I’ve been waiting for a while to get my hands on this long termer.
Having just returned from the USA, where I spent a week driving a Chevrolet Suburban, I went straight from the airport to pick up the Mahindra Scorpio Z8L.
I’m about to spend the next three months running the Scorpio as our production long term car, travelling to film shoots, photo shoots, drag races, the office, and wherever weekend adventures may take me.
On paper, the Mahindra Scorpio is a great package. The spec we have is the Z8L Premium Pack, with a full leather interior and six seats. It’s also a bargain, currently listed at $45,990 drive-away.
That price buys you Captain’s Chairs in the second row, a 12-speaker Sony sound system, a front-facing off-road camera system, and a few other features we will cover as time goes on.
Both variants of the Scorpio come with Mahindra’s 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine which makes 129kW and 400Nm.
It’s teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission which on initial impressions is eager to power you off the line, but not willing to shift when it’s time to cruise and optimise fuel economy.
I’m sure you’re asking the question, “what about its zero star safety rating?”.
MORE: ANCAP has run off the road when it comes to safety
MORE: Why ANCAP tested the Mahindra Scorpio, and why it scored zero stars
That’s a fair question. I’m not worried about it as fundamentally the car is safe; instead it’s been pinged for missing a few checkboxes on the ever-longer Euro NCAP sheet of mandatory active safety features.
It’s lacking forward collision avoidance and emergency braking, which in turn means it doesn’t have radar cruise control… but neither does my XR8 Falcon ute, so I think I can live with it.
What will we be doing with the Scorpio over the next three months? Well, short answer is a lot.
We will likely clock 7000-9000km on the odometer. It will carry our film equipment around the countryside to shoot locations. It will cut hundreds of laps at our proving ground as our tracking car helping us get moving shots of our video cars.
It will likely travel interstate to events and shoots, as well as cover many stints around the freeways of Melbourne between home and the office.
Some initial impressions after a couple of days behind the wheel: boot space is compromised because the third row doesn’t fold flat, instead sticking out of the floor, making it hard to fit large suitcases (or even camera cases) in the back.
Initial fuel economy figures are currently sitting at 13.6km/L (~7.3/100km), but time will tell if there are any tricks to help get that number down.
The car is narrow and tall, which makes it a bit of a sailboat on windy Melbourne days. However, it never feels like it is unstable in normal driving conditions.
Lastly, the indicator has optional sounds you can choose from, none of which sound like a traditional indicator relay and all of which I could do without.
The right indicator also sits behind the speedometer needle, which means you can’t see it when you’re driving between 90 and 110km/h.
What do you want to know about life with the Mahindra Scorpio?
BUY: Mahindra Scorpio
MORE: Everything Mahindra Scorpio
