UPDATE: Turbo went bust, It’s in the shop for a few days. Should be out in a few days with a new turbo, clean injectors and all the clutch issues sorted.
Living with a Mahindra Scorpio 2007, Turbo CRDe:
Daily”ing” one of these really depends on your personality in a way. This is definitely not the fastest, the most comfortable or even a feature loaded modern car. What it is though, is a machine that wakes up like a big loud grumpy person and then proceeds to walk around in a tight t-shirt unnecessarily flexing his muscles. Like a buff dude who just woke up from a hangover. Once the diesel engine’s all warmed up though, the whole experience becomes a lot more exciting. Almost like if a St. Bernard were to suddenly get charged with energy and got very playful. The dog would almost certainly crush its owner and be really bad at corners…Just like the Scorpio. It is an adrenaline-charged experience though. If you make it out of a corner alive in one piece, it introduces you to a life threateningly addictive thrill. Living in Ooty, every drive is an adrenaline-charged life-threatening thrill. Every hairpin bend and corner on the hills is a mad ride. Without any seat belts on, the body roll would most certainly eject you from the vehicle and it would take an absolute maniac with nerves of steel to approach a turn faster than 50Kph. I am that maniac, most of the time and I love it. I say nerves of steel and not “Balls of steel” because Sohil’s mom drives a Scorpio as well and she has to have steel somewhere for being both Sohil’s mom and driving a Scorpio down to Coimbatore through the Lovedale Road.
The torque in a Scorpio is an unexpected surprise, like when your fat useless computer obsessed son who watches Shinchan all day gets 98% in 10th Grade. It’s a pleasant surprise because initially you thought he was a fat piece of S**t. I can’t speak for the Mhawk models but, MY CRDe with its initial clutch response might leave you thinking there isn’t much to give but don’t be fooled. Let your foot off a tad bit more and a slight increase in RPMs will give you a boatload of torque sending you and the 1.8 TONNE SUV hurtling forward towards whatever and whoever just happened to be there ahead of it. By the way, I still love watching Shinchan all day.
Speaking of things and subjects that happen to be in the path of an approaching Scorpio, braking works like so: Imagine when you would hit the brakes in an average modern vehicle…and choke the brake pedal a few days earlier. The rear drums and the front disks will make a brave and valiant attempt, like humans planting 20 million trees and expecting the world to fix itself. The CRDe hasn’t ever heard of ABS and traction control. It lives in an “Oops, I hit you!” world where it casually brakes into other vehicles and creatures and then shrugs it off like it never happened.
A 2007 Scorpio was a luxurious SUV, if you compared it to any other 2007 Indian land boat. Like a Tata SUMO or a Tata Safari or a Tata. My requirements as a hillside maniac driver are Bluetooth, a charging port and PHAT speakers. All of which the Scorpio has, as well as surprisingly powerful AC unit. Even better than the one in our 2015 Verna.
The Scorpio’s seats and suspension are very cosy and comfortable. When it’s stationary. Once it’s rolling around, running over things, there are changes. The front passengers are taken for a slightly bouncy ride, Sure. The rear passengers and god help those who ended up in the third row, are in for an experience that could only compare to bouncing on a trampoline, while sitting down, with a gelly mountain under the trampoline. A shaky nauseating experience for some, and a fun nauseating experience for others.
The suspension, ground clearance and ladder frame of the Scorpio though, can take all the abuse you hurl at it. Speed breakers are reserved for inferior vehicles. Oh, there’s a pothole on the road? Pretend it doesn’t exist. What if there is no road? Pretend there is one. What if there’s a bunch of S**t on the road? Pretend you didn’t see it. What if there’s a person blocking the road?………..
“SPEEEEED AND POWERRRRRRRER”
- Jeremy Clarkson
By Indian standards, a Scorpio can achieve a good top speed. The Speedo on my 2007 goes up to 180Kph. Not that any human alive has dared to go there. I once pushed it on a highway on the way to Udupi, Karnataka. I was approaching 150Kph which in itself is a feat, considering the immense amount of focus, control and lunacy needed to get there. As we were jumping and rolling around at 150Kph, the passenger decided to slide down his window a bit. Aerodynamics, especially in older Scorpios were never much of a thing…sort of like American cars from the 30s, maybe. If I hadn’t slept for 10 hours before waking up that day and making everyone late, I wouldn’t be here writing this. It is an exhilarating experience, going fast in the Scorpio. At 120Kph, it feels like you’re already the fastest thing on the road. Going faster certainly takes a certain type of person.
Now, there are many reasons Haryanvis, Delhiites, the whole of UP & Karnataka and a bunch of other people, love the Mahindra Scorpio. One of those reasons though, is that in a country where G Wagons and Hummers are few and far in between, the Scorpio sometimes, sometimes represents the arrival of a certain intimidating sort of people. Usually with something sticking out of the window. It’s a certain kind of badass intimidating vulgar arrival, as prevalent in the movie scenes. The same arrival can be flipped over into a proud badass majestic “Good guy” arrival too so long as the Scorpio has a white Spray. Just ask Ajay Devgn. Going to the actual looks of the vehicle, some people like, some people are okay with it and some people hate it just like they hate their own mirrors. Mine has the PHATest tyres, alloys, a carryman bolted upfront and a shiny black coat and I quite like the stance and appearance. Tyres on this vehicle are crucial. Many a times, on those midnight drives up to Ooty from Coimbatore, I have been saved from falling off a hill.
In an ideal world and in my dreams, I would’ve wanted a 6.3 V8 or even a 3.0 V8 like that African dude’s Scorpio from facebook in one of these. It used to bother me, looking at the spec sheet and knowing that a Polo could rekk these, all until I started driving it. The immense confidence and asshole factor that this vehicle can contribute can be matched by no polo driver ever. In a country where the 20Lakh 2020 Harrier makes only 170BHP and where the V8 Mustang is priced more than thrice its actual value, the Scorpio is a vehicle that I can enjoy.
So! I said a lot here, almost all of it in one go. You never know how I might feel about this after waking up a few hours later. All things considered, I’m a different driver in this vehicle than others. The overconfident, arrogant sort maybe. Sometimes, when someone’s being a dick and I can’t do much, my mind goes to one of its happy places. Behind the wheel of a Scorpio approaching someone or something.
