SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Restyled: 2019 Mahindra XUV 500 W10

Loaded with good stuff

Posted: 14 February 2019

The numbers
Price: R419 999
Engine: 2179 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 103 kW at 3750 rpm
Torque: 330 Nm between 1600 and 2800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 13.3 seconds
Maximum speed: 175 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.4 l/100 km
Tank: 70 litres
Ground clearance: 200 mm
Luggage: 96 – 702 – 1512 litres
Standard tyre size: 235/65R17 with fully sized spare
Turning circle: 11.2 metres
Warranty: 5 years / 150 000 km with roadside assistance   
Service plan: 5 years/100 000 km

•    Restyled but still recognisable
•    Suspension upgraded
•    New flagship with added features

Life is about compromises. Critics complain that Mahindra’s new flagship, the XUV 500 W10, has only 96 litres of boot volume when all seven seats are in use. Unfortunately, if you want more space you have to spend more money. For example there’s a Ford Everest with similarly sized diesel engine, automatic gearbox and a 400-litre boot. Apart from costing more, its body is over a foot longer and it needs half a metre more turning space. As we said, life’s about compromises.

What you are not asked to compromise on includes:
•    Safety – six airbags, disc brakes all around with ABS and EBD, ESP with rollover mitigation, hill hold and hill descent control
•    Convenience – static bending headlamps, seven-inch colour touchscreen, video playback, tyre pressure monitoring, rain sensing wipers, automatic headlamps, front fog lamps, roof rails, onboard computer and Intellipark. This goes beyond the usual reversing camera and audible warning; when you’re getting “too close for comfort” the system displays the distance to contact in centimetres, starting at about 105 cm and counting down
•    Style – alloy wheels, illuminated doorsill plates, puddle lamps and leather upholstery on W8 and 10
•    Stuff you expect – tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel with remotes, phone connection, voice commands, cruise control, powered windows and mirrors, automatic air conditioning, recharging points, remote tailgate unlocking, rear wash and wipe with demister, follow-me lights, remote fuel flap release.

Mahindra did not provide details of the suspension improvements but they work well. Springing and damping is noticeably softer yet still mildly firm. The car remained stable along the same dodgy surfaces over which we tested a W8 a few years ago, but it was noticeably more comfortable. And quieter. Mahindra worked on sound-deadening too.

The new W10 flagship model is the same as W8, except that it comes in automatic only and boasts extra features. These include a sunroof with anti-pinch, keyless entry with push-button starter and electrical adjusters for the driver’s seat.

What it was like to live with:
•    We hadn’t driven an automatic XUV 500 before, so we were keen to “give it the gears.” A conventional autobox, it occasionally hunted for the right ratio when stressed on upward gradients, but it’s by no means as fussy as some we have met. It isn’t a “sports" box either, so don’t expect the kind of brutal kick-down action you would experience with a German sports saloon. Manual override is controlled by a little black switch on the side of the gear lever.
•    Seven adults can fit, although your six-foot tall teenager might object if you expect her to remain in the third row for too long. Taller passengers are happier in the second row where head- and knee space is more generous.
•    An unfortunate side effect of installing two pedals, where there were previously three, is that it leaves a big space between the accelerator and the side panel. Unless you’re careful, it’s possible to wedge your foot into the space and end up with no accelerator movement at all. Sod’s Law declares that this will occur when you need things to happen quickly.
•    Vision outward is good, the car has all the vigour it needs for its intended purposes, it handles and parks easily and it’s comfortable.
•    Interior trim is still hard plastic with different surface patterns while fit and finish remains a little sketchy here and there.

On the other hand, Mahindra vehicles appear to be solid and reliable, real life fuel economy is quite acceptable and this top-level version is loaded with good stuff. At its price you could hardly go wrong.

Test unit from Mahindra SA press fleet

We drove a W8 manual in 2016



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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