Q.Mahindra Scorpio and Honda BR-V on a Road Trip Again

[URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/6"]Roshun[/URL] Excellent write up as always. I loved the pictures. Especially the rolling ones. Both the cars look seriously good. Kudos

The number of times these two have been seeing each other, it's leading me to believe that they may have a certain fondness for each other. First they took off on an epic [B][URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/12631-4500-km-in-a-honda-br-v-and-mahindra-scorpio-4wd"]5000 km road trip to Bengaluru and back for ZigDrive 6[/URL][/B]. Now, they met up for a quick weekend getaway to Jaipur to explore the forts. In a strange way, these two actually compliment each other pretty well. Although both are called SUVs, they are vastly different in their character. The Mahindra Scorpio is pretty muscular, masculine and rugged. Sure, it has donned a softer look in its new avatar, like a wrestler donning a tuxedo. The Honda BR-V, on the other hand, is like a ramp model who has gone and slipped on some outdoor gear for a trip to the woods. The thing is they both have something in common - a love for off-beat locations and a love for adventure. Last time the two met, the BR-V was being driven by [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] and [USER="20"]NikilSJ[/USER]. This time it had [USER="2314"]Madlid[/USER] and [USER="106"]Abhay_V[/USER] while [USER="18"]MotuSid[/USER] who was my partner for the last long road trip, was again with me. We also had our shutterbug Vikrant with us (credit for all the photos below to him). [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15966[/ATTACH] This time we were going to Jaipur to meet up with the rest of our team there and then explore the areas around the city as the boys wanted to try comparing these two "SUVs". [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15967[/ATTACH] We set out on a Thursday afternoon from our office in Gurgaon. It had been raining over the previous few days with water-logging in many parts of Gurgaon. The roads leading out of Gurgaon were a bit messy, especially around Hero Honda Chowk, but there was no slush as such. The surface was a bit rough at parts where the top layer of the asphalt had come off. For the Scorpio, this wasn't an issue at all. Large 17-inch wheels and a rugged ladder frame chassis soaked up the bumps easily. For the BR-V, though, some of the messy bits meant it had to take it a little easy, as it has a monocoque chassis and smaller 16-inch wheels. Plus, although the Scorpio has only 180 mm of ground clearance on paper (measured at the rear differential), the rest of the body has over 200-230 mm of clearance. The BR-V has 210 mm of clearance, but seems a lot lower, with its overhangs front and rear. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15968[/ATTACH] We made good time on the highway despite the innumerable trucks en-route to Jaipur. The Scorpio's cruise control is a boon here. Setting it at 95 kmph, it just munched up mile after mile with hardly any effort. Of course, the number of times on has to change lanes is simply annoying, as trucks occupy almost every bit of the road. In addition, I have this Transcend DrivePro 220 dash cam in the Scorpio that comes with an in-built lane-departure warning system and collision alert. I had set that to activate beyond 80 kmph. It went nuts and drove me batty. I finally turned that feature off. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15974[/ATTACH] We did get some passing showers as well, which just mucked up the cars. However, the weather remained pleasant all through. Both cars have climate control and kept us comfortable. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15969[/ATTACH] We left Gurgaon at 3pm and at 7pm we were in Jaipur, stopping off at Jagatpura (CarDekho office) to pick up Ajit, before heading out for dinner. After sampling some of the famous Jaipur 'lal-maas', kebabs, gulab jamuns, for dinner, we called it a night. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15970[/ATTACH] Next morning, we met bright and early at 6.30 am, with a plan to drive up to Nahargarh Fort. But first we had to clean the cars. Driving in to Nahargarh Fort, that's just about 25 km out of Jaipur, we found a few concrete tanks that had collected rainwater. We used that to wash the vehicles, and get them ready for the photo shoot. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15971[/ATTACH] And then, while the shutterbug and the boys clicked photos of the two, I took a walk around the fort, before coming back and taking in how these two actually compare with each other. I'll just plonk in a few more photographs before I tell you what I think of the two. The Nahargarh fort has some splendid views of the pink city from it. This was also the fort where that scene from the Aamir Khan movie 'Rang De Basanti' was shot, where all the college folks keep diving into a pond, from the walls of the fort. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15972[/ATTACH] We also drove out to Amer fort for a photoshoot too. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15973[/ATTACH] While we were clicking some photos near Jaigarh fort, a band of langurs turned up and cut our session short. These guys can be vicious, so we decided to head off. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15975[/ATTACH] Photoshoot done, we headed out for some breakfast to Lakshmi Misthan Bandar (LMB). Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and it's safe to say that we could barely move after breakfast here of raj kachoris, poori aloo, lassi and then some more... [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15976[/ATTACH] And then it was a road trip back on the crowded NH8 till Manesar, before diverting off to the new KMP Expressway for a few more photos before winding up for the day. [B]Fair to call them both SUVs?[/B] So, how do these two compare? Should you even compare them? In my opinion, they are actually like comparing apples and oranges. Sure, both are seven-seaters. Both are called SUVs. But that's where the similarity ends. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15977[/ATTACH] The Mahindra Scorpio S10 4WD is powered by a 2,179 cc, four-cylinder diesel engine that puts out 121 PS of power and 280 Nm of torque, mated to a five-speed manual transmission driving the rear wheels. It also comes with an electronic shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive system, with low-ratio which makes it quite potent off-road. The new-generation Scorpio sports a stiffer, hydroformed ladder frame chassis with the body bolted on. This makes it quite good at handling loads and bad roads. But it is heavy with a 1950Kg kerb weight. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15978[/ATTACH] The Honda BR-V, on the other hand, is powered by a 1,497 cc, four-cylinder diesel engine that puts out 100 PS of power and 200 Nm of torque. It is mated to a six-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels (no four-wheel drive option). It is based on a monocoque chassis that is shared with the Honda Brio hatchback, Honda Amaze compact sedan and Honda Mobilio MPV. With a kerb weight of under 1200 Kg, it enjoys a good power-to-weight advantage which shows in the brilliant fuel economy. At 19 plus kmpl, real-time it beats the Scorpio flat (my Scorpio gives me an average of 12.5 kmpl in mixed conditions). [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15979[/ATTACH] The Honda BR-V is also the more comfortable of the two, with all forward facing rows. On good roads, it can carry seven people fairly well, but has barely any space for luggage. The Scorpio though, is best for five people with the boot being best used only for luggage. The jump seats are uncomfortable. But take the vehicle off-road and the Scorpio can literally go anywhere, handle anything. The BR-V is a bit delicate that way, as we discovered on our earlier Bengaluru drive, where its bumper kissed the road on a particularly bad patch. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15980[/ATTACH] And then there's the features list. Now here is where Mahindra has really managed to score. The Scorpio gets an infotainment system that has GPS navigation, voice warning and rear parking sensors etc. It also features cruise control. The climate control system in the Scorpio too is better than the BR-Vs. Scorpio also gets rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlamps and a micro-hybrid (start-stop system). The BR-V gets a push-button ignition. Where the BR-V scores is in the number of storage spaces it has. The Scorpio for its size, has barely any convenient storage spaces. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15981[/ATTACH] [B]Summing up: [/B]The Honda BR-V is more like a station wagon with a bit of muscle, trying to be as rugged as possible, while the Mahindra Scorpio is an SUV that has tried to become as comfortable as possible. Somewhere, the twain overlap in character. But they approach SUV design in two very different ways.