Mahindra Scorpio

The scorpio has shape characteristic of SUVs, its big, its chunky and has loads of road presence. This design has been an eye-catcher among SUVs and has bagged many an award for its styling. The new Scorpio has an air input duct on the bonnet – do not get excited, this duct does not make the Scorpio as powerful and efficient as those American cars – this duct is pseudo, sealed shut and is meant for just looks. There are also changes done to the rear end of the Scorpio; it now has a huge tail lamp cluster running all the way from the roof to the bumper – this too is pseudo because the top part of these lights does not work! These towered tail lights also call for slightly different rear panels.

The new Scorpio also boasts about “Air extractor”. When we asked about these from the incompetent sales person of Swami Automobiles, he showed us what this gizmo was. Damn! It was a piece of plastic around the last of the side windows, with a whole lot of holes – hey come on! there are better ways to fool not so intelligent consumers.

Other minor cosmetic changes include a new style bumper with air dams! Add on spoiler and ski racks to boot. Perhaps now, Scorpio owners will finally benefit from the extensive wind tunnel testing of the Scorpio which rendered the bonnet scoop completely shut! We don't mean to be hard on the Mahindra engineers and their redesign effort. It definitely is good and we are glad to know that they have fast tracked their development program, unlike their competitors. But, we really hope that the marketing guys at Mahindra exercise a little more discretion in their promotion efforts.

The interiors have tried to incorporate many things all at once. There are so many holes in this dashboard. There are holes underneath the rear AC vents! meant to hold big bottles, of water perhaps. But, all these holes and cubby holes are there no doubt and Im sure serve a purpose too, but one felt Mahindra engineers have spent much thought to incorporate this. But, perhaps these holes should not have been so many that the whole design seems like it was done just to please some design requirements; not to serve much purpose. Also –the legroom and seating comfort are as pathetic as ever.

Engine and Transmission
The engine has remained an excellent positive for the Scorpio since its inception. Originally a turbocharged indirect injection later upgraded to a common rail unit which Mahindra calls CRDe. This 2600cc 4stroke turbo-charged inter-cooled common rail develops a very credible 115bhp at 3800rpm and 28.3kgm of torque between 1700-2200rpm. Couple this with the 2510kg kerb weight and Mahindra Scorpio turns out to be a very heavy vehicle.

The Scorpio has an excellent bottom end, it pulls extremely well from low down, but it gets even better once that turbo kicks in. There is a surge of power with the 2.5 ton behemoth lunging forward eagerly. There is one thing though, the tachometer is calibrated till 8000rpm, but the Scorpio can barely manage 4500. We agree its a diesel and that it isn't meant to rev all that much, perhaps then they should have had the tachometer calibrated to 5000rpm or so.

The Scorpio has a 5 speed manual gearbox that is a little weird. The gear lever is at an angle to the dashboard. For some strange reason, the Scorpio has all its gears at an angle. Mahindra could have done without such a system. The gear ratios are well selected and can keep the engine on the boil, but overtaking may requires some down shifting. The clutch is very progressive and petrol car drivers may cause the engine to whine while getting off the clutch, but its light and easy which makes it that much more easy to use, especially in city conditions.

Ride and Handling
Originally, the Scorpio had leaf spring suspension; leaf springs are the same as those you will find in the original Maruti 800, but in recent times; only truck and buses. The modern technology offers much better in terms of suspension. Mahindra has teamed up with world leaders lotus UK for including a coil spring suspension. Scorpio now riding on its new set of coil springs and anti roll bars is excellent. The new suspension has also helped improve the overall handling however only marginally. The major improvement can be felt by those who have experienced the last row of the Scorpio during a long drive.

Our Verdict
The Scorpio has always been fun to drive, it has commanded every ounce and more all the road presence it deserves. It definitely is built for the Indian road conditions, it will eat potholes at will and munch miles like a glutton. Don't let the marketing guys fool you that the new air dam and air scoop will boost the aerodynamics of this car. To know how much work has gone into this car, just take both the old and new Scorpio for a spin.

Prices of Scorpio Car :-

Mahindra and Mahindra	Scorpio	2.6 Turbo	6.57	Mumbai, India
Mahindra and Mahindra	Scorpio	2.6 DX	7.10	Mumbai, India
Mahindra and Mahindra	Scorpio	2.6 GLX	7.42	Mumbai, India
Mahindra and Mahindra	Scorpio	2.6 SLX	7.73	Mumbai, India
Mahindra and Mahindra	Scorpio	7.2WD Rev 116	7.17	Mumbai, India

Other important links :-
Review of Scorpio Car
Complete details about Mahindra Scorpio
Official Site Of Mahindra Scorpio