Mahindra Scorpio LX 2013 review

Spent a day driving a new Scorpio LX, rented from Zoom. For beautiful photos of the Scorpio, check here. In this post I am giving my quick review of the vehicle.

Scorpio LX is the cheapest variant of Scorpio on offer (note: there’s another M2Di variant with Bolero’s BS3 engine, which is for rural areas only). Costs about 10 lakhs on road. It misses out on several safety and comfort features we’re used to but has all DNAs of the mighty and rugged Scorpio.

Interiors:

Being cheapest variant, there’s nothing much worth mentioning about the interiors. You get cheap plastic and bare minimum stuff. Co-driver side vanity mirror on sun visors is available. The glove box wouldn't lock properly and closing it required multiple hard pushes.

Features:

Despite being entry level variant, LX gets power windows. But the controls are centrally positioned near the hand break. It is not the most convenient position to operate. Both driver and passengers need to put some effort to reach out and operate these. However, it is better than not having power windows

Mirrors have to be manually operated and the lever is not responsive enough.

Fuel low indicator, seat belt warning etc missing in instrument console.

Radio antenna was non-existent, hence audio system wouldn’t capture FM radios properly once you cross city limits. (The Vls we drove in 2008 was capturing Mysore radio (AM, not FM) station when we were deep forests in Wayanad)

No arm rests for middle row, no arm rests for drivers. The 9 seater variant comes with thinner and non adjustable second row. The LX 7 seater has slightly more comfort.

  

Exterior:

Black plastic bumper is offered in Scorpio LX to save cost. You can optionally buy fog lamps as extra. Skyracks are offered as standard. Headlamp assembly gets couple of LEDs and a touch of crome holding Mahindra logo looks nice on otherwise black façade. Rest of the vehicle appears common across variants

Driving:

I’d driven a Scorpio VLS in 2008 (we went to Wayanad- details here), a Xylo in 2012, another old Scorpio in 2012: All these cars had hard transmission. Changing gears need efforts (Compared to Innova, Aria). Not sure if Mahindra has decided to leave it as it is, thinking all rugged vehicles should have hard to operate gearbox. Even the 2013 Scorpio carries that issue forward. Nothing is done to make it a bit smooth. I read that new Xylo H series gets refined transmission. Need to check out if that is better

Otherwise I don’t have any complaints on the driving experience. 2.2 litre mHawk delivers 120PS and is pretty good enough for practical use (even the Xylo uses this engine now). ABS is missing in LX. (Go for SLE if you want ABS). Suspension and tyres are pretty good.

Scorpio LX is a budget variant of popular and reliable Scorpio.  If budget is limiting one from going for expensive variants, one can settle for LX.

Scorpio is due for a refresh next year.

Also read: Ford Ecosport review