2018 Mahindra Marazzo Review, Test Drive

What is it?

The Marazzo is not only an all-new model but the start of a new platform for Mahindra future upcoming models.

To that end, the Marazzo has been born from a clean sheet of paper. It gets an all-new chassis, a new engine and gearbox, new mechanicals and most importantly come with a fresh design language that is so far not seen. There is a new set of people working behind the creation. The Marazzo wasn’t designed and developed in India, but it is the first car to be created by the Mahindra North American Technical Centre (MNATC) in Michigan, USA. The result what we got is a car that neither looks like.a Mahindra nor drives like one. However, after we hit the reset button, let's see how big a step forward is it?

What’s it like on the outside?

Mahindra’s design team has come up with new design language when compared to recent launches like bizarre looking KUV100. Its lines are smooth and well-rounded which may not instantly wow you, but it won't put you off either. Sitting on the long wheelbase of 2760mm, the Marazzo is like a typical MPV cab. Viewing from the front, the MPV has a short bonnet, small headlamps and large grille.

The Marazzo distinguishes itself from other competitors by having touches like LED Strips running on the headlights; mirrors mounted on huge doors and sculpting on the bonnet.  There is a famous toothy Mahindra grille. The Marazzo is entirely different from that we have seen in the company model range.

There’s some new detailing running on the sides as well, like the cuts above the bulging wheel arches and the character line that runs across the sides intersecting the door handles. If there is a Pininfarina touch in the Marazzo’s design looks influenced by the sculpted doors of the Ferrari 456.

Giving the Marazzo a purposeful tipped-forward stance is the rising window line, neatly accentuated with a chrome strip. However, the window line rises a touch too sharply towards the rear which makes the rear flanks look heavy and this, in turn, dwarfs the rear wheels. Also, there is a bit out of sync with the otherwise clean and uncluttered design is the rear tail lights which, though are very prominent, look a bit oversized. Design elements like the floating roof and flush-fitting windows lend an air of sophistication while on the tailgate, the rich looking chrome bar is a premium touch and also serves to accentuate the Marazzo’s width. Overall the styling may not grab your heart, but there’s no doubt that the Marazzo has an upmarket feel about it that makes it look more ‘family car’ than ‘people mover’.

If the styling isn’t unique, then the chassis indeed is. The Marazzo uses a hybrid chassis that combines a ladder frame and a monocoque, which Mahindra says that it is the first of its kind – the company has even filed a patent for the design. We certainly don’t know of any ladder-frame MPV with a transverse engine and a front-wheel-drive layout which, according to Mahindra, posed its engineering challenges on their own. “We had to be creative with the front suspension to accommodate the engine and driveline,” said Keith Takasawa, Product Development Head of MNATC.

The Marazzo uses a MacPherson struts suspension up front, and a twist beam suspension at the rear mounted to the ladder frame for optimal wheel location. The ladder frame itself having small cross sections and integrated with the bodyshell for maximum rigidity without raising the ‘step up’ height dramatically. However, I don’t know why Mahindra opt for this complex chassis design and not go in for a conventional (and lighter) monocoque like the Ertiga and Lodgy?  “We wanted the best of both sides,” said Takasawa, who feels that the Marazzo has the packaging efficiency of a monocoque as well as the long-term durability of a good old body-on-frame ladder chassis. However, this made to come at the cost of weight, and the Marazzo weighs around 1.6- tonnes. That maybe light compared to other body-on-frame MPVs like the Innova, which weighs upwards of 1.8 tonnes but compared to the Ertiga, the Marazzo is a good 400kg more massive.

What’s it like from the inside?

Compared to the exterior, the interior design is good for a practical family car; it works well. Bold horizontal elements divide the dashboard, which is a right mix of textures and materials. The black and light beige combo works well while the piano black panel finish gives a premium touch feel. The enamel white accents may look out of place, but impressed by the overall cabin quality. The black plastics on top of the dash and door trim tops are richly textured, and while the lower plastics that are down aren’t as good, they are far from cheap or tacky. The seats, too, on this top-spec M8 variant are superbly finished and feel like they’ve been picked up from some European mid-size car.

The all-new 7-inch infotainment system is straightforward to use to clear. Android Auto is standard, but Apple Car Play expected pretty soon. Also, there is an easy to read is the instrumentation but the Tachometer and speedometer dials look ordinary, but there’s no faulting their legibility. The Multi-Information-Display (MID) screen has crisp graphics along with large fonts.

There’s no fault in the driving position. You sit excellent and high, Outside visibility is terrific, and all the controls fall readily to hand. We just loved how big the footwell since there is spaced nicely with enough room for a dead pedal as well. A lot of the switchgear is carried over like HVAC controls from the XUV500, and the steering controls are from the SsangYong Tivoli. The steering wheel feels a bit skinny to hold and could have been thicker but what is new is the design.

Being an MPV what we expect is a lot of storage spaces and cubbyholes in the Marazzo, and it doesn’t disappoint at all. All door pockets can hold 1-litre bottles while there is a total of four cup holders in the centre console. There is some pair of cup holders between the front seats can be removed to provide a deep box to store stuff with a smart cover. There is a  pretty deep storage box on top of the dash as well along with cooled glovebox.

There is a Logical and well laid-out cabin but it’s not all perfect, and there are some quite irritating ergonomic glitches, so let’s get them out of the way. Firstly, the aircraft throttle-style handbrake lever may look cool, but it fouls with your hand whenever you try to plug into USB ports. The space between the front two armrests is quite narrow for you to access the storage box easily although the generous tray on top of the dashboard seems to be useful. But quite a stretch to access, and small items can’t be seen because it’s too deep inside. The worst part is that you can’t access the rear door bins when the doors shut, and you have to open them to pull out your bottle.

Let’s go on to the good bits, then. The cassette-style roof-mounted air-conditioning unit is unique on its own, and what Mahindra says it offered more even and diffused way of chilled air for all the three rows. On a cold monsoon day, we had no complaints during our short drive, but the real test will be held during the blazing summer next year. With a roof-mounted air-con unit, there’s no possibility of a sunroof at all, which is hardly a deal breaker for an MPV. While on the subject of roofs, we just loved the high quality knitted headliner, which feels so much more beautiful than the shabby one you get on the Toyota Innova.

MPV owners usually pack the family inside and for the long distances the seats have to be comfy. In this way the Marazzo trumps. The front seats offer excellent lateral support and are designed to accommodate large frames, What is truly impressive is the pair of captain seats in middle row. Firstly, the seating position is nice and high without bending your knees. Under-thigh support is generous thanks to the extended seat base, and the armrests, too, are correctly placed. The only issue we noticed was the cushioning which is more in the lower back region, and a flatter seat would be more comfortable. There is an option to slide captain seat back and forth, so there’s enough legroom even for tall people. The large rear window gives a fantastic view of the outside world, and if the excessive glass area bothers you, window blinds which are standard on the M8 variant can block sun by rolling it up. For those interested in an 8-seat configuration, the Marazzo can provide a 60:40 split folding arrangement.

For accessing the third row, you don’t need to do yoga since its relatively low which is typical for a body-on-frame standard, and a one-touch release will flip and folds the middle seat in a shot. Third-row space is pretty impressive for its standard and tolerable even for adults if the distances are not too long. The backrest with a recline function is missing which would have given it an extra degree of comfort. We can say for sure that Marazzo can is as a genuine seven-seater.

Luggage space is only for the few soft bags when all three rows are full of passengers. But when only two rows used then, Marazzo can be used to move house. Regarding safety, the Marazzo comes with dual airbags one for the driver and another for the co-driver comes standard but top variants, at least, should have offered more. Useful bits of equipment are reverse parking sensors and a rear-view camera, which are a must for a car of its size.

What’s it like to drive?

Powered by a new 1497cc four-cylinder diesel engine from a same mFalcon family which we saw in KUV’s 1.2, which is a three Cylinder. Initial and final impressions of this new motor are how refined it is. The initial and last feeling we had on this new motor shows its refinement of this class. It’s quiet at idle, gets mildly vocal when you increase revs, and it gets a bit noisy if you are pushing to the rev limit. While cruising and driving at moderate revs; you’ll be seriously impressed by how silent it is. What’s the secret? “We worked on optimising the engine block stiffness and even the sump stiffness to cut all vibrations at the source,” said Takasawa.

Mahindra worked a lot to cut out engine vibrations, and it has achieved it by using an offset crank, uniquely designed engine mounts and a dual mass flywheel. There’s a lot of sound deadening material all-around to filter out most of the engine noise from the cabin as much as possible. The other big surprise is the lightest clutch we have experienced on any seven-seater. Takesawa explained that they focussed a lot on reducing the clutch effort since MPV are driven mainly for long distances than in the city, so we worked on the return spring rates of the clutch pedal and pressure of the master cylinder to make the lightest clutch.

The Marazzo pulls away cleanly from the word go on Mahindra’s Chakan track, and initial impressions are all about its responsiveness. The 1.5 diesel provides linear power delivery and has a pretty broad torque range. At low revs, there is a distinct turbo lag. This engine is not tractable as Honda’s 1.5 diesel; it doesn’t slow down as Suzuki’s 1.3 diesel on the Ertiga. Once you drive over 1500rpm, it pulls reasonably strongly but without any fuss. There is an EcoSense mode which detunes the power delivery to 100hp instead of 121hp to fetch better efficiency. Mahindra claims an ARAI-tested 17.6kpl fuel-efficiency figure for the Marazzo, which is quite impressive for the overall mass.

The weakest problem is the poor power-to-weight which is visible when you want to drive in a hurry. The car with 1.6 tonnes and 121hp engine make the Marazzo build up power during flat-out acceleration which isn’t very impressive. Driving on a straight and long Chakan track over 100kmph in a Marazzo doesn’t have a sense of urgency, and it gathers speed only in a relaxed manner so overtaking, especially on a single-lane road, would need more planning and patience, especially when the seven-seater is fully loaded. The Marazzo does feature cruise control, for when you want to enjoy the long haul, however.

The 6-speed manual gearbox shifting is relatively light and easy to slot though it misses that precise, feel of an excellent Japanese box. Also, found the gear lever is high and long making the shifting wide. Takesawa mentioned they purposefully used a long bar for reducing the effort. An automatic and petrol variant will soon join the existing Marazzo range at the launch of the BS-6 version.

What about ride and handling?

Comparing the Scorpio or the XUV500 which have unsorted dynamics the ride and handling of the Marazzo surprises the most. MNATC has done an excellent job. For beginners, the steering is the best we’ve experienced on any Mahindra providing the decent feel and slowly weights up consistently. Variable assist unit is the reason that feels light at low speeds and gives you confidence when you go quickly. Directional stability, too, is excellent and our test car which rode on 17-inch alloys (215/60 R17 tyres on the top-spec) held its line well through fast corners. Of course, there’s lots of body roll if you attack corners with gusto, but overall the handling is benign and fail-safe, thus makes it a comfortable car to drive.

Chakan track is smooth, so it's difficult to judge, but we could sense choppiness in low-speed which is typical for body-on-frame cars. However, when pace climbs, the firmness disappears. With fully loaded passengers on board driven on an uneven road, the Marazzo’s beefy suspension will come into its own.

Also, the good thing is the disc brakes are standard on all four wheels. They work effectively to haul down the big Marazzo, but the pedal feel could be better. The brakes are a bit spongy, and there’s pedal travel more than required; I would have preferred a firmer and solid bite.

Marazzo’s ride and its handling is a leap ahead of any other Mahindra vehicle that we have seen so far and is more than a match for the Innova.

Should I buy one?

The Marazzo doesn’t feel like a typical Mahindra which is a good thing. It’s a complete engineered vehicle which sets new standards for refinement, ease of use and comfort. Also, the performance isn’t as effortless compared to rivals, and also there are few ergonomic issues as but overall it’s a sophisticated package that feels upmarket enough to pass off as a mainstream family car.

Price starts from Rs 9.99 lakh to 13.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) which is between Ertiga and Innova. Potential buyers in this MPV market will be attracted since it’s a lot of car for the money and of great value. Looks like hitting the reset button has paid off, this time around!