The revised Scorpio comes with a new suspension, new interiors and a new look. How good is it?

" The handling has improved, but it still rolls and feels top heavy."

The Scorpio is to Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) what the Golf was to Volkswagen. A classic case of a single product changing the image and profile of a company. Until the Scorpio arrived in June 2002 Mahindras were widely perceived as rugged and basic utility vehicles, too crude to pass off as personal transport. The Scorpio changed all that. Ever since it was launched in June 2002 it was a runaway success. It had all the ingredients to make an emotional connect with car buyers. It looked great, had an imposing street presence, a strong engine and a great price.
Luckily for M&M, the Scorpio’s single biggest flaw the bouncy ride and scary handling was not a major concern for its urban dwelling owners. In fact, the high stance and light steering, two factors that seriously compromised high-speed handling were seen as a boon in the cut and thrust of the urban jungle. The Scorpio’s compact dimensions and large mirrors also helped its urban-friendly nature.
M&M hasn’t rested on its laurels and has constantly upgraded the Scorpio, the last major upgrade being the switch to common-rail-direct-injection with the CRDe motor last April. But now it receives it first suspension upgrade and after 43 changes (according to M&M) and Rs 30 crores of investment comes the Model ‘W’ as it is internally designated or the new Scorpio.
M&M realised that two major issues had to be tackled – ride and handling and middle row legroom. The suspension was given minor improvements constantly but riding on archaic leaf springs at the rear the limit had been reached. Leaf springs are meant more for utilitarian, load carrying applications rather than pampering passengers or offering sporty handling. Leaf springs, being naturally less pliant than coil springs, transmit impacts more sharply and don’t do as well in controlling wheel movements over bad roads. This was one reason for the old Scorpio’s hair raising, high-speed road manners and motion sickness inducing ride. Mahindra felt the best way to deal with the problem would be to junk the whole rear suspension setup, and replace it with coil springs and dampers. To help them with this exercise, renowned suspension experts from Lotus Engineering were roped in and an eight-month long development process began. Was the exercise worth it?
The difference is instantly noticeable. The rear end of the Scorpio now feels better planted and like it belongs to the same car. Ride comfort has improved too. The earlier Scorpio kicked sharply over bumps and got unsettled when steering inputs were given at high speed. Gone is the little jig the earlier Scorpio used to perform over every mid-corner bump and instead you get a firmer ride, especially at low-speed but sharp intrusions are nicely filtered out. We were struck by the quietness of the Scorpio’s suspension and the switch to tubeless tyres has seriously helped in this respect. The new Scorpio can still bounce you around on a bad road. Make no mistake it is no Innova, not even close for sheer ride quality but its very acceptable and owners will have little reason to complain.
The handling has improved considerably and is more predictable. With the rear end better tied down to the road, the new Scorpio feels more reassuring to drive. However it’s still not perfect. The top-heavy Scorpio still rolls considerably and with the new rear suspension more or less sorted, it’s the independently sprung front end that’s now showing its limitations And this is despite some fine-tuning of the front suspension which involved the use of thicker bushes, different coils spring ratings and altered damper settings for pre-load and rebound. These changes haven’t quite worked. The front end is still too soft and the nose pitches excessively. We would have preferred stiffer dampers but the simple fact is that you can’t defy the laws of physics. With a 300kg lump of an engine sitting high, above the axle line (to accommodate the optional four-wheel-drive system’s mechanical bits) the Scorpio is nose heavy and has an inherently high centre of gravity. It is still not a vehicle you can punt through a string of corners with abandon and true to the voice assist system on the SLX, you have to be a careful with the Scorpio.
M&M has further refined the Scorpio’s power train with new engine mounts and a tuned exhaust, which reduces NVH. The 2609cc common-rail turbodiesel remains unchanged, making the same 115 bhp, and is the best part of this SUV. It’s an amazingly smooth and refined powerplant and a great tribute to M&M’s development skills.
Apart from the mechanical changes, the new Scorpio gets a serious cosmetic makeover as well. The talking point here are the shapely tail lights. The double barrel lenses that bulge outwards along with the rear body panel looks stunning. The strips above the twin lenses don’t illuminate nor do they act as reflectors and are there simply for visual effect.
The changes up front are marginal and the Scorpio doesn’t look very different from this angle. The front bumper has been mildly redesigned and features splitter air dams incorporated into each corner, whilst the number plate now also gets its own plastic surround. There’s also a pointless bonnet scoop that does nothing to improve engine breathing or reduce under-bonnet temperatures.
There’s a small Mercedes Benz inspired bit on the Scorpio: the puddle lamps on the foot-boards are useful at night. A spoiler and new roof rack wrap up the exterior changes.
The interiors too have been freshened up, but the plastic quality is still quite iffy and buttons and knobs lack the tactile feel we have come to expect from an Innova. But Apart from the Toyota MUV, the Scorpio’s insides feel richer than the other competition. The centre portion of the dasboard is changed and features new air con vents and new rotary knobs – the vents are useless when it comes to directing airflow and the knobs feel plasticky and don’t exude the well-damped, solidly-constructed feel The wiper and headlight control stalks however feel better to use now, while the steering is adjustable for rake. But then again, the rake-adjust lever sticking out of the dashboard looks crude.
The centre console has been completely redesigned and the power window switches have been repositioned to make way for four large cupholders and lots of storage bins. However, Mahindra could still do with a lesson or two in ergonomics as the akwardly placed power window switches force you to take your eyes off the road while you use them. M&M has added a dimension of practicality with mobile and bottle holder slots in the rear doors as well as 12V sockets. And for added comfort, the rear a/c vents are now fully adjustable.
The front seats have remained unchanged but the middle row gets a sliding mechanism which, allows the seats to be pushed further back to increase legroom. The travel is limited by the rear wheel arch which obstructs the free movement of the seat further back. The Scorpio is still no Safari when it comes to sheer leg room but crucially the couple of centimetres M&M has managed to free up has made the Scorpio significantly more comfortable.
So is the new Scorpio worth it? Absolutely! Simply because M&M hasn’t increased the price over the old model (although discounts have been withdrawn). The plan is to stick with the old price for a few weeks before taking it up. Till then, if you’re in the hunt for the Scorpio you need to buy it soon. And if you can live with that slightly disconcerting top heavy feeling, the Scorpio is by far the best SUV you can get this side of Rs. 12 lakh.

FACTFILE
Mahindra Scorpio SLX
Price Rs 9.21 lakh
Power 115bhp at 3800rpm
Torque 28.3kgm at 1700-2200rpm

Length 4495mm
Width 1817mm
Height 1975mm
W’base 2680mm
Weight 1910kg
Fuel tank 60 litres

Engine 4 cyls in-line, 2609cc
Installation Front, longitudinal,RWD
Compression ratio 18.5:1
Specific output 44.07bhp/litre
Bore/stroke 94.0/94.0mm
Gearbox type 5-speed manual

Front suspension Independent, coil spring with anti-roll bar
Rear suspension Multi-link suspension with coil springs
Front brakes Ventilated discs
Rear brakes Drums
Wheel 6.5J x 16
Tyre 235/70 R16

First Verdict
More refined and easier to handle and even better value.