|
The gearshift is notchy and imprecise but you don’t have to shift all that much – in city traffic, the XLS is mostly happy chugging along in third or fourth, with the occasional foray into fifth. Relaxed cruising at 80 kph is what the XLS does best. Above 90 kph, the engine starts droning rather loudly and NVH becomes obtrusive, but you wouldn’t be doing triple digit speeds in town, would you? I amaze myself when I say this, but the Bolero XLS could actually be quite a good city car. If you’ve already got a Santro/ Wagon R/ Alto, that is. And what your small hatchback certainly won’t match, is the Bolero’s sheer people-moving capacity. What other car can seat nine people now? Agreed, it isn’t the most comfortable of cars, but the XLS offers decent ride comfort. With leaf-springs at the back and independent coil spring set-up at the front, the big Bolero’s ride is surprisingly compliant. It’ll toss you around a wee bit if you are in it alone, but fill it up with people and it’s all right. I’ll admit ride quality is better than I had thought it would be. The XLS rides on 15-inch wheels (shod with 215/75 Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts) which are suitable for varied terrain.
Chug along now...
It’s a heavy UV (note, there’s no ‘S’ preceding the ‘UV’), so handling traits are best left undiscussed. Well, okay, if you insist. The Bolero XLS handles like a, well, like a nine-seater Mahindra UV would. You stay sensible in the thing and it’s benign. Start throwing it around and the XLS will bite you. Hard. The low-effort steering is also largely free of feel, so at high speeds, you don’t really know if the car will go in the direction you want it to. At speed, I wouldn’t try sudden lane changes in this car. Especially not if it’s wet. And definitely not if it’s a weekday. Or a Sunday. Brakes (discs at front, drums at the back) too, are adequate, but do not encourage inordinate heroics. Which is just as well – it’s not that kind of car. I’ll repeat exactly what I said about the Invader’s brakes when I tested the car a few month ago. Panic-braking from high speeds, especially in wet weather conditions, could easily catch out the unwary. More progressive pedal modulation and better feel would help.
What about the ‘people mover’ bit? Well, tour/taxi operators are going to love this one. Nine people can be made to fit in there, though I’d be happier with six. Two to a bench should be perfect, unless I’m travelling with Janet Jackson’s dance troupe. Jokes apart, nine people in the car would perhaps be okay on shorter jaunts, but for extended journeys, six would be infinitely more comfortable. Legroom in the second and third rows is rather restricted, especially given how long the car is. Getting in the third row can be a bit of an effort. Part of the second bench folds up to provide ingress to the third and if you are young and lithe and slim, you shouldn’t really have much trouble getting in there. For last row passengers, the rear wheel-arches intrude on the legroom available. Also, the aircon gives up after the second row, so you don’t want to be at the back for long.
Surprise package?
I got into the Bolero XLS thinking I’ll somehow endure it for whatever length of time I’m stuck with it. I ended up liking the car. It’s a simple, basic UV that lets me saunter along in traffic without too many worries. I commute more than 70 km a day in extremely congested, slow-moving traffic and despite its size, the XLS is easy to thread through a mad mix of BEST buses, autorickshaws, scooters, motorcycles, cars and what have you. Given its sheer heft, people generally give the XLS a wide berth. Random two-wheelers don’t dance across your path, cars don’t try to cut their way across and even truckies seem not so inclined to bully you down. Fuel economy too, is not bad – you get about 9 kpl to the diesel litre (in city traffic, with the AC switched on) – good for the wallet, eh?
It certainly isn’t the most refined UV around (the considerably more expensive Toyota Qualis still occupies that slot), it isn’t fast (110 kph is about all it’ll do), but the Bolero XLS gets the job done. At Rs 4.88 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai), it’s fair value for money. I definitely wouldn’t want to embark on long, highway/ expressway journeys in one, but in the city, the XLS just makes me smile at 70 kph, with traffic making way for it. If you have a large family that likes going out on lots of picnics, if you drive in the city a lot, and if you already have a small hatchback or midsize car, you just might want to consider the Bolero XLS as your second runabout.
|
