[TusharK]

Scoop! Force Trax Toofan caught testing

Thanks to Harshal Naik for sending these images in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

The updated Trax Toofan by Force Motors has been spotted testing in Chinchwad near Pune.



The latest set of spy images suggest that the new Trax Toofan is likely to get revised tail lamp clusters. The test vehicle has black door handles and ORVMs and is also equipped with side steps. The boxy bodyshell of the Trax Toofan remains unchanged. However, the camouflage on the front suggests that it might get a redesigned front fascia.



According to media reports, the new model is likely to get BS-VI compliant engines. At present, the Trax Toofan is powered by a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine that produces 66 BHP @ 3,200 rpm and 175 Nm of torque @ 1,600-2,400 rpm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

Link to Team-BHP News

[discoverwild]

Must be one of the most uninspiring companies in the world. They haven't come up with a decent vehicle as yet. Even the Force Traveller runs an anemic engine with a lethargic gearbox for decades. The less said about the Gurkha, the better. We just hear of new models, never get to see them and all they do is cosmetic upgrades (if we could call it an upgrade).

It's 2019 and they are still churning out 66 BHP and 175 NM of torque out of a 2L engine?! My brother was a fan of the Trax, bought one and sold it in exactly 15 days of purchase, I think. The vehicle felt so disconnected.

[riteshritesh]

This vehicle isn't for Tbhp'ians for sure, but believe me when I say it has a huge demand in the interiors of Maharashtra.
Starting from Nhava Sheva all the way upto Satara, this is the only vehicle that is used to ferry people within the rural areas.
It has so much demand in the used market, that I had people lined up outside my office, offering a plus price on the earlier offer, when I listed my 13 seater for sale.
I had a harrowing experience maintaining the vehicle, but that was due to my driver's incompetence. It did around 3 lakh mileage, but still fetched me around 3 Lakhs for a 5 year old wagon.
Force seems to have clicked with the rural market with its low powered engine.

[Ahmed]

I recently purchased the FM2.2CR engine Tempo Traveller 3050 for my Blood Bank. It is a very decent engine from Mercedes and gone are the days with the lethargic engine and truck like gearbox. This engine churns out a decent 130hp/300Nm. I guess this is the same engine that is being used in the new Explorer. As mine is an LCV, there is a speed governor installed and the speed is locked at 80KMPH.

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

This vehicle isn't for Tbhp'ians for sure, but believe me when I say it has a huge demand in the interiors of Maharashtra.

They sell decently here too, usually as a luggage carrier for garment factories in Tirupur. Hardly as a rural people carrier though.

My point was only about how boring they are. Even Mahindra has upped its ante in the recent years which Force is still stuck wherever they begun.

Originally Posted by Ahmed

I recently purchased the FM2.2CR engine Tempo Traveller 3050 for my Blood Bank. It is a very decent engine from Mercedes and gone are the days with the lethargic engine and truck like gearbox. This engine churns out a decent 130hp/300Nm. I guess this is the same engine that is being used in the new Explorer.

The Merc-derived engine is the only saving grace for the company and they have had it for a while. We used to hire the Traveller for family outings and wildlife trips that we organized later. The gearing was so weird that either the Traveller would be a km behind my car or biting at the back dangerously. There was no middle path.

The Toofan still runs on the anemic engine and gearbox. Where's innovation? Hope they are at least planning a couple of airbags now.

[GTO]

If Force hadn't put any camouflage on the mule, I doubt anyone would've even noticed it.

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

It has so much demand in the used market, that I had people lined up outside my office, offering a plus price on the earlier offer, when I listed my 13 seater for sale.

thanks for sharing. Can you please tell us why you chose it over an equivalent Mahindra? Genuinely interested to know.

[riteshritesh]

Originally Posted by GTO

Can you please tell us why you chose it over an equivalent Mahindra?

Purely for 12 + D capacity. We are Customs Brokers and have a lot of field staff working at Nhava Sheva. The Trax would pick up staff from Dadar till Nhava Sheva, move around the Port Area and do a return journey.


Frankly speaking, there has been no logic in my purchase of the staff mover. I have been experimenting and started with a Mahindra MM540DP, some 20 years back. Then it was a Tata Sumo followed by a Mahindra Armada then again a Sumo Gold. The only criteria always has been 8+ D with no Air Conditioning. The no Aircon criteria is getting a bit difficult these days with lesser and lesser choices.

After selling the Trax, I haven't purchased a new staff vehicle,as many of them have shifted their residences near the Port and are happy with a 2 wheeler.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

Purely for 12 + D capacity.

The only criteria always has been 8+ D with no Air Conditioning. The no Aircon criteria is getting a bit difficult these days with lesser and lesser choices.

You must dislike your field staff

Seriously though, I have not seen or noticed this vehicle much other than in rural Maharashtra. I have even seen them on Karnataka highways, most likely loaded with a family and their luggage, having a great drive together on their way for holiday or pilgrimage.

Seems to be fit for the purpose, but I'd like to know more about the reliability and maintenance costs. Seems a fairly simple mechanical vehicle, and has a niche carved for itself.

[riteshritesh]

Originally Posted by VeluM

You must dislike your field staff.
But I'd like to know more about the reliability and maintenance costs.

Hahahaha. It was more to avoid the driver sleeping inside the car with AC on. When one is using the vehicle himself, it is fairly easy to keep a track of these things ( FE, Coolness inside when you come back to your car and other tell-tale signs), but an unattended vehicle is a 'Gas Guzzler'.


Coming to the reliability and maintenance cost, as I had mentioned above, I had a harrowing time with the Brakes on my vehicle.They would fail at times,so much so that the driver had knocked off a few villagers once, who in turn hammered the driver and the car along with him.

Now again this is all hearsay from the driver, who would complain that the Brakes aren't confident enough. The Authorised service people have tended to this complaint at each and every service and tried to rectify the problem by replacing everything and anything in the Brake assembly.

Apart from the Brake issue, there was no major complaint ever and the driver would say that other users never had this issue. Maybe we got a lemon.

A service at the Authorised station would be in the range of Rs 3000/- and would be done occasionally as there were many 'overly qualified mechanics' servicing Force vehicle near Nhava Sheva.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

It has so much demand in the used market, that I had people lined up outside my office, offering a plus price on the earlier offer, when I listed my 13 seater for sale.

Does this require LCV license to drive? If yes, then this will be LCV with maximum capacity of passengers. I believe the bigger Temp traveller would require HCV license. This could be one of the reasons for such a demand.

[tushky]

Few more spy shots

[wheelguy]

2020 Force Toofan MUV has been spotted on test with new updates.

Source: Motorbeam

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

This vehicle isn't for Tbhp'ians for sure, but believe me when I say it has a huge demand in the interiors of Maharashtra.
....
Force seems to have clicked with the rural market with its low powered engine.

Toofan is the pilgrimage vehicle of India IMO. I haven't been much up north, but I've seen a whole lot of these around pilgrimage sites down south.

Not as huge as the tempo traveller, hence easier to navigate in tight places around pilgrimage sites, nor limited in seating like the sumo/bolero. One can load & pull a whole lot of people & luggage. As uninspiring Force motors may be, but the capability of the Trax keeps astonishing me.

[condor]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Toofan is the pilgrimage vehicle of India IMO. .... Not as huge as the tempo traveller, ... One can load & pull a whole lot of people & luggage. As uninspiring Force motors may be, but the capability of the Trax keeps astonishing me.

Very popular in rural MH and north KA. That 3 pot motor is coarse, but can go all day and night. Force understands this market, and has kept the service intervals very short - 10k / 2 months !! This is the shortest I have seen in a non-goods vehicle.

[padmrajravi]

It is very popular in Kerala as well. There are taxi stands dedicated for these Trax vehicles in rural part of Kerala.

On another note,I have seen four row versions of this and that I think is the closest competition to the four row Kia Carnival