Mahindra Thar Reviews

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High points from the biennial Delhi motor show include a well set-up SUV that now has an ambitious auto option. Bill Buys reports.

SUVs and hybrids were the flavour of the month at last week's Delhi Auto Expo, India's big biennial event.

Once you get past the predictable jibes and the plasticky smell inside, the new Mahindra XUV500 is something decent from the big |Indian manufacturer - light years ahead of the rather horrible Pik-Up ute.At $30,000 - $33,000 for front wheel drive and all wheel drive respectively, buyers get plenty of vehicle for the money, but no bargain basement prices.The new compact XUV (SUV) is pitted against some classy competition in the small soft roader segment and arrives fighting, loaded with goodies that add considerably to its appeal.It's an entirely new vehicle on a new platform with a new powertrain from Mahindra itself which also happens to own Korean outfit SsangYong.You can already see discernible cross pollination - coming from the SsangYong side into Mahindra. The engine feels just like a SsangYong to drive and bits of the interior including the door locking system are familiar. The monocoque body is about the same dimensions as a RAV4 and it's slightly larger inside allowing for a third row of seats for seven pews in total.That's a lot of bods in a not very big vehicle but they all fit pretty well thanks in part to the upright rear roof section and tailgate. The car looks impressive on the street, certainly not as hokey as the Pik-Up.This one is quite pukka especially from the front and sides. To their credit, Mahindra developed their own styling for XUV and it's distinctive. But the interior is outdated in style and function, looking years old - like earlier Korean and Malaysian efforts in its design, materials and function.Despite being a throwback there's plenty of modern technology like voice control, Bluetooth and satnav among a generous list of goodies. The faux woodgrain is a tad tacky and the dash panel fit is only OK. You'll need spectacles to see the tiny writing on the controls that dot the cabin capped by a set of retro looking but high-tech dials sticking up in front of the wheel.Mahindra has put attractive two-tone leather upholstery into the vehicle along with climate control, tyre pressure monitor, auto headlights and wipers and a reasonable audio system. Some touch screen functions are provided.The engine is an in-house effort as is the six speed manual-only transmission. XUV is sold in two variants - front wheel drive and all wheel drive and only one high spec' W8 level. The diesel is a 2.2-litre with variable geometry turbo and is good for 103kW/330Nm output - no complaints there. Fuel economy is a respectable 6.7-litres/100km from the 1785kg all wheel drive model and on demand system.Safety rates four stars from ANCAP thanks in part to six airbags, stability control and roll-over mitigation system.It's an interesting thing to drive, good in parts like the curate's egg. There's a daft engine stop/start system that can be easily tricked into stopping and then not starting again without a full shut down. But the engine itself has plenty of pull from low in the revs aided by pretty good gearing from the rubbery shifting manual box.Our test vehicle had an annoying drivetrain rumble from 80-110kmh. The Mahindra is a reasonable thing to drive, bit coarse, bit old school actually. But it is practical, has an excellent turning circle and easy to fold flat seats. We reckon 1000km range would be achievable.

The Mahindra XUV500 is a pivotal vehicle for the Indian marque, Mahindra. Until late 2011 the company says it made cars and tractors for the domestic Indian market and exported them to other countries.But now it proudly says the XUV500 has been made for global markets, but will also be sold in India. Mahindra has been assembling tractors in its Brisbane facility since 2005. In 2007 it started importing the Pik-Up, a diesel-powered ute aimed at the rural market and tradies.At present Mahindra has 25 dealerships with a goal of increasing this to 50 by the end of 2012. It is at present in talks with potential franchisees in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and is already represented by tractor/Pik-Up dealers in rural areas of the eastern states.Drive away pricing starts at $26,990 for the 2WD and $32,990 for the AWD. The vehicles are highly specified in terms of equipment usually found on the options list with other makers.Some of the standard goodies include automatic temperature control over the three seating zones, high-tech media, satellite navigation screen, tyre pressure monitoring, smart rain and light sensors, reverse park assist, power charging points in all three seating rows, remote keyless entry, leather seats and concealed lounge lighting. Mahindra comes with a three-year, 100,000km warranty.Two variants are available, a 2WD and AWD. Both have a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine made in-house by Mahindra, that’s linked to a six-speed manual transmission. At this stage only the manual transmission is available and the XUV500. The 2.2-litre turbo-diesel develops 103 kW of power at 3750 rpm and 330 Nm of torque between 1600 and 2800 rpm.Despite all its active and passive safety equipment it rates only a four-star ANCAP safety rating, the loss of the coveted fifth star being the result of vehicle deformation issues in a severe head-on impact."These are our two important issues which we will be addressing as a matter of importance," said Makesh Kaskar, Mahindra's business manager in Australia. “An automatic transmission is 18 months to two years away while engineers hope to elevate the XUV500 to a five-star rating.”The safety suite is impressive: six airbags, stability control, ABS brakes, EBD, rollover mitigation, hill hold, hill descent control and disc brakes. A reversing camera is an option as are tow bar and bull bar. While the bling and goodies are impressive, it's not all rosy.The exterior design of the XUV500 will not be to everyone's taste, particularly the rear where a non-functional wheel arch impedes on window space.The marketing gurus at Mahindra tell us the XUV500's design was inspired by a cheetah in the about-to-pounce position. The grille represents the animal’s fangs, the bulging wheel arches the shoulders and hips and the doorhandles the cheetah's paws.The interior fit and finish leaves room for improvement with variable gaps where the doors meet the dashboard and on the dash itself. Like the exterior the interior could be polarising. It's as if the designers have tried everything to make the interior look luxurious with contrasting plastics and different coloured leathers. It's a busy place.The centre stack waterfalls all the way from the windscreen down to the gear shift in shiny imitation woodgrain that is highly reflective creating glare and a driver distraction. We also heard rattles while driving over uneven road surfaces.The third row of seats easily fold almost flat, as do the second row, creating a large cargo space. The second row are a 60/40 split and the third row is really suitable for kids, but at a pinch could take a couple of grownups on short trips.A full size matching alloy spare wheel is housed under the boot area and uses a typical 4WD wind-down system. The driving position is similar to that of a genuine 4WD - high, upright and giving a commanding view over the bonnet. The front seats are comfortable with manual height adjustment and lumbar support.The steering wheel has height adjustment. The instrument binnacle is almost retro in appearance, enhanced by chrome circles around the dials. We found the engine's torque smoothly usable from low revs, where it matters, in second, third and four gears. Fifth and sixth are fairly tall highway fuel-savers. At 100 km/h the XUV500 cruises in sixth gear at a lazy 2000 rpm.The suspension is on the soft side and won’t endear itself to anyone who enjoys driving. Mahindra's AWD system automatically transfers torque between the front and rear wheels at a variable rate depending on traction needs. There's a lock button that manually engages AWD. There is no low range transfer box. There were no 2WD XUV500's for us to test at the media launch.

It's built on the Indian manufacturer's first 'global' platform and will be priced from $29,990 for the W8 front drive version and $32,990 for the all wheel drive.XUV500 benefits from extensive product validation and testing in Europe, Australia, South Africa and India. It has a four star crash rating. Both versions run a four-cylinder, 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine good for 103kW/330Nm output the latter from a low 1600rpm.XUV500 has a towing capability of 750kg for an un-braked trailer and 2500kg braked. Transmission is a six-speed manual, with a low ratio transfer box for the all-wheel drive model. The all-wheel drive system is on-demand, automatically switching from two to four-wheel drive.The vehicle is a spacious seven-seater with a monocoque chassis featuring up-to-date mechanical specification and a high level of standard equipment. Suspension is independent on all four-wheels.Steering is rack-and pinion with a turning circle of 11.2m. Wheels are 17 inch alloys while driver aids include automatic hill descent and hill hold, cruise control, front and rear park assist, light-sensing headlamps and rain-sensing wipers.Safety features include stability control, rollover mitigating sensor, airbags and crumple zones in the safety cell body. The xenon headlights and tyre pressure monitoring systems are handy additions. Front fog lamps are standard on all three models.The interior offers a high level of standard equipment - dual-zone climate control, power windows and remote central locking. Infotainment includes a 15cm touch screen with a navigation system as well as MP3, USB, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity. The XUV500 is built at Mahindra's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chakan, near the city of Pune, in India. 

Mahindra currently sells the Pik Up ute in Australia and is readying another load hauler that will come it at a more affordable price point.The Pik Up starts off at $21,990 for the two-wheel drive single cab, which is cheap but not as cheap as the Chinese and the Great Wall V240 range that starts off at $17,990. Mahindra Australia, which is now a factory owned operation, will import a new ute called the Genio to compete with the Great Wall and other Chinese cut-price machines.The company is not ready to disclose pricing, but told Working Wheels the new narrow-bodied ute will not be cheaper than the Great Wall products.The Genio is based on the Xylo people mover platform and is not as focused on off-road work as the Pik Up, although it will be available with a locking four-wheel drive system as well as a two-drive.“It will really be aimed at your metro tradie, it will be suited to the urban kind of life,” says Mahindra national sales manager, Russell Thiele. “The Pik Up is more of a rural focused vehicle.”The full list of equipment will be made public closer to the launch, but the Genio will come with cruise control and airconditioning, front disc brakes (and rear drums) and a front airbag for the driver and passenger.It will not have as much gear as the Pik Up and items such as the sound system will be one grade lower than in the Pik Up model. No side airbags, curtain airbags or electronic stability control are available for the Genio.It has not been tested by ANCAP unlike the Pik Up, which has been given a poor three star rating and was criticized by the safety body. The Genio uses a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel, which generates 90kW and 270Nm. 

The Indian-built Mahindra Pik Up has fallen short of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) pass-mark for light-commercials in the latest ANCAP results. The Mahindra Pik Up utility, which has dual front airbags, a collapsible steering column and anti-lock brakes, scored only three stars for its crash test despite recent upgrades to better its safety performance. ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke says he has mixed feelings about the Mahindra result, which falls short of the Nissan Navara's four-star score and five star ratings for the Volkswagen Amarok, Ford's new Ranger and the Mazda BT-50. "On one level I have to say congrastulations to them for spending time and money to improve on what was a pretty ordinary two-star result, they've put another airbag and an improved restraint package in the car, but the flipside is that it still only gets to three stars," he said. ANCAP chair Lauchlan McIntosh says there were concerns held over the Mahindra's small improvement.  "Over 90 per cent of vehicles sold now have either a 4 or 5 star safety rating so it concerns me greatly to see the Mahindra still well below the standard consumers are demanding," he said. The new Toyota Aurion retained the superseded model's five-star ANCAP rating, with the new model now getting auto-dipping high-beam and upgraded seatbelt reminder alerts added to the outgoing model's six airbags, anti-lock brakes and stability control. Kia's newly-released three and four door Rio models have inherited the five-star rating of its new five-door hatchback; Suzuki has also retained the five-star rating for the new Sport model of its Swift small car. The Jeep brand now has a 4-star rating for the Jeep Compass, which was previously rated two stars by the European NCAP test. The Australian four star rating was acheived courtesy of a different weighting for the pedestrian impact scores, according to Mr Clarke. "Euro NCAP are moving along the same road map to raise the bar but they are a little bit ahead of us on pedestrian safety, the Compass pedestrian rating was poor which can still can get four stars here, but not in a year or two's time," he says. The Jeep Compass which provides what ANCAP calls a "respectable" level of occupant protection with dual front airbags, side curtain airbags and electronic brake distribution as standard.  

And it shows India aims to use price-cut techniques to outmanoeuvre China as it heats up its SUV presence in Australia. Major Indian light commercial and SUV maker Mahindra will launch its XUV500 wagon within three months in Australia and expand the models of its newly-acquired subsidiary, Ssangyong. A Mahindra spokesman at this week's Delhi motor show say the XUV500 is the company's first monocoque SUV and its first designed from the outset as a global market vehicle. Priced at about $24,000 and available as a 2WD or AWD, the XUV500 claims it ha more features than its rivals yet costs about half the price. It competes in India with the Toyota Fortuna, Chevrolet Captiva, Hyundai Santa Fe and Mitsubishi Outlander. But it will also take on China's Great Wall X240 petrol and X200 diesel wagons, the Foton and the XV that is expected to go on sale in Australia also in March. The spokesman - who did not want to be named - at the Mahindra stand at the Delhi stand says the AWD model features include sat-nav, touch screen monitor, upmarket audio, six airbags and electronic stability control. It gets a 103kW/330Nm 2.2-litre common-rail turbo-diesel engine - a development of an existing 89kW/270Nm diesel - and six-speed manual transmission.                              The spokesman says an automatic transmission will be available in the future. This transmission is likely to the six-speed unit made by DSI - a company owned by China's Geely - in Albury, NSW. The gearbox is available on the Ssangyong Koranda. The XUV500, which is marketed with a tiger motif that Mahindra claims represents the SUV's "athletic looks and symbolised by the pronounced wheelarches'', is similar in size to Great Wall's SUV.It is 35mm shorter at 4585mm, 15mm lower and 90mm wider and weighs 2450kg in AWD guise.  Mahindra will kickstart the XUV500 with production at about 2000 units a month and expects to grow that figure on export demand. 

Indian brand Mahindra started the trend with a modest range of utes a couple of years ago. Now China's Great Wall Motors has set-up shop on our shores.