E-Paper
A thirsty beast on the road
On the value-for-money front the Scorpio was always unbeatable. But the Petrol Scorpio loses out on the lack of fuel economy.
On the value-for-money front the Scorpio was always unbeatable. For the first time the Indian buyer had a vehicle that looked respectable enough to be called an SUV. What was more they could park it in to their garage without having to sell off a part of their real estate. And to its credit the Scorpio performed fairly well with a turbo diesel unit that was quick and offered plenty of low-end grunt though the handling would never have inspired a rally driver. But then in an SUV this can be overlooked. Where it was disappointing was the finish and the build quality. So M& M had worked on all this to exorcise the ghosts of a utility vehicle. The last variant of the Scorpio is the petrol engine model with some additions to the trim. The petrol had been there right from the beginning virtually with a 2.0 litre Renault unit that was smooth and efficient and mated to an enjoyable five-speeder slotted in with slick clicks.
But now the improved version, priced at Rs 7.77 lakh, sports additions like the armrest for the front and middle seats, reverse parking aid and a touch of faux wood on the central console. Honestly I would prefer the grey fascia without the wood finish anyday because at best it only manages to look tacky.
Another area where the Scorpio would do with improvement is ergonomics. True it has come a long way from the Boleros but it still is amazing to find the power window buttons located by the gear lever and that too way down. One really has to bend down and ‘look’ for it while as conventional wisdom has it that all this should be at the fingertip of the driver. Ditto for the gear lever. It’s located way too far and the seats would certainly do with some more support.
But where this petrol version really loses out is when one talks about fuel economy or as in this case the lack of it. This one is one hell of a thirsty beast and at over Rs 33 per litre of petrol it’s an expensive affair to keep it quenched because as we found out on a hot day with the AC doing overtime (the AC is extremely effective and there are separate vents for the rear). The Scorpio is capable of fuel economy of around 6 km at best and that too when part of it was on the highway. Inspite of a peppy engine that churns out a fair amount of BHPs (116) with very acceptable noise levels it is the fuel average in my opinion which will ruin the petrol Scorpio’s chances of overtaking its diesel sibling.
