132 evo India | January 2015

It’s been twelve years since Mahindra launched what has since become its seminal passenger vehicle, the Scorpio. There were previous successes

with the likes of the Bolero, but the Scorpio put the company in a different orbit altogether. It’s an interesting target group to think about, the Scorpio customer. On the one hand,

you’ve got the inter-city tourist taxi and long-distance private commuter, bullying their way past motorists in regular cars sitting three feet below their line of sight. On the other, you’ve got the urban consumer, genuinely interested in the space and some of the rough road capability of this home-grown SUV. If you believe the marketing, that’s the primary audience for Mahindra.

Success has come for Mahindra and the Scorpio thanks to packaging. It was never the most comfortable SUV available. Or the most stable handler. Or the quickest, best built, feature packed or efficient. But it did a bunch of these things well enough to appeal to a large swathe of customers, with the bonus of a huge service network. Even if you can’t find a Mahindra service spot where you are,

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scorpio rising

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Mahindra Scorpio Generations

WOr d S by T USh a r BU r M a n | P h O T O g r a P h y by a B h I j E E T a n a n d

The 2014 Scorpio is well endowed to keep pace with the changed times

chances are your local mechanic, cobbler or blacksmith can jugaad a fix for your troubles. But this is 2014. The value-conscious customer remains, but the benchmarks have changed. Whereas we were content to hustle a massive SUV around with playstation-class power steering in the past, today we demand feel, ergonomics and handling. Mahindra has kept up with minor facelifts and feature additions

over the years. But the 2014 Scorpio represents the biggest leap forward yet for the brand.

you don’t even need to start the vehicle to get a sense of how much the game has changed. The interior of the new Scorpio is leagues ahead of its predecessors. Where previous Scorpios ticked the boxes, they did it only just and with questionable taste. The new one has a proper dash with reasonable quality plastics

and a slightly edgy, but functional design. Controls fall to hand fairly well, though the vertical, almost leaning-forward console is still a pain to use on the go. The new Scorpio (as we tested it) came with a touchscreen infotainment system that is actually very practical and easy to use, once you twist your head to the right angle to make up for its vertical stance and awful viewing angle.

134 evo India | January 2015

The steering controls are sensibly laid out, if a little light to the touch. They’ve got little raised nubbins on them so you can feel your way around the controls without taking your eyes off the road. nice. There’s a multifunction display in the centre of the clocks reading out range, speed etc, switchable by a mode button. There’s even cruise control. This is not what I expect from a Scorpio and I’m pleasantly surprised.

The original Scorpio and the generations that followed were basic body-on-frame designs with suspensions that wallowed and swayed but did the job. The 2014 model is significantly more advanced, using a semi-monocoque design and updated springy bits (independent front, multi-link rear). The result is a surprisingly planted, stable ride unlike that of previous Scorpios, which always felt a bit like driving a double-decker bus. Once again, it is the overall package rather than large leaps forward in specific functions that effect the difference. Steering feel, combined with the updated suspension

and general ergonomic refinement makes for a much more car-like drive. That said, while it’s flatter around corners, I still have no idea what the front or rear are doing mid-corner. Even the gearbox is new, replacing the vague and rubbery old unit with something that feels positive, modern, with a well placed shifter and is pleasant to use.

going around those corners is a bit safer now thanks to the cornering lamps that illuminate blind spots effectively. The projector headlamps themselves are automatic and sense darkness quickly enough to illuminate tunnels at speed. The tail lamps are now LEd units and look quite a bit better than the twin Christmas trees of old. The whole rear of the Scorpio

2014 Mahindra Scorpio

in-line, 4-cyl, 2179cc5-speed Manual120bhp @ 4000rpm280nm @ 1800-2800rpm 1820kg 14.0 seconds170 kmph` 11.46 lakh

evo rating: ;;;;2

EngineTransmission

powerTorqueWeight

0-100kmphTop speed

price(ex-showroom, Mumbai)

2002 Mahindra Scorpio

in-line, 4-cyl, 2600cc5-speed Manual105bhp @ 3600rpm270nm @ 3600rpm 1910kgnAnA` 5.0-7.0 lakh

evo rating: ;;;22

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1: centre console houses a touchscreen infotainment system which is easy to use, but hard to see while driving 2: The old clocks vs the new hexagonal dials 3: The firs-gen scorpio made do with a 1-Din head unit 4: To my eye, the slightly longer rear overhang of the new scorpio looks nicer than the stubby old shape

Mahindra Scorpio Generations

the 2014 Scorpio repreSentS the biggeSt leap forward yet for the brand

is a bit overwrought, however. Kind of like Mahindra did with the XUV. Someone forgot to yell “that’s enough” in the studio. The large black cladding seems almost unnecessary, and at first glance I thought it was some sort of test mule camouflage. The front end has no such problems, thankfully. The new headlamps are rakish and give the Scorpio a bit more character. In fact, the entire body is now longer, while retaining the same wheelbase. It looks less like something mocked-up in Lego and much more contemporary.

The powerplant remains unchanged for the 2014 Scorpio, using the same 2.2-litre m-hawk generating 120bhp and 280nm of torque in all but a single base variant, which uses a 75bhp

direct injected motor. We haven’t had a chance to do fuel runs on the new Scorpio yet, but in mixed city/highway runs, it appears to be quite efficient. Certainly more so than some other behemoths we have in the fleet right now.

I’m not a Mahindra fanboy like our perennially muddy assistant editor, Ouseph. I enjoy being able to converse with passengers in the car. I like it when I press the right pedal to overtake, and do. I appreciate a decent infotainment system that works with my mobile phone. These are things we take for granted in modern cars. Things that gave me the opportunity to point and laugh at my fanboy friends. now I fear I may have to rise to the occasion and join their ranks. L

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