When you start driving, what surprises you immediately is the refinement of this motor.

Mahindra XUV 3XO Interior

Step inside the Mahindra XUV 3XO and you notice that the cabin has undergone significant changes. The dashboard and the door pads get soft touch surfaces with contrast stitching that really look upmarket. There are a lot of piano black surfaces around the two tone finish looks classy. However the piano black surfaces are a finger print magnet. The leather wrapped steering feels nice to hold. A highlight are the two 1.025 inch screens for the instrument cluster and the infotainment system. Surely gives you XUV 700 feels.

Features wise the XUV 3XO is loaded with the higher end models getting features not seen in SUVs of a higher segment. The 10.5 inch screen is crisp and easy to use. It also comes with connected car tech remote start, remote cooling and vehicle updates to name a few. There is also a 360 degree camera and Harman Kardon sound system with 4 speakers, 2 tweeters and subwoofer. However some audio settings were not available on the test car I drove. The rest of the feature list includes dual zone climate control, 65W USB fast charger, auto dimming IRVM (not in the XUV700) e-parking brake with auto hold and a segment first panoramic sunroof (skyroof in Mahindra speak). I was surprised that despite this extensive feature set, ventilated seats were given a miss. This is one feature I love in today’s cars and must have in our weather conditions.

The seats in the top end variants come finished in perforated leatherette. The seats re comfy and hold you in place well. However the white finish on the swats and interior will be hard task to clean if and when they get dirty. Coming to rear seats, the 3XO being widest in its class gives you loads of space. 3 occupants can sit comfortably without a squeeze. There’s ample knee room and decent headroom. There are 3 individual head rests and each rear occupant gets three point seat belts. They also get rear AC vents, a 12 V charging socket an a type C USB charger.

Boat space was a weak point in the XUV 300 and while it still isnt up there with its rivals, Mahindra has done a few changes and the space has gone up from 259 litres to 295 litres. You can fit in more luggage than before. The 60:40 split for the rear seat will help accommodate more cargo if needed.