Mahindra XUV300 TurboSport

The XUV 300 has been in the market for a while now and is available in petrol, diesel, and now in an electric avatar too. However, according to Mahindra, a bunch of its customers demanded more performance from the XUV300, and they decided to oblige. So, the hero of this variant is the new 1.2 litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged direct injection engine which puts out the best-in-class 128bhp and 230Nm. In fact, the torque can jump to 250Nm with an over-boost function.

Now, this isn't your everyday review. In fact, we just got to test the performance of the new engine at this JK Gram racetrack. And for this purpose, Gaurav Gill, the renowned professional rally driver, set a lap time in the new XUV 300 and then we drove the car on the track to see how close we can get. Considering how fast Gaurav is, it was a tough task, but we still gave it our best shot.

While we just had three laps, they were enough to tell us that with the new TGDi engine, the XUV 300 has become considerably faster. Launching it with the traction off resulted in some furious wheelspin as the revs swung north quickly. Mahindra claims a 0-100kmph time of 10.9 seconds which is the fastest in its segment, but that’s something we will verify soon. 

The new turbocharger is more eager than before and spools up quickly. Further, under full-bore acceleration, the over-boost function provides an additional 20Nm torque for a fraction of a second, for that quick overtake.

Then the six-speed manual gearbox, which is the sole option on the XUV 300 Turbosport series, isn’t the best shifting box thanks to its rubbery feel but offers positive shifts even under hard driving.

Now, although Mahindra has made no changes on the chassis and suspension front, this Mahindra feels sorted and planted. At no point does it feel that the engine is overpowering the chassis, for we threw it hard around the compact race track. The all-round discs also help with confident braking.

The steering, too, feels quick, which makes the XUV quite chuckable but could have done with a little more feel. However, all that power does cause a lot of power to understeer and there's no way around that.

We managed a best time of 43.3 seconds which wasn't the quickest but not too shabby either. The XUV 300 TGDi will sell along with its standard petrol and diesel variants. With prices starting at Rs 10.35 lakh, the TGDi variant is about Rs 35,000 more expensive than the standard petrol variant. Though, for that premium, you get quite a significant jump in performance. 

What we think Mahindra could have done better is to give the Turbosport series some more visual and interior enhancements to make it stand out further. Something like what Hyundai has done with its Venue N Line. Now, this is not all, we will bring an exhaustive review of the XUV 300 TGDi real soon, so keep checking this space for more!

Pictures by Kapil Angane