I'll be honest — I've never driven the 80s-looking Mahindra TUV300 which launched in 2017, nor have I given it a second glance, but now that the TUV300 has enjoyed a bit of facial reconstruction of late, I am finding it more appealing, and I am itching to drive one. It’s price tag is the real attention-grabber, plus, it has seven seats!
What is the TUV300?
The TUV300 SUV slots in between the XUV300 and XUV500 and competes with cars such as the Honda BR-V and Suzuki Ertiga. These seven-seaters are not really built for going off-road, so the TUV300 already has the edge over these tarmac-going rivals.
Related: Mahindra XUV300 is here to turn the tables
Its new look
For 2020, the new TUV300's front end has been updated to wear the latest interpretation of the Mahindra five-slot grille. Redesigned headlamps with a carbon-black finish blend in nicely with the black and chrome grille. A wider air inlet at the bottom and two new squared-off fog lamps are standard fare. Around the back, the rear-wheel spare wheel cover sports a fresh X-design, while a new rear spoiler has been added as well. Alloy wheels and electric side mirrors remain. Lava Red, Diamond White, De Sat Silver and Sunset Orange are the latest available exterior colours. Looks wise, I'd say this new image takes the TUV300 from a four to at least a seven out of ten. It is quirky and charming, and oozes old-school cool.
On the inside, not much has changed, apparently. Mahindra says there’s new silver detailing around the air vents and main controls, compliments of the Pininfarina design house which forms part of the Mahindra group. I would have to sit inside one to give you my score out of ten for interior design and layout. The mind boggles as to why Mahindra doesn't rather go for dark seat material, especially in cars that are geared towards families.
Engines
The TUV300 1.5 CRDe T8 is the only model in the range. The 3-cylinder 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine has 74kW and 240 Nm at its disposal, and according to Mahindra, you can expect to get over 1100 km from one 60-litre tank. My colleague drove the pre-facelift model and reported a figure of about 6 litres per 100 km, which is rather excellent. The engine features twin-stage turbocharging to address low-speed turbo lag and there’s some micro-hybrid tech and brake energy regeneration that assist in keeping fuel costs to a minimum. (Watch this space – the TUV300 will be added to Mahindra’s press fleet soon, and we’ll be sure to give one a proper test in the near future.)
Suspension
Built on the same third-generation ladder-frame chassis as the Mahindra Scorpio, the TUV300 is not your average soft-roader. The Cushion suspension system is well-known for being hardy and capable. The rear-wheel driven TUV300 is said to be quite at home on poor surfaces and is therefore ideally suited to South Africa’s pothole-ridden tar- and dirt roads, having been built to also withstand the heavily corrugated highways and byways of India. I am quite certain that the TUV300 will probably just fly over washed-out farm roads, unperturbed.
Safety, tech, and spec
The latest TUV300 has all the most important modern convenience features such as air-conditioning, a multifunction steering wheel, Bluetooth, a voice control button, a USB port, AUX input, remote central locking, infotainment system screen/audio system, and a trip computer. There are electric windows in the front and rear, height adjustment for the driver’s seat and rear-parking sensors. Standard cornering lights illuminate dark corners and the headlamps have a follow-me-home function. The Mahindra Bluesense app is available as well, allowing control of the infotainment system which includes tracking of selected vehicle parameters via your phone in real time.
Safety features comprise two frontal airbags with ABS and EBD, as well as CBC (cornering brake control), and a safety cell with impact-absorbing channels and side-impact bars.
And the price?
The new Mahindra TUV300 is a pocket-pleasing R254 999. This is highly affordable, considering that the TUV300 has space for seven sets of bottoms. It may not have been the most fashionable SUV on the block in the past, but I reckon it warrants a test drive if you need a spacious new go-anywhere SUV that has a reliable engine and a large dealer footprint in SA as a back-up.
The TUV300 is sold with a 5-year / 90 000 km service plan and 3-year / 100 000 km comprehensive mechanical warranty and Roadside Assistance Service. (Services, after the initial 10 000 km lubrication service, are done every 20 000 km.)
In a segment dominated by budget-orientated people-movers by more popular Korean and Japanese brands, the affordable Mahindra TUV300 has quietly been waiting in the wings for its time in the limelight. Maybe 2020 will be its time to shine.
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