Sold our Innova & bought an Ignis while waiting for Scorpio N delivery

It was a long and frustrating period but we finally got our new Mahindra SUV – Z8 petrol with manual transmission.

BHPian Gaur recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So almost after 11 months since add to cart happened, finally got the delivery of my Z8 P MT last week. Driven around 400kms until now, most of which is city running.

It has been a long and frustrating wait during which we sold off our trusted and reliable 13yr old Innova and got a new Ignis all while waiting for the Scorpio to be delivered.

The delivery process started with a few hiccups with the dealership not being responsive initially however things were smooth later and the vehicle delivered on the promised day on time despite rains playing a bit of spoilsport.

No accessories were pushed by the dealership, insurance quote matched.

First Impressions

For a shade under 20lac on road (introductory price) it’s a worthy product, has all the bells and whistles I would ever need except ventilated seats.

In my case, it was purely a heart-over-head decision, until now looks like a good enough decision.

Based on the 400kms (70%city, 30% highway) driven until now here are my observations.

Positives

1. Looks quite smart, and should age well, this Scorpio is at home in City as well as villages, unlike the Scorpio Classic which has a less urban image.
2. Commanding driving position.
3. Good build quality and fit/finish levels.
4. Flattens potholes like they don’t exist.
5. Overall ride quality and handling is decent enough for a vehicle its size and weight.
6. Supremely refined engine, my Ignis sounds crude to me now.
7. Good drivability, however, I feel 1st gear is a bit too short and 3rd gear a bit too long the 2nd gear is what you might use most in B2B traffic, comparing with my Ignis where the 3rd gear can be used from 15kmph-70kmph.
8. No major bugs/noise observed untill now, looks like the product is more or less sorted now, fingers crossed.
9. Good brakes, noticed they are not as over-sharp as the ones from the test drive vehicle from last year. Don’t know if Mahindra had recalibrated them for a more friendly feel.
10. A.C. is a chiller.
11. Music system sounds good, majority of people will not need an upgrade.
12. Touch screen response is good, no lags observed until now (no Android auto for now).
13. Seat adjustment is good enough to find a comfortable driving position easily.
14. Clutch pedal movement is quite smooth.
15. Smooth steering for city use, haven’t done a proper highway run so can’t comment on highspeed behavior but from a short run felt it weighs up well.
16. Gearshifts are smooth.
17. Throttle very well calibrated, no turbo lag noticed.
18. Decent space in 2nd row, wide enough to comfortably seat 3 average individuals.

Negatives

1. Headlights, particularly low beam is poor, high beam is decent but not something I like to use in general, so kind of in a tight spot when driving at night, forced to use the high beam to compensate for the completely washed-out low beam.
2. Space utilization is not the best. whether the 3rd row seats or luggage space or internal space in door pads or glovebox.
3. Fuel efficiency, didn’t I tell you its a petrol, every alternate day you will have thoughts about looting a bank. Have seen MID figures from 5.5kmpl (B2B) to 12kmpl free moving traffic on a short highway run.
4. Passenger side window can still be operated in spite of the window control button pressed by the driver, only the 2 rear window functioning is disabled, in most cars I know, only driver-side window remains activated and all other windows are deactivated. Don’t know if it’s a bug or this is how it’s designed by Mahindra.

Bonus Alloy wheel story

There was some confusion with the dealership on the availability of the 17inch alloy wheels, on top of that they did not have the facility to do the change anywhere near the showroom where my vehicle was called for PDI, for alloy fitment the vehicle would have to be taken to their workshop some 50kms away from the showroom which would mean 100kms added to the vehicle before delivery.

So dropped the plan for getting the alloys installed right off the showroom and thought about getting it installed from the service center in the next few days or else during the 1st service.

However kept exploring other available options in the market, and realized Scorpion N is an odd man out with very limited options available.

Finalized on a design from NEO wheels and got it from their authorized Mumbai dealer directly.

This is where the adventure starts, apparently, for Scorpion N (maybe XUV700 also) variants with TPMS, Mahindra has started using a different type of Valve which very few people are aware of and availability is also an issue.

Most other valves have a screw connecting the TPMS to the valve in an axial manner (green arrow) however in the Scorpio N the TPMS is screwed perpendicular (red arrow) to the valve. The screw used to fit it is also an odd size and requires a fine key generally used to open mobile phones and electronic devices.

So the challenge was to get the new design valve and along with it the key to help open the screw, fortunately, was able to find one shop that had done this before and knew what to do.

Overall took 2 days and visits to multiple tyre shops to get the alloys installed.

Apart from Alloys, only other accessories installed are 3D floor mats and Door visors.

Planned accessories

• Mud flaps
• Bumper corner protectors (official Mahindra)
• Dashcam (front/rear), suggestions welcome
• PPF/Ceramic coating (not sure, just thinking)

Planning for some highway rides in the coming days till then Big Daddy will share a tight parking space with little Ignis.

Keyword: Sold our Innova & bought an Ignis while waiting for Scorpio N delivery