Test driving the Mahindra Scorpio N: Thar owner shares his impressions

Full marks to Mahindra for the Scorpio N. This SUV is actually a worthy rival of the Toyota Fortuner at half the price.

BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Went to the nearby showroom (Sireesh Bommanahalli) and tested the new Scorpio N.

Some first impressions of the things that matter to me personally in the driving and ride experience.

The only variant available now for a test drive is the Manual 2WD Petrol. With 245/65/17 inch tyres. Tyres, which I might add, seem a bit small considering the cavernous wheel wells of the Scorpio N. Also, these tyres are Apollo Apterras and more suited to highway comfort. Hence it won’t go amiss at all to consider a tyre upsize as well as an upgrade to a more aggressive tread in an AT pattern.
My Dad and I drove it for about 12 kms across the broken roads of Bangalore. We purposely took the poorly maintained back roads so as to give the vehicle a proper test.
The driving and seating position is excellent if you love driving and are a big-built person. The ergonomics of the cabin are excellent. All switches and controls are within easy reach. Superb visibility of the road – they aren’t exaggerating when they talk about the commanding position and throne-like seat at the high table. Superb under-thigh support and back support from the seats even for a tall and big-built person. The centre armrest is also well finished and nicely situated to offer considerable comfort. The stalks and switches feel well built and have a nice tactile feel.
The gears are a bit ‘long throw’ and with this slightly tall gearing, in the city of Bangalore with its abundant narrow village roads and broken surfaces and bumpy bits and elephantine speed breakers, I never really got past third gear.
The petrol engine as expected is superbly silent and responsive, powerful, torquey enough with no lag and a real joy to drive.
The steering is a bit too light and lacks the feel and feedback and overall reassuring resistance that my Thar’s hydraulic power steering gives me.
Scorpio N will be very easy for anyone including ladies and smaller built people of weaker physiques to drive and especially so in urban conditions.
On the highways, at higher speeds and in higher gears I *wonder* whether the power steering will become more weighty. If it does that’ll be lovely but I don’t think it will.
The suspension is well tuned and the vehicle handles bumps with aplomb. One doesn’t even feel most of the bumps and broken roads and potholes. Yes if there are sequential elephantine speed breakers the vehicle will go up and down but its bounciness is surprisingly well damped and mitigated. If one goes over rumble strips at speed the tail can get out of line, that’s for sure and that’s to be expected as well in a vehicle of this type, weight and size and proportions. I took it aggressively over roads which have giant humps which cover those gigantic drainage pipes and it didn’t get unsettled and nor did we. This is considerably advanced in terms of suspension as compared to many other vehicles in this segment and beyond. It doesn’t sway and all like the stock Thar does. It doesn’t nose dive sharply under harder braking. It has a nice settled ride despite its body-on-frame build. This shows they have really done a great deal of work on the suspension. It is far superior to the Thar suspension in stock form. You can drive this vehicle fearlessly across most of the terrain that India can throw at you, I believe.
This is a well-designed, well-engineered Grand Tourer for 5 persons and their luggage. It is a really good option for a well-priced highway cruiser. It is decidedly not a 7-seater. One will be best off if one unscrews and pulls out the last row and leaves it in the garage.
Clearly, the variant to buy will be the Automatic with Torque Converter 6-speed Top Spec Diesel with the fully functional 4-wheel drive. This will cement the Scorpio N’s position as the go-anywhere grand touring highway mile muncher of choice for a family of 5 and their luggage. Of course, this comes with 18-inch wheels. But the tyres can still do with an upgrade to an AT spec, for that fearless go-anywhere capability.

Full marks to Mahindra for the Scorpio N – This vehicle is actually a worthy rival for the Fortuner itself. And the best part is that it will come to you at half the price.

I didn’t test this particular piece today, but I have a feeling that it may not pass my lateral golf bag plus trolley test. But for me, that doesn’t matter anymore because, for the most part, we are only two people.

Saying all of the above, this vehicle is very very worthy of consideration for the target segment as described earlier.

Me, I’m happy with my Thar for now because it meets all my particular needs at the moment.

But the Scorpio N is very very tempting indeed. So I just may book one and ‘we’ll see later!’