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Thanks Aditya for your input.

In our family we travel a lot and to some very very remote places and god forbid if anything happens then there is no way the vehicle can be repaired. We experienced this first hand with our XUV 500 W11 (O) during a recent trip to Rishyap (near Lava in Kalimpong district of West Bengal) during Puja holidays in 2018. I was driving from Kalimpong to Rishyap when i saw smoke coming out of the bonnet and a very strong burning smell. I thought that i had burnt the clutch somehow. I stopped the car and opened the bonnet and allowed the engine to cool down. Many local drivers stopped by and inspected the car but none dared to touch anything. Somehow i managed to drive to a nearby hotel in Lava and called the local mechanic and he also refused to open anything. I called Mahindra RSA but due to Puja holidays there was going to be considerable delay. We went through a lot of trauma ... stuck @ 7000 ft above MSL at approx. 100 Kms from Siliguri and not able to move. I understand that this can happen with any component in any car (any make any model) but as they say once bitten twice shy.

Today's cars come preloaded with so much electronics that local mechanics always shy away for even the smallest of problems. That is why we see Mahindra Bolero's, Marshall's, Commander's, Xylo's, Tata Sumo's & Maruti Omni's, 800's ruling in the hills.

Further we actually prefer MT's for our road trips as this gives us more control on our vehicles. For daily office commuting through Kolkata city traffic , you are correct that i may start feeling the need for an automatic 5 years down the line. For this requirement i am planning to buy a sub-4m car with AT then.

Anyways booked the Hexa XT 4x2 Tungsten Silver + Black dual tone with life time tax on 19/July. Expecting delivery by 10th Aug.

Hi everyone

Thanks for sharing your insights and feedback on this awesome vehicle.

I have a need for a comfortable and spacious 7 seater. No other car than Hexa cuts it. While I can stretch to higher budgets SUVs, I believe hexa offers 80% of the car at 50% of the price while outclassing much more expensive competition on parameters like comfort, space, build, finish, automatic transmission etc.

Now the dilemma: XT 4x4 or XTA or XT. Have test driven the automatic today and amazed by how good it is.

Usage:

• Long road trips (2-3 times a year including to leh/slightly remote hills compared to typical Manali trip)
• In-city around 30-40 KMS per day. Have another car S. Cross to share this city duty load
• Driven by driver for 85-90% of the time. I love to drive but avoid the stress mostly

Questions:

• How bad is the manual shifter and clutch combo? I drive an xuv500 along with S cross now and am very comfortable with XUV shifter
• How is the in-gear performance of XT compared to that of XTA? I understand 0-100 gap is close to 3 seconds but that's not a bother for me.
• How would the owners compare manual's performance to XUV's in real world conditions?
• Can the XTA or the XT 2wd take me to leh without fuss? Can manali-leh be done in these cars? Can these cars cross typical obstacles like water streams in these terrains?
• How good is the 4x4 actually in real life? Has it really proven extra useful for real usage conditions?

Please help with your insights. Love the car and leaning towards XT 4x4 but that automatic is a joy.

XTA without a doubt. It should be able to cross normal obstacles. I have a video which my wife took while we went over rocks (foot off the pedal and using the 7KMPH default crawl of XTA), 40KMS beyond Munsyari. The video is a 200MB file so can't really send it across.

One learning: since you are planning mountain trips/bad roads do NOT waste your money on getting the side steps fitted in the Hexa. They were the only problem when going over rough terrain.

You may not be able to go over deep slush/wet muddy tracks which has got to do with the tyres.

Maven, can you please upload it to YouTube and share the link here?

Nikhil

Go for the Hexa AT.
I have test driven the Hexa AT and that AT box is smooth. For reference - I drive a DSG and ZF8 daily.
I have driven to Leh and even to the remote exterior places like Hanle in Tucson AWD MT. I don't recollect the AWD really being summoned anywhere much, but the hard clutch was a sour point through out the trip.
Even if the car is going to be driver driven most of the time, I would get the AT - a good "maalik" cares for his employees :) and driver's left knee is just as precious as mine. And chances of a driver riding hlaf-clutch are way more than a driver abusing an AT. So it's a win win.

Yes, good grippy tyres are more important than AWD, IMO. Of course, if one wants to drive up the ghata loop short cuts, then may be a proper 4WD with low ratio is required.

I booked the beast in Sky Grey. Color choice was kind of simple - Pearl White, Tungsten & Arizona Blue were ruled out (pls don't bash me for that, need to obey home ministry). lol:

So the choice was in between - Urban Bronze and Sky Grey. Junior made the choice and I paid the booking. Now working out the Vitamin M part :)

Shall try answering your questions one by one. 2.5 years back had decided to go with a manual and if given a choice rite now, I'd stick with the same, albeit with a bit of doubt in mind given the quality of the auto box in Hexa.

1. The shifter in Hexa is hard especially for the 1st, 2nd and R gears but is relatively smooth for all the others. Compared to XUV, the stick vibrates more and overall feels a bit hard. As per my understanding, RWDs tend to have a notchy gear box and the gear lever vibrates a bit when compared to that of a FWD (please correct me if wrong).

2. Having driven both the manual and auto, its always the manual for me when it comes to accelerations, engine braking, rev-matching through the ghats, etc as all these aspects give you a more tighter control of the car. No matter how good the auto box is, i would any day prefer a manual for all the highway drives cause the involvement with the machine is more and yes, in case of emergencies, its a bit easier to troubleshoot for the local mechs. Also, if it's a 4X2, in emergencies (touchwood), you can have it towed rather than wait for a flat bed which is the case for an auto or 4x4.

3. No idea of XUV with regards to Hexa but my observation is that the body roll is contained, ride is way more smooth and all these should help in reducing fatigue.

Regarding capabilities of the manual or the auto, both are more than sufficient to ensure you have a safe and smooth trip across different road and environment conditions.

If your sole purpose for an auto is with regards to traffic, you can as well have an automatic hatchback at hand. Be it auto or manual, there's no point crawling in the city with this beast looking for parking on a weekend!
However, if you use Hexa for more highway runs than city, I'd suggest you to go with the manual.
Having said all these, the auto is a brilliant car to drive and would infact lessen your fatigue in ghats, but also takes away the excitement by a certain extent. Its your personal call!

On another note regarding the need for 4x4, i decided to go with 4x2 thinking the RWD should be sufficient to come out of situations that am likely to face. However, there have been several occasions where I've wished for a 4x4, though my car didn't disappoint me anytime and I've managed to come out of such situations (with some effort).

Hope you get the right variant as per your priority and needs and keep us updated!

My tryst with cars began with cars began with a humble 1953 Fiat Millecento (which still is the pride of my garage) then gradually moving on to many other cars like Skoda Octavia, Skoda Laura, Mercedes W124 and then finally settling as a daily driver with a Mahindra Scorpio, i've owned all generations of scorpios right up till the S10.





i've been a massive fan of the Scorpio since my travels are extensive and sometimes in remote rural areas and at times have waded waters, conquered treacherous terrains with the Scorpio.

The S10 was acquired in late 2015. and till May 2019 it served me well clocking 1.2 Lakh Kms. time had come to move on to another Scorpio but when i looked at the S11 and looked at the price sheet i couldn't digest the fact that it was just shy of 18.5 lakhs on road but it missed out of lots of bells and whistles and for the first time the wait for the next model was too long. now there was nothing wrong with the S10 it worked like new every time and was well taken care of at NBS Auto Goregaon workshop. but with a growing family and aging parents i had to bid adieu to the might "Zeppelin".
thus began the hunt for a new SUV, looked up quite a few options.
my requirements were
-Automatic (since it will be strictly be driven by me,none of my drivers touch my personal car)
-can seat 5+2 comfortably (with enough space for a weekends luggage)
- Abuse Friendly

- Good ICE

- Plush, planted ride (which is an Achilles heel for the Scorpio since the beginning)


Contenders

- Scorpio S11 (interiors are a let down, doesn't feel like a 19 Lakh Car, lacks basic modern bells and whistles)

- Tata Hexa (Obvious choice, since it offered more bang for the buck and ticked all the right boxes)

- Creta (nice but doesn't feel abuse friendly, also little cramped)

- Harrier (little rough around the edges but can shine through, but manual and rides funny)

- Pre Worshipped Mitsubishi Montero (absolutely was almost a done deal but, was a out state car so registrations etc would cost me a bomb, plus it was a 2009 model which was a little too old for me)

- Pre Worshipped Pajero SFX (could've bought it, just to fulfill my midlife crisis but going all guns blazing on the 4x4 mods but head won over heart this time)


The Winner

I had initially booked the S11, but wasn't too sure, heart said Scorpio while the brain said Hexa. After a lot of detailed analysis later i went and cancelled my booking for the Scorpio and Immediately went and signed the dotted line for Hexa. Concorde Motors had 2 white ones in stock at the plant and i was given a 10 day delivery deadline.
loans were arranged swiftly

Finally after a lot of test drives zeroed in on the Hexa XMA (the XTA was crossing the 20lakh mark which i wasn\'t keen on overstepping.
Things i like:
- Automatic Gearbox is next level !
- Suspension is planted, plush and irons out mumbai craters pretty easily.
- space, space, space !


It makes a lot of sense to go the extra mile and buy the XTA, but frankly i ran out of Vitamin M & had to settle for the XMA





things i miss in the XMA in comparison to the higher XTA trim:
- Fogs Lamps (c'mon on a 19 lakh car the XTA type fog lamps are an added accessory for 15K, that is too steeply priced IMHO)
- Alloys (16" ones are 40K and the beautiful 19" are for 1.2 lakhs)
- Woofer (the XTA has a superb 10 speaker deep bass JBL ICE but XMA only get a 8 speaker setup - plus there is not possibility of an upgrade)


- Cruise control, automatic headlamps and wipers are not much of a deal breaker for me.


Booking Process
Made a few calls to both Wasan & Concorde Motors, but Concorde were more professional, the blokes at Wasan have the typical lackadaisical attitude which i didn't like.

so finally made the purchase from Concorde Motors Malad, and the delivery happened at the Prabhadevi Showroom, since i wanted it to be like an occasion and the showroom fit the bill.


Initial Impressions
Coming from a Scorpio the Hexa feels ginormous, thanks to its dimensions and a heavier steering. It takes its time to move off the mark unlike the Manual Scorpio which is quick off its feet. The engine refinement levels are not Innova like but coming from a Scorpio it feels refined, but i always like some kind of grunt and vibrations since it makes me connect with the car.( blame me for the fact i learnt driving on a '53 Millecento and Vibrations and engine noise are a thing.)


It has good visibility but i do miss the higher commanding view of the Scorpio, especially with the bonnet in full view giving you added confidence in tight spots.

Mods/Upgrades Planned

- Alloys (i'm keen on the 19" but they're turning out a bit expensive, plus i'm not sure about its performance)
- XTA trim FOG Lamps (the normal round ones don't look good, so XTA one is what i'm planning to get done from TATA A.S.S only)
- Blackened Roof (just some cosmetic upgrade, frankly the white looks like a Taxi)
- 3M Sunfilm (with the massive glasshouse the heat seeps through even in this July sun)
- Woofer (the stock ICE is good and sounds rich for a stock setup but the lack of a woofer robs it of the rich deep bass)
- Seat Covers (getting a tasty deal from Tata on the Tan Seat Covers but i'm more keen on ORCHIS, reviews needed)

That might be a challenge. Thing is, I don’t use any of such products, no google search, Facebook or cloud included. :)

Congratulations. Very good AT box it is :thumbs up

Additional information on your team-bhp profile says:
Hear about Team-BHP:
"came up in a google search"

:)

Must be 8-9 years ago. It’s been Duck Duck Go and Safari browser for sure since 2014.

Wow clap: You must be using Bing search in that case. stupid: Or anything else?

so 1000 kms later, my office watchman pointed this out to me.
my particular XMA variant doesn't have the HEXA embossing on the side chrome trim piece.
wrote to Tata Motors and the Dealership (Concorde motors) yet to get a response from the dealership, the brand has obviously delegated this to the dealership. i''m not sure if it is a one off case, coz i saw 2-3 XMA's flaunting the embossing.
experts throw some light on this.

It is one of the features that has been removed by TATA. There is a list of features that were deleted from TATA cars and, unsurprisingly, there's a dedicated thread to it. You will get all the details there!

i went through the thread apparently my car seems like a mixed bag,
it has the Hexa Branding on the clove box chiller, but doesn't have it on the chrome (also i couldn't find it anywhere on the thread about this particular embossing missing) on the threads.
the sunglass holder on drivers side is missing too despite the brochure having it.