Mahindra XUV700 All Wheel Drive Diesel variant spied at Ladakh ahead of launch

Mahindra has already got the attention of a lot of people by revealing the XUV700. The SUV is slated to launch in September and it already has a lot of hype around it. Mahindra has already revealed that they will be launching the XUV700 with an all-wheel-drive powertrain also. No other SUV in the segment offers an all-wheel-drive SUV. This gives an advantage to XUV700 over the competitors. The all-wheel-drive variant was recently spied doing high altitude testing in Ladakh.

The video has been uploaded by Bunny Punia on his YouTube channel. In the video, we can see a camouflaged prototype of the XUV700. It is powered by a diesel engine mated to an automatic transmission and it has an all-wheel-drive powertrain. We can see a page that is pasted on the rear window that says “DSLATAWD”. This stands for Diesel Automatic All-Wheel Drive.

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Only the diesel engine gets drive modes and the all-wheel-drive system. It is not yet known if the manual gearbox will also get an all-wheel-drive system or not. However, what we do know is that only the higher variants will come with an all-wheel drive. It is not a proper 4×4 system that we get on the Thar. The all-wheel-drive system on the XUV700 should be enough for tackling tricky situations like slippery terrain, ice or snow. One interesting thing that we notice is that the test mule was running on slightly different alloy wheels and a slightly different grille design.

The diesel engine is a 2.2-litre mHawk unit that puts out 185 PS of max power and 450 Nm of peak torque. It will be offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. The manual gearbox will have a torque output of 420 Nm. On the lower variants, the engine produces 155 PS of max power and 360 Nm of peak torque. It is expected to be offered only with a manual gearbox. There are four drive modes, namely Zip,  Zap, Zoom and Custom.

The petrol engine is a 2.0-litre unit that comes with turbocharging and direct injection. It belongs to the mStallion family of engines. The engine puts out 200 PS of max power and a peak torque output of 380 Nm. The engine will come mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox or a 6-speed manual gearbox. It is expected to get drive modes in the future but nothing is confirmed as of now.

These engines make the XUV700, the most XUV700, the most powerful SUV in the segment. The engines are very refined and torquey. The XUV 700’s main rivals are Tata Safari, Hyundai Alcazar and MG Hector Plus. Having said that because of the pricing, it also goes against Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq, Jeep Compass and the upcoming Volkswagen Taigun.

The pricing of only the five-seater variants has been announced by Mahindra. The XUV700 will also be offered in a 7-seater configuration. The pricing starts at Rs. 11.99 lakhs ex-showroom for the base petrol variant. Prices of the top-end variants and 7-seater variants will be revealed on the launch.

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