Between the two SUVs you see here, Mahindra has sold two lakh units in the last two and a half years. One of them, mind you, has only been on sale for the last five months. But wait, this isn’t Business Standard (oh, well…), so why am I starting this story with such a pink-paper statistic? Because these SUVs are defined by their popularity, that’s why! It isn’t, in fact, so much a case of popularity as it is mania, if I’m honest. These things fly off their presumably robust shelves. Why, though? These are old-school ladder-frame SUVs. Despite their hugely refined dynamics, a monocoque SUV will still run rings around them on a handling track. You want a great back seat? Buy a sedan. A thorough off-roader? You can almost have all three of them for the price of one of these (go figure!). So what’s going on, then?
In the interest of true journalism, we just had to bring them together. And since journalism these days is about taking sides, it will serve you well to know that I’m a fan of most things Mahindra makes. A couple of years ago, I bought a Thar RWD and have since driven it all over the country. It’s not a great car (the BMW M2 is, for one) but I love it for how nonchalantly it takes on the worst our roads can offer. And for its Saab-like instrument panel lights, which you can turn off. Right, with my credentials as an unbiased automotive writer out of the way, we can finally get going. With half the Motoring World gang in tow, we set up camp at Pro Dirt Adventure on the outskirts of Pune the night before the shoot, a playground appropriately suited to this serious research work. SUVs have to be able to venture off the road and how the Scorpio-N and Thar Roxx fare in such an environment is a concern of national importance.
Let’s start with the numbers. On output, the two SUVs are identical, featuring 172-bhp 2.2-litre engines in their diesel-automatic variants. In the Roxx, however, you get 37.7 kgm of torque, while the Scorpio-N’s motor generates 40.7 kgm — I’m not sure why. I also can’t tell you how much they weigh, because Mahindra doesn’t think it’s necessary for us to know but, having tried to lift them with my bare hands, I can tell you they weigh around 2 tonnes. The Roxx is decidedly the more off-road focused of the two, seeing as it is shorter in length (by 234 mm), has the shorter wheelbase (by 47 mm), visibly better approach and departure angles and, of course, a manual 4×4 transfer case as opposed to the Scorpio-N’s 4Xplor electronic 4WD unit. The Roxx also benefits from 226 mm of ground clearance, while the Scorpio-N sits 187 mm off the ground. In other words, this means the Roxx is expected to do time out on the trails, while the Scorpio-N can get you there comfortably if the need arises.
Since we’re keeping things honest so far, let me throw in one last confession: I’m a bigger fan of the Scorpio-N than I am of the Roxx. Step inside and you can tell it’s an older-generation SUV; the Scorpio-N was in development half a decade ago, come to think of it! But it feels soft and familiar, and a little delightfully old-world, if I may say so. Those dozen or so glossy buttons on the dash date back to the XUV 5OO but, in non-car terms, the Scorpio-N’s cabin feels like sitting by a crackling fireplace on a comfy old recliner. It isn’t what you can call ‘taut.’ That word applies quite well to the Roxx which, by benefit of being a more recent SUV, feels as if every layer of its trim has been stretched over it. It’s rather German (I know, I wouldn’t last on car-Twitter for a day) in its approach to the touch-and-feel stuff, while the Scorpio-N feels more American in this regard.
This distinction narrows once you hit the expressway, though. Hitting cruising speeds is easy — 172 bhp is respectable power, after all — and either cabin, fortunately, keeps a handsome degree of the ambient sounds out. I prefer the Scorpio-N as a highway car, though, since its longer wheelbase and relatively lower centre of gravity makes it that crucial bit nicer around corners. It’s not as if body roll really bothers me in a ladder-frame SUV (do I need to remind you of what car I own?) but, in the interest of my perpetually motion-sick circle of friends, I’d choose a Scorpio-N. In the Roxx, it’s all about brute force. It has, quite understandably, the aerodynamic properties of an apartment and, given how wide and menacing it looks in rear-view mirrors, you pretty much make your own green channel wherever you go. It’s the same story off the road, too.
These are inherently brawny machines that have an uncanny way of finding traction. You could go into a serious off-road scenario with very little skill and experience, and be amazed at how effortlessly you can plough out of things. Over a very rough trail in a dry winter, both the 4Xplor system in the Scorpio-N and the manual transfer case of the Roxx put on a competent show, while I was only left to operate the steering, throttle and brakes. It’s PlayStation– easy and, as long as you’re a good judge of either SUVs track and dimensions, you’ll go pretty much anywhere you fancy. The hardcore amongst you will understandably argue in favour of more committed rubber, but in a more casual scenario, where you would stop quite early in your tracks in most SUVs, both the Roxx and the Scorpio-N will simply power through. It’s not just about capability, mind you — it’s about effortlessness.
That brings us to something fundamental — DNA. Mahindra has been in the business of making rugged people-movers for all of its life. Over the last 70-odd years, Mahindra has produced millions of vehicles and the insights derived from each of those has culminated in the form of the Scorpio-N and Roxx. Of course, by global standards, the learning curve has been gentle; I, for one, don’t think Mahindra has arrived at the peak of its ICE SUV potential yet. However, the serious evolution in its SUVs is clear as daylight. More importantly, none of this evolution has been brought about at the expense of character. If you’re somebody who has historically enjoyed driving a Mahindra, you will absolutely love driving a new one. At least, a new one of these two.
It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say the Scorpio-N and Roxx are a lot like the country they call home. They’re India, on wheels. We have our flaws and blatant imperfections, but our ingenuity makes up for a lot. Sure, we lack infrastructural uniformity and a first-world feel, but ours is a country with a heart. Gosh, we’re forgiving, too! I mean, we’ve only won two cricket World Cups so far, are yet to put a man on the moon and, wait, have you ever looked at the rear-end of a Xylo? See what I mean? The mania that surrounds these two SUVs is, therefore, unsurprising. Sure, we now live amidst a fairly evolved automotive audience with a massive appetite for the latest in tech and engineering, but, as a motoring country, we are quite a distance away from being in an ideal world. For every new stretch of pristine expressway, there’s a battered old B-road out there. Lane markings are still the reserve of a few important highways. And every new ring road ultimately bypasses all haphazardly planned arterial roads — which is where you and I live. It’s not without reason that the first thing you do to the ADAS is to turn it off.
Set against this canvas, the hunger for earnest, well-engineered, go-anywhere machines is entirely justified. We need our SUVs to be big and hefty, and their underpinnings to be made of lead. Ground clearance matters, and so does the ability to send power to every available wheel. Most of all, you want to feel like you’re in a military-grade vehicle simply because everything that shares road-space with you is a potential hazard. We value our money and everything that comes with the barter of it. Our cars, or cars in general, therefore, needn’t be perfect. They just need to make us feel good and safe — and the Scorpio-N and Thar Roxx do that all too easily. In any case, if perfection was really a deciding factor, we’d all be driving a Phaeton. And you know how many of those VW made in 15 years of production, right?
