SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


The cheetah charges: 2016 Mahindra XUV500 W8 4x2

A few wrinkles

Posted: 8 May 2016

The numbers
Price: R354 995
Engine: 2179 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 103 kW at 3750 rpm
Torque: 330 Nm between 1600 and 2800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 12.9 seconds
Maximum speed: 183 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.2 l/100 km
Tank: 70 litres
Ground clearance: 200 mm
Luggage: 96 – 702 – 1512 litres
Warranty: 5 years / 150 000 km
Service plan: 5 years / 100 000 km; at annual or 20 000 km intervals

Fast facts:
•    Mahindra in SA for 10 years
•    Over 100 000 XUV500s sold since launch
•    It’s pronounced “Five-double-oh”
•    Disc brakes front and rear
•    All-independent suspension with rear multilink designed by Lotus
•    Monocoque construction
•    Same 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine for all derivatives
•    Six-speed manual transmission across the board
•    Three trim levels – W4, W6 and W8
•    Mostly 4x2 with awd option on W8
•    Seven seats arranged in 2-3-2 formation
•    Cheetah-inspired styling

Mahindra’s XUV500 was extensively facelifted late last year. The update introduced new wheels, door handles and scuff plates; new tail lights and Mahindra badge at the back and, on the top-ranking W8, a new infotainment system with seven-inch touchscreen, satnav with voice prompts, leather upholstery, reversing camera and Bluetooth connectivity. Front end changes include new grille, headlights, bonnet, and fog lamps.

All models offer at least two airbags, ABS brakes with EBD, electric windows and mirrors, entertainment system, air conditioning, rear window defrosting with wash and wipe, digital immobiliser, roof rails, side impact beams, crumple zones, welcome and follow-me lighting, folding seats, recharging points and reading lights.

W8s go the whole way with six airbags, ESP, roll-over mitigation, hill hold and hill descent control, automatic temperature regulation, automated wipers and head lamps, cornering lights that illuminate both sides of the road, video player, tyre pressure monitor and various courtesy lights.

You still have to watch out for the car in front and for meandering pedestrians or wobbling bicyclists. Look carefully before switching lanes too, because the really smart safety kit only comes on cars costing twice as much. Seriously though, this one is very well equipped for its price.

Because this was our first exposure to anything Mahindra we were as suspicious, dismissive even, as most of you. We anticipated the worst and thought we had found what we suspected: Those “cheetah cuff” door handles look flimsy, fit and finish isn’t up to top European standards, the gear lever is offset to the left and the cranked, Lumina-style, handbrake is twisted to the right.

Guess what? The door handles are actually quite substantial, we got used to the gear stick because its action is so butter-smooth it was a joy to work with and the odd-looking parking brake has a nice action and feels more natural to use than the conventional, perfectly fore-and-aft, type we have known since cars got hand brakes.

Fair enough, the dash and door panels are of hard plastic and look bitty, the leather wrinkles a bit here and there and the fuel flap looks as though it needs another push to close properly. Chinese cars were like that five years ago and European cars weren’t much better thirty years back. Give it time.

What it was like to live with: Performance is best described as “solid.” It’s no racer but power is all it needs to be, it handles competently, top gear roll-on at 120 km/h is pretty good and fuel economy is competitive for this size of car and engine.

Its suspension felt a bit too firm at first, but the car was decently comfortable and stable over a selection of washboard- and stoney dirt road surfaces. There was some body drone and we could hear the suspension working, but everything remained solid and no dust got in.

Various reviewers have criticised this car’s luggage space but failed to remember that they were looking at a relatively short vehicle, only 4.6 metres long, with seven seats. Fold numbers six and seven down into the floor and boot space stretches from 96 litres under cover, to 702. With the second row folded this expands to 1512 litres.

Not as spacious as some, but better than others, accommodations in the third row are merely adequate for tall users with long legs, but perfectly okay for smaller people. Repeater vents with dedicated fan control, a 12-volt socket and two cup holders add to user comfort. Those in the second row have nothing to complain about; head-, knee- and foot room is plentiful.

Further forward, driver controls work smoothly, the touch screen is easy to use, there is plenty of storage, the turning circle is comfortable (11.2 metres) and the wings on the front fenders (the “shoulders” of its “pouncing cheetah” styling) help to place the front wheels accurately.

Summary: We expected the worst but were pleasantly surprised. Although the Mahindra XUV500 is priced low, it is competent, well equipped and actually pretty good. We could get used to having one around.

Test car from Mahindra SA press fleet

We drove the upgraded W10 automatic version in 2019



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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