The Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV 3XO rank among the bestselling compact SUVs currently on sale in India. In addition to petrol engines, both of them offer turbo-diesel mills with a good balance of power and fuel efficiency, and the latter is what we’ll examine and compare below using data recorded in our own testing.

Tata Nexon vs Mahindra XUV 3XO diesel specifications

XUV 3XO is more powerful, but Nexon is lighter

Both the Nexon and XUV 3XO are powered by 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engines. The Nexon’s unit develops 115hp and 260Nm, while the XUV 3XO’s powerplant is 2hp and 40Nm stronger. While we’ve tested the 6-speed manual configurations of these compact SUVs, the Nexon and XUV 3XO diesel can be had with 6-speed AMT gearboxes too.

One big advantage on the Nexon side is that it’s 112kg lighter than the XUV 3XO, which is beneficial for fuel efficiency. The sportier tuning of the XUV 3XO diesel can detract further from its mileage too. Let’s take a look at the numbers now.

Tata Nexon vs Mahindra XUV 3XO diesel real world fuel efficiency

Nexon diesel is more frugal by a 2.4kpl margin

Unsurprisingly, the lighter and less powerful Nexon pulls ahead of the XUV 3XO on the fuel efficiency front. The Tata compact SUV returned 16.5kpl in urban conditions, which expanded to an impressive 19.4kpl when we hit the highway. Combined, the Nexon diesel averaged a real-world mileage of 17.95kpl in our testing, which is 5.28kpl off the compact SUV’s ARAI-claimed figure.

XUV 3XO diesel falls slightly closer to its ARAI-claimed mileage

The XUV 3XO diesel manages 13.5kpl in the city, which is 3kpl less frugal than the Nexon. Interestingly, the gap between the XUV 3XO and Nexon shrunk to 2kpl on the highway, likely due to the Mahindra compact SUV’s taller gearing in the 5th and 6th gears. The XUV 3XO diesel’s real world mileage averages out to 15.45kpl. While this figure is 2.4kpl less efficient than the Nexon, the XUV 3XO adheres to its ARAI-claimed mileage slightly better thanks to a 5.15kpl delta.

Autocar India’s fuel efficiency testing

Before our real-world fuel-efficiency tests, we fill our test cars’ tanks to the brim and maintain tyre pressures based on the manufacturer’s recommendation. These cars are driven in fixed city and highway loops in and around Navi Mumbai, and we maintain certain average speeds. Throughout the tests, there is only one person in each car, running the aircon and other electricals, such as the audio system, indicators and wipers, when required, just like a regular user would. Periodic driver swaps further neutralise variations in driver patterns. At the end of each cycle, we calculate efficiency by filling the tanks to full again.

Also see:

Mahindra XUV 3XO vs Tata Nexon diesel comparison

Top 10 most affordable diesel cars in India