Review: New Mahindra Scorpio

If we had one major problem with the current (now, older) version of
the Mahindra Scorpio, it was the way it handled bumps at speed. It made
us feel like we were taking a ride on a trampoline when we hit a bump
on the highway. One might argue that the car was supposed to be more of
a bad-road specialist, and not a speed demon. So, do things change with
the all-new Scorpio? The Scorpio you see here is the new, third
generation of Mahindra's popular SUV. It's built on an all-new platform
that is made up of stronger composite materials, which, as we're told,
makes the Scorpio a safer place to be in, thanks to the newly-
incorporated crumple zones. This new chassis will also form the basis
for Mahindra's upcoming vehicles. Mahindra tells us that the new
platform can easily be altered to make a sub-four metre car (Quanto
replacement, anyone?), without compromising on structural integrity.
Everything in and about the Scorpio is all-new. The lads at the Nashik
factory informed us that the only bits that have been carried over from
the older SUV are the doors. There's tons of 'Scorpio' badging all over
the SUV. Outside, the Scorpio appears to have borrowed some cues from
its bigger cousin, the XUV500 – like the grille that looks like it's
been scratched by a big cat, a very XUV-like front bumper, the bigger,
bolder wheel arches and the snazzy tail-lamps. The face sports a very
European look, while the sides look more or less the same. The rear,
too, flashes off a new, two-tone appliqué, which has a very aftermarket
look to it.

The new Scorpio is offered with 2WD and 4WD – with an on-the- fly-shift
low-ratio case on the latter – and in six different variants - S2, S4,
S6, S6+, S8 and S10. The top-of-the-line S10 variant we're driving here
comes loaded with all the goodies from Mahindra's bag of treats – like
LED eyebrows on the dual projector lamps, a bonnet scoop and some
chrome bits splashed up front, start-stop tech, ABS, tyre pressure
sensors, etc. Inside the S10, you get stuff like dual front airbags, a
simple touch- controlled six-inch infotainment system with navigation,
climate control with rear AC vents, dual- tone seats and silver and
chrome inserts. The new Scorpio is ergonomically quite sound with all
the operational equipment well in reach. The new, blue-lit,
part-digital-part-analogue display looks very nice and provides speed,
odo, fuel level, engine temperature, trip and gear indication readouts.
But there are a couple of flaws in the new Scorpio. Once the driver's
side door is closed, it's nearly impossible to slide your hand down and
operate the seat-height adjuster. Also, the quality of the tiny door
locks is questionable, because they feel like they'll break if you
don't use them gently. The New Scorpio borrows the five-speed gearbox
from the recently-updated Xylo, with minor changes to the final drive
ratio. The steering wheel has been lifted from the XUV500, along with
some interior bits like the chrome-lined AC vents. Overall, fit and
finish inside the new SUV is definitely a step-up from the versions
that came before it, making the cabin a nice place to be in. It's as
airy as it used to be, but this one's livelier, thanks to the lighter
shade of plastic present inside. We didn't get a chance to drive the
4WD version, so we chose to stick to the road in this 2WD variant. The
double-wishbone suspension setup is completely new, with Independent
coil springs at the front, and a multi-link coil spring employed at the
back. Ride quality remains more or less the same at low speed, with the
suspension soaking up bumps well. At high speeds, the SUV now feels a
little more stable than before, with less pitching under heavy braking.
The big difference with the new Scorpio is the inclusion of an
anti-roll bar with bump steps at the rear, which makes cornering hard a
little more comfortable. The new alloy wheels are an inch larger than
the previous car's 16- inchers, which helps over rough patches. It's
not the first time we've seen the 2,179cc turbo- diesel do duty in a
Mahindra vehicle, and the 120bhp, 280Nm four-pot does a good job of
moving the new Scorpio. The base S2 variant gets 15-inch wheels and the
2.5l m2DICR common rail diesel engine under the hood, which is good for
75bhp and 200Nm. The height and wheelbase of the new Scorpio are
exactly the same as that of the outgoing model, but this new one's
marginally longer and wider. Even with the new chassis, the gross
weight of the 2WD and 4WD Scorpios remains unchanged at 2,510 and
2,610kg respectively. However, Mahindra says that the fuel efficiency
of the new SUV has gone up by nearly one kilometre per litre, from the
previously-claimed 14.7kpl. For those of us who had gotten used to the
design of the Scorpio, the new car looks like an ode to the current car
but with a bit more flash to it. It's undergone a modernisation change
and feels more confident thanks to the new chassis. The steering feels
nicer and the ride has improved. Though it doesn't feel like a
generation change, it is a step-up from the current Scorpio.

Narendra Modi asks Pepsi, Coke to blend fruit juices in fizzy drinks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said multinational cola
giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola should help augment fruit sales for Indian
farmers by adding fresh fruit juices to their fizzy drinks. "Millions
of people buy Pepsi and Coke. I have asked these companies if they can
put five per cent natural juice in their drinks," Modi said on
Wednesday in Karnataka. "If they can, then our farmers will make a lot
of money. Our farmers will not have to throw their fruit away," he said
after inaugurating a food park with a storage capacity of more than
20,000 tonnes for two dozen food processing companies. Modi's food
processing minister said last month that PepsiCo should reduce the
sugar content of its beverages, and asked the company to partner with
the government to develop nutritious processed food for school students.