The Scorpio is designed completely in-house by Mahindra. The Scorpio has shape characteristic of SUVs, its big, it’s chunky and has loads of road presence. This design has been an eye-catching among SUVs and has bagged many an award for its styling. It has rugged look, a decent interior and a good pair of engines. Mahindra has been working on the Scorpio almost constantly, the latest series of changes targeted at meeting Bharat-III emission norms.

 

The Scorpio uses the same body-on-frame construction and rear leaf springs. The Scorpio is a good-looking beast, with an imposing front end and hunky-looking body cladding. Visual changes are minimal, with a slightly different grille and a repositioned number plate for better cooling, and the SLX version features a two-tone exterior with unique colours. There are design weaknesses, especially at the rear where it looks relatively boxy, as well as the upright stance and non-flush-fitting windows. The Scorpio’s panel gaps are pretty wide but the surface finish is top class, and the doors shut with a thud that feels very solid.

 

The Scorpio’s interiors look modern with a nicely rounded and organic-looking dashboard with large buttons and knobs. A lot of parts like the instruments switches and roof light have been borrowed from Ford’s parts bin. The instruments have terrific clarity and the chunky steering wheel feels nice to grip. The glass-holders and cubbyholes aren’t very practical though; also, look closely and you can spot some sub-standard parts like the rubber door handles.

 

The front seats are pretty comfortable and offer the best lower back support. The middle row lacks adequate legroom and this one of the big weaknesses of the Scorpio. Mahindra & Mahindra’s engineers tried to liberate more legroom by playing around with the seats but this hasn’t helped. With tall passengers up front, there’s just isn’t enough space at the back. Also, the position of the air-con vents for the middle row isn’t ideally located for even distribution of air. The third row is also cramped and tall passengers are also short on headroom. What’s good though is the upright seating position the Scorpio offers. Passengers sit higher, in a more comfortable posture than rivals like the Qualis or the Tavera.

 

The 2.6-litre direct-injection turbocharged engine has come in for its first major overhaul, gaining a common rail direct-injection system, replacing the old distributor-type fuel pump, along with a host of other changes. Power has risen by 6 bhp to 115, and torque by 2.3kgm to 28.3. The aim was increased smoothness and refinement, better response, and of course, better emissions control.

 

The CRDe is both faster in the 0-100kph sprint, taking 16.53sec to the old Turbo’s 19.63sec, and is better through the gears as well — 20-80kph in the third gear is completed in a quick 13.69 seconds while the older one finishes a 40-100kph dash in 17.8 seconds, in the same gear.

 

Noise levels are very acceptable for a diesel and all of this adds up to make the Scorpio a very relaxing car to drive both in town and on the highway. The gearbox hasn’t been changed much, except for a taller third gear, the ratio increased to 1.38:1 for better fuel consumption; however, the gearlever’s action has been improved, and though it’s still not very precise, the metallic clicking of the old box has gone, and the throw is slightly shorter as well.

 

The Scorpio now going from 40kph to 100kph in 17.07sec when shifted into the fourth, as compared to the old car’s 23.7 sec. The CRDe consumes slightly less fuel (9.7kpl) than the older Scorpio (9.5kpl) in the city. It, however, returned 13.4kpl on the highway as compared to its old model 13.8kpl. The Scorpio also has the option of four-wheel drive, and a 2.0-litre, 116bhp petrol engine sourced from Renault, which is extremely powerful and tractable, and fairly refined as well. The downside is awful fuel economy, at 6.7 and 7.8kpl in the city and highway.

 

The Scorpio’s chassis is extremely rigid and stiff and you don’t get an ounce of rattle or shake. The suspension is very supple and in city traffic or at low speeds, the Scorpio glides over the road, the soft suspension working noiselessly to filter out the bumps. Even on rough or bad road, at least when driven at low speeds, the suspension copes pretty well. The steering and other controls are pretty light, which makes the compact Scorpio easy to drive in town. However, pile on the speed and the Scorpio’s chassis exposes its flaws very quickly.

 

There are now larger 16-inch wheels, on slightly lower-profile tyres, which make for marginally sharper handling.  It still rolls excessively, pitches around at the rear, and wallows too much. The brakes have been improved with more bite and quicker response, but still lack a linear feel, tending to grab at the last moment. They feel over-servoed as well: stab the brakes and the rear wheels lock up immediately.

Filed under: Mahindra Cars in India