I test drove a Mahindra BE 6; Impressed by the self-parking feature

The drive mode selector feels really cool to operate and power delivery even in the "range" mode is enough to effortlessly overtake most of the things on road

BHPian ashishk29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Mahindra BE6 first impressions

Build feels impressive. Panel gaps are pretty consistent and neatly done. The pain finish was particularly very nice.

Ingress and Egress is a bit of a challenge, even for the front seats. The floor is high, and the roof is low. I did end up banging my head against the roof while getting in. I guess needs some getting used to. Nothing I would hold against the car.

The overall ergo is pretty amazing. Good posture, good view up the front, the "halo" doesn't intrude the passenger or driver space. More than happy on that front. The interiors feel a bit dark given the dark upholstery all around. Not an issue for me personally. I like it.

The drive mode selector feels really cool to operate. I liked the Parking button on the side. Power delivery even in the "range" mode is enough to leave most of the things on road far behind. "Race" mode is pretty much not needed anywhere within city limits. Not much to say there. It's an EV with a 282hp motor. Of course the damn thing is FAST.

The steering felt nice and light to use. It was a bit smaller than I'd anticipated, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Makes it easy to go lock-to-lock. The horn pads are very easily accessible. Also the horn is pretty loud, especially with no engine noise to muffle it.

The semi-active suspension gave a very nice ride. It was stiff enough to handle well, but didn't send waves in the cabin on bad patches. Happy with the state of tune.

The HUD is implemented REALLY well. It even has blind-spot indications within the HUD, which IMO is a game-changer. The HUD was crisp and displayed navigation well. My only qualm: it doesn't work well with polarised sunglasses. I mean that's a given, considering the HUD works explicitly by reflecting off the glass. But apart from that, I really liked how the HUD projects data. It doesn't stick to the bottom of the windscreen like I've seen in some cars. It floats out in the lower quadrant of the view, and is very clearly visible even in direct sunlight.

The console and infotainment system are responsive and smooth. No lag, no glitches. It's quite convenient to browse it through the joystick-esque dial on the center console.

Also a very important bit: You can control ALL the A/C settings using the joystick. You don't have to use the touch-screen to do it. I am a strong proponent of not using the touch screen for important controls, and this is a very decent half-way implementation. While there are no separate buttons for AC, the joystick and on-screen menu are easy enough to navigate even while driving.

And finally on to the cherry on top: Self-parking. Again, the implementation is thoroughly impressive. It doesn't need street markings! You can simply select a rectangle in the 360 camera view on the touch screen, and initiate self park. And the car just freaking does it! I even panic braked a couple of times out of reflex, but the showroom rep urged me not to, and she seemed to be fairly confident. And she was right. I ended up testing it in a couple of different ways and it worked so well. I did not expect self park to be fully functional even at the test drive phase, so I was just flabbergasted.

Overall, I am starting to fell the inklings of a temptation forming.

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