I feel it will be a very hard choice to make, between the Roxx, the Scorpio N and to an extent, even the XUV700.
BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
My Test Drive of the Roxx today – Petrol AT 2WD. AX7L.
I was able to grab a 30 minute test drive this morning at Sireesh Auto. As ways their executive Jiju was proactive and courteous and I did not have to wait more than 15 mins at the showroom though it is a Saturday.
There was a white 4X4 Diesel AT and a Black Petrol 4×2 AT available for test.
However, the Diesel AT 4×4 was being driven by someone else and and it also seemed to be in high demand. I therefore opted to go with the 4×2 Petrol AT just to get a feel of the vehicle.
I sat only in the Driving Seat. I was very engaged with the Driving. Hence am not going to again mention the lack of under thigh support and white interiors etc – some of which detail Ive covered in my earlier post on my ‘first impressions’.
I am only going to confine myself to the salient points pertaining to the drive, in this post.
1. The engine tuning of the MStallion Petrol in the Roxx, is significantly superior to the Thar 3D and is a lot more powerful too.
2. The power delivery of the Roxx is near-linear there is not even a brief milli-second’s hesitation as there used to be in my Thar 3D – which used to ‘quiver’ momentarily for a milli-second when one did an accelerator stomp, and then sort of ‘gather up its skirts’ and then take off real quick.
3. The Mating of the AT Torque Converter gearbox to the engine is much smoother in the Roxx than in my 3D Petrol AT. Here the gears fall into place with barely a whisper. There is NO clack click sound and any noise at all. It goes about its business very quietly and efficiently.
4. The vehicle without all the 4WD hardware definitely feels light and more responsive.
5. I tried the Zip and Zoom modes but preferred Zip for the city. There is a real kicker when one puts on the Zoom mode.
6. The Electronic Power Steering is ‘feather touch’ – it is EXTREMELY responsive. Very very light and almost like air.
7. In comparison to my 3D Thar and its heavy Hydraulic Power Steering this is an entirely different world.
8. Even in comparison to my little Jimny and its re-circulating ball type power steering, the Thar Roxx’s steering is very light. Perfect for those long highway drives.
9. The above ensures that one will not be fatigued and will not experience pain or stiffness in the right shoulder over long distances. This definitely bolsters the Thar Roxx’s Grand Touring character.
10. The width of the vehicle and its proportions are huge when viewed from the outside.
11. However it does not feel ponderous and heavy by any stretch, when driving it, even on the narrow crowded city roads on which I took it.
12. Saying that, I would definitely worry about this aspect of width, on the narrow hill roads or if I ever have to go in it to the really crowded parts of town and park there.
13. Of course I am used to my Thar and Scorpio, Bolero and all those and I generally don’t have a problem adjusting, when I am driving larger vehicles, despite my general preference for a smaller footprint.
14. Yes it is a big and bulky vehicle for sure but it is surprisingly ‘light-footed’.
15. Rather in the way even a ‘heavy weight boxer’ is light footed and is able to feint and dart in and out during a match.
16. What springs to mind (with a little poetic license) is Muhammad Ali – Float like a butterfly, sting like a Bee…and this is mainly because of the below things.
a. Engine tuning and linear power
b .AT TC Gearbox responsiveness
c. Super-light steering.
d. Excellent suspension tuning.
17. We drove the vehicle all over the roads behind the showroom in and around the Begur- Bommanahalli – BTM Backroad area.
18. I did not spare it over those beautiful Bangalore Giant Speed Breakers and Potholes and depressed man hole covers and sub-terranean drainage hume pipes which go beneath the road to empty themselves in the BTM and Madivala Lakes.
19. The drive was very comfortable. I took quite a few corners where there are those wonderful perpendicularly positioned double speed breakers right in one’s drive path and perfectly sited in the middle of the corner/ curve.
20. And I flew at 30kmph over some of those jagged ‘isosceles triangle’ speed-breakers too.
21. The body jiggle-wiggle was certainly there but I will say that the body roll was perhaps 80-85% less than what used to be felt in my 3Door Thar. (Of course this Roxx has a longer wheelbase too, which helps a lot.)
22. I may say I thrashed the vehicle quite a bit but at all times keeping in mind the respect one should always accord to one’s machines.
23. Driving over all these different kinds of obstacles I found the ride was much more comfortable than my 3 door and the vehicle being significantly heavier than my Jimny, handles these surfaces quite ‘flatly’.
24. The braking offered by the Thar Roxx is excellent at low or slightly higher speeds as well. It makes for a ‘sure-stop’ despite its weight and bulk.
25. It does not feel much more top heavy than my 3Door Thar did, despite the Roxx having an all metal body.
26. I appreciate the suppleness offered by the Ceat CrossDrive Tyres. They are definitely good.
27. My only regret is that I could not find a ‘rumble strip’ to drive fast on and test.
28. The good ride is clearly because the Roxx is built on a completely different platform and new generation of chassis.
29. It has a longer wheelbase, the penta-link suspension and the tuning of the chassis is very good.
30. Roxx has the Frequency dependent dampers which really make a huge difference in ride and handling. I enjoyed the feel of these in the XUV400 and that feel is carried over to the Roxx.
31. One can certainly feel the dampers working under one’s bottom and over the uneven surfaces upon which one is driving. This suspension set-up and tune in my mind, is an absolute master stroke by Mahindra.
32. It makes this vehicle a great choice for a family and for long distance touring and the icing on the cake is the highly attractive and desirable Jeepy form factor.
33. The Thar Roxx inspires great confidence to drive over more or less any terrain and any obstacle. It tends to remove the ‘fear’ but on the flip-side, it can also inspire ‘foolhardiness’ in some.
34. It is an old saying that there is merely the difference of a whisker, a very thin-line, between bravery and foolhardiness.
35. The default common sense choice for 95% of the potential buyers and target segment, is the Diesel 2WD variant – in this version one can drive fearlessly and go anywhere at anytime and not feel the pinch of fuel costs.
In conclusion I maintain that it will make for a great go anywhere grand tourer for the family, with the added oomph of a very desirable form factor.
Indeed it will be a very hard choice to make, for those who are in the market, between this Roxx and the Scorpio N and to an extent, even the XUV700.
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