Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [65K Kms Crossed]

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

I am not sure what you mean by suspension issues, but if you mean bushes yes i have tried plenty of them - the latest one i have has last a good 7k kms now and still doing ok, but i hear there is a new design thats come recently which improves things further - i havent got the time to try it out yet.

Regarding siren issue i read about it, but never had any issues myself yet, i checked the boltings in my case and didnt see it loose - so far i am ok.

 

[RagMax]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

I am not sure what you mean by suspension issues, but if you mean bushes yes i have tried plenty of them - the latest one i have has last a good 7k kms now and still doing ok, but i hear there is a new design thats come recently which improves things further - i havent got the time to try it out yet.

Regarding siren issue i read about it, but never had any issues myself yet, i checked the boltings in my case and didnt see it loose - so far i am ok.

Hi Iron Rock, Yes I was referring to the bushes. Glad that they are more reliable now. I was worried about the siren as some people were terming it as a very serious design flaw and the plastic part which is joined to the metal part used to break quite often. But it seems they might have rectified that problem by using better plastic material. Thanks for the reply

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

HI IR,

Any particular reasons why XUV is considered a soft off roader and not a proper off roader even in the AWD variant?

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

My view of a proper off-roader is a bit aggressive - i will admit. A off-roader has to off-road genuinely and i am not talking mickey mouse stuff, mickey mouse offroading i have done even in a civic.

For a proper off-roader my need is transmission should be able to take abuse and survive, there has to be a 4Low option, locking differentials though not exactly a must is a great bonus, water wading capabilities, heavy duty clutch and importantly A/T tyres etc. It should be short chassis with great GC and good approach/departure angles. The amount of difference a good A/T tyre makes is enormous and this is often underestimated. Our normal tyres once its coated with mud is frankly useless no matter whatever AWD kit you have.

Coming back to XUV - make no mistake the AWD acts as a 4H and its useful both on-road and off-road( many off-roaders with LSD etc cant be used on road ), so AWD has dynamic control benefits on road as well. It can do some light offroading as well but nothing really on a genuine scale of off-roading. India has by far the best off-roading options in the world and discounting high end cars(hardly anyone takes those off-road in India (Dubai sand dunes is a different ball game atleast it doesn't cause damage) - i would say we have very little genuine off-roaders in the affordable range. If i am looking to buy a genuine bone stock off-roader my options unfortunately are very very limited.

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

Going by your opinion the only option that come to my mind is a 4x4 Thar or a gypsy with modified bumpers, wheels, tyres.
Because none of the others in the sub 20 lakh range satisfies be it Safari or Scorpio.

This brings me to my next question what exactly is a awd XUV or 4x2 xuv capable of?

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

Going by your opinion the only option that come to my mind is a 4x4 Thar or a gypsy with modified bumpers, wheels, tyres.
Because none of the others in the sub 20 lakh range satisfies be it Safari or Scorpio.

This brings me to my next question what exactly is a awd XUV or 4x2 xuv capable of?

Yes Jeeps,Gypsy and Gurkha apart there are no other options really in this end of the spectrum. I have been doing very mickey mouse offroading in my XUV from day one!
As long as one realizes the limit and stays within you should be fine. i have been mud skating and exploring the GC limits (have shaved off the front skid plates atleast 4 times till now, most latest was last week!)

XUV AWD does not have low ratio so it cant do much in very slushy and slippery conditions especially with those stock tires and conditions where a lot of low end grunt is required. It would be good in ghats, very dynamic and agile with great AWD control and for simple mud pits where even if 1 tire has traction it could get you through. Since there is no 4 Low I wouldn't dare going too adventurous. It wont take excess abuse anyways - its made for the roads rather than off-roads.

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

so the last weekend took the XUV again to places it shouldn't be really going

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

it is in deep contrast to the discussion that we had just above this post.

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

it is in deep contrast to the discussion that we had just above this post.

Not exactly, I am simply exploring the limits of a 2wd softroader I would say. I ensure the front 2 wheels have traction all the time and i don't get too adventurous.

XUV has GC advantage that can be explored in such a terrain and off-course i take enough precautions like doing a recce on foot.

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [35K Kms Crossed

thats good. keep exploring so that I can learn the limits :P

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [37K Kms Crossed

not much of recent updates I have been simply putting on the miles. 39K crossed and soon will be on the verge of the 40k service. I havent rotated tyres at all so far (yeah bad boy me! ) , but will do it shortly - my target is to surpass 80k on stock tyres - very ambitious given i drive the xuv through some really bad roads and no roads.

This weekend did some OBD2 experiments(all data below shown from Torque Pro) :-

Measured Efficiency from on the Mumbai-Pune expressway from toll booth to toll booth.

1) Case 1 - Largely downwards drive with speed not exceeding 110kmph

The XUV gave a whopping figure of 21.9 kmpl. This is just with some normal driving no fancy ecodrive types run. Overall till end of journey it gave something around 21.2kmpl.





2) Case 2 - Return journey again measured toll booth to toll booth , this is largely an uphill drive(+ there was thick traffic in the ghats)

This time XUV gave an average of 15.8kmpl.
Overall till Pune it gave about 17.5 in the return journey.





Here are a list of sensors on the XUV which give data.





Also ill leave some recent pictures after Dassera, the civic is being missed badly.

 

[mukeshus]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [39K Kms Crossed

Hi IR have the tyres been over inflated.

Atleast in the last pic it seems the tyres have some excess air.

I may be wrong.

Good to see you munching miles.

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [39K Kms Crossed

I put in 32psi flat on all 4 tyres (recommended is 30 for the rear tyre though) - but that is purely out of laziness. Its not a big deal i think. Plus anyways i dont trust any of the machines calibrations - need to buy a good reader to check tyre pressure. I dont want to trust the XUV smart app for the digital reading as well.

First priority is to get tyres rotated now - i am been flouting all best practices anyways.

 

[Sam Dinkar]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [39K Kms Crossed

Just out of curiosity, how much does the psi reading on the TPMS change once the tires have been warmed up?

And bad boy Iron Rock, gift an indicator lens to the hardy Sumo at least.

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Mahindra XUV5OO: "The Dark Knight" Buying & Ownership Experience [39K Kms Crossed

Just out of curiosity, how much does the psi reading on the TPMS change once the tires have been warmed up?

And bad boy Iron Rock, gift an indicator lens to the hardy Sumo at least.

PSI reading on the TPMS always seem 1-2 psi lower than the fuel pump gauge - i dont know who to trust here to be honest. I havent been using that smart app much - let me now keep an eye and get back. Since ill also be rotating tyres shortly will need TPMS recalibrated - i hear its a easy process.

Regarding the Sumo it only gets the bare bone essentials, last week it was pouring oil from the sump area, luckily for me it was no crack or gasket but an alternator oil pipe leaking all over it, fitted it DIY at the site itself, luckily the spare was available nearby. So i must admit the Sumo largely is neglected from service /spruce up or maintenance perspective - but am also limiting the running in a 10km radius around my site. I feel bad about it once a while though, may be i should get a proper service done and a DIY paint job - it still cranks in one attempt after all these years now that to me is the most reliable Tata ever!