Having seen and driven the vehicle, I have less to complain and more to appreciate. Will be composing my first drive review shortly (I have hardly 10 pics, but Akash saarji has allowed to use his bank for anything I need other than mine), till then here are my initial impressions:
- Space with well positioned and well designed seats. I found the rear seat better than Baleno at least
- Interior fit and finish is good enough, In fact the plastic quality is well comparable to that of Scorpio. Now you can make out if Scorpio has poor plastics for the segment or KUV has over-ran its segment on this front
- Cost cutting not evident at many places but the build feels lighter; doors are really light
- Some very thoughtful touches in terms of storage and practicality, many people will like them
- A proper headrest for the rear middle passenger and all the headrests are of decent size, cushioning and quality
- A lot of storage spaces in cabin, many people will be surprised to find some of them
- The vehicle doesn't at all looks as quirky or disproportionate as it looks in the pics; check it to believe it
Drive impressions
- Let me tell you, that gear lever is awesome in terms of position, crispy shifts as well as throw size. I personally found the gear lever enjoyable and maybe it is the best bit in the entire car. Did I mention piano black trims which I liked BTW?
- People may complain of the dash design but I tell you guys; the dead pedal is now more usable given the plenty of space to rest your foot. Else people with a big foot can be found complaining that they just can't rest the foot on the dead pedal as it fouls with the clutch at the time of lifting or resting the foot. Nothing like that in the KUV.
Petrol Engine:
- Really light clutch
- Just acceptable low end and mid range, nothing special at all. I won't be surprised if this car becomes a stalling expert with 4 passengers inside. In fact with three people on board; I had to use more throttle to climb ramps or flyovers after complete stop with more clutch-throttle balance with a higher throttle input than what I need in even the likes of Jazz
- Top end is where you get the feeling of power coming in but the engine note is not enthusiastic at least. There is nothing like the sporty engine note of say Swift, Jazz or Grand i10. Top end also doesn't feel as strong as of the said cars.
- Par sharing at its best; even the petrol engine has the redline at 5000 rpm (Diesel and petrol have it same) while the engine actually starts showing the progress after 4000 rpm only; no wonder people will drive it more over the redline when in hurry.
- Refinement levels are good enough but nothing close to the super refined Hyundai 1.2 Grand i10.
Diesel Engine:
- Mahindra, MHawk...many names and this one also won't break the expectations. This is a 1.2l engine producing the figures a bit over Swift. What to expect? Turbo lag? Yes it is there. Sudden surge of torque? No it isn't there; the torque delivery still feels a bit linear.
- Don't confuse this with an enthusiastic motor like our national engine (which diesel engine revs like the 1.3 in Swift?). This engine is a bit relaxed, it won't jump in anger like the 1.3 MJD nor it has the spiky power delivery. I couldn't use ECO mode or do 100 kph but on a safer side; I really doubt if this vehicle can do 0-100 under 15 seconds (Both engines). This engine revs slowly but has enough pulling power at its disposal for regular driving. Still this vehicle is quicker than the TUV at least
- So where you are disappointed then? Well; when you try to push it hard. Looks lie the engine is tuned a bit more towards FE with just enough power on offer to keep you going at 100-120 kph on highways. Clutch is again light(not petrol light though) and won't pain anyone's foot in stop-go situations.
- Rest any regular joe will like the power delivery and refinement of this engine. Nothing special though but nothing disappointing either.
The wheels are a bit small for the vehicle size (They are 185 section though) and high center of gravity causes a bit rolling too. What adds more? Well suspension is softer set and hence the body roll is on the fine-to-higher side.
Here is a teaser pic, detailed first drive impressions will follow soon.But one thing for sure; I am impressed with the vehicle:
This is completely off topic. But let me ask a small doubt that I have. Please help me out of this confusion. I have been a follower of different forums, and while going through the comments on KUV100 people started criticizing the design elements and called it ugly (I still and will call it ugliest). But the recent comments were like "considering the VFM proportion, I may go for KUV100". So my doubt is "If enthusiasts also start considering the VFM excuse for buying an ugly design what is the difference between an 'aam admi' and an enthusiast??"
Note: No offence meant to anyone, but I found this very strange.
Nice question Pavi saarji. Let me try to answer this; actually many enthusiasts are more into "let me read, search the web, check the pics and reply" and hence they end up with the assumptions made on the basis of what they read and what they saw on the screen. Until the vehicle is seen and tested in real, making an assumption is always harmful.
My own example: Never in my life driven a Polo 1.2 petrol (Not GT); I had made assumptions that this is an under powered engine and the vehicle has poor performance and FE. Three weeks back I got to drive one after the VW sales guy just enthusiastically asked me to drive the car and see if my assumptions are actually true. Drove the car and voila; it has the best low end and mid range (where the vehicle will spend 99% of its life) in its segment. I was impressed with the vehicle and when inquired to many unbiased owners then I found that FE is also decent enough. In other words, our take do change as per our assumptions. My partner has replaced his Swift with a Polo 1.2 C/L and he seems to be happier with this one.
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