2015 Mahindra TUV300 road test review

eached the Vashi toll booth, long queues, irritated and impatient commuters honking, the truck smoke hangs heavy in the air. From the corner of my eye I can see a silver Duster precariously darting in and out of the snaking queues, honking madly, flashing lights wildly and generally making a nuisance of himself. I spot a flag of India stickered onto his bumper and another dangling on his dashboard that looks a bit sarkari, and I can only surmise he’s with some government office trying to bulldoze his way through. I look away as the queue ahead of me crawls forward and then I notice the Duster has crept up to me. The rear passenger window is rolled down and I notice a burly moustachioed man, shiny Ray Bans, white shirt unbuttoned to his navel and gold jewellery everywhere grinning like a school boy. He’s obviously seen the Mahindra TUV300 I’m in and so I expect a barrage of questions which come up in just a few seconds. As the two of us crawl forward there’s a volley of questions and answers yelled out between him and me. How’s it? Worth the money (he thinks I’ve purchased it)? Enough interior space? What about the engine? Fortunately he does not ask about the mileage, probably guessed that the TUV300 is too new for me to know what sort of mileage it delivers. Seconds later and with the banter drying out, he raises a hand in a sort of gesture that looks as if he’s blessing me and he’s off. Obviously he does not stop to pay a fee at the toll booth but I do. And the booth attendant begins, oh is this the new Mahindra TUV300? How’s it? There we go again…

Mahindra TUV300 (2)

I’ve been encountering questions and inquisitive stares all the way from Mahindra’s plant in Chakan to Mumbai. Cars have zipped over to me on the expressway only to slow down next to the TUV300, then move ahead, then pull back, move over to the other side and finally when it looks like the driver’s all ready to literally drive into my seat, zip off again. It’s alarming to see just how much attention the Mahindra TUV300 is attracting. And it’s not even a handsome SUV. In fact when I first saw images of it circulating on the web I thought it was downright ugly. So ugly in fact that I was about to pen down a column for our website questioning the ability of Mahindra’s design team. I didn’t, wanting to see it for myself in the flesh before I cemented any opinion. And it’s not bad, it’s not great either but the TUV300 is a good place to start off for Mahindra to build critical and lasting design aesthetics.

Mahindra TUV300 (5)

The TUV300 first off all I must say is imposing, for a sub 4-metre SUV the TUV300 almost dwarf’s its closest competitor, the Ford EcoSport. Despite staying under that length limit, Mahindra have managed to pull off a vehicle that looks larger than it should. That also means it has a fairly strong presence which manages to attract enough glances. Once you’ve had that first glance you should notice the minimal body work which for Mahindra is something they have never done before. No sculpting and scooping and oddly shaped surface detail. I like the neatness of the TUV300, it is to me in this sea of curvy and complicated automotive shapes that keep emerging with alacrity, refreshing! Yes it is boxy, I admit the design might take you back a few years to the days when we automotive scribes actually used the term boxy. And yet there is something that is strangely appealing to me. There is a hint of badass, mean streak in it, a slightly rugged rustic veneer that is both hard to digest yet strangely arresting. Yes Mahindra may have aped the Grand Cherokee and wrought something out of the Quanto in the overall design, but it’s getting people to take notice. And isn’t that above all the engineering and practicality, what a design must achieve to do? All the time I spent in the TUV300 I noticed enough envious or admiring stares to know Mahindra are onto something here. I’m not a fan but I can clearly see what the appeal is.

Mahindra TUV300 (7)

The TUV300 (Tough Utility Vehicle) was modelled on the lines of a battle tank. Don’t ask me which one and definitely don’t ask Mahindra either, because neither of us know. As mentioned before, it’s a sub 4-metre SUV, a few millimetres shorter in length (3995mm) than the Ford Ecosport but taller (1839mm) and wider (1835mm) substantially. The chassis is reworked from the Scorpio, shortened to take advantage of the sub 4-metre duty benefits, yet it’s sufficiently rigid and is capable of loading 7 passengers. Of course more would fit and the TUV300 would happily accommodate them, seeing how Mahindra’s are greatly favoured in rural areas for being immensely strong load bearers. Perhaps that also explains why the fifth door or the tailgate isn’t the kind that opens upwards but sideways. Ever seen how a whole village loves to crowd the boot and leave the door ajar as they perch precariously on the bumper or on the outside step? Yup, the TUV300 has to be a tough utility vehicle.

Mahindra TUV300 (10)

That however, does not mean it needs to be rustic and one look at the interiors will clearly indicate how far ahead Mahindra have moved in terms of aesthetics and design. That they have adopted a global design standard, the air con vents for instance are simple rectangles or square-ish and not the fancy lattice work kind seen in the XUV, is just one of those indicators. Even the simple clean lines of the dashboard playing with black and beige tones, piano black surfaces with aluminium looking plastic bezels and ordinary controls elevate this cabin to a new level. Mahindra could have used better quality materials, you can see that the finish on some of the surfaces isn’t that great but I’m not complaining as there is just so much more to appreciate in this cabin. And one of those things to appreciate is the space in this cabin, especially for the middle row. It’s generous and how, there’s ample width and knee room for three passengers and with an almost flat floor all three are bound to be comfortable no matter how far you drive. The last row or the two jump seats is the only space where two passengers would be uncomfortable as there is not enough shoulder room and they’d have to sit with their knees intertwined.