Water Wading In A Mahindra Scorpio-N Goes Wrong: Rescued By Truck
SUV owners in India are often a bit too confident about the capabilities of their vehicles. Even if they own a 2WD crossover, they feel that their vehicle can go almost anywhere because it has ample ground clearance. They often forget the fact that ground clearance is not the only factor that would help them in case they get stuck. We have seen videos of even 4x4 SUVs getting stuck. Here we have one such video of a Mahindra Scorpio N where the SUV got stuck in the middle of a waterlogged road while the driver intentionally tried to cross it.
The video has been shared by Guddu Bhaiya on his Instagram page. The video is from Rajasthan, and it looks like the road on which this video was recorded was actually flooded after a nearby lake or river started overflowing. It is clear in the video that a large portion of the road next to the lake was completely submerged.
It looks like driving through the waterlogged road had turned into a competition among locals. We hear the person recording the video saying that the Scorpio Classic had effortlessly waded through the water, and now it was the Scorpio N’s turn.
The Scorpio N driver started driving the car through water, and it looks like he underestimated the depth. While driving through the water, he was maintaining a high speed initially, which was creating a wave in front of the vehicle.
The wave was pushing the water away but, at the same time, the water level was almost at the same height as the bonnet of the Scorpio N. The driver was maintaining a steady speed initially but, as the water level rose, it looks like he started having second thoughts and slowed down.
That was a mistake, and the moment he did that, the vehicle stalled. The SUV stalled in the middle of the waterlogged road. If something like this happens, the first thing one should do is check the level of water and not start the vehicle. If the water level is too high, then the chances of water entering the air intake and the exhaust are pretty high.
The Scorpio N driver did what he was not supposed to do. When the Scorpio N stalled, the driver probably panicked and immediately attempted to start the car. The car did start, but it looks like there was nothing more he could do after that. The Scorpio N moved a few inches and stalled again.
It looks like water had gotten into the air intake of the Scorpio N. In the video, we can see the occupant sitting on the rear seat pleading with the driver to get him out of this situation. It looks like water had started entering the cabin, and the person was panicking. The chances of the engine of the Scorpio N getting hydrolocked are pretty high because of the position of the air intake. Most modern cars have this technology where sensors shut the engine down to stop further damage when they detect moisture inside.
When this happens, one has to take the car to a service center on a flatbed and get the water removed. It is a time- and money-consuming process. In this video, the Scorpio was later rescued using a tipper that was present at the spot.
We hope the owner or the driver of the Scorpio N learned his lesson and won’t even think of doing such stunts just for the sake of publicity. If you really want to do such stunts, at least have a snorkel installed on your vehicle - that would help the engine breathe while wading through deep water.