Mahindra Bolero Neo
Armed with an iconic badge, a fresh face and a mechanically locking differential, the Bolero Neo could just be the compact SUV you've been looking for
JUST HIT REFRESH. DON'T think about the TUV300 for a moment,” I say to myself as I approach the Bolero Neo for the first time. Easier said than done, the sensible side of me replies. The similarities are staring me in the face — the silhouette, the taillights, the front-end and, if I could peel back the layers, also the mechanicals. But that's not to say there aren't any changes here. Far from it actually.
Let's talk looks first because that's where the bulk of the new metal has gone. The Bolero Neo sits 20mm lower than its predecessor to ‘make it look more approachable', says Mahindra, and the bonnet line too has been lowered by 20mm. These changes may seem small but it means that the Bolero Neo looks like it's sitting on its wheels, instead of the TUV's awkward halfsquat. It also gets a new bumper up front, which makes an ‘X' that's akin to the OG Bolero's. More Bolero-ness comes by way of the bolder grille, slimmer headlamps, the iconic strip of plastic running along the side, trapezoidal wheel arches and a splatter of Bolero Neo badges. There are fewer changes on the inside though, with the big changes primarily being a new fabric for the seats and a new colour MID between the analogue dials. The 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system still doesn't support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, though you can still pump tunes through Bluetooth or USB. There's no fancy digital instrument cluster, no climate control, no sunroof. Some of this isn't too much of a miss, but stuff like the lack of CarPlay makes the cabin feel dated which is not helped by the fact that the layout is identical to the TUV300's. Keep the feature list aside though and you get to appreciate that the seats are rather comfortable, there's good space in the second row and there are also jump seats behind that expand seating capacity to seven.
So, there's a lot of Bolero-ness on the outside, but there's a lot of TUV-ness left behind too. Now this isn't particularly a bad thing but people don't seem to be big fans of new cars being rebadged as iconic ones. Tata got a lot of flak for the new Safari and I suspect Mahindra
There’s a lot of Bolero-ness on the outside but there’s a lot of TUV-ness left behind too
will need to deal with some for the Bolero Neo too. If only everyone could hit refresh, the Neo would slot into the Bolero lineup with ease. And that's not just because of how it looks.
Under the hood is the mHawk100 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, diesel engine — shared with the standard Bolero. In this guise, the mHawk100 produces 100bhp and 260Nm, a gain of 20Nm over the TUV300 while power stays identical. Another change over the TUV300 is the fact that, at the moment, Mahindra has not stated anything about an automatic option for the Bolero Neo, which was available on the TUV. Until then, your left limbs get to play only with a five-speed manual. The lever is long though well positioned and does vibrate a bit at idle, so it isn't particularly rewarding to shift gears. However, it is dead easy to judge one gate from the other and thanks to the mHawk100 engine, you don't have to shift gears too often in the city. There's plenty of low-end torque to easily climb up steep slopes and manoeuvre around obstacles at low speeds, helped by the light clutch. So even after a leg day, you can tackle a traffic jam. The mid-range is strong too with peak torque coming in at just 1750rpm. However, the brunt of the torque thins out after 2250rpm, which means you do need to row through the gears for quick overtakes. And if you don't, you'll feel that the Bolero Neo starts to feel a bit out of breath post the 3000rpm mark, almost encouraging you to shift up a gear.
Shifting up also has an added benefit because the engine starts to get quite noisy at that point too. Even at low speeds, the NVH levels are higher than what you'd hear or feel on something like the Kia Sonet but isn't a dealbreaker. Overall, the torquey low-end and the strong mid-range means that city commutes and highway jaunts should be easy work, as long as you aren't chasing a land speed record. This is also helped by the ride quality which, thanks to the body-on-frame
construction, feels robust as soon as you encounter a bump. The Bolero Neo flattens bad patches with relative ease and almost asks for more punishment — a hallmark of a good SUV. And that's perhaps the biggest strength of the Bolero Neo. Sure, it looks like a Bolero and the engine is shared with the Bolero too, but more importantly the Bolero Neo is a true-blue SUV like the Bolero. Okay, sure no four-wheel-drive but this is rear-wheeldrive and it also gets an MLD (mechanically locking differential). Mahindra calls it MTT — Multi Terrain Technology. There's no button to engage it. No off-road mode to select. The system automatically detects if one of the rear wheels has lost traction and engages the differential with a solid thunk. Now, both rear wheels rotate at the same speed as the one with grip, helping you actually get moving, instead of spinning one wheel endlessly. It also automatically disengages when both wheels have traction.
“An MLD on a two-wheel-drive SUV?” I hear you ask. Mahindra's ahead of the curve here though. The MTT isn't being pitched as an all-conquering off-road solution. Instead, it is for those situations where you may need to put two wheels off the road — to get around a traffic jam for example, or to allow a car to pass on a narrow road. Of course, it also comes into play in slush and will be useful if you somehow land up at an articulation course. Off-road tool? Not really. Perfect for tackling the variety of road (and non-road) conditions in India? More like it. The MTT alone sets the Bolero Neo in a different league from ‘SUVs' such as the Sonet, the Maruti-Suzuki Vitara Brezza and even Mahindra's own XUV300. Sure, MTT is only available on the N10 (O) variant which isn't currently on sale, but its existence is great for the Bolero Neo's image.
So, the Bolero Neo looks like a Bolero, it is arguably nicer to drive than the standard Bolero, it is more comfortable than the standard Bolero and can go just about as far off-road as the standard Bolero. Mahindra has also gone on to say that the Bolero Neo and the regular Bolero will have similar maintenance costs which is a big plus considering the no-nonsense ownership experience the Bolero is known for. No, it isn't the compact-SUV you should buy for the office commute. It isn't loaded with the latest technology. But, in true Bolero fashion, if you live where the road network isn't great, or plan to explore places where it isn't — the Bolero Neo is hard to ignore. ⌧
Karan Singh (@carswithkaran)
The system detects if one of the wheels has lost traction and engages the differential