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-   -   Review: The Force Gurkha 4x4 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-vehicles/153130-review-force-gurkha-4x4-19.html)

What are FWH used for ? I need it for that exact purpose.

It's not required. It makes little difference in these axle designs. Even if you got yourself one, you would find yourself driving mostly with them locked to prevent drying up and breakage eventually.

You might have had issues with them but I have used them on my gypsies, mahindras and lancruisers without any issues. Also I have experience in overhauling them and fixing when theres any problem.

I know you have the experience, from your old FJ thread. :)

What I am saying (from 5+ years of my experience) is that you won't need them on the Gurkha. I know how a MM5*0 drives with a locked axle, and I know how a Gurkha drives with a locked axle. In the latter, it's not worth the hassle. In any case, you should realize as much once you get the vehicle yourself.

I took an extensive TD of the Gurkha though this was my first interaction with it. I feel the gurkha needs FWH more than the rigid axle cars. Anyways its my own opinion and do not want to contest it.

After waiting a week for the price quote, I called up the local dealer to check what was the problem. To my utter surprise their response was only because theres no option of getting a 4+D seating they didnt call back. The Force sales also confirmed theres only option of 5+D from the company. Also said they are soon going to phase out the FM 2.2 across the whole range. A real dampener on my purchase.😒

The dealer in Mandi, H.P. told me the same thing 4 days ago. No FM2.2 in the Traveller soon, he says.

Seems our usual stellar Team-BHP intelligence network is coming up a bit short.
May the FORCE be with us, with a motor.

Traveller is already available with FM2.2, so don't know what he means? Did you mean Gurkha 4x4x4x4x4x4?

The dealer said that soon, the FM2.2 will not be used by FORCE at all. Traveller, Gurkha, inclusive.

These are the dealer's words, not mine, but they corroborate what DIESELHEAD has also said. Perhaps FORCE and Mercedes are having a spat. Or they are about to reaffirm their vows with something new?

Meanwhile FORCE marketing is upgrading the Gurkha name to Gurkha x where "x" is understood to be a random number of "4x4" iterations based on the ancient Harappan calendar. This marketing vector is hoped to appeal to any ancient Harappans lurking about.

agree:

It makes sense to avoid additional air ducts in the engine bay.

Force Gurkha price list has been updated after the hike in cess. Below are the prices for Delhi (ex-showroom) as per the official website.
Xplorer (3 door): 9,88,038
Xplorer (5 door): 11,90,117
Xpedition : 8,76,116

I along with my family took test drive of the new 3 door Gurkha Xplorer on the 9th of this month at Vishal Force, Dibrugarh.

The sales guy from Force Mr. Sayantan (7086090046) was pretty helpful & followed up with me through out since i put up my TD request on the force website. He explained all the features etc to us in details & replied to our queries quite patiently.

There was another person from Jorhat who had come for the TD. So myself with my family & the other person along with force guys took out the vehicle for TD & we took turns to drive the vehicle.

For TD we took the vehicle to a pretty rough stretch of road approx. 3 kms in length along the new Dibrugarh rail station. Rest of the TD was carried out on decent village roads & within the city. To set the record straight, by rough i mean the road had innumerable huge potholes filled to the brim with water (it was raining that day), most of which were pretty deep.

Confidence of the force guys on their vehicle was to be seen to be believed. That was quite reassuring.

Why Gurkha: We are form NE India & based near world famous Kaziranga & we travel quite frequently. Due to reasons not know to me, most roads in our part of India apart from the showcase lifelines are perennially in a state of repair. As one goes to interior places, condition worsens considerably. My wagonR sounds like a ringing bell nowadays even on smooth roads. So I need a low maintenance, cheap, reliable rough & tough beast with 4X4 capability with which I don’t need to care about road condition anymore, which can take me wherever I want. So Gurkha looks practical to me.

Now comes the initial impression on looks:

Externals: Looks good even with stock AT tyres & steel rims. Vehicle has to be seen in person. Most of the pics of the vehicle don't do justice to real smart upright look of the vehicle. Will post some pics taken during TD later in my next post.

Internals: Utility interiors put up without much homework & nothing much to speak of really. Cheap plastic shines through. Real downer. I was pretty excited about the vehicle till i saw the interiors. Now i can't make up my mind & my family is even less sure. For i am interested in the 5 door xplorer which with alloy wheels, maxxis tyres & some fancy accessories will turn me back by around 14 lacs. At 14 lacs, interior quality matters. I would have been happy with TATA Sumo or WagoR quality interiors also. I guess, i am not asking for much.

Seats: Front seats were decent & comfortable.

Feelings from driving seat: Driving postion is high up & good. View of the road from inside is commanding but feels truck like, almost intimidating for a person who has till now driven WagonR mostly. Even though the snorkel is fitted along the A pillar, view is not much obstructed. Had that back of the mind feeling that, it will not be as maneuverable as my little WagonR, the bulk may drag it some distance. Parking it may be pain in the congested city like Guwahati, Jorhat or Golaghat, which i frequently visit. Steering & gearing was pretty comfortable & soft.

Now coming back to the TD experience: The Gurkha gobbled up the pothole filled obstacles without breaking a sweat. We took it along the bad stretch not once but thrice & not at any moment, anyone of us even remotely felt that it may get stuck. Suspension was sweet & no noticeable discomfort was felt inside the cabin even on the bad stretch of the road. Although the suspension is sprung softly, i didn't notice much body roll but then vehicle was driven at speeds not exceeding 50 kmph all through out. Vehicle was easy to drive but intimidating nonetheless. NVH levels are quite low inside the cabin.

Regarding engine even though nos. are low on paper w.r.t. power & torque, at no point during the TD even when it was plunging & coming out of lunar size craters that I have described above the engine felt like under powered. Feeling was same while driving within the city roads.

The sales guy told us that the previous while travelling from Dibrugarh to Jorhat, they had driven the vehicle at speeds around 120 kmph for approx. 140 kms on mostly bad roads. I don’t know whether to believe him or not.

One peculiar thing I noticed was vibration of the steering wheel while driving. When I asked the sales guy he said that the previous day some novice took the vehicle out for TD at Jorhat & got it badly stuck at some obstacle, during repeated efforts to get the vehicle out, the wheel alignment got disturbed.

Another doubt is till now, I have seen some guys down south opting for the xpedition & xplorer 3 door, although sales nos. are still in single digits I suppose. But till date I have not come across any guy who has opted for the xplorer 5 door. That apart, low sales nos. donot really discourage me as I know that the vehicle can be driven for 10 years & upto 1 lac kms without any significant problems.

Exactly !!. Just a Sumo or Bolero type dash with proper placement of IP cluster and stereo would suffice. The RPM meter is in the center of the AC vents as an after thought.

I am sure none of us who are considering the Gurkha is expecting anything more. The latest Thar Dash is far ahead of the Gurkha dashboard. Force really needs to do something about the dash and center console.

I can concur with this. Suspension is outstanding and carries you in comfort in any kind of road conditions.

The engine is way more refined than the Thar and much more silent inside the cabin. This is probably that the hard top is better insulated than the softtop Thar.




The engine is designed to give a flat Torque curve from 1400 to 2400 rpm and at lower speeds/city driving there is no problem at all. However, with the 3200 rpm limit and lack of top end, it is a pain at highway speeds. As long as you keep it within 100 it is okay.


I am debating between the 3-Door vs 5-Door. Since I plan to keep my Thar, the 5-Door would have been more practical for me. However, the 6.25 meter turning radius or 12.5 meter diamter is way too much for a medium wheel base vehicle. The 3-Door does it in 5.65 meters. I don't understand why Force has had to maintain 6.25 for the 5-Door.

I used to have the older generation Ford Endeavour Thunder+ and it had a 12 meter turning diameter. It was a royal pain to manage the car in crowded cities and in hilly roads. This is the only reason, why I will not go for the 5-Door.

3 door all the way! why are you even debating :) The access anyways is much better than Thar to the rear with a proper door and hard top. At best you might want a foldable rear seat if you plan to go for front facing seats at rear.

It would be a deadly sales strategy to act unconfident, 'ay? They can afford to be confident. They aren't buying it.

Please know that a 4x4 needs more maintenance generally. This, of course, depends on usage and driving habits. But it is likely to require more maintenance especially in terms of suspension parts. Most of us expect this and we are okay with it.

You can't just go crashing thru bad roads and rutted, pot-holed surfaces just because you have one of these. They break just like Marutis do. A 4x4 will tend not to get stuck and it will give you a lot more traction than a small or mid-sized 4X2 but you can still easily break tie rods, ball joints, bushings if you just put the pedal to the medal, do jumps etc. I baby my 4X4, I ease it thru rough patches. It lasts longer that way.

Well, if they did I hope I am not the poor idiot that buys that one!
..although that would explain the vibration in the steering wheel, which is more than allignment, I think. Allignment problem would make the vehicle pull left or right. Vibration is probably something else, ball joint, tie rod.

If their staff treats their vehicles this way, I would buy from somebody else, and maybe pay the extra $$$ to have the vehicle delivered from the factory via truck. REALLY!! 120kph on a bad road for ONE KM is criminal! 140KM? And I surely would not buy that particular one!

Yes. This is one of the strong points of this vehicle IMHO. To me this strength greatly out weighs the maneuverability problems in tight places. I am considering buying one myself, having owned several 4X4 vehicles in my past.