Thread: Mahindra pick-up compared to a Puma Defender

Originally Posted by AndyG

The cheapest way to reduce heat from the gear box area is to wrap the exhaust, and effective.
When the transfer case comes out for the Ashcroft bits I have reflective heat liner from Carbuilders.com.au to go on the underfloor. If you want to spend serious money there are blankets from NKGROUP, but they concern me in our climate

It is something I need to look into..
Cheers
Chris

Ok back to the Mahindra.. The missus drove it back and I drove the Defender with the caravan as she was not confident towing. The Mahindra did 11.5km a liter which is amazing. Negatives the Mahindra cuffed a swirl of black smoke on gear changes, but oddly this stopped after about 100km so maybe it needed a good run, it is something I will keep an eye on though and I will report back here if it happens again. The other thing was there is a very slight groan on the take up of the clutch which I have already told them about, the car is under warranty so not really worried and I am being super fussy here you need to turn off the aircon to here it, but I have never heard this noise before on a clutch so it made me take note. The seat gives good support, but IMO the shape is made for a shorter person than me. My missus loves the seats, I find a hard bit half way up my shoulder blades. I am 6 foor 3 inches a shorter person would not have this hard bit it is just I am taller than the person they designed the seat for. It is not a big issue especially as the missus will be driving it and a thin cushion at the base will fix the issue. The car looks very well built overall, the doors though are lighter than the Defenders, they dont sound as solid when you close them, but they are fine again nit picking. The finish inside is good, but overall the plastic is all a bit naff. The inside is fine, or ok, but the rest of the car is very good indeed. All the controls are well spaced and radio works nicely, all good just the quality of the knobs and switches is a bit oh hum. The interior is good really in some ways, electric mirrors and a nice radio with cruise control, just the switches all feel that they could be better. I suppose the early Defenders, 300 tdi's and TD5's though werent exactly well finished inside either.
I just got back today so I have not tried it off road yet, but I engaged 4x4 and low range which it did without a fuss and it came out just as well. Low seems to be sufficiently low so it should perform well off road. On the road it is very quiet at 100km/h and it has enough get up and go not to worry about hills at least without a load. I drove the hill into town which my Defender does without a problem, but the old Nissan Patrol needed a run up to and a change down. The Mahindra managed it too with no problem at all and no real increase in gas to maintain 100km/h to the top. Being picky again the ride has a slight bonce sometimes if you hit a dip or a pot hole, not really bad, but I will live with it as the load carrying is more important to me anyway. Softer springs are available if people want them I am told. The finish of the paint is very nice it is black with green metallic flecks in it it looks very nice in the sun. It actually feels more powerful than the Defender, I wonder if this might be down to the weights of the trucks, I need to check the specs. No leaks, no drive line clunks, super cold aircon that spits out so much water from under the car driving behind the missus I got her to pull over as I was convinced the car had a big leak it is just super duper aircon.
The tyres are half worn which is great as I can change them very soon and put some decent rubber on it not impressed with Indian rubber..
Oh and it is Very long indeed see the pics especially next to my 110 Puma..
I need a shower I will post the pics I took later.
Cheers
Chris

Here are the pics
See how much longer it is than my Puma 110 and a quick pic underneath.
Cheers
Chris

And a pic without bugs before i picked it up
Chris

I will run the tape over clearances tomorrow and take it off road and see how it performs. My feeling so far a 2 inch lift,heavy cotton seat covers (already ordered), decent rubber and a 120kw conversion this ute could be very interesting indeed..
Chris

I have not had chance to do the off road test yet as it has been full on since I got back. I have run the tape over the car though.Defender chassis rail to ground 35cm, Mahindra chassis rail to ground 34cm this was a shock actually.
Defender to cross member 31cm Mahindra 27.7 and 28cm (it has two).
It is worth mentioning though both cars have bits and bobs a bit lower like exhaust, both are similar in this respect. Defender diff clearance is 25cm, Mahindra rear diff is 22.5cm
Mahindra sill to ground is 42cm, the Defender is 52cm, but the Mahindra has a side step fitted which is quite low and only has a clearance of 33cm.
In a nutshell the sill clearances are the only ones much bigger on the Defender the rest is the same of the Mahindra is an inch or less, less clearance which is a huge shock I though the Mahindra would be much lower. So a 2 inch lift would give most of the underside of a Mahindra apart the diffs of course more clearance than the Defender except the sill which would then be 47cm against the Defender 52cm and the cross member which would still be a tiny bit lower. In most off road situations though something else would hit first anyway.. Not sure what bigger rubber people put on the Mahindra's, but this would help things too.
Missus is using the Mahindra tomorrow so it might be the weekend before I get time to play in it.
Cheers
Chris

Just took the Mahindra round the property to check in the cows. We went across Archers creek which was quite deep and up and down some very steep slops and one very rough track. First up I should have let some air out of the tyres as it was a bit hard, but with 38 psi in the tyres it was hardly surprising!! I drove up a very rough slippy gravely steep slope only in 2wd as I know from experience the series 3 wont go up it without the hubs in. The Mahindra walked up it no problem as the diff lock came in apart high range is a bit too tall for off roading I think I would be surprised places the Mahindra would go just in 2wd due to the diff lock.. With the 4x4 low engaged we proceeded on across Archers creek (no leaks either) and up a very steep slope up the bank no issues at all. I took the Mahindra over the highest hump on the property which it cleared without a problem. I got out and checked and there was still clearance to the belly of the car. On the really loose steep stuff it felt unstoppable with the help the diff lock was giving to things. The Defender on the same bit is good to with the traction control, but the traction control seems to come in surges ie you get traction and it stops and then starts again. Not sure why it must be something to do with the design of traction control or how it works I dont know, but here on this long steep slope the Mahindra dare I say it performed better, flame suit on!! It seems there is no beating proper diff lock.
On the steep hump the Defender had the better clearance. I could not try the Defender on 2wd as of course it is permanent 4x4 and you MUST lock the central diff off road which I did. The was nothing between the two cars off road really, the Mahindra would be amazing with a 2 inch lift, and the Defender would be just as amazing with diff lock. I like the fact the Defender is hose out and I also like that it is manual transfer selector ir a great stick. I am not keen on electronic 4x4 selection, but I will admit it worked perfectly selecting and deselecting with no issues or fuss. Still feel safer with a manual selection though.
Up date too on the smoke thing, the front tyre had a bit of tracking so I jacked up the car and there was play on the front wheel bearing. I followed the missus to the Mechanic today (dealer is paying) to tighten up the wheel bearing and retrack the wheels. No smoke at all not on grear changes or on power, nothing. It must have been the car needed a good run. The tracking was out so anyone buying a new Mahindra it might be worth checking it for the small amount it costs to prevent tyre wear. The odd noise I though was a clutch issue turns out be be nothing to do with the clutch as it does it out of gear clutch in or out. It seems to be maybe the fan shield vibrating for a split second when you rev. It is very quiet as I said you need the aircon off to hear it but it bugged me as I could not work out what it was. Fairly sure I have nailed it down though now.
What else can I say re off roading, only give a Mahindra a 2 inch lift and even better chip it for 120kw and I think you will be able to go anywhere. I think also after this test a new Puma would be even better than it is already with diff lock and I would love a bas remap too
Neither car did significantly better than the other, the Defender of course won on clearance, but not by much. Turning circle is better on the Mahindra which was good on one track with loads of new huge termite mounds, but they both excelled in different areas.
Only time will tell how robust the Mahindra is, but performance wise it is very good indeed. I doubt there is a cheaper 4x4 that will perform as well off road and quite a few more expensive ones either probably dont either.
Chris

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