TUV300 T8 AMT - Certainly 'The Big Boss' - but AMT needs lot more refinement

I have bought TUV 300 T8 AMT (100 BHP) on Dec-2017. Writing this review carefully with 9 months experience in TUV and drove 15,000 Kms. Among 15K, have driven at least 6K kms in Hilly regions. Major Long Trips taken so far with TUV-300 AMT 1. Coimbatore - Allepey - Athirapalli - Valparai - Pollachi - Coimbatore 2. Coimbatore - Ooty (through Kuntha route - complete off road) - Mudumalai - Mannarkad - Anaikatti Coimbatore 3. Coimbatore - Munnar 4. Coimbatore - Shoranur - Guruvayur - Thirishur - palakad - Coimbatore 5. Coimbatore - Chennai Went once to Goa from Coimbatore in XUV 500.

Feel TUV 300 AMT is very much better for long drives. Needs lot more refinement for City drives.

Pros: 1. Commanding drive - High road visibility - Thanks for Tall Boy design and having more height after Scorpio & Bolero.

2. Low noise Cabin among Diesel SUVs.

3. AMT transmission is fantastic on long drives and especially hilly roads, climbing up frequent hair pin bends. The one who drives in automatic mode can completely focus on road without worrying about changing gears.

4. Big Side mirrors gives very good visibility and reduce blind-spots.

5. Definitely a "big boss ", gives more confidence to overtake other vehicles. The opposite coming vehicle drives are giving space for this vehicle even in smaller roads, which is not possible to get when we drive smaller cars in small roads.

6. Appearance is like a boss once again when compared to its peers - Ford Eco Sport, Duster or Maruthi Brezza.

7. Driver information system [DIS] (like Welcome to TUV message, handbrake engaged when driving, doors opened while driving, Seat belt warnings). The voice is very good, Voice DIS is another reason for saying TUV is a Big-boss.

8. Really able to feel tough shock-absorbs when driving on poth holes , rough roads.

9. Weighter cabin among peers 1.5 Tone - Eco sport / Nexon are 300 kgs lesser than TUVs 10. Ample amount of space for 5 seats even for fat kings ;-) , the rear row seats are not really considered for passengers even for 1 adult. So I m not considering this car as 7 seater.

Cons: 1. AMT gear-box has considerable amount of gaps / technical issues, requires lot of refinement (Provided detailed problems below).

2. Low mileage considering lower engine capacity. Average 13 kms with usage in City/Hill. Complete long drive provides 16 kms / ltr.

3. Engine noise in the cabin is little boring when using in City. Losing the interest to drive. Long drive is good.

4. Clutch burning smell mostly.

5. No Hill Hold function for such issues in AMT or in models with manual gear boxes.

6. High body rolling in corners or when on speed brakes in the road. Anti-roll bars are useless.

7. Speakers and Audio infotainment is pathetic for such a big car. Could have been improved with Harman as provided in smaller cars like Nexon. I have replaced all speakers with Blaupunk spending few thousands. But didn’t replace amplifier as I do not want to lose the DIS.

8. Rear Wheel Spin (axle issue).

9. Feel some difficulty in stopping the vehicle in city traffics, felt it is going out of control and worried if it hits the vehicle goes in front. 10. Ergonomics needs some improvement.

Common Problems: 1. Wheel spin issues when front wheel gets stuck even on smaller uneven road borders or in larger holes. You will need a crane or some other car to recover (It was fixed after replacing the rear Axle with MLD (Mechanical Locking Differential).

2. Clutch burning issues mostly when climbing uphill or in heavy traffic. I do not sense smell in XUV or any other cars such frequently. Though I reported this issues, service men says it is common in Mahindra or any diesel cars. But i don't believe really.

3. Heavy Body roll on corners, could not get confidence to turn the cars in corners with faster drive. I sense vehicle may upset if i take quick turns without reducing speed. The entire body shakes if we take the car in speed breakers, even at any low speed. Suspension needs to be better.

4. Vehicle pulling into corners, though multiple times i have done wheel alignment / rotations, vehicle still gets pulled into left side if I travel in left lane of the road. If I go to extreme right also the same problem. I have to maintain the car in center of the road (in middle of lane guideline), there is no issues.

5. Tractor like sound (but not often) when taking the vehicle after long cooling period. Also heavy jerks and takes more time to become normal.

AMT issues: 1. 1. AMT Creep delay (It was 2 seconds initially to move the vehicle after take foot from gas pedal / accelerator). After lot many escalations to Sr. Management / Dealer, it was fixed on site (at home). Engg. Visited home and have done firmware upgrade with some fine tuning. After this, problem fixed, now it is just 0.8 Sec. Still it would be good if they can bring it down to <0.5 (similar to Manual gearbox vehicles).

2. AMT Downhill - Free movement issue (This is a very MAJOR issue) and having failure of engine brakes. In Manual gearbox vehicles, when we travel from hill to down, we use to travel in 2nd gears or max 3rd gear to avoid vehicle moving fast towards downhill and use brakes lesser to avoid brake jams or heating. However TUV AMT is behaving badly here, the engine brakes doesn't work at all unless we slightly press the accelerator. From Zero kms, vehicle will move quickly down in several kms speed / hr though the gear indicates [1] or [2]. If we slightly press accelerator, the clutch will engage the wheels but we will end up in heavy jerks, tire screeches and would really surprise any driver or any pedestrian walking in the road. This has been accepted as problem by Mahindra (through calls only), they agreed to provide a fix down the line. This is not officially confirmed through email or SMS or any written format.

3. AMT jerks when changing gears. Sometimes there would be time gaps in shifting gears esp. from 1-2 or 2-3. There will be a gap created and we might feel the car is not moving or responding. The moment if you press accelerator pedal heavily, the clutch would engage and car jerks heavily, create big surprise for the driver. This got rectified somehow through fine tuning the Firmware with help of service and also changing the driving habits.

4. AMT lag and elasticity effect when changing gears. It is very obvious for such a big car with diesel powered engine. Initially I enjoyed when the gears are getting changed automatically, but down the line realized it is no longer fun to drive Conclusion: TUV 300 AMT is really good try for Mahindra and First AMT in SUV. Bossy look, commanding drive, spacy cabin. It is high performance car for sure, but significant refinement required in AMT gearbox, suspension. Otherwise it is good value for money. AMT is good for long drive but not great in City which is supposed to be other way. (It should be good for city). I still enjoy the car though it had few problems, my little kid likes it very much.