Friends,
I was looking for a car in the range of 8 lakh(on road). I test drove SX4(a big crap), Aveo, City(too delicate, not for me), Verna(a very good car) and I was not able to make decision as 8 lakh is a big investment for any service class person. while I went to test drive Logan(so-so but good VFM at discounted rates), Koncept Motors Noida people asked me to drive Scorpio after speaking to me for 10-20 minutes and believe me my priorities changed after that.
I was driving the silver beast called Scorpio on roads which took me by surprise. First time ever I knew the pleasure of driving a SUV. Since I wanted to make well thought of choice, I started looking at SUV segment viz Innova, Tavera, Safari and Scorpio. Here are my ratings based on experience:
1) Innova: best in comfort and interiors. Very sluggish in 2nd and 3rd gear. Extremely poor looks(for me), it is hte best choice for a cab, poor social tag attached.
2) Tavera: Again the same problem. My friend who owns a Tavera is fed up of people asking for lift thinking it as a call center cab, very poor branding in NCR. Not a very good engine.
3) Safari: Graceful, spacious, never to be seen as a cab but is 1.5 feet longer than Scorpio making it difficult to reverse and park. Maintenence is too high, mileage is low, front looks are not good. Door rattles because of heavy stepney, after sales servie is pretty ordinary.
4) Scorpio: Now the Macho. I was really impressed by the design of car. There are 2-3 problems but then nothing is perfect. Here are my points:
Length: is equal to SX4, so handling is as smooth as any other sedan.
Width: can easily accomodate 4 people of medium built in the middle row itself
Height: Road visibility is the best amongst all the cars below 10lakh, you feel like king of roads. However roof height should be lower than 3-4 inches for more stability, this is a design flaw.
Built: Just touch the body and you will know it, does not need words to describe, far ahead of competition in quality of metal and paint. its ROCK Solid.
Looks: Though subjective but the looks are most aggresive with bull guard and front chrom grill. Believe me, people respect you in traffic and driving becomes easier.
Safety: No airbags, but the built is so solid that you do not need one if you drive with senses. ABS is missing which is a negative feature for this size. Braking is good in new Scorpio as they have increased the booster size from 9" to 10".
Mileage: I am getting city mileage of 11.5 in heavy traffic which is excellent for this size and power.
Pick Up: Excellent with 2600 CC and 115 horses, it is better than most of the petrol cars
Service Network: Solid Mahindra network and improved service during past 1 year.
Negative Points: 1) No ABS 2) Gear looks odd(long and tilted) although its good in operation 3) Height should be lower for more stability at high speed 4) Small Dashboard 5) you will need a reverse parking sensor(but you need this for any other big car) 6) last seat is a 8 seater is cramped but mine is 7 seater so this is not a trouble for me
Overall: Overall it is the best value for money for 7.5 on road(Haryana) with solid built, 2600 cc deisel engine and 12+ mieage in city. For this less price you get power steering, power windows, 2 row AC, skiing rails, spoilers, tubeless tyres. basically all essential feature in just 7.5 lakh. It is a great offroader and can take 2 mid size families for fun excursions.
In short. Hats Off to Mahindra for providing such a luxury in this price.
Sterling motors have been very helpful in delivery.