I test-drove cars ranging from the BMW X1, Tata Safari, Skoda Octavia, MG Hector Plus, Toyota Fortuner and Hyryder.
BHPian kedar_GT recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I started penning down this review when the car was 4 days and 900km old and today it’s a tad lesser than 2 months old. Sigh. Procrastination and me!
Hence, today, I just decided to take the plunge and share this review; I will add to it as I go along! At the time of publishing this post, my 1 month first free checkup/service is done.
I took delivery of my ’23 XUV7OO AX7L Petrol AT in February and completed 900 km within the first 4 days. The car is well documented on Team-BHP – so I will just touch upon those points that are a significant change for me.
Prologue
Background and the car search
Well, I had been on the lookout for a new car for the last year or more. Nothing converged since I really did not need a car apart from the fact that I wanted to replace my highway steed with an automatic and something sturdier/safer/more powerful than my current ride i.e. a 1.4L gen1 Ertiga Zxi. I always wanted a 7str for the convenience factor but was open to a 5str just in case it was a premium German (albeit entry-level) with a budget cap of 50L (the lesser the better). So, I test-drove cars ranging from the X1, Safari, Octavia, Hector Plus, Fortuner, Hyryder & the XUV7OO.
The X1
I liked this car very much and was the lone 5str that I considered. The practical cabin, the fast petrol/diesel engines, the boot space, and the pano sunroof all combined to make this one enticing German. Add to the fact that this was more spacious than the Q3. I especially liked the 2018 white/black X-Line version with the X-alloys and was on the lookout for a preowned one. I almost bought a 4yr, in-warranty, 25k run example (it was blue in color) but due to a last-minute hitch, I backed off. The thought of spending new-car money on a used example was a mind block even though I thought I was mentally ready for the same.
Tata Safari
The dealership experience was always a turn-off. I was willing to put this aside and still consider this but for 2 reasons. One was the heavy steering and the second was the poor/pathetic condition of the TD vehicle (i.e. the Tata experience). I mean badly maintained would be an understatement (think big dent on the front bumper, broken fog light, front tyre running on the spare, some misc warning lights on the MID).
I notice the dealership uses the same TD vehicle as of till date. Due to the steering feel, one gets the impression of driving a much heavier vehicle. Being used to creamy petrols & silent cabins, the diesel gruff was always something that I would have had to reconcile with. The missus shot down this choice saying it was a Tata and I too thought that she will not enjoy operating the hydraulic power steering as opposed to the light steering on her current ride.
Jeep Meridian
Fantastic drive and poise for those in the front seats. Has a flat ride and decimates speed breakers when one powers on at a decent clip. The deal breakers were the upright and not-so-spacious rear seats (the less we speak about the 3rd row the better), the NVH at idle and the sparse service network (the SA later on told me that BLR was one of the biggest markets for the Meridian – makes sense with NCR folks not wanting this car due to the diesel-only option). This one was shot down by the kids who did not have any kind words for the rear seats.
MG Hector/Plus
This was a contender but was surprisingly shot down by the wife due to the willowy drive at higher speeds. She drove it back-to-back with the Astor and preferred the Astor over the Hector. As the Astor is a 5-str with less leg space at the back, we did not consider this further though I was impressed with the in-cabin ambience of the Hector Plus and more so, of the Astor. The kids did like this one due to the captain seats and the pano sunroof!
Fortuner 4×2 Petrol/Diesel AT
The interiors and the busy ride were a downer and so was the pricing for this truck. I have a detailed post about this too.
Octavia L&K
Wifey did not like the interiors on the same. After getting used to roomy vehicles, the all-black interior of the Octavia does take some time to get used to. She also scraped the TD car on some bad roads and I had nothing to say after this. Personally, I loved the car, the humongous boot space & the power on tap but the interiors were a bit too bland for my taste. (A close friend picked up the vRS 245 last week – maybe I will pen down some drive impressions of the same).
XUV7OO
Well, I never really had this one on the radar due to the long wait times and wifey was also not so keen on a Mahindra. Also, I found it too similar in looks to the XUV5OO. As I was drawing a blank on the car search and getting a bit frustrated due to this, I went ahead and booked the 7OO on my wife’s birthday without really informing her about the same. I thought that I most likely have a 6-month to a year’s lead-up time and in that, I will settle on something that is up and coming.
Surprisingly, I got a call to pick up the car in just a tad over a month’s time from the time I placed the booking! This led me to believe that there was some heavenly intervention and assistance in helping me to pick my next steed and I just decided to go with the flow. I traveled to my home town, did the PDI and okayed the car. (it had 11km on the ODO at that time)
First look
The centerpiece infotainment system:
Side view
Delivery day
One with the familia
Enroute to Bangalore
Getting a nice foam wash after the 600km drive
Parked at my office parking
With that out of the way let’s get to the root of the matter.
The not-so-good things
- The newly added engine auto-switch off that needs to be turned off at every restart. This is hidden behind the steering wheel on the dash and is adjacent to the traction control off switch. This being a new addition, there is no indication of this in the cluster and one needs to rely on the light embedded in the switch to figure out if this is turned off or on. Also, this could have been accommodated in the vacant spot where the drive modes are implemented in the diesel. I turn this off every time I start the car.
- The tons of sensors in this car – prompted me to immediately purchase the max possible coverage with regard to the warranty (4/5th year) and the various options in the infotainment. These can be a big distraction while driving and make me nervous at times.
Missing features
- Ventilated seats – these should have been present in the 2023 iteration at the bare minimum – sorely missed this during my long drive and for folks using this as a long-distance cruiser, this is a big miss.
- Day/Night IRVM
- Ambient lighting – This is offset to a certain extent as I have installed the Mahindra OEM illuminated scuff plates and they do throw an upward glow when any door is open. But the bottom line is this should have been present at least in the L variants.
- 12V charging slot that is accessible from the front.
Good to have things
- Wide angle side camera that can display the length of the car and not just the area near the front tyres
- Sliding middle row
Issues and niggles
- The initial start post ignition is very aggressive at times. In my office parking lot, I have even noticed a wheel spin. This reminds me of the behavior of the Polo GT 1.0 AT which exhibits a similar trait. I need to be very careful as I navigate the way out of my parking slot at home and office (which is basically a 90-degree turn to join the driveway). This is a BIG pain point. I have noticed speeds of even 16kmph if I just let it roll (normal creep speeds at 6-7kmph) – this is darn scary and I would like inputs from other informed users if this sort of behavior has been observed by others on a cold start.
- The other issue is the screeching sound of the brakes while taking it out of the parking. I understand these are cold and are trying to rein in 200 horses from running away (refer to the point above) – but then this sound is very crude, especially for someone standing outside the car and is unbecoming of a car of this cost. The other auto in my garage (an i10) does not exhibit this and nor have I noticed this to so much extent for the other ATs that I have driven. Maybe the brakes need more time to bed it.
Fuel efficiency
I averaged 10.5kmpl (11.2kmpl on the MID) on a 600 km drive from Goa to Bangalore i.e. 200km on narrow/er & ghat roads and ~400km on the Bangalore-Pune NH4 highway.
Since then, I have seen it drop to 9.2kmpl on the MID as I have driven it ~80km in the city. I think the real world would be 6-8kmpl. While I was expecting low FE in the city, a ~ 10 kmpl on the highway was not expected (I was hoping for 12-14kmpl) – but then it is extremely difficult to drive this at sub-triple-digit speeds!
Highlights
- The fantastic mHawk engine! Boy oh boy – this is a hoot to drive. No two ways about this. The sheer power of this engine is really superlative. Even while accelerating in a sedate manner one does not realize when they are at 80kmph. The car masks off the speeds so well that 120kmph feels like 85kmph, Makes me gun the throttle whenever there is an open piece of road which is so unlike me!
- The ride quality is pretty good except for sometimes when it thuds through certain potholes.
- Rev matching while driving downhill – the gearbox is quick to drop a gear while driving down a slop thus giving you much better control. Definitely one of the most intuitive gearboxes that I used, with regard to this.
Significant accessories added
- From Mahindra – infotainment screen guard, mud flaps, rain visor, pedal cover, rear aluminum crash guard, illuminated scuff plates
- From outside – Pharaoh 3D Car Floor Mats – these are expensive & look good when clean. These are easy to clean as well but a pain to maintain. On second thoughts, I would have gone with something that has a noodle cover, for easier maintenance.
Plea to Mahindra
Please, please, please give this car an ECO or City mode. It badly needs one when somebody wants to drive in a calm relaxed manner and does not want to wake up the horses on tap. The car holds the 2nd gear for a much longer time than needed resulting in a dip in fuel efficiency.
Keyword: How I upgraded from an old Maruti Ertiga to XUV700: Initial impressions