A capable offering at a competitive price, Mahindra’s new Scorpio-N has touched down on local soil and squarely lives up to the brand’s value-for-money ethos.
Mahindra successfully showed off the wide breadth of abilities of its rugged seven-seater by inviting local media to step into the Scorpio-N and push it over harsh 4×4 tracks in scorching temperatures on the West Coast.
Expectations were met, and others exceeded, so we are anticipating that this Scorpio-N will find even more favour with adventure seekers than its forebear, the latter of which sold just over 6,000 units in South Africa in its six-odd years on the market.
4Xplor for the great outdoors
The Scorpio-N is underpinned by an all-new body-on-frame platform with no parts being carried over from the previous generation.
This new configuration’s “roll arm” height, which affects weight transfer, is 8.3% better than the benchmark – 463mm for the Mahindra vs the industry standard 505mm – and this has resulted in “best-in-class” body roll, explained Mahindra.
Fitments continue with “first-in-segment” frequency-dependent damping technology and an off-road-aligned suspension setup with a long travel of 225mm.
Sure enough, the Scorpio-N kept satisfactory horizontal through turns, but perhaps more impressive than this were the comfort levels, particularly if the tarmac runs out. Over long stretches of rarely-used farm roads, the SUV easily climbed to speeds you’d usually do on quiet backroads and the ride remained complaisant and noise levels low.
Similarly, tackling rocky climbs and sandy axle twisters was a walk in the park both for the passengers and for the Mahindra.
Allowing the off-roader to do all this is a 2.2-litre, turbo-diesel power unit under the hood connected to a six-speed automatic gearbox. The combination is good for 129kW and 400Nm and has no issues with getting the Scorpio up to speed when you inevitably need to return to civilisation.
Another new feature that assisted off-road mobility, which is reserved for the pricier Z8 and Z8 L models, is the 4Xplor four-wheel-drive programme with Grass, Gravel, Mud, Rut, Sand, and Snow settings selectable via a rotor behind the gear lever.
The shift-on-the-fly system can switch from rear-wheel drive to four-wheel high at speeds of up to 100km/h, and brings four-wheel low gears which together with the electronically-locking rear differential, wheel direction indicator, and hill-descent control assisted in conquering one or two of the trickier obstacles.
For the regular 4×2 models, drive modes comprise Zip, Zap, and Zoom – a quirky naming convention for Eco, Normal, and Sport – and no dedicated off-road settings are provided, though we were assured they are still quite competent in the dust.
A fact worth mentioning is that the Scorpio-N’s ground clearance measures 187mm which is par for the course for city-focused SUVs that only needs to hop the occasional curb, however, other ladder-frame models such as the Ford Everest and Toyota Fortuner each clear 229mm or more.
On our just-above-amateur 4×4 expedition the clearance wasn’t an issue, nonetheless, for the more seasoned off-roader, it might be something that will hinder the Mahindra from keeping up with the best of them.
Spacious seven-seater
Now bigger and heavier, the Scorpio offers a generous amount of cabin space with leg, shoulder, and headroom improved in comparison to the outgoing derivative.
Thanks to an indented roof that starts tapering just above the backseats, second and third-row headroom is acceptable, though if you’re a taller individual it impedes how much you can move around without bumping your noggin against the headliner.
The top-spec trim we drove also came with the coffee-black artificial leather interior with matching door and dashboard panels in plastic. This trim combination is attractively executed and supplies a decidedly premium look but a plasticky feel remains present.
Each Scorpio-N is further improved with the brand’s new 8-inch AdrenoX infotainment system, which we were pleased to find ran smoothly with glitches and lagging being nearly non-existent – a noteworthy feat even for the most premium of manufacturers out there.
In the local market, the system brings Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as the What3Words global navigation system making Mahindra one of a limited few brands to support this next-generation app. Unfortunately, Amazon Alexa voice assistant and a few other toys, such as a Horoscope app, are disabled in South Africa.
The top-spec Scorpio also comes with a high-quality 12-speaker Sony sound system, a sunroof, cruise control, a wireless charger, and dual-zone automatic airconditioning that kept the 200km stretch back into Cape Town pleasant, and the dials and buttons were reassuringly tactile.
While you likely won’t be disappointed, don’t expect to be blown away by the Scorpio-N’s cabin and on-road ride, but look forward to being pleasantly surprised when you see what this Mahindra can do in treacherous terrain.
The SUV will be on show in dealerships starting next week and officially be on sale from 20 February, and the line-up comprises four variants.
The base model goes for R465,000 while the top-spec trim will set you back R590,000 – at least until 31 March, as that’s when these “special introductory prices” are changing.
Mahindra Scorpio-N
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