[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

A lot of seasoned off-roaders have sworn not to enter these publicity stunts at the expense of participants.

Me! Went for the first ever offroad competition they hosted and have never gone for another again.

Too many issues.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

I know. Thats why I said, "excursions" are fun. Plus, you went to a Media/Invite only event. Mahindra dare to mess this up.


Not TSD. Offroading. Anyone who has been to it should agree, I guess.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Me! Went for the first ever offroad competition they hosted and have never gone for another again.

Too many issues.

Alert.

Mahindra excursions and drives are very good and are well organised, period! Especially the longer escapes, they treat you like royalty and take care of you very well. I have been to few of these fun events and i can vouch they are as professional as it gets, and engage with the industry bests to provide their customers the best of experiences. Was fairly reasonably priced also.

Now coming to competition, first of all the concept started off as something for their Thar customers (when Thar was launched) but eventually it was opened up (to others with Mahindra vehicles) for making offroad bigger and better (which they did infact), and there started the issues. Local clubs and professional (non-hobby offroader rather) started taking over, and amateur Thar owners became more of spectators. Now it is a known fact that even across clubs and individuals, the debates still rages on about unified rules and regulations. Mahindra adds to this confusion by staying away and following their own set of rules (fair enough since it is their money their rules, take it or leave it). They are tweaking here and there but still long way to go.

What do you expect then? Similar to any local "GoMpatition" aka competition events, Mahindra ones are also heavy on controversies.

Now as far as i know Mahindra Adventure team tries to keep fun and competition separate, by having Day 1 usually tagged as fun trail drive and day 2 for regional competition rounds. Sadly only the hardcore guys participate in day 2 and they land up in national finals and the big circus afterwards. My only advice is to partner with right folks, adapt widely accepted event rules to minimise the so called controversies. Limit the tweaking only to accommodate safety needs and make it a very objective system.

Anyways we are way out of topic here by getting the fun and competition stuff mixed up in this fun thread...

Immy glad that you liked it, see if you can enroll in the next local hyderabad event with family. They do have an option to rent Thar's, it would be worth the fun.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Mahindra excursions and drives are very good and are well organised, period! Especially the longer escapes, they treat you like royalty and take care of you very well. I have been to few of these fun events and i can vouch they are as professional as it gets, and engage with the industry bests to provide their customers the best of experiences. Was fairly reasonably priced also.

Must be. Haven't attended any.

Now coming to competition, first of all the concept started off as something for their Thar customers (when Thar was launched) but eventually it was opened up (to others with Mahindra vehicles) for making offroad bigger and better (which they did infact), and there started the issues.

Nope. From day 1 it was open to all Mahindra 4x4 vehicles.

Mahindra adds to this confusion by staying away and following their own set of rules

Problem is that they are not transparent and points given are arbitrary.

(fair enough since it is their money their rules, take it or leave it)

Would be fair if they didn't charge so much. If you charge upwards of 10k then the rules better be fair.

What do you expect then? Similar to any local "GoMpatition" aka competition events, Mahindra ones are also heavy on controversies.

A company needs more credibility me thinks. Should not compare themselves to local comps.

There is no doubt MM has been a pioneer in this field by starting the MGEs which were great fun till it became a mela (the traffic jams!) and i will always give them credit where it is due.

However, they haven't listened to the community regarding scoring and implemented changes. Do this and they will have a winner on their hands.

In fact this last finals was the first time since inception that there was not a single controversial post in the open (that I'm aware of atleast).

So probably a little more push should set them right.

Cheerio. No more OT for me.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

:Now it is a known fact that even across clubs and individuals, the debates still rages on about unified rules and regulations.

No need for unified rules & regulations. They just need to be clear and transparent. Eg: You are given an obstacle - Total Points 100. Ask the organisers how to get full points? They dont have an answer. The score is left to the marshals decision, on very unclear factors about how you drive, etc..etc..

Technically, they should tell you how to get full points, and if you follow it, you should get it. Otherwise, its just useless scoring.

What do you expect then? Similar to any local "GoMpatition" aka competition events, Mahindra ones are also heavy on controversies.

Jaggu, comparing local competitions to a competition conducted by one of India's largest manufacturers? Sadly, some of the start-stop "local" competitions are better.

Anyways we are way out of topic here by getting the fun and competition stuff mixed up in this fun thread...

My comment on this thread, only because of a slight hope that Mahindra "might" take note. Since they have all the raw infrastructure, it'd be really great if they implement it right.

[Pontiac]

Sorry if this one's a bit off topic. On one of the photos, I see a glimpse of a modified thar with what it seems like a 35" tires on (Two boys taking selfies on it). I don't see it anywhere else. Do you have any pictures of it. I am keen to know if there are dealers who does this kind of modification other than Mahindra customization itself. (they seems to be way expensive).

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Pontiac

Sorry if this one's a bit off topic. On one of the photos, I see a glimpse of a modified thar with what it seems like a 35" tires on (Two boys taking selfies on it). I don't see it anywhere else. Do you have any pictures of it. I am keen to know if there are dealers who does this kind of modification other than Mahindra customization itself. (they seems to be way expensive).

Yup. A lot of after market support for the Thar. Ton's of them, literally. Some of them much better than what you get from the dealers.

The Thar you saw was the daybreak edition IIRC. Which was done from the factory, and Mahindra has been driving/showing it around everywhere as a super offroader, which I doubt.

What exactly are you looking for?

[Pontiac]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Yup. A lot of after market support for the Thar. Ton's of them, literally. Some of them much better than what you get from the dealers.

The Thar you saw was the daybreak edition IIRC. Which was done from the factory, and Mahindra has been driving/showing it around everywhere as a super offroader, which I doubt.

What exactly are you looking for?

I would only need to put on a 35" with the minimum lift required. Maybe a 2" just to make the 35" work. The thar as is, is very good looking and I would not want to ruin it by cheap plastics.

[alphadog]

Thank you very much for this post and the pictures.
It does seem like a good place to get started, once the off-roading bug bites you.
I have a Mahindra MM 550 myself and I am itching to get started with off-roading. Will be looking out for the next great escape down south.
Pictures of the modified Thars were yummy.
Surprised that there were no AWD XUVs; did this occur to you and if so did the organisers have an explanation to this?.

Cheerio!

[bblost]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Surprised that there were no AWD XUVs; did this occur to you and if so did the organisers have an explanation to this?.

Cheerio!

No. The beautiful Thar's had me blinded.
In hindsight this is something I should have asked. But being a private event with the focus on newbie's getting the taste of off roading, I can understand the preference for the cheaper Thar's and Scorpios.