A review of the Eicher Polaris Multix

Eicher Polaris Multix is a compact multipurpose vehicle. Polaris, for those not in the know, is an American ATV[All Terrain Vehicle] manufacturing company. Prices:2.32 to 2.72 lakhs.

Multix is a 3 in 1 personal utility vehicle which acts as a pickup truck, people carrier and a power generator. Multix say that they are aiming this at independent, small businessmen who can use it to travel in the city and to carry their goods around.

Being a mini pickup, it has a 1918 liter pickup box after you dismantle the 2nd row seats. That leaves very little space to carry stuff around when the 2nd row seats are being used,418 liters to be precise. That being said, small businesses should find this quite sufficient.

As far as the seating capacity of the Multix is concerned, 5 people can travel comfortably and with a bit of a squeeze, 6 people can manage. One thing to note about the seats is that you don't get individual driver and passenger seats. There's only one big seat in the front and the its the same thing with the back seat as well.

The cabin, as you would expect, is rather plain. You get a steering wheel, indicator ,wiper stalks and that's about it. But if you buy the top end model, you can have the luxury of  having a stereo system with a USB option!

Coming to the engine, it is a 510 cc, 1 cylinder engine producing 9.8 bhp at 3000 rpm. The engine is mated to a 4 speed manual gearbox. I drove one of these a few days earlier and there's absolutely nothing special to mention about the driving comfort or the speed. But, since its not designed or developed to be the 'ultimate driving machine', the speeds that it can achieve or low torque pickup do not matter.

Multix is developed for India. This means, it should be rugged, reliable and most important of all, it  should be good on bad roads. And I am delighted to say, it is amazing on bad roads.This is where the ATV skills of Polaris comes in handy.  The suspension is unbelievable. It soaks up bumps and potholes unlike any other vehicle in its class. It can tackle anything that you throw at it and you will be glad to know that it has undergone 18 lakh km of testing in India and US combined! That suspension is a big plus point for this vehicle and here is a very small sample of how good the suspension is:

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Multix is that it can double up as a power generator. Here is a picture 

That is a diesel motor and when it is connected to the generator, it produces electricity which in turn can be used to run motors or fans or lights or anything which runs on electricity. This makes a lot of sense given the fact that we have a lot of power cuts, more so in the rural areas. This goes to show that Eicher and Polaris have thought of what a small businessman would want in his/her business vehicle. 

In conclusion, Multix does not belong to any segment of the existing market. It strives to create a new segment which is exclusively designed to be most practical. 

Pros;

The suspension is easily best in class.

Fuel efficiency of 25-27 kmpl.

Power Generator.

Cons: 

Does not have much of an engine.

Seats are rubbish.

The pickup box is quite small.