Optimus: Mahindra XUV 500W8 FWD. Long Term Ownership

kinshuk.arya · 15th October 2013, 09:23 AM

oh cool!

I was also thinking on similar line but then I thought that they have drilled in the cross member to mount brackets.

but I am still not able to get the way they have sandwiched as it is not clear from the pics. looks like holes drilled in the cross member.

Now after this problem is solved how to make sure they are not stolen.

bhvm · 15th October 2013, 10:20 AM

mount lights inside the grille, like I said. otherwise put 2 drops of superglue on nuts and joints. risky action tough.

kinshuk.arya · 15th October 2013, 10:40 AM

mounting them inside will spoil the purpose, the light will be cut off if the aux are bigger.

bhvm · 15th October 2013, 11:08 AM

how about 3 small aux lights?
50 watts each should be enough.

kinshuk.arya · 15th October 2013, 11:15 AM

that might look weird.

I was thinking of the following process.

1. Get U shaped clamps and get them mounted on Cross Member with 2 sets of nuts and bolts & a rubber strip between the cross member and clamps. by the sandwich technique.
2. Mount the hellas on them. Heat based glue to seal off the nuts and bolts.
3. For connection we have a couple of options
3.a. hard wired with High beams.
3.b. Hard Wired with High beams with a switch in between to turn them On.
3.c. hard wire them to battery with a switch in between to make it completely independent.
3.c.1. Switch can be wired with the switch coming back inside the cabin which might be tough.
3.c.2. Wireless Switch running on 12V DC to turn the Hellas on and off.

bhvm · 15th October 2013, 11:30 AM

I think big lights in the front will actually look weird.look at that guys cars. they look like crocodile eyes or something. hence I'm in favor of hidden lights.

tie them to high beams with a switch in between so you could keep them off in city. I have that configuration for my leds. otherwise they attract cops.

kinsuk,I still don't understand how to open plastic rivets. the screw driver just keeps turning. need your help bro.

kinshuk.arya · 15th October 2013, 11:32 AM

put a flat screwdriver in between the rivet and the plastic part of the grill and gently pry it open.

kinshuk.arya · 11th November 2013, 10:09 AM

Trip to Diveagar and HariHareshwar.

Went to Hari Hareshwar and Diveagar with my family this Saturday. Started off at 7:30 in the morning and reached harihareshwar at around 1:30PM after covering close to 200 kms of bad roads, no roads and off roads.

The Optimus was loaded with 11 heads including a 4 year old and a 7 month old. the other demographics ranged from 26 to 65 years. With food to last for a week at least.

As expected nothing to report. No squeaks, no issues, no niggles,
Perfect Braking, Precise steering and Powerful AC.

My Parents however commented on the comfort of the 3rd row with 3 adults being on the better side. At least more than that in 2nd row with 4 adults.

Suspension performed flawlessly under such conditions no bottoming out, no scraping even with an overload.

For people wanting to go a bit offroad on sand can do so even in the 4X2 variant. as long as the Sand is not entirely loose.

Couple of pics coming up in the evening.

Mileage returned for the entire journey of close to 420 kms around 14.7+ with 50% front AC and 100% Rear AC.

For people wanting to go for a trip Roof Luggage carrier is highly recommended.

kinshuk.arya · 11th November 2013, 06:19 PM

some pics....

Optimus: Mahindra XUV 500W8 FWD. Long Term Ownership

bhvm · 12th November 2013, 09:30 AM

short and sweet log!
nice you enjoyed mild off roading. even 4x2 model is very capable and I enjoyed the same during my melghat tiger reserve run.

fe is impressive, my thunderbolt has been loosing fe these days with max around 13.5.

I saw a red 500 on My tour (they were roaming with us at various points )and thought of you until I noticed the number plate. !!

kinshuk.arya · 3rd December 2013, 10:05 PM

H All,

went to the M&M SVC today for an upgrade of the maps to 8.0. Instead of just the Maps upgrade I got a brand new navigation unit itself.
I also asked the RM to look into the brakes and check if they were normal. he checked and said they were fine. I also told him that after a couple fof hours of driving the brake used to have grinding noise. After listening to that and checking the brake pads they gave me a free upgrade of the brake pads the new 4th gen one. I was given a free upgrade of the brake pads after almost 15000km on the first ones.

bhvm · 4th December 2013, 07:12 AM

that's superb service. I can only dream of such. what is included in'new navigation unit'? is it a box or circuit?

what about to the favourites we have saved?
did you make any special requests for all this?

kinshuk.arya · 4th December 2013, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhvm

that's superb service. I can only dream of such. what is included in'new navigation unit'? is it a box or circuit?

what about to the favourites we have saved?
did you make any special requests for all this?

its just a unit. mahindra's navigation system is the screen and the rest of the thing like the dvd player etc are different from the navigation unit.

Favourites are gone. even my home has gone.

I only inquired on the withyouhamesha website for the upgraded maps as i got a message a couple of months back for a free upgrade.

singh890 · 4th December 2013, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kinshuk.arya

H All,

went to the M&M SVC today for an upgrade of the maps to 8.0. Instead of just the Maps upgrade I got a brand new navigation unit itself.
I also asked the RM to look into the brakes and check if they were normal. he checked and said they were fine. I also told him that after a couple fof hours of driving the brake used to have grinding noise. After listening to that and checking the brake pads they gave me a free upgrade of the brake pads the new 4th gen one. I was given a free upgrade of the brake pads after almost 15000km on the first ones.

That's great.
So do you feel any difference in the braking with the new brake pads?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kinshuk.arya

its just a unit. mahindra's navigation system is the screen and the rest of the thing like the dvd player etc are different from the navigation unit.

Favourites are gone. even my home has gone.

I only inquired on the withyouhamesha website for the upgraded maps as i got a message a couple of months back for a free upgrade.

They have probably changed your silver box.

Actually when I went for my third service. My RM told me that they are getting new and updated Silver box for XUV. So probably you got the newer version.

kinshuk.arya · 4th December 2013, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by singh890

That's great.
So do you feel any difference in the braking with the new brake pads?

They have probably changed your silver box.

Actually when I went for my third service. My RM told me that they are getting new and updated Silver box for XUV. So probably you got the newer version.

Singh890 i was not able to fell anything different at city speeds. havent tested it yet for high speed braking.

it was not a silver box it was just the face of the unit it did have silver at the back though. it was like those removable head units which we used to get in some ICE systems.