Mahindra KUV1OO - One Year Ownership Review

Since the Mahindra KUV1OO is a year older car now, almost every car enthusiast knows about this car. So let's get straight to the point. It's been a year now with my Mahindra KUV1OO and I've driven it for close to 12k KMs now. And needless to say I love every bit of it. 💓

Near Kauvery River(Mandya, Karnataka)

So far so good. So, you may have a question that everyone love their car, don't they? Of course, we all know that KUV1OO doesn't have one of the most refined engine in 1.2 liters segment like Swift or Grand i10 have especially when it comes to a Petrol version. As they say, no car is perfect 🚗 However, KUV1OO has many more things to offer than it's competitors but I don't want to get into the features, space inside the car and all those for which you can visit the official KUV1OO website!

The Beast is resting in the farm.!

If you have read my first blog about KUV1OO, you would know I live in Bangalore. So, we Bangaloreans are blessed with some great surrounding places to visit from western ghats to beaches to backwaters. I've taken my beast to places if I may say so in this year. To name them, I've taken it to Mysore, Wayanad, Munnar, Coorg, Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari(longest drive so far in my car) and few hill stations around Bangalore which are within 150 KM(one way).

Poser, isn't it?

During the Munnar and Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari trip KUV1OO was exposed to many bad roads and patches on the way along with some butter smooth State Highways to National Highways. The car performed very well in all these conditions.

Munnar..!

The highest top-speed I've done with A/C on is just above 140 KMPH on an four track open stretch on my way to Rameshwaram. I wanted to reach 150 mark but could not due to the trucks on the way. However, I must mention that post 130 KMPH it feels like the engine is try too hard to revv up and you don't feel the smoother driver and vibrations or NVH level increases drastically as you try to accelerate more. But, don't get me wrong here. You can cruise between 120-130 KMPH with ease with A/C on. If you turn off the A/C, you might reach 150 mark easily I guess.! Need to try that, may be next time when I go to my native(in Gujarat) from Bangalore.!

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, on our way to Munnar.!

When it comes to bad roads, the suspension seems to handle the potholes quite well. The suspension setup is soft on KUV1OO so it just rolls over potholes with ease. The passengers for sure will feel little bumpy inside the car as the suspension isn't hard like Swift or Grand i10 has. As per my knowledge which I gained from reading many forums, I think the soft suspension setup is good for your car and chassis life! Correct me in the comment section if I'm wrong here.!

One more of on the way to Munnar.!

And now comes the most important questions we Indians ask, the MILEAGE.! ⛽

I drive my car everyday to office with A/C on all the time and I get around 14-16 KMPL mileage in city with bumper to bumper traffic. My office is around 20KM from my home and it takes almost 1 hour or some time more to reach office so you can imagine the kind of traffic I've to go through everyday.! On Highway, the mileage I get is outstanding. The highest mileage I've got so far is around 21 KMPH. Yes, you read it right. More than the Mahindra claims.!

Some dam in Munnar(sorry forgot the name of the dam!)

I know there have been rumors around mileage issues on both Petrol and Diesel variants of KUV1OO but I personally feel mileage is all about how a person driver his/her car. If I give my car to some other driver, I am sure he/she will get a different number of mileage. So, a quick advise on what one should do to get better mileage(if you aren't already doing it) is 1) Gear shifting should be frequent 2) Press the full clutch when you are shifting gears and 3) don't revv the car too hard in first 2 gears.
Again, I don't want to put in more details about that as it is easily available, just Google it.

Yelhanka - Air Force, Bangalore

With that time for conclusion. I personally feel KUV1OO stands true to its slogan/tagline, The Young SUV. The reason I say that is I've done a 597 KM drive with taking only 1 break(Bangalore to Rameshwaram) and not for once I felt I need to stretch my body or I was tired. That's something very good for a car of this size. You can take it to highways, bad road, rough roads and the car will perform good or better than most of the cars in the segment if I may say so. 😊

In Rameshwaram, at some sea shore near the town.!

If you are thinking of buying a Petrol car with the budget within 7-8 lakhs, you must consider test driving the Mahindra KUV1OO.

In the farm, off-roading.! 

Please do share this blog with your fellow car lovers, KUV lovers, roadies or potential KUV buyers whoever finds this helpful. Also, adding some pictures of my car I've take during my long drives.

On NH 49, you can see the moon behind.!

Thank you everyone if you're still reading it and not bored yet 😎

by

Rajen Joshi

Mahindra KUV1OO - My First New Car

For everyone, their First New Car is always a special one and mine is no different. :) I'm a proud owner of my new
Mahindra KUV1OO. Since the time I booked this car, I started dreaming about driving my new car and going to different places and adventure drives and all.

Photo Credit: Anurag Prajapati

Somewhere I also felt that if I've made the right choice in selecting a car(which I guess most of the first time car buyers go thru because you've so many options these days). I of course watched and read all online available reviews and they were very convincing. Still I went on to take test-drives of other cars also. The new Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Renault Duster to name a few. But, I did not find what I was looking for. I was looking for an SUV looking car which gives you a stance of an SUV where you sit tall, with good ground clearance as well and of course an eye-catching muscular car. Mahindra KUV1OO ticked almost all the right boxes for me and I finally made my mind to go for it. Mahindra brand itself has that SUV and off-road driving DNA which was also one of the main reason it got me convinced.

I got my car delivered on 28th of February, 2016 and needless to say I'm loving it. :) :) I've been driving in city to commute to office and back for about 5 days now and this weekend(it is a Saturday morning as I write this blog) I'm planning to go somewhere where there is less traffic and I can enjoy the drive. Because so far it's been a city drive only and do I need to mention traffic in Bangalore? Haha I guess every Bangalore an know and if you've not been to Bangalore then you've to be here to feel it. Anyway, now that's the condition of all metropolitan cities, isn't it? And Bangalore is not even a metropolitan city 😀

OK now let's come to the driveability of the car but before that I must tell you that I've a K8 Petrol top end version with 6 seaters configuration(Red color in case if you are wondering which color). In most of the reviews I've read or seen reviewers say that you've to get adjusted to the gearbox position but I would not agree with that. If you've already watched or read a review, you would know that the 6th seat which is between driver and co-driver's seat can be pulled down and used as a armrest for both driver and co-driver and when you put your arm on it to rest, your hand goes right on top of the gearbox and which makes it so convenient and easy to shift gears and trust me, driving this car in traffic is a breeze.

Photo Credit: Anurag Prajapati

And now let's come to the most commonly asked question, "kitna deti hai" ? 😛
Since I've driven the car only in city so far, I managed to get about 13.8 kmpl which I think is pretty decent mileage given the amount of traffic and greashifts I had to do. However, the official mileage figure is 18.15 kmpl for a petrol varient. As mentioned, I'm yet to take my beast out for a long drive. I will write another blog about the performance and mileage on highway or during a long drive.

Stay tuned and please do let me know in comments about how did you like my first blog about my First
New Car and please share it with a car lovers and if you're one :) Also, plsease drop your questions below in comment section. Thank you.

by

Rajen Joshi