Mahindra has announced a major makeover of its 2009 Pik Up range to try and attract more Aussie buyers to its Indian-built vehicle. Though there are some changes to the appearance, the emphasis is on providing greater safety and even better value for money.

Antilock ABS brakes are always a real plus in any light commercial as the total weight of the vehicle can vary enormously. It's good to see they are now standard on the Mahindra Pik Up.

We criticised the manual operation of the door mirrors when we first road tested the Pik Up in 2007, so it's good to see that power mirrors are part of this makeover.

Should a crash still occur, occupants are now protected by pre-tensioner safety belts (interestingly, these are supplied by Autoliv Australia) and by dual front airbags.

Changes to the interior styling give the Mahindra a more modern look. More importantly, the seats are new units and have a lot of design work aimed at making them more comfortable.

Equipment levels were already good, with air conditioning, power windows and central locking. This has been further improved by the fitment of a new double-DIN audio system. Naturally, this continues to handle MP3 music and has an iPod connecting jack.

The exterior styling has been given a more aggressive look thanks to a brighter look to the radiator grille, a new bonnet scoop and revisions to the bumper shape. Foglights are part of the new frontal package.

 

Pik Up is a relatively large vehicle and has room for five adults of average size. The rear seat is set at a comfortable angle and the Pik Up could certainly be used as a family car. Headroom is good, indeed you can wear a big hat and still have good clearance. Just the thing for the boys in the bush.

Ride comfort could be a lot better. The Pik Up really is a blast from the past, with a harsh, bouncy rear end that wasn’t tamed by having a fair load of hay in the tray in our test vehicle.

All versions of the Mahindra Pik Up are powered by a modern 2.5-litre intercooled, common-rail, turbo-diesel engine producing 79 kW. Torque is nothing special at 247 Nm between 1800 and 2200 rpm, but the engine feels stronger on the road than these figures suggest.

 

The engine pulls strongly and is more than happy to pull at anything more than 1500 revs, and feeling particularly sweet in the 1800 to 2500 rpm range. It all starts to get a bit frantic by the time you reach 3500 rpm, but that’s in keeping with the rest of the vehicle so probably shouldn’t be criticised.

The only gearbox in the Mahindra is five-speed manual gearbox. The gearbox in our test vehicle was a cranky unit, sometimes refusing to go from second to third unless treated with a great deal of respect.

Warranty is for three years or 100,000 km whichever comes first. Buyers get free roadside assistance for the first three years of ownership. This has been extended from the one-year assistance package that was part of the original vehicle.