Mahindra Alturas G4

Imposing. That’s the first word that comes to mind when looking at the new range-topper from Mahindra. The large family grille and Mahindra logo give this SUV a bold face and sets it apart from the 2018 Ssangyong Rexton available in other markets. Prominent accent lines give the side profile some definition, though this is more visible in the lighter colour options and not quite so apparent in this black colour. Panel gaps too, are consistent, tight and even. Rounding things off are the doors, that close with a nice reassuring ‘thunk’. On the design front, the only bit that possibly sticks out like a sore thumb is the unconventional (read: oversized) badging on the rear tailgate. A subtler design would have looked classier, we feel. All said and done, the Alturas G4 does have great road presence.

There’s some bling in the form of HID projector headlamps, daytime running lamps as well as LED fog lamps. The tail lamp cluster gets the LED treatment too. All of these bits are identical to the global-spec SsangYong Rexton. The biggest difference, though, is the fact that the Indian variant rides on 18-inch alloys as compared to the 20-inchers available in other markets. Mahindra says this offers the best ride quality for Indian conditions. Another plus is that the Alturas packs in a full-sized spare with a matching alloy wheel as well. It also rides a great deal higher off the ground on account of increased ground clearance and suspension tune that it's undergone specially for India, but more on this later.

To begin with, you really have to lift your foot up high, and climb inside the cabin of the Alturas. We wholeheartedly recommend you invest in a pair of side steps, because it will be well worth it. Once in, you’re treated to a cabin that oozes quality, and packs in a serious amount of kit. The dual-tone upholstery with quilted tan Nappa leather is delightfully classy. Everything is laid out rather well, and every little control falls to hand very easily. Speaking of which, buttons and controls have a reassuring, positive click to them and seem built to last. It does make a solid first impression.

As far as room is concerned, you should have no issue in the front row. For the largest of people, there’s more than adequate room. The driver’s seat is electrically adjustable, and comes with three memory settings too, which helps you fine tune that driving position easily. An oversight here is that the passenger has to make do with manual adjust for their seat.

Hop into the second row, and there’s enough room for you to get comfortable. There’s enough kneeroom for a six-footer to sit behind their own driving position, and there should be complaints on the width front either. Headroom is just about adequate too, but the sunroof mechanism does eat into some room. This will pinch you only if you’re taller than 6.5ft. The backrest also reclines, but it does not slide back to help you carve out some extra room when the third row is not in use. They also sport a 60:40 split but the 60 per cent is on the left (passenger side) and not on the right as is the convention in right-hand drive countries. You can choose to tumble forward the whole row to access to the third row. But, it requires you to pull two levers and lift the seat forward, and that cannot be done with just one hand.

And that brings us to the third row. It’s practically bolted to the floor so the seat height is set too low for adults. We can't imagine full sized people being comfortable for even short journeys with their knees bent at a sharp angle and barely any wiggle room to get comfortable. The good news is that the seats fold down flat (and also get a 50:50 split) freeing up a fairly large boot for loading luggage.

The Alturas G4 comes with nine airbags as standard, ESP, ABS with EBD, high-strength steel ultra rigid quad frame, rear glass defogger and ISOFIX mounts for child seats.

Powering the Mahindra Alturas G4 is a 2.2-litre, 181PS/420Nm turbocharged diesel engine. There’s no petrol engine on offer here. All that power and torque is sent to the wheels through a  7-speed automatic gearbox sourced from Mercedes-Benz. It also gets the shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive system with low range, so you can be assured it will claw its way out of sticky situations. So, yes, on paper, this combination does seem more than capable of hauling any load that you plan to pile onto this large SUV.

There’s no running away from the drone of the diesel engine. You can hear the engine pretty much all the time, but it doesn't reach unpleasant levels at city speeds. On the other hand, vibrations and harshness levels are well under control.

Start driving and you feel the wave of torque kicking in smoothly and evenly, as early as around 1800rpm. If you maintain a light foot on the throttle, the engine gives you just enough power to tackle city commutes easily. There’s no sudden spike in power anywhere, and this is something you’d appreciate while driving in congested urban environments. In this scenario, the 7-speed automatic remains fairly inconspicuous in its operation.

That said, it’s not quite happy being hassled. Kickdown is quite slow and when you step on the throttle, it takes a good second for the gearbox to drop to a lower ratio and send power to the wheels. We also missed a set of paddle-shifters when we wanted to push it a bit. But, not everyone will pick on the lazy gearbox easily. In everyday operations and even mild off-roading, this combination feels more than adequate. Do keep an eye out for a detailed road test, as we spend more time with the SUV.

The Mahindra Alturas G4 will be available in just two variants - a 2WD model (that also skimps on a few features) with a beige and black interior and a fully loaded 4WD model, the same spec we had on test.