Team-BHP - Mahindra Thar revealed at Autoexpo 2010

Dear all - from the time that I returned from the Bangalore OTR, I have been continuously travelling. The best part of my travel was was that it was with the Thar. This was somewhere in central India for 7 days. As I am not much of a photographer, I really did not bother taking photographs. However, I would love to see any "scoop" pictures taken by a fellow TeamBHPian (if he would have been able to keep up, that is)! :D. Wow, what a trip! I really enjoyed it. This is just for your information.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

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Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM (Post 1714765)

Dear Mr. Behram,
Welcome back we all have been missing you and now get ready for the question round/ s.
Regards,

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Originally Posted by 4x4addict (Post 1709287)

If the Thar sells in enough numbers and there is no factory hard top or if Mahindra customization is too expensive, myself and Kurian from Road and Track maybe interested in offering a fiberglas top roughly along the lines of what has been done on my jeep.

For my jeep the windshield frame and B-Pillar was lowered but for the thar we will design one that can be bolted on to the existing vehicle as it is without any tinkering work. Final design will be done only after I can get my hands on the Thar. The idea is to make it a removable fiberglass top which has two sections. Since the cost of making the mould is high, we plan to proceed only if there is enough interest.

A little OT here but can you design a rear wiper for the Bolero just like you have for your MM540 (I presume it is that)

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Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM (Post 1714765)

The phrase in brackets suggests that you were driving Thar, would love to know your comments and experience.
How does Thar handle at high speeds, high speed turns and high speeds on rough roads?? Please talk to us Mr. Behram.

Dear GrayBerry and all - I drove the Thar in Madhya Pradesh for 7 days. On road - I touched 147 kmph and then restrained myself, otherwise it was still going further. The acceleration is very good and it pushes you against the seat. Braking is also very effective. There is no body roll as the car is not top heavy (it was a soft top with superstructure and canopy). I could conduct single / double lane change manoeuvres with full confidence (it is required for overtaking on our highways where slow drivers insist on continuing to drive in the right lane only, you can only pity them). All in all, on the road, it feels like a "lightened" Scorpio in totality (this was expected, as it is a Scorpio in disguise). Off road - I went in similar terrain as in the Jeep Thrills event but it was dry. As an abundant safety precaution, I engaged 4WD low and descended into a ditch. The front bumper was almost touching the terrain. I was keeping the IFS on the rocks by the side (in leaf spring vehicle also, I would have done the same). I could come out of all ditches without any problem and also without touching any underbody parts but I had to do it very slowly, thinking and acting all the time, sometimes reversing a very small distance to be able to put the wheels exactly where I wanted them. During these reversing manoeuvres, power steering was a great asset to me. The rack and pinion did its job perfectly. There was no lag, there were no effort spikes, nothing. At one time, a rock touched the tyre during static steering, so I backed out by around a foot or so to relieve the unnecessary pressure off the steering system and continue on my way. I do not believe in doing anything which can harm my vehicle when I drive offroad. It is just not worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed, because that is what I went offroad for in the first place.

My driver picked me up from the airport and dropped me to the airport. He drove the car from Nasik to MP and back to Nasik. He loved it too. He told me today that he wants to drive Thar always.clap:.

Well guys, my next trip? Somewhere in India, very exciting with very different terrain. When? Very very soon. Where? Start guessing! :).

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

MAHINDRA THAR - "GO ANYWHERE"

Quote:

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM (Post 1717505)

Well guys, my next trip? Somewhere in India, very exciting with very different terrain. When? Very very soon. Where? Start guessing! :).

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

MAHINDRA THAR - "GO ANYWHERE"

Sir, Iam happy you are enjoying your creation so much!! Now about your next rip to a different terrain- I think it is rajasthan for MGE. Right?

If not on any other terrain Thar will be in its elements on sand purely because of its power. Expect it to make climbs where all other non CRdi M&M's struggle and loose power towards the top of the dune.

Other than sand and higway IMO even today the good old jeep will largely do what ever a Thar can.

Now may i ask you to post some pics of your offroad testing mule?:D

Mr. Dhabhar there's one issue which I feel needs to be addressed before the car is released. The routing of the silencer exposes the box (cat?) to damage in no time offroad considering its midway, considerably lower than the chassis sections. It will the first element to attest to the car's ramp breakover angle !! :D

I think with the right bends the box can be moved up marginally and given a hard metal shield to protect it further

Ideally if you are planning on releasing the car with MLD do please endow the car with atleast 220mm GC. Perhaps taller tyres? if not a suspension lift kit?

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Originally Posted by DKG (Post 1717545)

I agree, infact every one showed the obvious to Mr behram on that day of OTR in Bangalore. Would be nice if M&M does something to re-route it to avoid damage. I dont know how much pain/ delay you may have to take to re-route the exhaust and send the vehicle back to validation and all but i think it is worth it even if the vehicle gets delayed slightly.

We can re-route the silencer after market but we know we would be altering engine characterstics and may end up polluting environment in the process by removing cat con. Paying 7 lakhs on road we would not like to feel guilty of polluting environment for our hobby which most of us are doing as we dont have a choice.

Again as i said would love to see a low cost solid axle 4wd version of this vehicle. That would be a true Jeep- Would be a dream come true in real sense.:)

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Originally Posted by vinod_nookala (Post 1717592)

Paying 7 lakhs on road we would not like to feel guilty of polluting environment for our hobby which most of us are doing as we dont have a choice.

Again as i said would love to see a low cost solid axle 4wd version of this vehicle. That would be a true Jeep- Would be a dream come true in real sense.:)

Vinod: 7 Lakhs is STEEP for that vehicle IMO. Come on, I understand your feelings but think about us man!

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Originally Posted by DKG (Post 1717545)

DKG, i can enunciate what will happen to the product just by changing to a higher profile tire. Bigger tire->Change in ride height settings, Change in wheel alignment and tire life, Undue stresses to height control arm of torsion bar, Clearance of tires with fender/fender extensions,Calibration of data set for new dynamic rolling radius, Emission tests with this tire,Pass by noise tests,Steering effort tests,coefficient of rolling resistance with new tire, New instrument cluster from pricol, validation, these are just to name a few i can go on and on, GC of a car is decided in the very preliminary stage of any project, you can imagine what will happen if you try tampering with GC at this stage.

Spike