Mahindra Xylo E8 ABS - Comprehensive Review

The MUV from Mahindra camp Xylo E8 ABS has been quite a success, first because of its reasonable price and second it is feature rich. And according to official source Mahindra has sold over 2700 units of Xylo in 2009 and that is not at all bad while considering the competition amongst the MUV's. Talking of MUV's Xylo's main competitors are Scorpio, Innova, Tavera and Bolero. The major plus points of Xylo E8 ABS are the exclusive features and a competitive price. But there are other aspects of this big vehicle one must know to get clear and a better picture.

Looks, exteriors and interiors
The Mahindra Xylo E8 has a chrome centre, which reminds you of Bolero and Scorpio. The bumper gets the body color and fog lamps are integrated, the sloping bonnet gives the Xylo a muscular look. The wrap around tail lamps and exterior rear view mirrors get a dual tone. The Xylo has quite a disproportionate top view; it seems that the vehicle has more height and less width, which disrupts the equilibrium of the entire look of the car. And in comparison Innova and Tavera have better looks. Even a glance from the side is not very impressive, as many vehicles in the MUV segment are much sophisticated. One might consider it an up market vehicle while viewing it from a rear three quarter angle that is adorned with classy tail lamps & chrome strip.

As regards the interiors the Mahindra Xylo E8 has been designed to cater to the complete comfort of the owner driving the vehicle and the basic requirement of providing ample leg-room is totally fulfilled; the front, rear and the third row are pleasingly spacious and the theatre-like seating keeps all passengers engaged in a group conversation, which means the back row passengers will just not go to sleep! Passengers will have individual AC vents and controls; thanks to the Dual AC system that cools every nook and corner of the vehicle.



And the other feature that the Xylo takes the credit of being the only car with this luxury is the flatbed seats in the front that is very similar to the business class seats in aircrafts. Furthermore, one can find foldable flight trays that are right behind the front seats and reading lamps for each and every passenger are too good features. Apart from these there is laptop and mobile charging points that can be easily located. The rear view mirrors can be adjusted electrically and while in reverse gear the Intellipark reverse system greatly assists the driver. The DDAS or digital drive assist system ensures you have a comfortable drive. The puddle lights fixed to the doors will help the passengers to see while settling down during night times and the cabin lights turn off slowly ensuring the members to be comfortably seated. The wide arm rest offers superb comfort to both driver and co-passenger. The adjustable driver seat and the tiltable steering will make for your drive a memorable journey.

The toothed grille and the very high stance, coupled with boxy divisions can never help Xylo to win as a beautiful vehicle.

Engine, performance and mileage
Both Bolero and Xylo E8 ABS share the same engine but the former's diesel engine is improvised and is called M-Eagle CRDe, which gives a power of 112 bhp @ 3800 rpm and a torque of 240 nm @ 1800-3000 rpm. Further the 5-speed gearbox and other technical advancements deliver good power and performance. Last but not the least the ABS provides ultimate safety to all passengers apart from the airbags, crumple zones, tilt steering column and of course the seat belts.

The Xylo E8 ABS can hold 55 liters of fuel and gives a mileage of around 9 kmpl in city and an average of 12 kmpl on the highways, which is pretty good.
That said Xylo has some complaints too - the soft suspension setup and bumps feel rounded at low speeds, and once the speed picks up Xylo doesn't give solidy feel as it should be and the ride becomes kind of bouncy with huge body roll in the corners as well and passengers complaining about the Xylo is no uncommon.

The engine does have the kick, but look chassis isn't good enough to play the ball. There is another problem I noticed is with its boot space; it doesn't have good boot, and the irremovable third row of seats makes life miserable especially when you want to shift big luggage into the boot, and it seriously limits the practicality of the MPV in the first place.

Colors and Price
The Xylo E8 is available in the following colors: black, red, brown, green, lilac, gold, silver and beige. You can also go for dual tones such as black with silver and green with beige. This variant of Xylo will be available for an on road price of Rs 10,44,000.

Final verdict
To sum up Xylo E8 ABS might not impress you with looks but looks cannot be one criterion to pick an MPV. The Mahindra Xylo E8 comes packed with some superb features all at price that is quite tempting. No doubt in terms of looks and performance there are much better vehicles in this segment that hold a little higher price and for people who vote for quality then this is not the car they want to own. But for people who want a spacious tourer with some features Xylo can be one option.