| As I sit down to write this, I have some mixed reactions. I'm just back from Mahindra's plant in Nashik, where they have launched the new Scorpio, a car that we've been looking forward to for some time now. And I'm not sure if I'm happy with the car or uneasy because it's left me wanting. | |
| Don't get me wrong here, because the Scorpio is under the Suzuki Swift and the Toyota Innova on my list of favourites "" and the new Scorpio will be there too "" but it isn't taking the top spot yet. Let me tell you why. | |
| The four-year-old design of the Scorpio was beginning to show. So Mahindra got to work and injected a dose of Botox into its design. Et voila, the sportier, chunkier, revamped Scorpio was born. There's much more than meets the eye (Mahindra says it incorporates 43 changes in all), but I'll tell you about what you can see first. | |
| The front bumper's now got two big air-dams, which, besides keeping the splash from the tyres off the fender, works with the neat bonnet scoop, ski rack and the rear spoiler to lend the car a sporty look. The rear end has also been firmed up with taillamps that work their way to the roof. They didn't appeal to many, but I'm impressed because the car looks more sorted and complete. | |
| Mahindra claims that the new Scorpio is built around customer's needs. Forty-five months of market research and a few customer outreach programmes later, they seem to be on the right track. The legroom complaints have been taken care of with middle row seats that slide. | |
| They've also got new vents up front on the dash that I couldn't really figure out and angular aircon vents at the rear, so the third row isn't left out. If you're not satisfied with it, don't sweat, as you can also fit a split AC at any Mahindra dealership. | |
| The centre console has been remoulded to store more coffee cups and perhaps a GPS as well, while the door panels have got more room for your maps and other bits. It's not like those additions are going to influence anybody's buying decision, but the finish, which is a notch above the previous Scorpio's, definitely will. What really caught my eye inside the car was the stereo. | |
| Once, Shumi and I were discussing portable audio systems and surprisingly (we hardly ever see eye-to-eye) came to a mutual conclusion that a USB compatible music system was the solution to all our problems. Guess what? The new Scorpio's got it. I bared my 32 and thought I should definitely get myself one "" the audio system that is. | |
| The new Scorpio's got its looks going for it. But don't let that bonnet scoop fool you into thinking that there is some state-of-the-art twin-turbo motor whining under the hood. You still have the 2609cc four-cylinder turbocharged common-rail engine, although a few minor changes have been made to the engine mounting points to reduce the NVH levels. | |
| The CRDe engine, which was introduced last March on the old Scorpio, churns out 28.3 kgm of torque at just 1700 rpm (my favourite bit about the Scorpio) and unleashes 115 bhp at the rear wheels while returning consistent double digit fuel economy figures. Oh, and the new Scorpio is just as quick as I found out while overtaking those pesky trucks on the NH 3. | |
| So far so good, the Scorpio seems to be doing fine, but this little ghat section seems to be giving it a tough time. The steering feels more connected and the car is responding to my inputs which is a big improvement from its predecessor. It's the alloy-wearing tubeless Bridgestones doing their job. | |
| But the multi-link coil spring suspension at the rear which was developed in collaboration with Lotus Engineering in the UK isn't. The end result is that the Scorpio's jello-like feel around corners is still quite evident. A comprehensive test would give us an idea of whether the handling has been truly sorted "" so hold on till then. | |
| The good news is that the new Scorpio rides much, much better than the earlier one, and I am sure Mahindra's customers who gave their feedback in the outreach programmes would be pretty happy with the ride quality. | |
| The brakes were another area that Mahindra could have worked on, it could have inspired a bit more confidence. Hopefully now you understand why I'm not at complete ease with the new Scorpio. | |
| Okay, I might be able to make amends to that because here is better news. The new Scorpio still costs as much as the old one, at least for the time being. So you can buy the fully loaded Scorpio SLX for just over Rs 9 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) and that's still three lakh under the top-end Tata Safari Dicor and one lakh cheaper than the top-of-the line Innova. | |
| Oh, and if you do buy the Scorpio, you can use the spare cash to customise it's looks, just like the Scorpios we featured in the March issue of BSM. As for me, I'm going to have to get used to seeing the Scorpio occupy third place on my list "" for the moment.
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