Mahindra TUV300 Review

When the going gets Tough, the Tougher gets going, this quote actually suits the all new Mahindra TUV300 with its sturdy & strong built which makes this SUV tough enough to take on anything.

Good Evening Guys, I am Siddharth Lal here with a review of TUV300, after it’s launch the first look of this SUV made me pretty much impressed and first thought I had in my mind was “Man this compact SUV does look good and feels like an real SUV unlike the EcoSport and the Duster). So I thought of giving it a try by going to the nearest Mahindra showroom (Koncept Mahindra, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi) with Vaibhev. The staff was cooperative and greeted well. My review is based on the Satisfying test drive of TUV300 I took at the Expressway and we both were pretty much impressed (Me: Performance, Vaibhav: Comfort). Later after mentioning the technical specifications I will be sharing my opinion of this SUV to let you guys know how this SUV is.

Exterior Styling:

The design is boxy yet it looks imposing with its Big, Bold, Sturdy and Muscular character. For me the SUV should posses these characteristics rather than being compact and car-like looks because an SUV is a rugged automobile vehicle built on a light truck chassis. The term SUV is termed as a large vehicle designed to be used on rough surfaces but also often used on highways and city roads (Definition source: Wikipedia). The design is inspired by a battle tank which is impossible to ignore. The TUV300 possesses a bold front grill with chrome inserts, Big static bending headlamps, big wide bumper with big rectangular chrome surrounded fog lamps and the flat moulded bumper and thick side lines adds sturdiness. The body structure is immense with dimensions of 1835mm width, 1839mm height, 2680mm wheelbase, the only thing which makes this SUV compact is its 3995mm length and even the side look is not that appealing. The rear looks bold too with the tailgate mounted spare wheel with moulded cover. TUV has 215/75 R15 rims.

Interiors:

Despite its tough stance, the TUV300’s dual tone (Beige & Black) interiors feels premium and welcoming. The hexagon shaped centre console, a combination of silver, chrome and piano-black accents on the dash gives the interiors a contemporary look. Other things such as a sporty twin-pod instrument cluster with chrome surrounds on speedo dials, stylish steering wheel and sporty gear knob (specially the auto knob) looks premium. The overall fit and finish of the fabrics and plastics are excellent. TUV gets a 2-DIN music system with AUX, USB and Bluetooth connectivity.

Engine and Gearbox

Mahindra TUV300 has a 1.5L 3 cylinder mHawk80 Diesel engine with 2-stage turbocharger and micro hybrid technology under it’s hood. The engine generates a power of 84bhp and 230Nm torque at band of 1500-2250RPM returning a milage of 17Km/L. NVH levels are less.

TUV300 gets two transmission options namely 5-speed manual and a first-in-class Automated 5 speed manual transmission.

Performance and Handling

Despite of being a 3-pot engine it is really responsive I must say. The power delivery is linear and the responsiveness of the throttle is good. The TUV picks up well in 5th gear even at a RPM below 1500 because of it remarkable 2-stage turbocharger. Not only the torque delivery is stupendous, but is well spread and the TUV does not feel stressed at any RPM levels but is jerky if you push the throttle hard. So what I noticed was if you are light-footed on the throttle, you’ll get a liner response but if you’ll try to be aggressive the TUV will not impress you much with its jerky ride. With all the positives follows the negatives, the drawbacks are the vibrations in the gear lever and the paddle like all the other Mahindra models, other weak point is it’s not so smooth gearshift. It reaches a speed of 100 Km/hr in 17secs thats actually slow.

The suspension is rigid with normal body-roll and the TUV300 is good around corners and on pot-holes but up-sizing of tyres is a must as the grip is not the good on sharp curves with uneven surfaces. But the overall ride quality is excellent on bad roads and the steering control is firm and responsive.

Comfort and Convenience

The TUV300 comes with best-in-class space, excellent elbow-room, head-room and good leg-room. The front seats get lumber-support and are really comfortable with high-seating position as well as with driver and co-driver arm-rests. The middle row seat is ideal to seat 3 passengers but the third row is cramped (384 litres). It gets jump-seats which are suitable to seat kids or adults with average built and a maximum height of 5.8” as the head-room is quite less.

There are three cup-holders at the front besides hand-brake and one cup-holder in the third row. It four door pockets with bottle-holders and even the tail-gate has map-pockets. No rear A/C vents is a big disappointment but the A/C is a chiller though. It’s comfortable seats and premium upholstery exudes a warmth that everyone will love. The ride is smooth due to its excellent suspension.

Braking and Safety

This SUV is immensely safe with it’s toughened high strength steel body shell, third generation crash-worthy chassis, frontal crash sensors, hydro-formed crush tips that collapse in case of impact in order to protect passengers and dual airbags. Even the braking is effective at high speeds as TUV gets ABS with EBD.

To sum up I would say the plus points of the TUV are its bold and imposing styling, sturdiness, excellent interiors, comfort and safety features and not so good being its decent fuel economy and pickup (would have been better). The Mahindra TUV300 has got what it takes to be a winner and is a deserving SUV. Hope you guys liked my post. Do post in your valuable comments. This weekend I have appointment at the Ford Noida to test the newly launched Ford Endeavour so i’ll be posting my review soon. Good Bye