2 months and 3000 km with Mahindra Scorpio-N

I have always admired the Mahindra Scorpio-N as it is a well-designed SUV that is capable and comfortable to drive. We had the diesel manual 2WD model for a few months and I drove it for over 3000km, which included office commutes, leisurely motorway drives and family outings.

The Mahindra Scorpio-N is a large SUV, but every time I drive it, I’m reminded of how easy it is to drive. The steering is light enough that you can turn it with one hand, and outward visibility is excellent by segment standards. You sit high and have a great view over the bonnet, and the driving position is excellent.

My one-way journey to work is 15 kilometers, but traffic is heavy most of the time. The clutch pedal travel on the Scorpio-N is longer and the release point is a bit sharp. One can quickly get used to the release point, but long journeys can sometimes get tiring, especially when you spend close to an hour or sometimes even longer in heavy traffic.

The less said about the condition of Mumbai’s roads the better, and this is where the Scorpio-N really shines. The suspension handled all those potholes and bumps with ease, and the SUV never felt uneasy. In fact, I’m very pleased with the ride quality and comfort, which is a huge improvement over the Scorpio Classic.

If Mahindra had offered us Scorpio-N petrol for long-term testing, my running costs would have doubled, but this diesel engine is very efficient indeed. The lowest fuel efficiency figure I got was 12.4 km/l and the highest fuel efficiency was nearly 18 km/l. The mHawk engine is finely tuned for the perfect blend of performance and economy.

The Scorpio-N is always eager to pull and has a very powerful midrange. The engine feels torquey, and you can even feel the difference between Zip, Zap, and Zoom modes. While the engine does rattle, it’s still a very smooth unit. This is the RWD version and I didn’t do any off-roading with it, but the Scorpio-N did accompany me to a lot of places with bad road conditions.

Mahindra has equipped this SUV with all the features you need. The dual zone air conditioning works perfectly and even the Sony sound system is great. The touchscreen is fine, with just a few glitches here and there. Sometimes wireless Apple CarPlay disconnects on its own, sometimes the screen randomly restarts, and sometimes it hangs. Hopefully the next software update will fix this issue.

With the mileage reaching 3000 kilometers, it is time to say goodbye to Scorpio-N. The feeling of driving a ladder-frame diesel manual SUV is unparalleled and I will miss our 0430 test car sorely. We’ve had some great drives with it in such a short period of time and it’s not just me but everyone on the team who drives it has praised it. Until next time then!

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