It's back, it's back on the channel, the most hyped up car of 2021 is back on PowerDrift,
of course it is the Mahindra XUV700. Now I promised you when I drove it for the first
time a couple of months ago that I would bring you a more detailed on-road review of the car
and this is it, I've finally, finally got my hands on a petrol automatic XUV700, the
one that I really wanted to drive a lot more of, becuase that's of course what people are buying
and I'm going to drive it all day, all night, a couple of days in fact and I'm going to tell you
what this is all about because for the last time we did drive it for a bit at the Mahindra test
track, we didn't really get to enjoy it on the road independently as much as I'd like to, this time,
it's all free for me to enjoy and tell you of what it is all about but this isn't the
only Mahindra XUV700 video coming in the next few days, more on at the absolute end of the video.
Okay, first things first let's talk about design because the number of people that
have turned and looked at it asked us what it is about and generally wanted to take pics with it
it's staggering. In the recent past there is only one car that I can think of that has
had this sort of attention and no surprising for guessing what that is, it was the Thar.
So it's a double home run from Mahindra, oh, and I also think that is because the design is relatable
to the last one year, for example, is a pic of two of them next to each other and just see how much
you can see an evolution between the old one 10 years ago and this one now. Oh, and this colour...
Okay, now before when I actually get to driving the car, oh look the seats are actually moving
me into my driving position, that's so nice, it's lovely to have that, nonetheless, okay,
before I get to actually driving the car or using it or operating in any manner, there's one thing
I need to do, which I do do every single brand new car that I get and this had less than a 100
kilometres when it came to me, so it is a brand spanking new car. The one thing that I love doing,
removing all these plastics and finally, the pièce de résistance, ASMR.
Of course, this is where I talk about how much more mature Mahindra design has become on the inside too.
The XUV is the perfect example of an automaker holding back its designers from going absolutely
batshit crazy and now with product both on board, I think this will only get better and better.
Now maturity of design is not just what the XUV brings to the table, it's just general maturity in
a whole bunch of places, so for example, all the stuff that you actually touch and feel like the
leather on steering wheel or the dashboard or even this hard plastic on top is a lot more mature,
it feels a lot more grown up, it feels a lot more premium, and premiumness is something that
they really need because the XUV700 isn't a cheap SUV anymore. It's actually, well, the spec that
this is in is actually quite a pricey spec for the Indian public but, that said, it's not just that,
even the design language, even this the way the screens are laid out, this dual-screen setup,
it's something that we've of course seen in Mercedes-Benz in the past and this sort of what ,
how would you call it, inspired by the Germans' design language is something that seems to have
really worked for Mahindra. They've gone away from that, over doing things, that excessive design,
that really didn't age well at all. I mean, look at the last generation XUV, it's just 10 years old,
but look at the interior design, and the exterior design, there's just too much happening right?
This is simple, this is almost Scandinavian, almost European in its design approach. Now,
the screen itself this particular screen, this particular car, this will be coming soon with,
that's for Apple CarPlay they haven't received the certification for Apple CarPlay yet, but that will
come in soon, I've seen prototypes with working Apple CarPlay so that will happen very very soon.
Again, there are a lot of updates which will come and improve the system over the years. Sometimes
it might feel a little glitchy to begin with, there will be updates, it will become much nicer
and again in the instrument cluster it's also so clean, it's all just so simple,
they've done a really good thing they've just not gone overboard with it, they've just done
whatever necessary to attract that Indian customer and they have attracted the Indian customer,
haven't they? I mean just look at the booking amounts.
Our SUVs engine engine undergo a lot of stress, both in city driving and on tough terrains
particularly during warm up and in stop-start traffic and of course while carrying heavy loads,
ordinary car oils may not be enough for your SUV and that is why we recommend
fully-synthetic Castrol Magnatec SUV for superior protection. Those door handles they are never,
ever getting old. Now I know I like smaller, trivial things, and they don't really matter too
much to people, but those are just, they're just cool, okay, let's deal with it and let's get back
to the more important things because at the rear, the rear seat space and comfort
is very important for customers for the XUV700 because, look, let's face it as well as they
strive, I'm going to talk about that in just a bit as well as this drives, rear seat comfort
is what matters because a lot of people are just going to be chauffeur driven with their drivers
in the front seats and them in the back. Now if you're in this position, which I will now call the
uncle position of the politician position because it's upright, and you can well sit all the way
upright, as I mentioned, and wave out to your loyal subjects
and if you're more cool and chilled out, a lot of other politicians can't be cool
and chilled out, but if you are more cool and chill now like me, then you would go
all the way into the lounge position and you know what, I am actually glad that Rohan isn't on this
shoot with me because in about five minutes from now, I would be fast asleep in this chair,
lounging comfortably and that picture would go on Instagram with that hashtag that he loves using so
much, not that I mind but me sitting or so rather sleeping in a car with my mouth open on Instagram
does look rather funny. I don't really want to subject all of you to that image.
The one thing though, that is missing and the one thing that I would have added in
are AC blower controls. I mean, why skip that out? It's very easy to add that somewhere here
or maybe on the side, that is missing a little bit, that should have been added in,
right, now before we get to driving, there is something that I want to talk about because I
have seen some comments on Instagram and on the internet and some of those comments have been
bollocks, right? Excuse the use of that word, but it is necessary because some of you guys think
that because this tailgate, this is made of plastic, it is unsafe, let me tell you
this only once and only once, what this is made of makes no difference to how safe
the XUV700 is now obviously some of you guys were silenced when the XUV got a five-star NCAP rating,
but again, I'm really just gonna say this once in this video and then never again,
what material is used on the outside, plastic, or even metal for that matter really makes
no difference to how safe a car is, it's the platform that matters and we all know that this is
a very, very safe platform, right? So no more absolute nonsense about this being made out of
plastic, okay? Come on guys, promise me, no more of that, okay, none and on that note,
even with the seven seats up, decent amount of space in the back for a couple of bags in it?
Right now that that's done with all the sensible bits and my rant, time to drive.
Of course, the figures are impressive, super impressive, 200hp from a 2.0-litre petrol engine,
and this can only be described as a world class engine, seriously. This thing, it moves,
it really does. It's properly brisk and yes, it's gonna be a little thirsty but
that thirst does offset with the fact that it is fun for days. So I'm trying to quantify how
I could explain comfort with some strange analogy and the XUV and what I can't think
of is food because obviously I'm a little hungry again, so I'm going to give you this reference,
right, you know all those feast bars that you get with the sort of hard chocolate and walnut on top
and then the soft, nice vanilla ice cream on the bottom? That's how this car is on the outside,
when you actually drive it, you have that sense of sportiness, that sense of solidarity,
sense of solidness you get from that chocolate coating up top and then when you bite in and sort
of get into it and sort of sit nicely and relax, you get that nice chunk of vanilla ice cream, it's
comfort food isn't it? There's not a single person that I know that hates vanilla ice cream and
I don't think there's a person that will get into the XUV and say, this isn't a comfortable car, no.
The blend that you get in that sort of chocobar with that choco on top and vanilla inside is
the same blend and Mahindra has done on the XUV. It's nice and chunky, it's nice and crispy up top,
it's nice and soft on the inside, it's nice and comfortable, it gives you a nice
vibe overall and even though that's a very weird analogy for explaining how a car's chassis setup
is, considering the fact that Mahindra has teamed up with companies like Bill Steen and done a lot
of work, an ice cream is the best thing that I can think of because ice creams, who hates ice cream?
It is pretty much the same verdict that I gave when I drove it for the first time then.
It looks bloody awesome, it's comfy, it's quick, but it does come at a cost, both a
big cost to actually buy one because this isn't really a cheap car anymore and then to run one
because of course the fuel bills, but if you are okay with both of those, then it is a no brainer,
actually to be frank, it is just really a no brainer overall.