“Thunderbolt” Mahindra XUV5OO Detailed Review (5 Years Report)

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

Hello Friends,
I had a visit to service center and tried 2 things

1) Disconnecting the body ground and running a DIRECT wire from Amp Ground/Negative to Battery Negative-- NO AVAIL

2) Open the Dashboard and try new, external RCA cable from HU directly to AMP. you can see in pics that cable was laid externally for testing and was'nt touching anything electrical.-- NO AVAIL


More & pics here-

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...olt-xuv-500-jbl-4-channel-amp.html#post301101

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

Hello everyone!
I would like to upgrade you about my recent trip to Gujrat.
The average FE was 13.2, Which dropped to 12.6 on Expressway (More on that later). The Total distance travelled was 1000Km. All the driving was done by me or my Dad. We also enjoyed my Shiny new, Custom Dual subwoofer setup. (I am yet to make a post on this). The average speeds were 80~90 in 6th gear. AC, GPS, music , BT ON at all times. The ODO stands at 4800KM After the trip.

The best part of the is trip was the expressway run, which was luckily empty at most of the times. The Higest speed achieved was 170 (Sheeshh!! Don't tell anyone!!), that was the highest i had in XUV. The vehicle felt very stable and inspiring at those speeds except for slight vibration in steering. For the first time ever, i heard the 150+ Warning beep (Ting ting Ting). As the added bonus, the 170KM/H rum gave me a very healthy cardio workout as i had missed my session that morning. Every 150+ alert made my break in a distinct, wide grin. It was sheer thrill!

One of the leading vehicle decided to brake abruptly (It was a swift) upon sight of a Road barrier, and it proved a true test of XUVs brakes. There was no screeching, Vibrations or loss of stability at this 150 KMPH to Zero braking stunt. Hats off to Mahindra for such good brakes!!

later, when my dad took the wheel, I decided to make a little GPS comparo between Mahindra GPS and my Samsung NOTE GPS.
Here are my Observations point by point-


GPS SHOOTOUT INDIA-


> Mahindra Inbuilt GPS review-
Good-
*Inbuilt, easy to use and No hassles.
*Speed sensitive Voice over.
*Very fast lock-on times,
*Has small, Inbuilt compass.
*Very accutate even on small,interior roads
*Shows more details, Place names and road names than others.

Bad-
*No user/ at home updation possible.
*No clock in Car when GPS is on.

Rating-
4 Stars

>Samsung Note on Google Maps review-
Good-
*TOO much details. Picks even the smallest details and names.
*Sattelite view is awesome as it shows physical buildings/road which are easier to relate physically.

Bad-
*Needs internet even to start up! I dont know how come a modern company like GOOGLE can still be so dumb. Internet is impossible in moving vehicle. There is poor network even for calls, and internet? forget it!

*Does not work well on 2G and needs 3G. Due to heavy use of 3G internet, you could get a shocking Roaming bill of 500~600 rupees for a trip.

*No option for permanant Offline map storage.

*Does now understand the direction of our movement nor rotates the map accordingly. This is very frustrating as we could take wrong turns! I've made circles a few times before I finally cursed it and put Google nav away!

*Hardly any settings to Customize or change voice.

Rating-
NO STARS. Folks please stay away!


>Samsung Note on NAVFREE world review-

Good-
*FREE app.
*Offline permanant Map download. It downloaded 123 MB data which took a few minutes on my 3G. After then you could switch off Internet.
*It even works with phone is Airplane mode!
*Ability to download Multiple voice profies. I downloaded 2 male voices as i hate "anuty" voice! works like a charm.
*Inbuilt Speedometer which is very accurate just like car's physical meter. Now I can know car speed even in Back seat!
*3- Pre turn Voice overs compared to Mahindra's 2. But does not tell next turn info just after recent turn like Mahindra.
*Shows clock.
*Pinch to zoom is available, Graphics are crsiper and touch is FAR more responsive, thanks to NOTE's brilliant screen.
*Very beautiful Horizon with clouds/Stars etc.

Bad-
*No Time To Go calculation like mahindra.
*Blanks out on smaller roads whereas mahindra is happily churning out directions. However this maybe fixed with an update.
*Voice overs cause disturbance in music (if being played from same phone)
*No Compass
*Hardly shows any Building/place names.

>Rating
4 Stars!


Some General observations-

*The Vacum stick stand for Mobile costs 350 Rupees in Decor shop and is very felxible for mounting and position options. A must for everyone!
*Samsung note heats up considerably (I read 52.C ) Perhaps due to combined load of Screen ON, GPS, Processor and Music player etc. Try to position such that an AC vent is directed at the device.
*Phone discharges slowly even when connected to charger. if you start out at 100%, it comes down to 50% in the evening. Perhaps I shall hunt for heavy duty, 2A rated charger for the same.
*Managing Both Music and GPS on phone is unsafe/tricky when driving.

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

What's wrong folks? Zero replies in a week?

 

[Superbad]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

you do not have enough photos to complement your writing.



for GPS , i prefer sygic for offline maps.

they have very detailed maps but since it uses MMI, i dont think you will gain enough data than the XUV built in GPS.

 

[singh890]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

That's a very nice comparo between the different GPS devices.

But honestly i love the MMI GPS in XUV . I don't remember if i was ever lost or the GPS didn't worked for me. So i would definitely give 9/10. Why 9? Because as you mentioned if the GPS is on the clock goes away. I hope next time M&M upgrades the infotainment software this thing should be taken care off.

Now coming to the FE 13.2 is good but i guess this will increase after the first service. I still remember after the first service my FE went up and the max i have got so far is 14.7 kml..
So i am sure your FE will get better as well.

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

That's a very nice comparo between the different GPS devices.

But honestly i love the MMI GPS in XUV . I don't remember if i was ever lost or the GPS didn't worked for me. So i would definitely give 9/10. Why 9? Because as you mentioned if the GPS is on the clock goes away. I hope next time M&M upgrades the infotainment software this thing should be taken care off.

Now coming to the FE 13.2 is good but i guess this will increase after the first service. I still remember after the first service my FE went up and the max i have got so far is 14.7 kml..
So i am sure your FE will get better as well.

thanks for the inputs. I am eagerly awaiting First service as clock is 4800. I hope fe does go up.

my ratings are based on max 5 starts so, 4/5 should be pretty close to your ratings. what i miss is different voice packs, speedometer and buttery smooth touch that I get on my Samsung note. I pray Mahindra gives capacitive touch screen in next face lift '!

for the clock, even when infotainment is off, clock is pretty small and useless for mid /last row occupants.
Mahindra needs to learn sometimes from 'large clock' app on my note!

 

[The Adventurer]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

hey bhvm,
feels good reading your ownership. I just booked an xuv. but im getting a feedback that the ride is bouncy and long trips are tiring in the middle row as well. this worries me because im moving to an suv from a sedan. I'm not used to the bouncy suv effect.
I'd like to know your comparison on the ride for the non driver on comparing it against innova and a sedan.
cheers

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

hey bhvm,
feels good reading your ownership. I just booked an xuv. but im getting a feedback that the ride is bouncy and long trips are tiring in the middle row as well. this worries me because im moving to an suv from a sedan. I'm not used to the bouncy suv effect.
I'd like to know your comparison on the ride for the non driver on comparing it against innova and a sedan.
cheers

hello there,
if you're coming from the likes of honda city / Ford fiesta, you can rest assured. much better ride quality awaits you. thrid row is equal to first row in comfort and space. third road is little bumpy.

congrats on choosing the right vehicle for Indian road conditions. you'll never regret.

space in 500 is insane!

I haven't driven innova much. but I can say that innova makes road undulations felt much prominently on high speeds, and suspension buttoms out on depression / raises in road. due to small tyres. also innova has a very lazy engine.

on same roads I've driven honda city that rides like crap and buttoms out (suspension hitting limits ) on any depression of road eg road joints etc.

I drive fortuner and safari.
ride quality is comparable to fortuner except for the largest speed breakers. in xuv you need to come down to First gear, where fortuner can make in second gear. otherwise the xuv will clip off. :-(

ride is NOT tiring at all and I've made many 550km runs straight with granny (she has suffered slip disk before ) /grandpa etc and they never complained. middle row has a reclining function that makes everything much better. also USE seat belts please. even on middle row.

but to sum of, safari is above all this in comfort. period!

ping me anytime if you need more info.
good luck with your beast and awaiting review!

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

unable to edit on in my note,
second row comfort is same as first row.

xuv is owners enthusiasm oriented SUV.
if you prefer chauffeurs driven, please get innova etc.

 

[The Adventurer]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

thanks for the quick response.
My ride on the fortuner has not been 'pleasant'. But I,ve heard that they've done something with the new suspension on the fortuner. hope youre comparing the ride with that one.

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

thanks for the quick response.
My ride on the fortuner has not been 'pleasant'. But I,ve heard that they've done something with the new suspension on the fortuner. hope youre comparing the ride with that one.

same here. I was very dissapointed when I invested so much money to'upgrade' from safari. it's definitely not worth it. safari wins for comfort over fortuner by long lead.

 

[The Adventurer]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

thanks.
Decided not to cancel the booking but to downgrade to w6 and keep things a bit more basic.
But i seriously hope the ride isnt as bad as the fortuner though!
I'm unable to find a bad road within even a 10kms vicinity of the mahindra outlet in my city. so i cant really test this aspect

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

Hello everyone,
I have made some Upgrades to the THUNDERBOLT.

A Roof Rack- Cost 6.5k

I must admit that this had let to a slight increase in wind noise esp at higher speeds. But this was mandatory considering lack of space in the vehicle.

Carpeting- Cost 4K
Would have never done it if I had knew of all the teardowns

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

Hi bhvm,

Nice upgrades.

I am also interested in getting the roof rack. Can you tell if it is the removable kinds or not? and if yes how much time will it take to remove?
I dont want the roof rack for city runs. will need it only a couple of times an year for longer drives.

thanks.
Decided not to cancel the booking but to downgrade to w6 and keep things a bit more basic.
But i seriously hope the ride isnt as bad as the fortuner though!
I'm unable to find a bad road within even a 10kms vicinity of the mahindra outlet in my city. so i cant really test this aspect

Dont worry the ride in the XUV is much better than that in Fortuner. I test drove a Fortuner last month just for some fun and after that my XUV was feeling like a first class cabin. I seriuosly dont understand why people buy the Fortuner.

 

[bhvm]

Re: “Thunderbolt” XUV 5OO Detailed Review (Decals, Audio, LED, Mods++)

Hi bhvm,

Nice upgrades.

I am also interested in getting the roof rack. Can you tell if it is the removable kinds or not? and if yes how much time will it take to remove?
I dont want the roof rack for city runs. will need it only a couple of times an year for longer drives.



Dont worry the ride in the XUV is much better than that in Fortuner. I test drove a Fortuner last month just for some fun and after that my XUV was feeling like a first class cabin. I seriuosly dont understand why people buy the Fortuner.

the roof rack is removable. no drilling
however don't think you alone can do that. install time shall be half hour. you could just keep it on, I feel it actually adds to the manly look of SUV.
don't go for showroom ones! they're priced double!

else I'm thinking to add 2 off road lights, one each on the side of roof rack rods (front ones ). those rods protrude a bit too much for my linking. 3rd pic explains it very well. let's put them to good use. what say kinsuk?

for the fortuner, +100 to that! :-)