Mahindra Thar : Test Drive & Review

[discoverwild]

Found a maroon Thar near my house on Sengupta Street, Ram Nagar, Coimbatore near the new Accessory store 'Third Space', late in the evening. Unfortunately I was driving the other way and couldn't check it out.

Any Coimbatore BHPians?

[somubj]

Wifey saw beige Thar at brigade road yesterday (Pain in U, yours?), she liked the looks and gave a green signal! Going for a test drive tomorrow .. Shireesh motors at Yelahanka. If all goes well, then might book it :-).

[discoverwild]

An update on my experience so far

With no other alternative, I decided that it would have to be the Thar MDi for me.

I emailed Vinod Nookala yesterday regarding the availability of the Thar in Coimbatore in 4x4 guise. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply within a few hours from Vinod and putting me onto Pradeep. Pradeep meantime had arranged for the CAI Mahindra showroom to get in touch with me. Shibu from CAI called up this morning and told me that he would check the stockyard for a 4x4 and by the afternoon came back with news of its non-availability. He promised to inform me the moment one lands up to be delivered.

Later this afternoon, Kathiravan from CAI again called up to confirm whether Shibu had informed me of the status and since I was a bit worried about me fitting in the front seat comfortably, offered to drive the 2WD MDi to my place for me to check it out. This has been a great experience so far and I thank the entire Mahindra team, Vinod in particular, for making my day. Keep up the good work, guys.

I will be checking out the MDi on Monday. Meantime, just to keep you guys informed, the delivery period for the 4x4 is around 3 months.

[vinayvtec]

Originally Posted by somubj

Wifey saw beige Thar at brigade road yesterday (Pain in U, yours?), she liked the looks and gave a green signal! Going for a test drive tomorrow .. Shireesh motors at Yelahanka. If all goes well, then might book it :-).

@ Somubj: what time was it? I pass though that road every day, and the color what I have is same

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - Now that the vehicle is in the market, I am delighted to post two photographs of our R&D EP2, the second engineering prototype Thar CRDe LHD vehicle. This vehicle was made for Europe Homologation. This photograph was taken in the courtyard of Bai Ratanbai Jamshedji Edulji Chinoy Dar-E-Meher, the Parsi Fire Temple (or "Agiary" as we call it) in Devlali. Devlali is an army cantonment township around 22 kms away from Nasik plant. The team from left to right is Behram Dhabhar / Vijay Waghmare / Bochak Bali / APS Rao / Padmesh Sewda (sitting) / Amol Wagh / Indranil Paul (sitting) / Kapil Dubey and Pratheesh Raveendran who you all know as "Spike".

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[somubj]

Originally Posted by vinayvtec

@ Somubj: what time was it? I pass though that road every day, and the color what I have is same

Should be some 7:30pm, it was on Church street to be precise.


Went for the test drive today, they have an MH registered black colored thar. It had some 6k on odo.

I totally ignored the fit and finish part, i can fix that later when i buy it. What i noticed was the unusual body roll. Left door opener was broken (someone on the forum also mentioned that they also lost the left door opener in a couple of days after purchase?).

The soft top was not similar to what i had earlier seen on a demo thar. This one had a synthetic material like finish while the one i saw earlier had a fabric finish.

Above 100, the steering wheel was wobbling along with the front tyres. I guess there was some issue with the balancing on this one?

Engine is super smoot and so are the gears and steering wheel. Stering is even lighter than my swift.

Dealer said ac installation will cost around 30k and only compressor (? or condensor?) is required, blower and pipes are already there.

Bookings are not open right now and they will resume in a month (as per the dealer) and the delivery will take another two.

All flaws ignored, i am going for one as soon as the bookings resume.

There is another rider from my wifey though .. i need to loose some weight and look fit again if i need the thar and i have one month to prove my devotion towards gym :-). Anything for the thar!

[cpbopanna]

@somubj: I was downing a glass of lassi when I saw your caption/signature "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
I spluttered, the lassie was all over my laptop.
What you say is very true, its seldom you see people taking a stand.
Most of us prefer sitting on the fence, I guess it's quite comfortable out there (quite unwary of the consequences)!!

@mods: If you find my entry inappropriate, kindly delete it, its just a thought that crossed my mind!

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by somubj

What i noticed was the unusual body roll. Left door opener was broken (someone on the forum also mentioned that they also lost the left door opener in a couple of days after purchase?).

I too noticed the same unusual body roll when i drove one. it is because the front suspension is very rigid and rear is not. And the right door opener was broken in the THAR which i drove. noticed when i was getting down from the vehicle. i had to roll down the window and open it from outside. and it was a brand NEW vehicle. The plastics in my 88 JEEP is far better.

[Jaggu]

@Star: ^^ You mean front is soft and rear rigid right?

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by star_aqua

I too noticed the same unusual body roll when i drove one. it is because the front suspension is very rigid and rear is not.

Star, are you sure if it is the case?

Spike

[somubj]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Star, are you sure if it is the case?

Spike

At-least i am not sure why it is so, any details?

Driving in a straight line was fun, i could easily accelerate it to 100. While turning at signals, i could feel the roll. On bumpy roads, suspensions had a feedback which felt like a nudge, enough to make one unstable while driving.

Also, i believe that thar needs wider shoes to enhance the stance.

[manolin]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear all - Now that the vehicle is in the market, I am delighted to post two photographs of our R&D EP2, the second engineering prototype Thar CRDe LHD vehicle. This vehicle was made for Europe Homologation. This photograph was taken in the courtyard of Bai Ratanbai Jamshedji Edulji Chinoy Dar-E-Meher, the Parsi Fire Temple (or "Agiary" as we call it) in Devlali. Devlali is an army cantonment township around 22 kms away from Nasik plant. The team from left to right is Behram Dhabhar / Vijay Waghmare / Bochak Bali / APS Rao / Padmesh Sewda (sitting) / Amol Wagh / Indranil Paul (sitting) / Kapil Dubey and Pratheesh Raveendran who you all know as "Spike".

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Just curious and seriously OT; I thought non-parsi's are not allowed into fire temples. Otherwise I would have loved to step into fire temples in bombay in the years I spent there

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Manolin - you are correct. We are in the compound of the fire temple, you can see the actual gate below the "asho farohar" or the "flying horse" motif. That's the actual fire temple. In the compound anybody is allowed. In fact the old gardener who grows these lovely roses is a maharashtrian. Here's one more photograph of me the typical Bawaji (Parsi) standing with the Thar LHD, wearing the quintessential cap and all. .

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[vinayvtec]

Originally Posted by star_aqua

I too noticed the same unusual body roll when i drove one. it is because the front suspension is very rigid and rear is not. And the right door opener was broken in the THAR which i drove. noticed when i was getting down from the vehicle. i had to roll down the window and open it from outside. and it was a brand NEW vehicle. The plastics in my 88 JEEP is far better.

I had mentioned in the thread earlier, the suspension what they are giving is no good. You need to at least shell out 40 grand for a decent suspension and if you can spend some more, then you can get amazing one. I have got a OE replacement which is decent for street & the off road use, depending on how the Thar will behave, will be planning the future upgrades. Still have few issue with Thar, trying to get that fixed. But my serious suggestion for all the Thar owners, keep a check on the engine bay regularly you may find oil & coolant spilled.

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by vinayvtec

Still have few issue with Thar, trying to get that fixed. But my serious suggestion for all the Thar owners, keep a check on the engine bay regularly you may find oil & coolant spilled.

Could you please point out where exactly the oil was leaking from? i suspect it was same with Abhishek's THAR where the water mixed up with the engine oil.

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Star, are you sure if it is the case?

Spike

Spike, i drove it in munnar ghat roads. when taking turns, it was something different to any other cars. at least i would be able to guess how it behaves in other cars while taking turns, but with this one i couldn't. initially i thought it should behave like a scorpio, but no it was different. why i felt the front is rigid because vehicle orientation (east-west) was totally based on the front wheels. say if i went over small hump on one side, when front passes thru, the vehicle lifts and when rear passes thru it wont.