I drove back to Mumbai from Pune and the Scorpio-N cruises effortlessly on the highway.
Suspension, Ride & Handling
The Scorpio-N gets an all new suspension setup. It features double wishbone suspension at the front and a Penta link setup at the rear. The rear gets Watts linkage that controls lateral movement under load. It gets frequency dependent damping as well that adjust the damping and lowers impact according to the bumps. This has made a big difference to the handling. Sure there is body roll, but it is very well contained despite being a body on frame construction. It is definitely confidence inspiring. Potholes and bad roads are demolished in a flash, and where other cars slow down, you can simply fly over those without a bother. The ride quality has also vastly improved over the previous gen Scorpio. Yes, the bounciness is still there but it is well controlled. And that much is acceptable considering it is a body on frame SUV. High speed stability is excellent. Braking is strong with all around discs.
Off-Roading
The Scorpio-N comes with 4×4 only the diesel guys in both manual and automatic. Apart from the low range, it also gets off-road terrain modes (Normal, Snow, Mud & Ruts, Sand) that can be controlled by a rotary dial on the center console. Mahindra Adventure had designed an off-road track where could sample the Scorpio-N’s capabilities. The obstacles comprised of articulations, steep inclines and declines, side inclines and slush. The heavy rain in Lonavala made it even more fun and the Scorpio-N just sailed through every obstacle. It hasn’t lost any of the Scorpioness when it comes to off-road capability.
The safety kit includes six airbags, ABS with EBD, ESC, drowsiness detect system, hill descent and hill hold, ISOFIX for child seat mounts. Going by recent history, I won’t be surprised if the Scorpio-N nails a 5 star safety rating.
