Mahindra Scorpio 2015: Interiors, Features and Comfort
The interiors of New Scorpio are many folds ahead, not only in comparison to previous model but the competition as well. Getting into the driver seat, I couldn’t help but notice amount of improvement in nearly every area. Fit and finish, though still not as good as one would expect, but it’s improved drastically. However, Scorpio is still an ergonomic disaster and not convenient as, say, Tata Safari Storme.
First impression is the last impression. And first impression of the new Scorpio is rather impressive. Both, steering wheel and the instrument cluster are beautifully crafted with decent fit and finishing. Thick rimmed steering is a straight lift from elder cousin, XUV500. Thankfully, also gone is the older and boring looking instrument cluster with poor backlit and undersized fonts. New cluster is now all-time backlit with legible and distinctive fonts. Twin hexagonal sections house tachometer and speedometer, which are accompanied with various tell-tale signs between two. The cluster also houses MID that shows information of trips, fuel level, engine temperature and current gear the vehicle is being driven in. This is a nice feature for newbie drivers and can be useful while slotting reverse gear. Personally I never felt the need for this feature though.
Dashboard:
The dashboard is nicely done with combination of light + dark grey coupled with a tinge of silver finish. Those who’re familiar with interiors of previous generation Scorpios won’t stop praising this one. Not only it’s attractive, but it’s also made up of better material. Good textures and the design language work quite well and you do get the feeling of a million rupee SUV. Center console is certainly the most impressive part. Neatest detail out of all is the carbon fiber finish plastic inserts in the lower-end, starting from sides of the screen and going all the way down to surround the gear lever. The only concern on the interiors is light texture which is prone to get soiled easily. All in all, dashboard is well-laid out and occupies less space too, thereby helping with cabin room by a couple of (but precious) inches. Speaking of ergonomics, following are some of the major flaws:
- Power window switches on driver’s side are inconveniently positioned.
- Door armrest is placed too low, causing driver to rest arm on window sill.
- Middle armrests are unsymmetrical in comparison to door mounted armrests.
- Front passenger needs to push back the seat or widen legs to access the glove box.
- The pedals are set a bit high and are slightly offset present with the absence of dead pedal.
- Gearlever is too long (in throw and size). Plus, it intrudes with center console in odd gears.
- There’s no separate door lock / unlock button. Adding to woes, unlocking mechanism is tight to use.
- Front center armrest causes trouble to fasten seat belts. Accessing handbrake means hand twisting exercise.
From the utility perspective, there are a couple of disappointments too:
- Number of cubby holes is very limited. Small door pockets don’t help either.
- Glove box? Sarcastically speaking, its size can easily put to shame Alto’s glove box.
On the driver’s seat, one will always like to have a good coverage throughout and that’s where Scorpio excels again. The inside rear view mirror offers good coverage. But with a reduced glass area, the rear visibility isn’t anymore as good as it used to be. Just get 5 people on board and IRVM becomes virtually useless and ends up serving as a conversation mirror instead. However, ORVMs deserves a special mention for their favorable size. They are wide and two way folding. So now you can challenge the biker trying to squeeze into the space without the worry of getting your ORVM wrecked (no pun intended). What’s enhanced drastically is the comfort level as well as the list of features. Let’s first get to the seating comfort first
First Row:
What’s new? Everything, it’s new and way better than the outgoing version. Many criticized the older generation car about seat size, bolstering, adjustment and seat base length. It seems Mahindra has taken a ‘make an entire list and address everything’ approach here. They have simply tried to address each complain the customers had regarding the front seats and cabin. Seats are not only better contoured and a size bigger, but are better cushioned, better bolstered and the addition of height adjustment has now made it possible for drivers of all the sizes to find that perfect driving position. But there lies another issue, those with bigger frame would still find seats a bit inadequate while those with average build will be supremely comfortable on the same set of seats.
Middle Row:
Space in middle row is same as earlier but it’s adequate to comfortably accommodate an occupant of height 5’10” if someone sitting in front is of same height. Just as front, the mid-row seats receive better contouring and set at a near faultless height with near perfect backrest angle. The larger seat base takes the comfort to next level. In fact, Scorpio can now be rated very close to Storme as far as comfort is concerned. The middle row air conditioning works well and there isn’t much to nit-pick about second row except for the position of floor mounted AC unit that snatches the legroom of mid passenger.
Jump Seats:
If you thought that jump seats can’t be comfortable, think again. The jump seats on New Scorpio are anytime far better than those seen on Storme. Be it space, height, backrest angle or seat base length. However, jump seats are jump seats and best suited for short trips and especially not recommended if you suffer from car-sickness since the ride becomes bumpier behind. All in all, comfort and space is an area in which the Scorpio has significantly advanced.
If you find the improvement in seating comfort jaw dropping, then be ready to pick your jaw up from the floor after going through the list of features.
Following the path of XUV500, the Scorpio is another SUV from Mahindra to be equipped with a swarm of features, of which some are unseen on even the SUV’s prices twice as much. For the entire list of features in the respective variants, the brochure is attached in post #10.