soHceight-valver,butit hasthegrunttopulloffsomegood
acceleration.naughtto 100 km/hwasdismissedin12.7secondsand
it canholdhighwayspeedsalldaylongif needed.thesuspension
andsteeringfeelarecalibratedtomakethedriverfeelgoodwiththe
respectiveresponsesandit doesn’tdisappoint.economy-wise,with
figures of14km/linthecityand20onthehighway,that’sanoverall
15.5km/l.witha 52-litretank,that’sabout 800 km.
The XUV300’sbest-in-classfigures are evidentonthego.The
engineonlyrevstoabout3,700rpmbutthat’smorethanis needed.
the 300 nmofpeaktorqueat1,500rpmmeansthereis morethan
enoughgruntandit canbedrivenat1,000rpmeveninhighergears,
whilegettingaroundthecityis easytoo.therobustbuildand
commendablehandlingdynamicsmakeit anincredibleproposition,
andnotjustfora Mahindra.Itfeelsplanted,sorted,andstableatall
timesandhasa tight5.3-metreturningradius,too.Itisn’tthe
quickestoffthemark,taking6.3secondsto 60 km/hand14.3
secondsto100,butit hasloadsofgruntandfeelseffortless.that
said,onthemove,thehighbonnet,thicka-pillarandthewing-
mirrorpositioningcreatesomewhatofa blind-spotwhich,globally,
maynotbe aproblem,butwhentrafficandpedestriansapproach
froma dozendirections,it becomessomethingtokeepinmind.
thatapart,thereweresomesqueaksfrom the cabin, probably due
tocontactbetweenpanelsandupholstery, which is something
Mahindrashouldfocusonironingout.overall, it’s a commendable
carandonetoconsiderinthissegment.It’sheavier,too,andit
showsinitseconomy,at13.5km/lcityand 20 onthehighway.
that’s just over 15 overall and the tank capacity of 42 litres means a
range of around 630 km.PriceandVerdict
on thevaluefront,theyallhavetheirpluspointsandsomeminor
minuspoints,butit’sverycloseonthepracticalityandequipment
front.theXUV300is themostspaciousandbest-equippedcarbut
comesata price:rs 12.14lakh(ex-showroom)tobepreciseforthe
w8(o).thedieselrangebeginsfromrs 8.69lakh,though,anda
dieselauto isalsoavailable,sofindingonethatsuitsyourneeds
shouldn’tbea problem.theecosporthasbeenaroundfora while.
thistitaniumscostsrs 11.35lakh.a“thunder”packageis alsoon
offerwiththose17-inchwheelsanda lotofadditionalkit.the
ecosportrangestartsfromrs 8.31lakh.theVenueoffersthemost
refinementandexcellentvalue. AtRs10.84 lakhforthisSX(O)
variant,it’snottoosteep.therangestartsatjustrs 7.75lakhforthe
nearbare-bonesetrim.I’vebeenaskedtopicka clearwinnerbut,
clearly,thereisn’tone.theyallhavetheirvirtuesandidiosyncrasies.
some of my colleagues would pick the Venue. If I had to pick,
though, I’d cough up the extra and have the XUV300.Ground clearance?
Yes, they have enough of that.
And they’re all front-wheel drive
104 carindia August^2019 http://www.carindia.inShootout | HyundaiVenuevRivals