Mahindra XUV500

It is without doubt Mahindra’s best, most impressive home-grown product yet. And going by the reactions we have gotten so far, it is probably the most awaited as well. We have had Innova and Safari owners and even people in Superbs hailing us down and getting a complete low-down on the new SUV. And rightly so, because for less than Rs 12 lakh, the stuff the XUV 500 (read as the five O O), packs in, it makes it a huge value for money (VFM) proposition. But is there more to it than just VFM, we drove it to find out.

Highlights –
- The XUV is a 7 seater SUV.
- Unlike other Mahindra utility vehicles which are built on older body over ladder frame chassis, this one uses a more modern monocoque giving it better handling and high speed stability.
- It is available with only with one engine option.
- The engine is the same 2.2-litre mHawk diesel already seen on the Scorpio, but on the XUV it makes more power and torque.
- The XUV is available in three versions – the front wheel drive version comes in W6 and W8 versions, while the all-wheel-drive is only available in the top of the line W8 version.
- The W8 comes with 6 airbags, ABS and ESP in terms of safety and has lot of comfort and convenience equipment as well like digital climate control, rear parking sensors, AC vents for all three rows, cooled box, steering mounted controls and a Satnav system as well.

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