Mahindra XUV300: We drive it first in India

Martin Pretorius

Going big with a new small SUV

With much of their international sales growth being centered around expanding demand for SUVs and Crossovers, it’s entirely logical that Mahindra would want to muscle in on the burgeoning compact SUV market segment as well. Due to slot into their range between the tiny KUV100 and 7-seater XUV500, the new XUV300 has a lot riding on its squared-off shoulders. We drove it first in India, to see if it has what it takes to win sales from the popular Ford EcoSport and Suzuki Vitara.

“We have many casualties on our roads”, said my driver with a sad face – while casually squeezing a scooter onto the sidewalk with some flashing of headlights and couple of hooter honks. He merely pointed out a reality of driving in India, though, because I came to the same conclusion within about 15 seconds of buckling myself into the rear seat of our shuttle from Goa Airport to the hotel. I can promise you that you’ve never seen such mayhem and unbridled chaos on the roads, anywhere. 

Never will I ever again complain about the traffic congestion in Cape Town’s CBD. I won’t get hot under the collar when faced with Sandton’s taxi driver’s apparent disregard for road rules, either, because it could really be so much worse. Indian drivers clearly have no fear of death, though, so daredevil stunts are de rigueur, whether they’re piloting a tuk-tuk or a dilapidated bus through the afternoon rush hour. 

And, observing these apparently suicidal drivers around us, the realization that I will also be venturing onto these roads in a few hours’ time was rather unsettling, to say the least. I’ve driven around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and I’ve driven through Athens in the morning, but I’ve never faced anything as terrifying as Indian traffic. 

First impressions

After an early breakfast and a short press briefing, the small contingent of South African motoring journalists in attendance was herded to a line of idling XUV300s. Mahindra’s representatives quickly helped us settle into the unfamiliar vehicles, and went to great lengths to explain the control system arrangements and long list of standard features.

Then, with the satellite navigation set to guide us to our first waypoint – a secluded spot to take some fresh pictures – the moment of truth arrived, and we were left to face the terror that is Indian traffic. And lo and behold, it turned out to be nowhere near as intimidating an experience as I expected it to be. To a large degree, this was due to the absolute ease of operation of the new XUV300: there’s nothing strange about its ergonomics, and its surefooted handling and torquey engine made short work of the jostling for position among the swarms of local lunatics.

Slotting into India’s “sub-4-meter class”, the XUV300 has nicely compact dimensions, enabling it to fit into small gaps, and because it’s also quite narrow, threading between belching trucks and buzzing scooters was no hardship at all. In fact, I was honking and flashing headlights with the best of them within minutes. It’s safe to say that the XUV300 passed my first test for a car’s user-friendliness: being able to just get in and drive an unknown vehicle in foreign conditions.

Styling

In overall proportions, the XUV300 looks like a pretty generic compact SUV, with the elevated roofline and truncated tail you’d expect from a car in this segment. However, the details set it apart, and turns it into a rather attractive vehicle with its own charm. Sure, there are design cues from other SUVs (Audi Q2, Range Rover Evoque and Suzuki Vitara come to mind), but it forms a harmonious whole, and should prove popular with its target audience.

As with the larger XUV500, the wheel arches are accentuated and bulging, but they follow a squared-off theme this time around. The compulsory floating roof is present, as are leaf-shaped rear light clusters, defined swage lines down its flanks, and a frontal view with a strong horizontal design emphasis. In addition, there's an attractive visual signature from the LED DRLs, and the rear light clusters have an intricately-shaped illuminated edge as well. It all gels quite harmoniously, however, and winds up looking rather a lot more upmarket than it actually is. 

The Cars

Spawned off Mahindra’s new “X100” platform, the XUV300 is a conventional, high-value compact SUV/Crossover, designed to tackle such established opponents as the Ford EcoSport, Suzuki Vitara and Hyundai Creta.

It follows that its engineering is in no way radical, with MacPherson struts in front and a torsion-beam rear axle providing the basic suspension design. The engine is mounted transversely, and sends its power to the front wheels through a 6-speed manual gearbox. There’s no sign of an automatic transmission yet, but the engineers say that a 6-speed torque converter auto is under consideration for later availability.

Two brand-new power units will be available in South Africa upon its launch in April 2019: a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder turbo petrol mill with 82 kW and 200 Nm (available between 2000-3500 r/min) on tap, as well as a 1.5-litre turbodiesel 4-cylinder with 85 kW and 300 Nm from 1500 to 2500 r/min. That slug of diesel torque was particularly helpful on our launch drive, because it arrives with a mere twitch of the accelerator pedal, to make short work of the cut-and-thrust driving style enforced by the aggressive traffic conditions.

The Drive

Along with the diesel engine’s readily available torque, the handling dynamics was also confidence-inspiring on the narrow, winding roads leading to our mid-way lunch stop. In spite of its conventional underpinnings, the XUV300 is endowed with the sort of characteristics which make it really easy to pilot.

Around town, and over the pockmarked surfaces which characterises most of India’s rural roads, the suspension gives the sort of supple, absorbent ride quality which should endear it to local buyers as well. However, body roll is well-contained, and the handling balance shows no unpleasant surprises at the limits of adhesion. 

I really had to push it quite hard in corners to elicit any understeer, but even at its very high limits, the chassis’ responses are predictable and easy to control. This is also helped along by its wide track and standard stability control, the latter of which was never intrusive in operation. In fact, the overall ride-handling balance feels decidedly European in flavour.

The steering has electric power assistance with three available levels of assistance, to tailor its response to the prevailing driving conditions. In Comfort mode, there’s very little effort, which makes it ideal for city traffic, while Sport mode adds noticeable resistance (if not buckets of feel) for more-spirited driving on open roads. Normal mode strikes a nice balance between the two, and will probably become the default setting for most drivers.

As for performance, the diesel offers a bit of a mixed bag. The torque peak tapers off quite sharply at higher engine speeds, with power peaking at a mere 3750 r/min, and drops off above the 4000 r/min mark, leaving it feel a tad breathless at high revs. Why is this significant with this diesel engine? Because the XUV300 boasts very well-contained NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) levels, which will often see drivers inadvertently sit in a lower gear than conditions require.

Indeed, refinement is a recurring impression when driving the XUV300, with its low noise levels, slick gearchange and easy-to-modulate clutch, smooth-revving (especially for a diesel) engine, and well-tuned spring- and damper rates endowing it with a grown-up feel on the road. Brakes are equally confidence-inspiring, thanks to the disk brakes all round, with ABS and EBD.

After our test drive session, a chat with the engineers confirmed that one of their primary objectives was to give their new car refined road manners, a smooth ride, and a quiet cabin. As far as its market segment goes, I’d say they achieved that objective in a very impressive fashion.

Inside the cabin

As is typical of many Indian vehicles, the cabin is decked out in a combination of black-and-beige colours. This is apparently perceived as upmarket in its home market, but previous experience has shown this combination to be less appealing to South African buyers. Nonetheless, the cabin design is pleasing to the eye, it’s very well screwed together (even in our early-build test cars), and the dashboard texturing does a good job of disguising the hard plastics in use. 

Cabin space is quite ample for a car of this size, thanks to a rather elevated seating position and clever packaging. There’s enough room for four average-sized adults to get comfortable (thanks to a longest-in-class wheelbase), and while the luggage compartment probably isn’t the most capacious out there, it’s evenly shaped and features a false floor to hide smaller odds and ends. Seat comfort also rates quite highly, with several hours behind the wheel failing to elicit a single complaint from my back.

Tech and Safety

Depending on the variant (South Africa is expected to receive three trim levels at launch), there’s a wide array of high-tech features on offer. Our top-spec car came with dual-zone climate control, parking sensors front and rear, a rear-view camera with dynamic guidelines, a sunroof, automatic headlights and -wipers, cruise control, and an engine start/stop button. 

In addition, the touchscreen infotainment system incorporates sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and features smart-watch integration. The latter essentially allows the driver to control infotainment- and climate control functions from a paired watch, which also remotely shows things like the available fuel range and other vehicle status items. It may be a bit of a gimmick, but at least it’s a first-in-class gimmick.

On the safety front, high-spec XUV300s will feature 7 airbags (including a knee airbag for the driver), as well as the aforementioned stability control and ABS brakes. Lower-trim variants will have at least two airbags, however, along with the same braking system on offer across the range. Early results show its platform-mate (the Ssangyong Tivoli) scoring at least 4 stars in Euro-NCAP testing, so the XUV300 should be pretty crash-worthy as well.

Prospects for local success?

Going on the introductory drive around Goa in India, the new XUV300 has all the qualities which should endear it to local buyers as well. There’s a spacious cabin with a high feature content, attractive and distinctive styling, and competitive driving dynamics along with a comfortable ride quality.

And then we get to the pricing: the folks at Mahindra South Africa are aiming for a launch price around the R300 000 mark in today’s money for the top-spec diesel, with entry-level variants starting at roughly R240 000. That’s a serious value proposition indeed. 

But, rather than just make “being cheap” its main selling point, the XUV300 adds its own blend of appealing attributes to the equation, to create a surprisingly compelling product. If you’re in the market for a new compact SUV/Crossover-type car in the next few months, you might want to wait a while before buying, because you might regret missing out on this cutie’s numerous virtues if you don’t. This Indian newcomer may just prove to be a surprise hit for 2019.