Mahindra XUV300 has a long list of rivals such as Maruti Vitara Brezzza, Kia Sonet, Hyundai Venue and Tata Nexon to name a few
Mahindra showcased a string of upcoming products at last year’s Auto Expo which grabbed everyone’s attention. One of them was XUV300 Sportz which is essentially a sportier performance-oriented version of the subcompact SUV from Mahindra. Launch of the UV was slated to happen last year, however, got deferred due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
This iteration of the subcompact SUV was recently spotted conducting trial tests in Chennai by Tales Of Miles. The test mule spied was covered in partial camouflage wraps hence most of the exterior details were concealed. While design-wise, as showcased at the Auto Expo, XUV300 Sportz is identical to the regular model, it features some cosmetic variations to distinguish itself.
Updated Exterior Styling
For starters, the Sportz variant will come with extensive body graphics in order to make it look sportier and edgier. It gets red accents on sides and on brake calipers.
The sporty appeal is accentuated by blacked-out elements such as its pillars, roof rails, side body cladding and a gloss-black finish around the grille, headlamps and fog lamps. ORVMs are half black and half body-coloured adding a nice contrast along with integrated turn indicators.
It also rolls on 17-inch dual-tone alloy wheels which look extremely attractive and complement the overall sporty theme of the car. Although the test mule, in this case, sported all-black alloy wheels. Interior layout of the cabin is similar to the standard SUV, although it features red highlights on the dashboard and contrast red stitching on upholstery.
The cabin, as usual, will get an all-black interior theme. In terms of features, it is expected to be based on the top-spec W8(O) trim and, therefore, will be available with all the bells and whistles as in the standard XUV300.
New Punchier Powertrain
The major changes, though, are in its mechanicals. It will feature a punchier 1.2-litre three-cylinder, turbo-petrol GDI mStallion motor which kicks out close to 130 bhp and 230 Nm of peak torque.
This makes it the most powerful and the torquiest engine available in the subcompact SUV segment. It will exclusively be mated to a six-speed manual. Apart from this, suspension setup is also expected to be tweaked slightly in order to provide a sportier ride experience.
The same 1.2-litre mStallion turbo petrol unit was expected to be made available in Ford EcoSport as well, however, since the joint venture between Mahindra and Ford fell off, all projects under the JV have been put on hold. Although an exact launch timeline is not known yet, we suspect XUV300 Sportz to be hitting showrooms in the second half of 2021. Price of this new variant is expected to be stretched over Rs 12 lakh (ex-showroom).
