Round the sides the only differences you’ll see are the chrome strip running across the length of the window sill, a little tweak to the door handles, and freshly designed alloys. The chroming process has been carried out to the rear too, with the number plate crowned with a chrome-plated plaque carrying the Mahindra logo. The inconsistency in panel gaps especially obvious in the bonnet shut-line over the front wheel-arch is the only real negative on an otherwise attractive car.
Step inside the cabin and the first change evident will be the sun roof – a feature that you wouldn’t normally see in a car as economical as the XUV 500. The leather seats from the previous iteration remain, and the car now also has push button start, and a redesigned remote key. The pedals have also received chrome embellishments; the infotainment system’s touch-screen has been expanded to 7-inches, and the reverse camera now comes equipped with a distance-to-object display and dynamic assist. The distance-to-object functionality isn’t the most accurate however, with the number fluctuating even when the car was at a standstill. The driver’s seat now comes with 6-way power adjustment, and the interior overall gets an attractive looking black and beige two-tone. Plastic quality is decent, and little touches like the backlit power slots (present across all three rows) and the blue theme for the cabin lighting including the backlight on the twin-instrument cluster bring that extra bit of style to the inside. Seat comfort is quite decent too, with the extensive thigh-support across the front and second row a particular highlight. On the downside, the hand-brake doesn’t sit parallel with the centre console, but sticks out at an angle that’s at odds with it, which would really disturb someone who has OCD and mars the overall symmetry of interior.
The XUV is powered by the same 2.2-litre mHawk turbocharged diesel engine as in the previous iteration; the performance of the engine is affected by the fact that Mahindra have changed the final drive ratio. The power and torque figures remain the same with the XUV producing 140 PS at 3750 RPM and 330 Nm at 1600-2800 RPM respectively. The XUV retains its bottom-end grunt that carries through even as you climb higher into the rev-range, although the turbo lag is still evident, but not so prominent that it disappoints. The gearbox while slotting firmly into place, feels a little clunky in the process though.
