Looks and DesignBefore talking about the looks and design, let me first tell you that Mahindra will sell the old Scorpio along with the new Scorpio N. Now if you compare with the old Scorpio Classic, then the length of this vehicle has increased to 4,662 mm and the width has also increased to 1,917 mm. But the height has come down from the old Scorpio to 1,857mm. The wheelbase is 2,750 mm, which has increased more than before.
On the design front, you will get to see Mahindra’s signature 6 slat grille along with chrome inserts, making it more premium than ever. With this, now you will get to see the complete setup of LED lights. That is, you are getting to see DRLs with LED projector headlamps and C shaped LED DRLs with projector fog lights below. From the side, it looks really long and here you get razor cut 18 inch alloy wheels while in the lower variants you get 17 inches. Adding to the premium SUV looks are chrome lines on the windows and roof rails.
At the rear, the shark fin antenna and vertically shaped LED tail lights add to the beautiful profile of the Scorpio N and the rear skid plate gives the overall SUV feel. You can buy this vehicle in 7 body colors – Deep Forest, Napoli Black, Everest White, Red Rage, Dazzling Silver, Royal Gold and Grand Canyon. The green color we have on us is its name Deep Forest which is really looking very beautiful in this greenery and tremendous weather.
Interior and FeaturesComing to the interior of the new Mahindra Scorpio N, you get a very premium feel here. You will get to see the entire cabin with coffee and black color theme. Looking at the touch points like the steering and armrests, the premium materials used here will look great and the soft touch leather fabric has been given on the dash panel which gives a luxurious look to the new Scorpio N. Talking about the quality and fit and finish, you will see a very good fit and finish on some panels and some places on the center console could have been better. Getting in and out of a new Scorpio is not easy, especially for older people. But getting into the front seats is easy because you get grab rails on the A pillar. Talking about seating comfort, the front seats are quite comfortable and you also get great Thai support here. Like the old Scorpio, you get a commanding view all around in it. Z8 L means you also get electric powered seats in this top end variant.
We have the Z8 L variant of the Scorpio N and you get a lot of features in this variant. That is, you get an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system that comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Along with this, you also get more than 70 connected features in this infotainment system. You get electric sunroof, dual zone climate control, leather upholstery, push button start, connected car technology, automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, front and rear cameras and a wireless phone charger. Not only this, for great music quality, it also gets Sony’s 12-speaker sound system and powered driver seat. Yes, what did not like in these features is the quality of the cameras given in the front and rear.
In the second row, you get the option of captain seats in the 6 seater variant and bench seat in the 7 seater. However, you get the captain seats only in the top variant and the captain seats are really much more comfortable too. However, you don’t have a problem with the bench seats either. Three people can easily sit there, but there are no three-point seatbelts for all three, which I feel was needed for this big SUV. You get a lot of space. Gets good knee and headroom. Here you get two AC vents along with a separate blower control and a single Type-C charging port. Not only this, you also get cup holders with center armrest on the bench seat.
Getting into the third row is easy, but sitting comfortably is a bit difficult. Also because the second row seats are fixed you can’t slide them back and forth. Therefore, if a person of 5 or 6 feet sits behind, then there can be a problem for him. However, children can definitely sit here easily. You don’t find cup holders, AC vents, or charging ports here.
storage space
If we talk about the spart space in the entire vehicle, then two cup holders for the front passengers, a decent sized glove box and an armrest with smartphone storage space. The door pockets are wide but you can’t keep much stuff there. Apart from a water bottle in the front, you can keep some accessories and in the rear only 1-1 water bottle of 1 liter can be kept. Talking about the boot space of Scorpio N, here without folding all the three seats, you get very less boot space i.e. you can keep 2-3 bags. But if you fold down the third-row, you get plenty of boot space.
Safety Features
Talking about the safety features, you get 6 airbags in the top ie Z8 and Z8L variants. In the rest of the lower 3 variants, you get only 2-2 airbags. Apart from this, ESP, Hill Hold, ABS, TPMS, Disc Brakes and ISOFIX have been given in it.
Engine and performance
Both petrol and diesel engines have been given in the new Mahindra Scorpio N and manual and automatic transmission have been given with both the engines. We have only driven the automatic transmission variant with the diesel engine in which we have driven 4×2 earlier. Two power is also seen in the diesel engine. That is, in the higher model you get the power of 175 PS and in the lower variants you get to see the power of 132 PS and torque of 300 NM. On the other hand, if we talk about the petrol engine, which we have not run yet, you get to see the power of 203 PS. If we run only automatic transmission, then we will talk only about Mahindra Scorpio diesel with automatic transmission. We have also driven 4×4 variants of this in the adventure zone and we got that too with automatic transmission. The old Scorpio offered you a lot of power but the engine was not so refined and it was also facing many problems like NVH levels, steering input and bouncy suspension, but the new Scorpio N has all of them. Problems are gone.
First of all, if we talk about the performance of the engine, then this diesel engine looks very refined and powerful. However, as mentioned earlier, the same engine gives you 132 PS of power in the Z2 variant of the Scorpio N. If seen on the climb of Aambe Valley, the diesel engine with this automatic transmission has given plenty of torque. There was no shortage of power and the transmission has also done its job very well. Coming to the NVH levels, if you are on a certain speed, you will not hear any engine noise and the cabin also looks quite quiet compared to the old Scorpio. If you run at high rpm, then the noise of the engine definitely starts coming in.
Talking about the steering, the company has kept its steering very light i.e. you can turn this 2 ton vehicle very easily and the steering input is also tremendous. At theme speed, you can even twirl the steering with one finger and if you miss the steering while driving, the car will not be seen to run around.
Talking about the ride quality, but before that let us tell you that the company has given double-wishbone suspension in the front of this vehicle, but in the rear you get Pentalink suspension which comes with Watt’s linkage system. In this, the company has also used frequency-dependent damping which is also given in the XUV700 and due to this you get better ride quality on the road surface.
If you drive it above the speed of 100 or 120 kmph, then it feels a bit bouncy. However, if small potholes come in front of you at low speed, then you will not have any problem and if the big pothole also comes in front of you, then you will definitely get a shock.
With regard to the new Scorpion, the company is directly targeting the C-segment and D-segment SUVs and the body roll is very strong compared to the same SUVs. That is, your body does not move much during the turn at high speed.
How is the performance during off-roading?
Moving into the off-roading adventure zone, the new Scorpio N 4xplore faced many challenging terrains, including some rough terrain with wet mud. With about 57 degree approach angle and 47 degree departure angle, the new Scorpio traversed all those challenging paths with great ease. Let us tell you that earlier 4×4 technology was also given in the manual transmission in the old Scorpio but it was discontinued and now this technology has been included in the manual and automatic of the new Scorpio N. In off-roading, you are being given four drive modes – tarmac, snow, mud and desert. Here we just drove it on 4 wheel low with mud mode where the performance of this vehicle has been seen quite tremendous. If the break over angle is also good, then it is obvious and can take the new Scorpio through difficult roads.
our decision
Overall, the new Scorpio N has undergone several major changes and it now comes with a better package. The strong performance and off-roading capability of the engine is truly a sight to behold. The response to the automatic gearbox and steering is really great. Overall you will have fun on us driving the new Scorpio N. However, the practicality of the cabin could have been a bit better. Its price in the Indian market starts from Rs 11.99 Lakh and goes up to Rs 19.49 Lakh (ex-showroom). These prices are for manual transmission only and only the first 25,000 customers can buy the new Scorpio with this price.