After driving around in the Mahindra TUV300 for close to ten days, I must confess that this compact SUV is a revelation. I had my reservations when I first heard about it; however after having driven it extensively, it has laid a lot of my doubts to rest.
‘Inspired by a battle tank’ is what we were told when Mahindra first spoke of the TUV300 at a press briefing in Mumbai a month prior to its official launch. Upon seeing it in the flesh, I will say that the design is far from that, and bears a closer resemblance to the Jeep Cherokee from up front and the Range Rover when viewed in profile. The result of this design effort actually cannot be criticised, for the TUV300 has ended up with a design that can best be described as personable.
The good thing is that Mahindra has kept those quintessential SUV design elements in mind and while the TUV300 is a sub-4 metre SUV, it doesn’t look tiny and the proportions work to offer a butch stance, which is further aided with those awesome ten spoke 15 inch alloys.
The work on the interior layout has been done extremely well. The dashboard is one of the best I’ve ever seen on a Mahindra and the center console has a nice premium appeal. Fit and finish could have been a little better, but at this price point I am really not going to complain.
The TUV300 has a number of creature comforts on board, including an infotainment system with Bluetooth and Aux, a reverse parking sensor, voice alerts and you also get steering mounted controls.
It comes with an extremely powerful air-conditioning unit and while there are no vents for the second row, you really won’t miss them. The cabin itself is nice and airy, thanks to the wide chassis that the SUV is built upon.
Front passengers have ample room, and I found the driving position better in the TUV300, than what I’ve experienced on the Scorpio! The second row also gets a reasonable amount of space; however the jump seats at the rear are a bit of a tight fit for adults. That space is best left for luggage.
Powering the TUV300 is a 1493cc 3-cylinder diesel engine that boasts of a two stage turbo charger. Capable of generating 84 hp @ 3750 rpm and 230 Nm of torque @ 1500-2250 rpm, the TUV300 is surprisingly peppy. The longitudinally mounted engine is mated to a five speed manual transmission and power is driven to the rear wheels.
With oodles of torque so low down the range, the TUV300 can easily be driven around the town in higher gears. As long as you keep it in the peak power band, it will surge forward in a manner that will make you wonder just how did Mahindra manage to get such levels of performance out of a 1.5 litre engine!
Incidentally, the engine is based on the same architecture as that of the 2.2 litre mHawk found on the Scorpio and XUV500, and the genes do show. Capable of returning an ARAI claimed mileage of 18.5 kmpl, the TUV300 is quite fuel efficient. In case, you really want it to go the distance on every drop of fuel, Mahindra has equipped the vehicle with an ‘Eco’ mode in order to further enhance the efficiency. It does lower the responsiveness of the engine, but then that is the trade off for extra efficiency.
The real revelation lies in the TUV300’s drive dynamics. The peppy engine is an absolute delight and Mahindra has made the effort to ensure that it handles rather well. It remains planted on the highway and can be pushed through corners at a reasonable pace.
Ride quality is also commendable, however, it would be wrong to compare it with the quality that a similar priced sedan or hatchback offers. The TUV300 is an SUV and a slight ruggedness will be there.
As far as safety features are concerned, the TUV300 gets two air bags on almost all its variants, ABS, EBD. Corner braking control are also part of the package. In addition to that, the TUV300 has been constructed out of high strength steel and also comes with frontal crash sensors.
I did find a few factors that I felt could have been better executed or in some cases included, to make the TUV300 even better. The most apparent one is the location of the power window switches. Having them in the centre is a bit of a pain and they ought to be on the driver’s door.
I would have liked the cabin to be quieter and a climate control air conditioning unit. I would also like to see the TUV300 with a 4x4 option. It has the right approach and departure angles and reasonably good ground clearance; all it needs is a good 4x4 system and you could literally take this just about anywhere.
Mahindra has rolled out a very good product. The level of refinement and the overall execution is worthy of praise. I agree that it isn’t perfect, but here is a vehicle that does the job right and is a great value-for-money proposition.
It is a vehicle that you won’t regret purchasing and I expect to see a lot of these on the road in the coming months.
(Vikram Gour is one of India’s renowned automotive journalists and the Co-Founder of MotorScribes. He can be reached on Twitter: @VikramGour)
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