Whoever thinks women cannot drive SUVs are about to have their wits blown into a gazillion places that will lie scattered in the Milky Way galaxy forever and ever more.

*Grins evilly like Mojo Jojo*

I am not saying all this because I belong to the woman fraternity. Nah!

I am saying this because I effortlessly drove the Mahindra XUV 500 on the highway the other day whilst belonging to the woman fraternity.

(Okay, okay! A major part of that ‘effortless driving’ goes to the XUV being such a smoooth baby!)

You see, the day before yesterday was a road-trip sort of work day – beginning and ending from the K.S. Motors showroom at M.I. Road – for Ayushi, Sanchit, and me. We were test-driving the Mahindra XUV 500 and the Mahindra Thar.

Allow me to take you on the Ajmer highway first in this Pearl White beauty!

The top-end – W10 AT BS4 FWD. 

Something funny happened after we had hit the road. Sitting on the rear seat, closely scrutinizing every little inch of the car, Ayushi and I learned of a MAJOR detail that had God-Knows-How skipped our notice. This was the automatic variant. We looked at each other, gulped down our nervousness, and smiled. (Nobody has to know we’ve never driven automatic before, okay?)

The middle row felt like sitting in an airplane, except the fact that there was a craaazy amount of legroom! Dear airlines, you have got to borrow some notes from this car’s designers.

The airplane “feels” increased further when sitting-beside-me-but-missing-from-the-frame Ayushi reclined the leather upholstered seat to take a power nap.

She was probably gearing up for the non-gear clutch-free driving experience.

Ayushi was stunned at how quickly the XUV picked up speed. The car was storming at a speed of 100 kmph in less than a minute after she had pressed the auto-start push button.

Contrary to what men around the world believe, we women use the rear view mirror much more than they do. It, in fact, almost means the most to us!

One perception that nests everyone’s mind is that women are too short to drive SUVs. You know, because SUV’s are huge! And it’s almost like being seated on a pedestal.

But thanks to the electronic 6-way power-adjustable feature in this very car here, flexing the driver’s seat as per your comfort is literally just a touch away.

Oh oh! While we are at discussing the driver’s seat, let me tell you about another cool feature. Btw, this one applies to the co-driver seat as well. See the tiny wheel on the seat here?

That’s for lumber support. What on earth is that! I asked the Mahindra executive.

“That’s for extra support to the back, Ma’am. This feature lets your back not feel tired even during long journeys,” he answered.

“I’m calling shotgun for eternity!” Ayushi’s murmured voice reached my ears. Hmmm.

Well, calling shotgun has its perks. After all, the person sitting in the co-driver seat gets unrestricted access to the Infotainment touch screen. The screen, other than flashing the inbuilt offline navigation, the hands-free calling and giving assistance while reversing, lets you be the DJ-wale babu throughout the ride. Isn’t that THE dream?

Ayushi drove all of us at a blazing 120 kmph speed! “I don’t even feel like I’m going that fast! Do you guys feel anything?” she asked. And honestly, even through the twisting and turning at such a high speed near the toll gate, we the people seated inside didn’t feel quite shaken up nor did we drift from left to right falling on each other. The executive accredited it to the Electronic Stability Program with Rollover Mitigation. 

Long story short, even if you practically drive like the way snakes move, the people sitting inside will not feel a thing.

You see the multiple buttons on the left and right on the steering wheel? Yeah, two of them are to enable you to exercise Cruise Control. That, as I was soon to find, was the best thing ever!

With the absence of clutch, we had to focus our leg only on the accelerator and break. Right? Turns out, XUV 500 fellas don’t want us to trouble even that one leg. By locking your driving speed through cruise control, you could rest your leg letting the car function in auto-pilot mode. Of course, this is only suitable for driving on highways.

This thingy here is much more than just an armrest! It clones as a chiller box. (No it’s not a mini-refrigerator. Read that word in Hindi.) You could keep your coins, tab, phone, charger, cable, etc in here.

What’s more? You could even let your child stand on it. No, your child wouldn’t dash his/her head. Right on the top is a sunroof.

Believe it or not, I, weighing 50 plus kgs, stood on that chiller box cum armrest and nothing happened to it.

That’s not the best part, though. Mahindra XUV 500 comes with an Anti-pinch feature. Allow me to translate that for y’all. If your kid accidentally happens to hit the close sunroof button while popping outside, the electric panel wouldn’t close. It detects the presence and functions accordingly.

No one’s getting hurt. Not even clumsy ones like me.

So while I was out there enjoying the rain, here’s how Ayushi was getting her share of fun. (Electric side mirrors? Check.)

Apparently, she had a lot of fun. See.

So much so, that when the pillar ac-vent aimed at her, she couldn’t stand it.

So, we stepped out.

Turns out, the last and middle row can be folded and turned into flat-beds. Ayushi had half a mind to rent and add a mini-fridge containing a never-ending supply of iced-tea in this back compartment. She’s silly, but she has a point!

As you may have understood by now, the top-end model of Mahindra XUV 500 is loaded with awesome features. Allow me to tell you about one that is not just awesome but super useful – Static Bending Projector Headlamps.

In simple words, these are intelligent lamps that turn before you turn your steering wheel while taking a left/right/u-turn. Why? So that you get a view of what lies ahead, or rather, what’s coming ahead. Imagine the number of road accidents that can be avoided owing to this feature!

Okay, so I sort of know that you’ve been waiting for me to tell you the pate-ki-baat. Or should I say pocket-ki-baat? You could get this car for an on-road price lying in the bracket of 14 lacs to 20 lacs (depending on the model).

For more details, visit K.S. Motors Pvt. Ltd. showroom at M.I. Road or visit the XUV 500 website. You can also contact Chetan on +918769060606