Hola Bolero!

The hills around Nashik were magnificent. You need a wide-angle lens to capture the beautiful valleys with silhouetted cliffs acting as backdrop. But it was not the backdrop that I had come for. Parked just a few yards from me were two Boleros. The latest incarnation of the venerable Jeep from Mahindra and Mahindra. Even with the above mentioned picture postcard setting, I couldn't take my eyes off the Bolero. Yes, viewed side-on, it may look like any other Armada Grand and ditto the rear three quarters. But from the front, the Bolero has gone where no Jeep has gone before - at least in India. And let me tell you beforehand - the Bolero is a landmark car for M&M who has been making Jeep derivatives for time immemorial. And even before I turned a key, there was enough reason to be impressed.

Seeing is believing

Some ten years back, M&M wanted to make the Jeep Cherokee in India. Chrysler was not averse to the idea too but the talks fizzled out for reasons unknown, and M&M got wedded to Ford instead in a joint venture in India. But it seems the Cherokee dream was not dead. After all, M&M have been making Jeeps for a longer period than Chrysler and no one can blame them if they decided to chart their own evolution plans for the Jeep in India, right? But the Bolero is just the beginning and we strongly believe the upcoming SUV based on the Scorpio platform might still have the Jeep design cues flowing into it. But what we have here is a vehicle that looks much better than the best-selling Armada and the not so best-selling Armada Grand. Gone are cheap plastic add-ons and in comes a grill with vertical slants - a Jeep trademark - and new square headlamps. Jeep aficionados are not going to like the square headlamp treatment and more so since the Wranglers have returned to good old round headlamps in the American markets. But the only sore point was the plasto-chrome treatment given to the headlight bezel - something that jars and can still be removed before the car reaches the showrooms. A new bumper with a recess in the mid-section, plastic fender liners, new running boards and a curved wind-screen completes the new-look package. The design team headed by Shyam Kumar (an IIT, Mumbai product) had to work under many constraints - like having to keep the genes of the Jeep intact and then having to design a vehicle that could take the battle to the new breed of SUVs now entering the market. And we believe he has done a great job in creating a vehicle that has a certain character of its own. The Bolero looks rugged and yet civilised in one go. And it is heartening to know that the same team would be responsible for the SUV based on the Scorpio.

Beneath the skin

Up on the ramp at R&D centre at Nashik was a Peugeot pick-up. It was not surprising, since vehicle manufacturers from around the world try and learn from the underpinnings of Peugeots, simply because they make the most rugged suspension systems around. The Bolero is the first vehicle from the M&M stable to feature an independent front suspension system. A change that could have given the Armada and the Grand much needed car-like handling a long time ago. Remember these vehicles were primarily used by urbanites and the suspension system used by the same pick-ups and people movers like the Marshall was not exactly the best for a city bred Jeep. The IFS (Independent Front Suspension) was developed in tandem with Philip Belou of MECA Systeme, France and what has emerged is a double wishbone set-up that is simple in layout. It is good for highway storming and a bit of cross-country driving, but not serious off-roading. This set-up is designed for two-wheel drive applications and the early Boleros with 4WD will have the classic leaf spring, live axle layout all round. Let us now get behind the wheel of the Bolero to find out how improved a handler she is.

Dancing with the tarmac

A word about the powerplant to start with. The Bolero is offered with only one engine and trim option to start with. Power comes from the 2500CC Peugeot XD 3 PF, 75 bhp diesel borrowed from the Armada Grand and mated to the BA 10 five-speed gearbox. This is more of a torque generator than a pony power motor. With 15.3 kgm of torque delivered at a mere 2000 revs, the Bolero can haul quite a bit. But despite the low-end torque, the BA 10 gearbox is not geared for acceleration. Life begins in slow motion as in the Armada Grand, but gets better as one learns to keep the engine on the boil. And yes, one of the most significant changes is the gear lever that has now become a `direct-shifter' with M&M throwing out the notorious linkages from the box. To you and me, that means positive gearshifts and less maintenance.

The roads around Nashik can be good, bad and ugly, making it ideal Jeep country. Our test drive was brief but educative. I have driven Jeeps of various kinds and I have always liked the short wheelbase versions to the longer breeds because to me Jeeps were meant to be off-roaders. But the Bolero does not drive like any other Jeep. The front end is firmly planted and it does not wallow over potholes and ridges on the roads. Okay, it is not as precise a handler like modern mid-size sedans, but with this bold step forward M&M has caught up with the likes of the Sumo and Qualis. Add to this a very well articulated power steering that the Mahindras have refined over the last one year or so. Powering into the corner is no longer a scary experience and even at speeds above 80 kph, the Bolero does not roll excessively. The stiff dampers used up front also means that there is only negligible pitching even while standing on the brakes. Another factor is that M&M have started using Bridgestone P215/75 R15 radials (Duelers in the test car). It is not easy to get a new suspension set-up spot on and M&M is making sure that the first 100 cars due to reach showrooms are tested thoroughly for any possible set-up error.

So here you have it, a traditional, yet new-look SUV that offers crisper handling, better ride and better brakes - a new booster assisted braking system with 113 mm discs up front and drums at the rear - do we have any complaints? Yes. It is a terrible thing that those who want their Bolero with 4WD will not get the benefit of the new independent suspension. Remember M&M, 4WD vehicles are used in the hilly regions and these deserve better handling traits too.

But the Bolero impressed us to no end in our brief test drive session. Lest we forget, the Bolero features improved seats (from Lear Corporation), seat belts that work, and a much improved injection-moulded facia. It is still not a study in ergonomics, thanks to the odd positioning of the handbrake lever (on the right hand side) and the steering-pedals-gearlever (the three things that

a driver is constantly in touch with) geometry. But again,

it offers far more comfort and safety to the passengers than

its predecessors.

To sum up

It is way too early to tell you whether it is a better buy than direct competition like the Sumo DX and we will wait for a proper test before we draw comparisons. But let me take this opportunity to comment on a manufacturer that is definitely on the comeback path. I saw a lot of young and enthusiastic people at the R&D centre at Nashik and that is a very positive sign. And then you have Anand Mahindra, whom insiders say, flew in three times in the month of February alone to see how the new nose job of the Bolero was coming up. Having a corporate chopper and a light plane helps, but it needs some steely will and commitment to take an old behemoth up the ladder and to new heights. And guess what, I did manage to get a sneak look at the first vehicle to come out of the Scorpio platform and it looked too good to believe! Things are changing at M&M and the Bolero is only a glimpse of things to come.