing it to see as to what it does do, but nothing happened. Any pointers?

There is no ACK button on the steering wheel of XUV. Instead we have a Voice command button.

I am not sure it is for Voice Command as the manual does not mention about a button "ACK".

The quick start guide from Scorpio website has a different button in place of ACK button. As per the quick start guide this button is supposed to be the Voice Message enable/disable button.



In the owners manual under Voice Messaging section various scenarios for the voice messages are described. There the following is mentioned.
So I think this button is for acknowledging the voice alert.

Hello everybody on the Scorpio interest forum,

I just did a TD of a Scorpio S10 Automatic 4x2 in Pune.
My wife and I took turns driving it for a short distance, while my daughter was passing 'experts comments'.

My first impressions:
- A good smooth ride. On a smooth road, it felt inferior to the City (which I drive) and on a bad road, it felt very superior.
- The turning radius of 5.4 m - was so good that my wife took a U-turn without having to take it back and forth.
- With no fear of the engine stalling, it was easier to concentrate on the road issues. I have driven the S10 4x2 Manual and even though that was easy to drive, this was much better!
- Drove on narrow twisting road and could not reach 6th gear. The gearing seemed to be designed for fuel efficiency rather than performance - I loved it.
- The mini-hybrid feature was not there. In a way I was happy. However, I would have preferred to have it - with the driver having the option to put it ON or OFF.

The adviser from Sahyadri Motors was real nice and friendly. He did not put any restrictions on the road or distance for the TD. My daughter was hungry so we took a short TD only.

For him, this was the first automatic car! So, I knew about the N/W switch (thanks to Team BHP and Mahindra Scorpio site) and he had no idea. Credit to him - he admitted it freely.

The only issue I faced was when it came to using the M mode. The car went into 1st gear and even after raising the rpm/speed it stayed there! Maybe I got impatient! Anyway, could not find how to use it! The adviser too did not know!

I found that this dealer is selling 50~70 Scorpios per month, 25~30 XUVs per month and a little less of the other models. In this background, selling 1 Scorpio Automatic in about 4 months scared me! So what happens if I take one and it does not click in the market??!! In spite of being a good car, I might have a lot of maintenance issues - specially related to the auto gear box. So I am thinking that I will wait for 6 months or so and then decide.

Any and all opinions are welcome.

To top it, I am expecting the XUV automatic to come out! I hope that will be even better. Unfortunately, it will be costlier by 3~4 lakh Rs!

Sharing our feedback in their garage - visually comparing the XUV and Scorpio my family felt that the interior of the XUV was much better than the Scorpio. According to the adviser, the third row of the Scorpio is much better than the XUV - specially if you go in for the Captain Seats. Unfortunately, I could not get to see a single car with Captain seats to verify this. I remember reading somewhere in Team BHP that someone else has also felt that the 3rd row is effective in Scorpio but not in XUV.

Also, comparing the Zoomcar experience of XUV W6 with the Scoprio automatic, the family felt that the vibration and noise of the XUV was more! Ouch! But, both agreed that the exposure was short.

So now I can wait for about 6 months and decide between TUV, Scorpio and XUV Automatics! Maybe there will be other choices too! Looking forward to being a customer who is pampered with too many choices! Touch-wood!

Is there some way of finding out how many Automatics are being sold by Mahindra?

I have experienced the third rows of both XUV and Scorpio captain seat variant. In Scorpio, one adult can sit in the middle of third row (with legs stretched forward between second row seats), making the vehicle suitable for 5 adults only. The children would not like to sit on the third row(behind the captain seats) with an adult between them. :). Taking into consideration the ride quality of scorpio, third row in Scorpio is BAD.
In XUV, 5 adults can sit in first two rows and 2 adults (or 2 children) in the third row(although not very comfortable). Legroom is OK for people 5'-8" or shorter in XUV third row.

I am eagerly waiting for the Travelogue. Also, can you please pm me your contact details. I plan to pick up an S10 AT 4WD and I would like to speak/correspond with you regarding some questions that I have before I take the plunge.

Best,
Krish