Mahindra Xylo 2012 E9-BS 4 - Performance Review

The Mahindra Xylo now gets the mHawk engine from the Scorpio. It a 2.2-litre oil-burner with a revised common rail diesel injection that helps it to put out 120 PS of power and 280 Nm of torque in a relatively smoother way than the earlier mEagle engine did. But don’t expect a world of a difference. It is smoother, yes, and the gear shifter vibrates lesser than the one in the earlier Xylo, but the mill still has the harshness of an oil-burner. It is mated to a two-wheel drive system which is fed through a revised five-speed manual transmission. Mahindra won’t make a 4x4 or an automatic version because there isn’t a sizable demand for either. The mEagle hasn’t retired though, neither has the mDI CRDe. Both the engines will continue to do duty in the E4/E8 and D2/D4 variants respectively.

The blokes at Mahindra also tell us that the suspension has been retuned for better handling dynamics. At least in the quick direction changes and sudden braking tests that I performed, the body-roll seemed to have reduced comparatively. But I’ll hold back a verdict until I test the car thoroughly. Another notable change was that even with six people on-board and camera equipment in the boot, the new Xylo had maintained its stance well and didn’t seem overtly front or rear-heavy – which is impressive.

What I did not like though, is that the new Xylo’s cabin is quite noisy even with the new mHawk engine. Interestingly, the new engine vibrates lesser upon ignition as compared to the mEagle, but it does make itself heard inside the cabin nevertheless. Even at 1,000 RPM the engine made enough noise to irritate my ear-drums and it gets worse as you climb up the rev range. I hope Mahindra improves the sound insulation on the Xylo at the earliest to make the cabin more comfortable than what it already is.

Verdict

At a price ranging between Rs 7.37-lakh to Rs 10.25 lakh, the new Mahindra Xylo line-up is cheaper on some variants and dearer on other, as compared to the earlier Xylo (depending on the seating configuration you choose). At that price range, the Xylo once again remains significantly cheaper than its arch-rival, the Toyota Innova. Given the new feature list and the segment-first creature comforts that it incorporates, the new Mahindra Xylo has enough dough to carry forward its successful stint and continue to be a thorn in the Innova’s arm.

Also Read:

2012 Mahindra Xylo facelift First Drive Design Review

2012 Mahindra Xylo facelift First Drive User Experience Review