[AVR]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Whatever said and done, the joy of buying a spanking new jeep from showroom does excite your senses or what?!

<Bite's his fingers hard to get back to reality>

Agreed. I think there's a void in terms of not getting to do it up yourself that is taking time to accept! There are no drastic "Before" and "After" pictures either!

Probably Mahindra should invite each owner to the Assembly line and involve them in some work so that they feel they got to do it up!

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

I appreciate the patience shown by Mr. Behram Dhabar(+ Spike) with the eggs and brickbats thrown at them, with even some 'esteemed' members doubting their initiative to engage the 4x4 enthusiasts in the development of a new product.

Kuttapan chetta (big brother), actually we get rotten eggs and tomatoes here. So everything else seems very miniscule. "Hamaare maharathiyon ke saamne baaki sab bachche hain" (when compared to insiders outsiders are lot friendly). We know what we go through!

Originally Posted by ex670c

Hi DB Sir & Spike,

I was wondering what is the unprepared fording depth for the Thar CRDe?

And Since this is a 4WD for outdoor use, it would be useful.

something on the lines of

Offroad > Highlights > The Touareg. > Models > Welcome to Volkswagen Lebanon.

Regards,

Arka

Arka, I am surprised to see your query on the Thar CRDe thread. I guess this query would have come on the Thar DI thread as you are seriously contemplating on the DI version. BTW, what is the fording depth for MM 550 XD (stock)?

Spike

PS- I have the answer for your question but will refrain myself from answering, as it will instigate you to pull my legs again.

[ex670c]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Arka, I am surprised to see your query on the Thar CRDe thread. I guess this query would have come on the Thar DI thread as you are seriously contemplating on the DI version. BTW, what is the fording depth for MM 550 XD (stock)?

Spike

PS- I have the answer for your question but will refrain myself from answering, as it will instigate you to pull my legs again.

Hi Spike,

I'm seriously contemplating neither.

As for a bone stock MM540 it will be below the headlights or mid-way of the radiator Grille (depending on the Tyre) 300-400mm atleast.

Regards,

Arka

[Parm]

guys who are confusing a 4x4 offroad vehicle with a mall vehicle SUV, please dont do so!

because a 4x4 offroad vehicle is purely an OTR vehicle, where as you can take you SUV to mall and cant follow a 4x4 offroad vehicle offroad!

Seriously Unaffordable Vehicle!

all those who cant call their vehicle as JEEP, named them SUV!

anyway coming back to the topic, i would say that the initial release of Thar CRDe would be in limited numbers of around 50-100 Thars to get the feedback (success or failure) from the market and the would influence the further product of the CRDe.

i would not like to see it going the Classic or Legend way, or else it would be the final nail in the coffin for the 4x4 offroad OTR vehicle in india!

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Parm

all those who cant call their vehicle as JEEP, named them SUV!

Lol M&M also can't call Thar a JEEP, it also has to use jeep or SUV License issue! Totally different discussion, lets not go there now!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Xinger

Surprising the TBHP was not the first with it

We aren't the first with ANY new car review and honestly, couldn't care less about it. Remember, quality takes time. We follow a fanatically structured, well-researched approach...which I trust shows in all of our official reviews.

[chaudhrysan]

Originally Posted by manasm

We have spoken to an IIT professor and he says it is very doable - only thing is the interior finish will not be the same as the pics as only one side (the outside) of the part touches the mold for a clean smooth finish. We will have to look at options of foam or felt padding for the inside so it will look like a regular car roof. Suggestions welcome.
Manas

I assume you are thinking of fibreglass moulding. If you see the pictures of the Rubicon hardtop you posted earlier, the panels are not one part but two parts moulded seperately and then joined together ( i.e. an inside panel and an outside panel). You can do the same in fibre glass, mould an inside panel and an outside panel and then join/glue them together. Both inside and outside finish smoothness can be achieved, plus overall strength and rigidity will be greately improved. Offcourse, the pricing will go up.

[manasm]

Originally Posted by chaudhrysan

I assume you are thinking of fibreglass moulding. If you see the pictures of the Rubicon hardtop you posted earlier, the panels are not one part but two parts moulded seperately and then joined together ( i.e. an inside panel and an outside panel). You can do the same in fibre glass, mould an inside panel and an outside panel and then join/glue them together. Both inside and outside finish smoothness can be achieved, plus overall strength and rigidity will be greately improved. Offcourse, the pricing will go up.

We had originally looked at fibreglass or FRP, but are looking at alternative composites now. I don't think fibreglass/FRP will be good enough...maybe too brittle. Want to withstand a coconut falling on it from a tree without cracking.

We also want to keep it single panel otherwise the costs will not work. We are looking at how thick we can make it as well as how we can insulate the inside to reduce noise and gaps for wind etc. Lets see...still more research to be done.

If costs work out, would love to be able to get it into market, otherwise it will be just a project which we will use on the Thar that my friend plans to buy.

[Xinger]

Originally Posted by GTO

Remember, quality takes time.

Absolutely. What I felt was considering the deep TBHP-Thar association, we might have had access to the production models before anybody else! Anyway, waiting for the in-depth TBHP review.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by ex670c

As for a bone stock MM540 it will be below the headlights or mid-way of the radiator Grille (depending on the Tyre) 300-400mm atleast.

300-400 mm from where?

Spike

[chaudhrysan]

Originally Posted by manasm

We had originally looked at fibreglass or FRP, but are looking at alternative composites now. I don't think fibreglass/FRP will be good enough...maybe too brittle. Want to withstand a coconut falling on it from a tree without cracking.

We also want to keep it single panel otherwise the costs will not work. We are looking at how thick we can make it as well as how we can insulate the inside to reduce noise and gaps for wind etc. Lets see...still more research to be done.

If costs work out, would love to be able to get it into market, otherwise it will be just a project which we will use on the Thar that my friend plans to buy.

Manasm, fibreglass is just the reinforcement to the resin. FRP has been used for body panels earlier and is not brittle. What other alternate composites are you looking at. Ones that come to my mind, Kevlar and Carbon fibre, are quite expensive. Using them exclusively can increase your cost 3 to 4 times. Since you will be doing multi layer moulding for this kind of a project, using a layer or 2 of these materials along with fibreglass will give you the desired level of strength without sky rocketing the cost.

The reason I suggested a 2 panel design was for rigidity, else you may encounter sagging problems in the roof panel. Even in sheet metal panels, we use 2 layer design to achieve the desired rigidity, the outside sheet conforms to the form factor while the inside one designed with ribs etc running in it to provide for rigidity.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

300-400 mm from where?

Spike

From ground i guess, thats how its measured right?

Reg the top, FRP with a rubber coating would be nice. Durability will be better and so would be the insulation and the looks.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Yeah, it is measured that way. If stock 5X0 had 300-400 mm, Thar is much higher. Having said that, a snorkel must come under the "To - do" list if serious water fording is expected.

Spike

[Jaggu]

Ok now tell me how does the sensors behave when submerged in water of this depth? Or atleast tell us how many of these sensors are there which needs to be taken care off

[Parm]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Lol M&M also can't call Thar a JEEP, it also has to use jeep or SUV License issue! Totally different discussion, lets not go there now!

jaagu saab, all i meant was that Thar is refered to as a JEEP and not a SUV!

anyway M&M has provided a basic factory fitted stock 4x4 in Thar CRDe avatar and now its upto the onwer to modify it as per the requirements or needs.

M&M discontinued the ROPLAS HT it use to provide in 540 and was never offered in Major. though i have seen few invaders with HT.

lets see what M&M comes up with for providing HT for CRDe and MDI.