 Six years back Mahindra made its first foray into the passenger car segment with the Scorpio. Now it is claiming an end to the era of sedans with the Xylo. The Mahindra of today is a very different company from what it was when the Scorpio was launched. For one it candidly admits to having made mistakes with the Scorpio but more to the point, is determined not to repeat them.
“Everything we haven’t gotten right the first time on the Scorpio we have gotten right,” says a confident Pawan Goenka, President, M&M automotive division…which is why the interior dimensions were first frozen and then the car designed round it, so that all three rows of seats would be equally spacious. It is also why a brand new body shop has been set up for the Xylo and attention has been lavished on ‘customer perceived quality and tactile response’, and on loading even the base variant with essential features. And the real clincher – the Xylo’s brilliant pricing.
So, is the Xylo as good as Mahindra makes it out to be? Over Drive (Feb. ’09) finds out.
Design
 The Xylo’s styling is odd. Bystanders instinctively described the Xylo as a cross between an Innova and a Scorpio and they’re not off the mark. Distinct from plain-Jane MPV’s, the designers have over styled the front end and in that they have succeeded, except what’s giving it that distinctiveness are funny contours, soft edges and awkwardly pulled back edges of the headlamps. Get over the nose and what you have is the generic MPV template. At the rear there’s little to complain about, being a good blend between MPV practicality and SV muscularity. Compared to the Scorpio the Xylo has a longer wheelbase (2760mm, up by 80mm) and wider (by 33mm) with wider tracks and that not only liberates more space it gives it better stability (thanks to the height being reduced by 80mm). Ground clearance remains very good at 186mm. these dimensions are more or less a few millimeters more than a conventional sedan so driving and parking it in the city will be as easy or difficult as a normal car.
Interiors
Mahindra has used the inside-out philosophy for the Xylo – interior dimensions were frozen and the car was designed around it. This has ensured sufficient interior room and space for passengers in all three rows of seats. Even passengers relegated o the rear-most row will be comfortable and that’s a huge achievement. The dash is handsome, very well designed, ergonomic and there isn’t much to crib about as far as quality of plastics goes. Nothing feels cheap or tacky except a few glaring details like the chrome rings around the door handles. Bizarrely, the insides of the bottle holders, door map pockets, glove box and even the tray under the front seat is painted a garish shade of lavender.
The driving environment has a very SUV feel to it – quite similar to the Scorpio’s and unlike other MPV’s. You sit high, the seats are height adjustable, have adjustable lumber support and also incorporate an armrest making it very comfortable. A huge improvement over the Scorpio is that the air-con vents now direct air to where you need it while the rear aircon is very neatly integrated into the roofliner and cools both the back rows very well.
The Xylo will be available in four variants. The base E2 gets black bumpers and no wheel caps but it get full beige interior trim, three rows of forward facing seats, power windows, power steering, central locking and air-conditioning. At the top of the pie is the E8 that gets either black interiors with silver trim or brown interiors. And the E8 comes fully loaded. The front seats can be fully reclined and merge into the middle captain seats to make for what Mahindra call business class seats. There’s a multi-function display that has a slew of menus which includes a digital speed and gear indicator, compass, trip distance, fuel tank range, instantaneous fuel consumption and even shows relative humidity. For the fuel conscious, there’s a trip meter read-out that shows distance travelled with the aircon switched on.
The E8 also gets 2DIN stereo, alloys and parking sensors with the display integrated into the rear-view mirror. What’s missing though are ABS and airbags though they will be on the list soon.
Engine
 Based on the Scorpio’s NEF family of CRDe engines, this engine branded the mEagle has been going into Mahindra’s export market Scorpios for a while now and is a common-rail diesel that displaces 2.5litres. Like the Scorpio mHawk, this engine gets hydraulic lash adjusters to eliminate the nee to set tappets and auto tensioners for the belt to reduce maintenance, reinforced cylinder block for better NVH insulation and to help the engine breathe better there’s an improved breather system and larger air filter capacity says OverDrive (Feb. ’09). There’s also the Mahindra Body Function Module (MBFM) that combines all functions into one control unit to reduce diagnostic service times. Like all Mahindra engines this is a powerful beast. It makes 113PS of power and 23Nm of torque (at 1800-3000rpm) and has been tuned to have a flatter torque curve than the old 2.6-litre CRDe engine. It also meets current European emission norms for vehicles of its class.
Performance
Compared to the Scorpio, the Xylo’s mEagle engine is slightly down on power (by 3PS) while torque is down by 43Nm with peak torque coming in a 1000rpm later. However the Xylo also weighs a full 150kg less and that gives it a better power-to-weight ratio of 61.74 PS/tone. The engine too feels sprightlier and more flexible, top speed at 159.4kmph is impressive but the way she accelerates to triple digit figures and holds it there is far more so says OverDrive (Feb. ’09). Braking is handled by the Scorpio-derived 298mm ventilated discs up front and 282mm drums at the rear. Thanks to the better stability, afforded by the longer wheelbase, wider track and reduced height (all of which gives it a lower centre of gravity), it brakes true and straight.
Not only has performance improved but fuel efficiency too has seen an upswing marks OverDrive (Feb. ’09). On the highway, the test figures show 16.1kmpl while in the city; it returned 10.92kmpl, both figures with the aircon on.
Ride & Handling
Thanks to the brand new body shop for the Xylo’s final assembly, the chassis is 120 percent more rigid than the Scorpio while unsprung masses have also been reduced to give it better dynamics. The Xylo also gets independent double wishbone suspension at the front while at the rear there’s proper multi-link suspension with coil springs, gas filled shocks to eliminate cavitation and European valving which offers better transition from tarmac to off-road conditions.
The ride quality is perfectly suited to Indian roads and conditions delivering reat straight line stability even when the going gets rough. The downside – the steering is a bit vague and heavy and lacking in feel.
Verdict
The Xylo will pose headaches to its nearest competitor – the Toyota Innova and that’s on pure merit - on the quality and attention to detail of the interiors, on equipment levels, on ride quality, on space and on the engines and transmission package. To top it all there’s the pricing that is shockingly good says OverDrive (Feb. ’09)
The base E2 variant is priced at Rs. 6.25 lakh ex-showroom Delhi and that’s enormous value-for-money especially when compared to the E-variant of the Innova that costs Rs. 7.6 lakh and does not get air-conditioning, power steering, power windows and central locking.
The fully loaded E8 variant of the Xylo is priced at Rs. 7.7 lakh which is over a lakh and a half cheaper than the equivalent Innova G4 variant which, despite the price, doesn’t get alloys, parking sensors or the 2DIN stereo.
Of course the era of sedans is far from over but the Xylo gives them such a close run for their money, that for once it looks like all the marketing mumbo jumbo is grounded in reality.
| At A Glance |
Price: Rs. 7.69 lakh
Engine: 4-cyls in-line, 2498cc, common rail direct injection, diesel
Torque: 235Nm@1800-3000rpm
Power: 113PS@3000rpm
Fuel Efficiency: City – 10.9kmpl, Highway – 16.1kmpl, Overall – 12.1kmpl
Acceleration: 0-60: 6.5sec, 0-100m: 15.95sec, Top Speed: 159.4kmph
Rating: 4/5 |
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