Mahindra Pik-Up review
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mahindra lends Farm Trader machine tester Brent Lilley a Pik-Up for the weekend. Find out how he got on…
With so many vehicles on show at the test day, I ran out of time to drive the Pik-Up ute, luckily though, the guys from Mahindra kindly lent it to me to take home for the weekend. In a somewhat unconventional Farm Trader test, which I’ve now dubbed the ‘Friday Night Pub Test,’ I headed down to my local watering hole in the Pik-Up.
Interestingly, despite a little light-hearted ribbing to begin with (something farmers come to expect when they drive a new vehicle – especially one that’s a little different), curiosity overcame most who just had to have a closer look. Many swallowed their words too and were surprised with what the Mahindra Pik-Up had to offer – a few even asked for a test drive the following day.
Over the course of the weekend I drove the Pik-Up around the roads and over the farm and was constantly impressed with how responsive the engine was which can most likely be put down to the 290Nm of torque that the 2.2-litre mHawk turbo diesel engine delivers.
This modern common rail engine is used in a range of Mahindra vehicles and is tuned to put out 88kw of power, although this figure is nothing special, the vehicle never ever felt under powered in any situation, although I didn’t actually do any towing with it. The Pik-Up runs smoothly throughout the rev range and everytime I started it, it fired immediately.
A five-speed gear box is well matched to the engine and it gets along at 100km/hr while sitting just under 2500rpm. When you head off road, four-wheel drive can be selected electronically while on the move and is once again delivered through a Borg Warner transfer case. The lockable rear differential sourced from reputable Eaton is handy when you find yourself in a sticky situation.
From the exterior, the cab still retains the square boxy look, albeit with some refinements on earlier models. The roominess of the cab impressed many and I repeatedly heard people saying how much the outside deceived the size of the interior, with it appearing a lot smaller than it actually was.
While there is nothing outstanding about the interior, it is simple and robust and there’s no fear of jumping in and ruining anything, regardless of whatever state you are in, something most farmers want in a ute that spends most of its life off the road.
The layout puts everything within easy reach of the driver and most controls are logically placed and labelled. Air conditioning, power starting and electric windows are all standard features. Ground clearance is reasonable at around 210mm and the high driver’s position gives good all-round visibility and the robust chassis coupled with heavy-duty rear leaf springs gives an impressive load capacity of 1.2 tonnes along with a 2.5-tonne towing capacity.
The verdict
It can be very easy to dismiss the unknown, which could have been the case for me if I hadn’t had the chance to drive the Mahindra Pik-Up for a weekend. Maybe not the flashest ute in the parking lot, but when it comes to farm vehicles this is not always an essential. What this vehicle delivers is solid features and it gets the job done.
The responsiveness and the economical mHawk engine is more than adequate for the job, the cab is suitably comfortable and I found the Pik-Up enjoyable to drive, but the big bonus (in my opinion) is the price tag – it’s outstanding. For these reasons I would recommend that farmers in the market for a ute, get down to their local Mahindra dealer and give the Pik-Up a test drive, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
For the latest farming news, subscribe to Farm Trader magazine here.
Keep up to date in the industry by signing up to Farm Trader's free newsletter or liking us on Facebook
.jpg)
