The Mahindra KUV 100 is the Indian SUV manufacturer’s bold move to enter the highly competive hatchback segment. The KUV100 will compete with other hatches such as the Grandi10, Maruti Swift, and Honda Amaze, however because it is a Mahindra it has more SUV design implementation, but it is still a hatchback according to its dimensions.
Design & Styling
At first glance, the KUV has aspects that work to its advantage, the design features distinct curves on the front, rear and sides of the car and you can see a clear resemblance in certain aspects to the XUV500. However, while the design might be eye-catching – especially in the bright orange and red hues of our test cars – it is a bit of a hit-and-miss when you look at it in design terms. Some aspects of the car work well, such as the front end with its aggressive nature works well, but the swooping rear, especially when viewed from the rear three-quarters looks quite dumpy.
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Interiors
The KUV comes with well designed interiors. An interesting aspect of the KUV is the floating dashboard design, which means that the front floor of the car doesn’t have any part of the dashboard interfering with space. This has been done to accommodate a third passenger in the front seat. The plastics quality, the switchgear and the overall fit-and-finish on the KUV is decent quality and is competitive for the segment. The seats are nice to sit in and as far as interior room is concerned, the front of the KUV is quite spacious, and three adults can sit fairly comfortably in the six-seater version, with the extra width of the car helping matters. The rear is also spacious for the size of the car but people over six-feet tall might be a tight fit as far as legroom is concerned.
Engine & Transmission
The highlight of the KUV100 is the new engines, with both the petrol and diesel engines being brand-new three-cylinder units of 1.2-litre displacement. The petrol engine produces 82bhp and 115Nm of torque. The diesel engine produces 77bhp and 190Nm of torque. Both engines are mated to a brand-new 5-speed manual gearbox.
Performance and Handling
When driving the KUV, we found out that both engines are well engineered. They feel like modern units that are refined, and are linear in their power delivery. They also respond well to throttle inputs. The five-speed box shifts quite well and another good thing with the KUV is the electrically assisted steering, and while it might not have much feel, it has decent weight to it, and feels quite well setup. Handling the car is easy and it is nice to drive in the city. With is all new chassis, the KUV is also fairly balanced to drive, with its wide stance giving it quite a planted feel, even at high speeds.
Fuel Efficiency
The petrol engine we tested gave us a fuel efficiency of 15kmpl, which is very good. The diesel wil probably give a much better rating.
Features
The car comes with power steering, power windows, air conditioning, remote keyless entry and a cooled glove box.
Safety
The good thing is that all variants come with ABS as standard. There is also an option for dual front airbags.
Quality & Reliability
This is a fantastic overall car in terms of quality, build and design. It’s a Mahindra so we know it will be built well and will be reliable.
Value for Money
The car is priced very competitively and carries very high value for money.
Verdict
The car is definitely different than the other hatches in its segment and the quality is certainly good. It is a big step up for Mahindra in terms of an overall quality package, but we do still feel that if you want a better driving experience and better quality you should check out Hyundai or Maruti.
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