[nitro.1000bhp]

is'nt the exhaust kind of low ?? wont it be the 1st thing to contact the ground before the frame does? Is Mahindra recruiting its designers from charminar, tacky is an understatement when describing it.

[Jaggu]

LOL i aint any heavy weight at anything, shoot the questions and ill try my level best to answer it.

What is planned for now?

Well nothing, thats what the M&M official whom we met in the morning said. Then we had the opportunity to catch up with the lil birdie to whose credits this creation goes. He quenched a bit of our inquisitive minds.

Launch etc.
- Vehicle is right now made for Exports
- The debate of India launch is very strong and movements happening inside for the same
- The certification process will definitely take couple of months, since the final specification are yet to be finalized
- 2 versions as of now planned. a) no frills base version with just power steering. b) fully loaded version
- Indicative price suggestion is lil ABOVE 6 lakh ex shoroom for base version
- 2 wheel city slicker option also came into discussion??

Vehicle bits
- Engine and tranny kind of finalized
- Diff's are still being debated and this is why M&M was keen to hear from us
- Customization at dealer end will be the key word here, rather the USP. And this is NOT cosmetics (phew!). Hard top including, though we never got a very clear cut as to HT will happen

My perspective
- Its a potent package well conceived within the strict limitations which guide vehicle manufacturing
- Engine is just so sweet! really the sound itself is so awe inspiring!
- GC is a big issue, options are limited and can become an issue with SERIOUS & EXTREME OFFROADING
- Pricing is the key, if the bare bone model is gonna be priced at 6+ ex-showroom sticker, this is gonna be just another classic tragedy! Though many level headed and certain over enthusiastic crowd debated this with me. I fail to see big numbers on a month on month basis in India if at this price level.

Please shoot more questions and we shall debate after a short break!

ps: Samurai offroad experts never got any real chance to check out the vehicle on OFFROAD! i think this time you need to rely on me! jaaaaaast kidding again!

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - first of all, I would like to thank all the Jeep Thrills members for the absolutely wonderful, informative and result oriented time I had in Chikballapur, Bangalore yesterday. I will give a small writeup. We (means I and one of my Thar project engineers), took a morning flight out of Mumbai and reached a hotel on the outskirts of Bangalore. Vinay was waiting for us. We travelled a couple of kilometers on the highway and then left the road. We caught up with the convoy which was making its way through wonderful terrain. Arka and I recognized each other and we finally met. Arka was like a very caring but a no-nonsense headmaster, carefully guiding each vehicle through the terrain very nicely. I particularly loved his comment "cool off, go back, relax and then try". This put many participants at ease and they found the correct way to tackle obstacles without damaging their vehicles. Thanks Arka, that's the right thing to do. Then we started walking amongst the convoy. Our M&M team led by my colleague Naresh Bhosle was doing a fine jod of helping the participants. Naresh, Karle, Sawant and others were thoroughly enjoying their job, which is essential for success. I met UBS Sir, which was pure nirvana for me. He was just standing quietly, a picture of simplicity, integrity and class. A softly spoken word, a comment on off road driving there was a delight to hear. I met DKG, Vivek, Vinod Nookala, Jaggu, Shahnawaz Khan, Dwarak, Swastikviji and many other Team BHPians (sorry I cannot remember all names). Guys, we all have the same spark in us, therefore it was so wonderful to interact with you all. We had a quick lunch on a huge rock and then we continued further. I eventually got behind the wheel of an MM540 with Vinod (it had to happen) and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it "Great Escape" ishtyle. We got a little lost for sometime but quickly found our way back, thanks to the very efficient and helpful team of Jeep Thrills marshals, recognizable in their bright green tee shirts. The convoy had stopped slightly before the night halt point (where the Thar was located) due to a very deep ditch which had to be negotiated. There was this very down to earth CJ340 standing at the head of the convoy and I was requested to take it across. Well, what more could I ask for? A quick flick into low range, a small backup to detemine the exact startup point, a good startup in second, up into third and that was that. No sliding, no slipping, no fuss, no nothing. I just went across and parked on the other side. Then the convoy came with some guys asking "you went through "that"? Yes, because all of us know that nothing stops a CJ340 off road, nothing. Then we took this vehicle down the lakeside upto the regrouping point. At one point, I was tilting to one side, very close to the water. I remembered the paragraph written in the brown coloured original CJ3B manual on side tilt with the possibility of tipping over and immediately corrected the stance, headed up a hill and immediately down the other side. I salute whoever wrote that manual, maybe before I was born. I used it once more yesterday. As we expected, the CJ340 revelled in its element and we enjoyed every moment of it. I will leave it to Vinod to post his detailed comments about this drive. We reached the regrouping point where everybody wanted to know everything about the Thar.

The Thar - it was kept covered inside a well laid out shamiana. I cannot explain the feeling of happiness that I got when we finally opened the shamiana for all to see and feel it. Thanks Jeep Thrills guys for making this moment in my life possible. I will remember and cherish this moment forever. I hope someone would have taken a photograph. Please post it. I shall keep it forever. We had very good and informative discussions around the vehicle and then it was time for me to leave for the airport.

A very genial gentleman dropped me upto the departure gate in his bright red CL340 classic. His car was complete with the black original soft top and wire wheels. His question to me was "Behram, this thing does not go fast on the highway. There is this company in the US selling overdrives, what do I do?". Well, I just smiled and told him, you guessed right - "Sirji, just buy the Thar.". 120+ kms/hr cruiseability on road, handling to shame many passenger cars and loads of torque for sensible use off road, built on a customizable platform. What more do you want? Also, never ever sell your CL340" His smile said it all. Thank you Sir!

The flight left Bangalore airport on time but hovered over Mumbai for an hour before finally landing (some things never change).

A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. THANK YOU JEEP THRILLS. THANK YOU ALL.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

MAHINDRA THAR - GO ANYWHERE!

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

MAHINDRA THAR - GO ANYWHERE!

Dear Dhabhar Sir,

I did not know that you were at the lunch site . Too bad I missed to talk to you...

To comment on your above point - I cant wait for Arka to get out of bangalore and get back to his computer in Chennai

Here Arka was shouting on top of his voice a la-politician style - "Do you now realize why a SOLID Axle is better than a IFS", I will post a better pic of this exact moment once I get back home. A scorpio had great difficulty in crossing this very rocky obstacle, and took lot of bangs on the suspension-arm. But it crossed over at last...

Ps - Kudos to you for coming over on a very tight agenda in 1day. Looking forward to the next OTR and hoping you will be driving a ARAI/CMVR approved for India Thar very soon.

[Sankar]

6 lacs+ for base version ex-showroom??
Then its gonna be another yuppie mobile.

[Baburajs]

Hello BEHRAM sir ,

It was nice and very informative chatting with you after the OTR. We the first group was very lucky to finish the OTR and have a chat with Behram sir before he left to the Airport. It was very informative session and allayed some of the fears of Jeepers community but not all.

He informed us how the business works and how much customizable Thar was ( But I dont know how much economically viable they are ) . But one thing is for sure. If you want you can make Thar a rather potent Off Roading machine. But you will need quite an amount of Vitamin M for that which people like me will find wanting.

[kavesh55]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

. At one point, I was tilting to one side, very close to the water. I remembered the paragraph written in the brown coloured original CJ3B manual on side tilt with the possibility of tipping over and immediately corrected the stance, headed up a hill and immediately down the other side. I salute whoever wrote that manual, maybe before I was born. I used it once more yesterday.

Dear Behram- A good memory as always. Would be lucky if i remember atleast half of whatever im doing now. Any pics of the Thar and the Action.

[JackSparrow]

I guess over 6L for the base model is a bit too much, I've expected it to be in the 5L to 6L range. I guess I'll consider buying the THAR if the higher end is well priced(less than 7L).

[COUGAR]

I am one of those, maybe the minority, who was dissapointed with the Thar. It seems like a hot-potch of parts picked up from various models in the Mahindra family of products and looks like that. Added to that is the pricing: way too high and premium priced for the market in question. If it was priced at something similar to the Invader or slightly higher, then it may have found a market. Now i am not too sure.

I for one will wait for the company to introduce the replacement for the Major: lower priced and overall a proven platform. THe Major is too big a market for Mahindra to ignore and that segment will be orphaned without a replacement by April.

WOuldnt it have been better if Mahindra had refined the now discontinued Bolero Sportz and Invader platforms?

[Torque-ative]

The Thar is a fine examle of WIP (work in progress).
Excellent package for 6~ lacs IMO.

Need more GC though,...cant shout that enough !
A bare minimum of 225mm is needed for a vehicle of this potential to be used effectively off-road.

[nitrous]

Pricing is not bad. since this is a niche market with no competitors whatsoever.
Will make it pretty exclusive and will keep the Mahindra accountants happy.
After all, this won't sell over a 1000 units per month.

[pvrajan]

After seeing the thar and the trail in detail, here is my veiw

Good: engine and shape
Bad: Wheel articulation, clearance from the fendor, suspension
Ugly: pricing & pricing reasons

If M&M introduce the vehicle as it is (without the bling bling ofcourse) it will
still be a good vehicle, for soft ofroading, sand/beach going on to your coffee estate, etc

If anyone has any notion of taking this to a jeepthrills event (like the avalakonda event of yesterday/today) , pls be prepared to spend a lot of money in the *** after the OTR.
If you dont believe me, look at what happened to the bolero on that trail.

I got the impression that pricing of above 6L is kept there for a reason that is NOT to affect the sales of Bolero

[Samurai]

Behram, looking at some of the comments, I can't resist asking this question. You are the only person who has driven Thar off the road and seen yesterday's terrain.

If Thar was allowed to be driven yesterday, how do you think it would have performed in yesterday's terrain?

a) Completed with ease.
b) Completed with difficulty.
c) Failed to complete the event.

[Baburajs]

I will put it at b . Thats completed with difficulty . Only because of the protruding rocks that we had which is a cause of concern due to the GC of Thar. I believe one of the scorpios got stuck yesterday. (dont know how and why) .
Behram sir . Whats your opinion.

Babu

[Spitfire]

Did you guys drive it on the trail?