Mahindra has a solid history in the agricultural world as a manufacturer of farm equipment, but the Indian car-maker is hoping its new Scorpio will help it gain more of a foothold in the Australian car market.

The Scorpio is a proper 4WD wagon with a lot of appealing characteristics, including six seats, a low-range transfer case, an automatic rear diff lock and plenty of standard features for a price-tag at just over $45 grand.

Price and features of the Mahindra Scorpio Z8L

The Scorpio is available in two spec levels: the Z8 (with a driveaway price of $41,990, time of writing) and the Z8L (with a driveaway price of $45,990 at time of writing), which I tested.

Standard features in the Z8L include an 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto), wireless phone charger, a 12-speaker Sony stereo, dual-zone climate control, front camera (intended for off-road use), front and rear parking sensors, and six-way power-adjustable driver’s seat.

It has a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear shifter, tan- and coffee-coloured leatherette interior trim, cooled glove box, sunroof, and six-seat layout (with two captain's chairs in the second row).

It has 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic wipers and projector LED headlights, push-button start, keyless entry and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Our test vehicle also had floor mats ($200) and side steps (approximately $1250 fitted).

Exterior paint choices include deep forest, Everest white, Napoli black (on our test vehicle), dazzling silver, and rage red.

Inside, the 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system is easy enough to operate without strife and the screen is clear, although it’d be great if it was bigger.

The tan leatherette interior trim looks good and superficially the whole interior looks nice, but if you inspect a little more closely the Scorpio’s cabin is missing the storage spaces, USB charge points and build quality of rival SUVs.

There’s one cup holder (between driver and front passenger), the door pockets are narrow and there are few other storage spaces.

With the third-row seats in use, there’s a very small rear cargo area, and those seats don’t fold flat so when they’re not in use they seriously impact the storage space.

Some features, such as the directional air vents, feel flimsy.

The Scorpio has 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which produces 129kW at 3500rpm, 400Nm at 1750-2750rpm.

It has a six-speed automatic transmission, an auto-locking rear diff, and a part-time 4WD system with a dual-range transfer case. 

Its 4Explor system’s drive modes include Normal (2WD for sealed surfaces), Grass/Snow (4WD), Mud & Ruts (4WD), and Sand (4WD).

The Mahindra Scorpio Z8L does not have an ANCAP rating because it has not been tested.

As standard, it has six airbags (front, side and curtain), electronic stability control, front and rear parking sensors, a tyre pressure monitoring system, as well as trailer sway and roll over mitigation, hill hold control and hill descent control.

It does not have driver-assist safety tech that’s in a lot of other vehicles at this price-point, and even cheaper.

The Mahindra Scorpio Z8L has a seven-year/150,000km warranty.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km. (Pricing details were not available at time of writing.)

What is the 2024 Mahindra Scorpio Z8L like to drive?

The Scorpio is a 4WD with a body-on-frame* chassis. (* A body-on-frame chassis is a chassis onto which the vehicle’s separate body is attached, and the engine, wheels, and suspension are fitted. The set-up is well suited to towing and/or carrying heavy loads, and 4WDing.)

It’s 4662mm long (with a 2750mm wheelbase), 1917mm wide and 1857mm high.

It has a listed kerb weight of 2100kg.

It has a 12.6m turning circle.

This Mahindra 4WD is refined on-road: quiet inside, comfortable and with a no-stress engine and a low-key Aisin auto delivering a relaxed combination on the road.

Steering has a nice weight to it, ride quality is okay (spongy rather than too firm) and some bodyroll creeps in on more severe bends in the road.

Off-road, the Scorpio handled the undulating dirt track leading to our off-road test site with ease, riding nicely over the light to medium corrugations, and it was only ever slightly unsettled by the bumpy terrain.

The Scorpio has plenty of old-school foundational 4WD mechanicals about it – low-range and a rear diff-lock (an automatic one) – and it benefits from driver-assist tech such as its 4Explor system with selectable terrain modes, which adjust engine output, transmission settings and traction control to best suit the terrain, conditions and driving style. 

It also has hill descent control and hill hold control.

Even its forward-facing camera comes in handy.

While the Scorpio’s 400Nm may seem a bit on the underdone side of torque figures, that torque is actually available across a nice spread of revs, and this 4WD does well with what it has.

In terms of off-road-relevant measures, the Scorpio has 227mm of ground clearance, a guesstimated wading depth of 500mm or so (it’s not listed), and approach, departure and rampover angles of 27.2 (good), 21.3 (not so good), and 23.5 (okay) degrees respectively.

The Scorpio is quite an effective off-road wagon and it tackled every obstacle it faced without fail, but it has to be driven with extreme care.

Now for some more of the Scorpio’s less-than-ideal characteristics:

1. Off-road traction control doesn’t seem as well calibrated as it should be. It’s a bit patchy in its application, and certainly not as seamless as the tech in something like the GWM Tank 300 (yes, I know – it costs about $15,000 more.)

2. The automatic rear diff lock is on the wrong side of clunky, abruptly engaging as it senses wheel-spin then disengaging just as abruptly when it deems the problem over … even if it isn’t quite over yet.

3. The Scorpio feels low: a lot of underbody components are vulnerable to rocks, tree stumps, track debris, and the AdBlue tank sits low behind the rear left-hand wheel.

4. The side-steps seem very flimsy. The right-hand side-step took a soft knock going over an exposed tree root early on one test day, which I thought nothing of. But when I looked at it soon afterwards, the fasteners had popped out at the front and middle of the sidestep. I didn't think the bump had been anywhere near enough to result in that.

5. The Scorpio’s standard tyres – MRF Wanderer SUV tyres (255/60R18 “All-Season”) – are not great for hard 4WDing. They don’t offer anywhere near the degree of grip you need in difficult 4WDing and they quickly became gummed up with mud. The Scorpio does have an underslung full-size steel spare.

The Mahindra Scorpio Z8L has listed payload of 510kg, and can legally tow 750kg (unbraked), and 2500kg (braked). Gross vehicle mass (GVM) is a listed 2610kg; gross combined mass (GCM) is 5155kg.

Official fuel use is listed as 7.2L/100km on a combined cycle.

Fuel consumption on this test was 9.6L/100km, which is impressive, especially because we spent most of a two-day off-road test in 4WD low-range.

It has a 57-litre fuel tank, so, going by those fuel figures, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 593km out of a full tank. 

Note: That 593km is a best-case scenario figure and has not had a 30-50km safe-distance buffer subtracted from it, and it also does not take into account the fact that, when being used for touring, the vehicle will be loaded with people, pets, camping gear and more.

What I reckon

The Scorpio represents a good step in the right direction for Mahindra.

It’s nice enough to drive on-road – comfortable and refined  – and it’s also a capable 4WD, but it does have a few issues.

It’s a good value-for-money prospect but it lacks a lot of driver-assist tech that should be onboard every modern vehicle, especially a wagon that will serve as a family mover.