Trax Gurkha Test Drive on Horrible roads and Off-road too

[rhandle]

I have done close to 5K and still waiting for the leaks to stop. I get it worked, good for another 500Kms and then it starts again from one place or other.

I want to write a report but am waiting for the car to behave like one. It is turning me out in to a mechanic.

It seems as if I dont own the car but it own me!

[Blue Thunder]

what kind of leaks? Could you please give more details, rhandle?

It is really sad that there are such issues in a brand-new Gurkha. How is the performance of the vehicle otherwise (engine/mechanicals) ?

[rhandle]

Oil Leaks from the joints. You tighten the screws and agin in few days everything starts to leak.

The doors which have the pushfit studs they come out after a rough day by a 10mm or more. You got to push them back in.

The noises are ever present.

Recently when I drove to rishikesh and back, I saw four nuts on the vehicle floor. They have fallen down in 500kms ride.

I just pray that sometime like that is not loose inside engine bay.

BTW I told you about the alternator belt being loose and I got stranded on Mathura highway with my family. Ultimately had to book myself a hotel room, costed me 4k for 10 mins good chk-up the force guys could spent on this before delivery. I really thank my stars for being on a major highway. Had the vehicle stalled 50 kms before I was in a notorious area of Rajasthan.

THere are lot many more things to write abt it.

I have put more pics of Gurkha on orkut and face book, anyways I can get them here or will have to upload them again here!

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

what kind of leaks? Could you please give more details, rhandle?

It is really sad that there are such issues in a brand-new Gurkha. How is the performance of the vehicle otherwise (engine/mechanicals) ?

Ooops did not looked at the second question:

Noise.... good thing you cannot listen to your wife nags while traveling in this car.

Vibrations .... Yes it doubles up as a vibration messager. I am having three layers of carpet to diffuse vibrations.

Vehicle crosses 100 not easily and takes a toll on you. This is good again because it tends to teach you patience and accident would be rare, so what if a M800 vrooms past you! Sound increases with increase in speed and so do vibrations.

Gear changes have to be in spot or the vehicle gets angry and starts growling. I heard they were making it for military so the vehicle is very disciplined, you cannot have your terms with it. You need to go with the vehicle demands.

At this time I can just say ... It may be you who has bought the vehicle but it's the vehicle which own you

[sanjayatarizona]

@rhandle: Hilarious replies, though i understand the ownership pains you must be going through every day. Too many issues for a vehicle of this price.

[rockyb]

I too check it out while considering my 2nd Bolero. Not worth 9.12 on road in Bangalore. I almost when i heard the price - that too with 2 - 3 months waiting period. I clarified. they said its only made after I pay advance. Sounded like made to order. I was like wow - "Can I choose my colour" - "No Saar". Oops. And now - after reading the owership review - I feel I made the right decision.

In fact I remember few things during my mild inspection in the showroom. Nope - no test drives. The power steering unit looked liked a after thot. I uderstand its a highly capable off roader - tuff look etc but the steering rake angle is too vertical (like a truck) and I had difficulty fitting in- even if i pulled the seat back. The instrument panel looks like 70's Bajaj Scooter.

[rhandle]

^^^ good choice brother.

Now the problem with Gurkha is... I do NOT LIKE driving my Safari or Corolla for that matter :(

[Gurkha]

And I wait for the Gurkha with OM611, no other will do. I have driven my cousin's Montero extensively, excellent vehicle, quite good off road, will blow away all the rest of the posers in the market but Gurkha it ain't so I wait and wait. Hopefully I intend to live for that day.

[VEA]

Originally Posted by rhandle

Noise.... good thing you cannot listen to your wife nags while traveling in this car.

Vibrations .... Yes it doubles up as a vibration messager. I am having three layers of carpet to diffuse vibrations.

Vehicle crosses 100 not easily and takes a toll on you. This is good again because it tends to teach you patience and accident would be rare, so what if a M800 vrooms past you! Sound increases with increase in speed and so do vibrations.

Gear changes have to be in spot or the vehicle gets angry and starts growling. I heard they were making it for military so the vehicle is very disciplined, you cannot have your terms with it. You need to go with the vehicle demands.

I'm surprised by these comments. I have used a tempo trax town and country during 95-98. Of course, it didnt have 4wd, power steering, power brakes etc. As far as I could remember the vehicle behaved well and was very reliable. The only issue i remember is an occassional ball joint failure. It was annoying to refuel as it took 10 mins to fill up the tank because of air block or something inside the tank. It was strange that those days trax came with speedo marked 100 maximum, while the vehicle would easily go past the maxium marking! I used it for 90000 kms in 3 years and didnt even touch the clutch, forget about other repairs.

[SS-Traveller]

Had been researching to get a 4WD vehicle for some time now, and the Gurkha was somewhere right down there on the list. Went through the whole thread today, and one major issue about the car appears to stick out like a sore thumb - reliability. Getting my shoes muddy when off-roading is fun, but getting my hands greasy too? No way. I can do without most of the mod-cons, except PS and AC, which the Gurkha offers anyway. But oil leaks? Nuts and bolts falling out? In a 21st century automobile?

Interestingly, this diff lock mechanism was something I figured out on our old family Amby - put together two handbrake levers and ran each of the cables to the left and right rear drums. It worked fine when we lost traction on a muddy bit - jam the wheel which is spinning, and the torque gets transferred to the other wheel. Cumbersome to use, no doubt, but it got us on our way many a times.

[A.P.S.Grewal]

I Own a Gurkha My self it dose not get your hand greasy, You do have to get thing fixed its not that it just leaves you i the middle of nowhere, you just have to fix the lose ends trust me, i am still doing it and i like it its just like a hobby. I have driven this Vehicle up the mountains in the jungle through river beds and rivers i had a complete trip of 1878 Km according my Odometer and got the tiny problems fixed back home that it

[A.P.S.Grewal]

Gurkha on work
And makes me ever more confident

[rhandle]

True Gurkha is excellent but yes there are workmanship problem. My Rear shocker has gone kaput and waiting for the replacement from the company under warranty. There is always a anxiety about which nut or bolt is loose...

BTW I have completed 8100 kms as per my ODO!

Talk about confidence on this machine well... Once I just went out with this vehicle alone to test myself and it worked!

[Samurai]

I finally can add a footnote to this thread. When I first test drove the Gurkha, my offroading knowledge was purely academic. So I hadn't really managed to assess it with a discriminating eye.

This month my cousin is visiting India and he brought the Gurkha down from Bangalore to Manipal. Obviously, we were not going to miss a chance to try it offroad again in my office backyard.

Before we started off...



What I wanted to do was, I take the CJ340 through the obstacles and my cousin to follow in the Gurkha.

Here we go, the first step...



To make long story short, I drove through 2-3 challenges without much concentration (wrong momentum) and got stuck. I had to pull back and get through in second attempt at those places. However, the Gurkha got through each one of those challenges, without a hitch, in almost a yawning way. Now, my cousin doesn't really have offroading experience, so he drove in wrong speed, wrong gear for those challenges. Yet, it made no difference.





Take this example, the steepest challenge in my trail is very slippery and powdery dust right now. Usually this climb needs a run-up. When I came up with little less momentum, I slipped and slided and had to reverse back and clear it in second attempt.



Look at the dust in my wake when I got across.



When my cousin tried it, he came to the bottom of the hill and had to stop since he was in the wrong gear, I think. Anyway, he stood at the bottom and started to proceed. I told him to go back since the hill can't be climbed without a run-up. But he just took off slowly, and climbed across.





I just stood there, while my jaws just dropped. Do you see any dust in it's wake. It just went up like it was level ground. Then he called out saying, "I used the diff locks". Ah! This was the first time I had seen manual diff locks in action. It is mind blowing. So I too drove the Gurkha to understand the feeling. I started from the base of the hill, in 2nd low. It took off without any accelerator input, climbed most of the hill in the same way, and only for the last part, I tapped the accelerator a little to get it across. There was no slippage of any kind. And the CJ340 shod with AT tyres, even with a run-up had slipped and slided royally on this climb.

We tried the climb few more times and everytime it just climbed with least drama.





The final group shot before we wrapped up.



The clear winner was Gurkha, thanks to superior GC, better torque and yeah, front and rear diff locks. Now I really want to get rear LSD on CJ340, it makes one hell of a difference. I guess we don't have the option of manual diff locks.

P.S: Oh, did I mention Gurkha was still wearing the same old highway truck tyre?



P.P.S: So why did it do so badly on the same hill in the initial offroad test drive in the first page, that one still puzzles me.

[4x4addict]

Wow. The engine torque and diff lockers definitely helped. I think all the dust thrown up from you CJ is due to the tires loosing traction and slipping. With front and back diffs locked, the Gurkha has equal amount of torque going to all four wheels and is able to climb without fuss. This vehicle definitely has potential. If only Force could put a decent interiors and improve their fit and finish, it will definitely be a good vehicle to consider.

I don't think you can get any lockers for Dana 44 with 19 spline. You will have to go for LSDs.The auburn gear unit that Arka has on his 540 seems to be performing very well. I have picked up the same for my mm540.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by A.P.S.Grewal

Gurkha on work
And makes me ever more confident

Beautiful pictures, Grewal Saabh. If i am not mistaken, you're working with Tribune, aren't you? Nakai Bai from Patiala seemed to mention you pretty often.

Where were the pictures taken by the way? Is it next to the Baddi road behind Nayagao, or is it the Morni side?