The Elk test:
The Elk test is designed to test a car’s stability by effecting a sudden, double lane-change manouvre, in the same way as when avoiding an obstacle. This test was conceived in Scandinavian countries where Elks have a nasty habit of crossing the road but its equally applicable for the cows, dogs, chickens and even people. This test is executed at a steady pace, and speed is then increased until instability is noted. All the SUVs in this test passed with flying colours at 60kph. However, at 80kph, the differences in their stability began to tell.
The Slalom test:
A slalom course, snaking through seven cones placed a 100 feet apart, again sets out to test a car’s stability though cyclic changes in direction. Like the elk test, it is run at a steady speed and the pace is built up till the limits of each car is reached. The quicker a car is through the slalom, the better stability and body control it has.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

We wanted to see how good the new Scorpio actually is. So we got its competitors together and headed out to the lovely airstrip at the scenic Sahara Amby Valley city near Lonavla. The airstrip is ideal for handling tests thanks to the huge run-off areas should things go out of hand. Here are the results of some consistent and hard driving.

Tata Safari Its mammoth size and towering proportions makes this the hairiest of the The top-heavy design, soft suspension and vague steering wobble the daylights off even the most seasoned of drivers. Poor body control and weight transfer makes it a handful through the elk test, while a high rate of oscillation during the slalom means some scary moments later in the run. Slalom time: 12.8 seconds

Mahindra Scorpio (OLD) High centre of gravity combined with soft suspension makes it second-worst on our list. It loses composure at a hint of steering input, leading to the destruction of much of our test-cone stock during the elk test. It didn’t impress us much through the slalom either, thanks to loss of rear end grip, poor steering feedback, and a constant threat to get on to two wheels. Slalom time: 11.9 seconds

Mahindra Scorpio (NEW) A big improvement over the old Scorpio, the new model feels more reassuring through the Elk test and even the Slalom. Car still rolls considerably and soft front suspension not cohesive with rear set-up. It’s not the handler we hoped it would be and it slots in 3rd behind the Tavera. Slalom time: 11.4 seconds

Chevrolet Tavera Low centre of gravity helps this quasi -SUV place four firm feet on tarmac, despite its archaic, live-axle rear suspension. It’s composed until skinny tyres lose grip – and it become tail-happy. Performed well at the elk test at medium speeds, but rear end wants to break free at higher speeds. Slalom time: 11.25 seconds

Toyota Innova By far the best of the lot. Comparatively advanced suspension system, a stiff chassis and low centre of gravity help it handle in a more car-like manner. Poise is its middle name and is reassuring even in excess of a 100 kph. The elk test was kindergarten for this professor, and it proved to be the quickest by far through the slalom section. Slalom time: 10.6 seconds

Tech coil spring v Lleaf spring
The leaf spring suspension is unrivaled as far as load carrying capacity is concerned. Still the most successful and popular type of springing found on trucks, this type of suspension, however, has massive limitations when it comes to passenger cars. The components have high unsprung mass and inertia, and the path traced by the axle varies depending on where the static and dynamic load is coming from. The result is a bouncy ride and unpredictable handling. This has been one of the the Mahindra Scorpio’s main problems, one of the reasons why it suffers from a bouncy ride and unpredictable handling. The new coil spring rear suspension is an attempt to get around most of these problems. M&M designed the basic suspension themselves but went to renowned suspension experts Lotus Engineering for fine tuning. Unlike a leaf springs, coil springs do not help locate the axle and as a result locating arms like the trailing arms (A) and radius rods (B) are used. A bracket that locates the axle is also used (C). An anti roll bar (D) that prevents the body from rolling is also essential. The Panhard rod (E) also affects axle location.Lotus suggested wide spread changes that ranged from the rear axle, to the steering system and even the front axle. The front suspension’s coil spring, damper and bush rates were altered, the steering’s mounting was changed and of course the two companies worked tirelessly on variations of the rear suspension. 76 iterations were looked at before arriving at this setup. The entire development program was finished in six to eight months of the first prototype being built.

Pawan Goenka , ceo , m & m on the new scorpio
The big change on the new Scorpio is the switch from leaf springs to coil springs at the rear. Why?
All Mahindra vehicles have traditionally used a leaf spring rear suspension. This suspension configuration was largely driven by the usage patterns over the years of high loads on rough roads. Hence, even the Scorpio was launched with leaf springs. Since we launched the Scorpio two years ago, we have been constantly tuning the leaf springs to try and improve ride, but we had reached the limit of what we could do with the leaf springs. We thought the time has come to go to the next level of suspension technology and not worry about overloading, because the Scorpio does not get overloaded. Therefore, we decided to go for coil springs. We did consider doing an independent rear suspension, but thought it would be too much of a jump going from a leaf spring system and it would add quite a bit to the cost also.

You have only spent Rs 30 crore on this face-lift, so obviously, there were limitations on how much you could change?
Yes, we did have a cost target to work within, but the only thing we decided not to do was make the vehicle a little longer to provide more leg room. That was under consideration and we also made a clay mock-up of a longer Scorpio and took it to a customer clinic. But the feedback we got was that the Scorpio’s proportions were just right and so, we didn’t want to tamper with them. That’s the reason we went for the slider in the second row, so that when there are no third row occupants, the second row can be adjusted for more legroom.

The engine hasn’t been changed either, except for some minor improvements.
The engine is the same CRDe unit, but we have improved NVH levels by changing the engine mount, which has made a perceptible difference, a near 3dB reduction in noise. That is the only change that has been made. We are now working on meeting Euro IV norms with the same engine.

The engine is very heavy and has an effect on the Scorpio’s handling. Have you tried to lighten it?
The Scorpio’s NEF engine is inherently heavy. We have worked on reducing the weight a little bit but it is not a 200kg engine yet. On the performance of the vehicle, it does not make a big difference in the 0-60kph times, but you do carry a lot of front-end weight. Sometime, as the need arises, we may look at a lighter engine but for now it is fine. When we had designed the NEF engine, weight frankly was not one of our worries, we were not smart enough to put in an engine weight parameter. Fortunately, it is performing very well in terms of reliability, fuel-efficiency and NVH.