[Axe77]

The last time I was this smitten by a vehicle was when the new Swift was launched. I was in the market for a car and had thought of buying the Esteem. And then they launched the Swift and it was hours of oggling the vehicle till I finally booked it and then received it.

I am definitely extremely keen to buy this vehicle:

What I would buy:

AT Hard top for sure. Petrol vs Diesel. The only reason I can see myself going for diesel is if there is a significant tank range advantage, or some specific performance or reliability advantage (this Mahindra petrol is a new commodity). Otherwise, petrol it is for me.

Hard top: I am buying this as a proper second car so anything but a hard top will fail some of the reasons why it makes sense as a 2nd and not a 3rd car. It is just too inconvenient to not have peace of mind in leaving a car free from being broken into (soft top); barring two weeks of Dec, open top isn't really that practical, I don't think I want to opt for a quieter petrol engine just to be greeted with wind flapping noise from soft top. Hard top it is for me - NO two ways about it.

Two door: For it to make sense to me, I would pick the 2 door over the 4 door. That's when the look and feel (and size) of this vehicle is complete for me. If I was going for a bigger 4 door version which was 20L plus on road, it would come too close in price to the Isuzu D Max A/T - then I would be torn between the two. The D Max has the advantage that I can drive long distances (say Pune or even Goa) with my motorbike loaded at the back and have the benefit of a 4x4 as well as the ADV at my disposal to play with at the destination. Think of a family driving vacation at Goa where I can take the ADV off on my own. Or drive to Delhi in the truck and then go riding to the hills from there on the bike.

When I would buy it:

As soon as I can be comfortable that it is a reasonably niggle free car. Perhaps 12 - 18 months down the line. Even sooner if I am confident sooner.

The case / usage for the Thar

With a versatile primary car in the garage, the Thar still makes sense as a second car.

1. It is compact enough to work as a self driven Creta size car to go around and about with 2 pax. Even with a kid at the back that's 2 + 1, its not inconvenient.

2. Even if my Mum were to join us for travel I can convince wife and child to occupy the back seat. My wife is 5"1' and kid is - well - a kid. He will sit where he is told to. Plus I think he would love an adventure Jeep enough to scrouch and sit at the back as a compromise.

3. It opens up to some great monsoon traveling. We love short road trips and honestly MH and the western ghats are absolutely exquisite in the monsoons. Given that it overlaps with school holidays as well I can imagine some great fun road trips in this vehicle. Many great destinations have awful last mile connectivity and taking a Thar will be more fun than taking a GT there.

4. Even though we have a driver, I self drive a lot. I normally don't really look forward to driving our i10 when I can't take the GT. With the Thar, I'm going to love driving either vehicle.

5. My wife drives way too little to have overarching influence on this decision. She is always Ubering it where she wants to go despite there being two cars in the house. Or keeping the driver with her and leaving me to drive. Combined with the fact that she is fundamentally a pretty skilled driver as well as reluctant so hardly takes the wheel, I get a disproportionate say in choice of vehicles in the house.

6. In a city like Mumbai, I might actually rest the BMW a LOT during our monsoons and make the Thar my primary runabout.

7. I love that as a brand, Mahindra organises events like Great Escape which can become family getaways too. My son will LOVE it and my wife I know will buy in as well into any quality family time we get, specially where dad and son can bond more. I look forward to similar events with Triumph and my Tiger but those are solo outings away from family. These don't compromise family time.

8. Cars are about tugging the heart strings - consider my heartstrings well and truly tugged with this. I can't think of any car I have bought for myself that I still don't miss (Swift and Civic A/T). The GT will be the same when it is sold. I expect the Thar to be exactly in the same bucket.

[crdi]

Brilliant effort from the Mahindra team, but somehow the new Thar doesn't appeal to me. Maybe because I am one of those few guys who might pick up the bare bones Gypsy, if the Gypsy and the Jimny were sold side by side.

As the previous gen Thar and Gypsy are no longer an option as a new vehicle, the next closest fit would be the Bolero, for someone looking for that character. The 4X4 criteria notwithstanding.

[justwheels]

Not sure if it's only me but for someone who cannot manage 2 cars and niether Thar suits best for being only family car, an Isuzu dmax vcross makes more sense. Thar with a difficult ingress egress for 2nd seats and miniscule luggage capacity is making me difficult to convince wife and myself to follow heart and get one. A stretch to dmax or let the heart rule and get a Thar.

[giri1.8]

Found Thar's face in an unlikely vehicle



Two interesting things from the below review :

1. Ride quality at higher speed seems to be good.

2. His perspective about pricing make sense, his expectations might be a bit too high though.

https://youtu.be/y0SxlXZ95VM

[Cruiser_D]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Two interesting things from the below review :

1. Ride quality at higher speed seems to be good.

2. His perspective about pricing make sense, his expectations might be a bit too high though.

I guess all the medias who had a chance to participate in the freedom drive have similar expectations on the pricing. But this one really goes beyond and explain why Mahindra has to keep it with in 15L range. And this is what I feel about it.

• For people who are considering this one as the primary vehicle for daily commutes, routing family drives (small family) and some off road fun , price tag greater than 15L would induce lot of thoughts. The weightage becomes more for routine needs and you have lot more refined options in that price range. Then chances are more that their off road dreams will get buried inside.

• For those people who would like to keep this as a secondary vehicle, the main purpose would be the hard core off road and they may settle with the lower AX variant rather than going for LX.

Mahindra is targeting to do more numbers and they can do it with only LX variant. So they have to get the LX pricing in the horizon to inspire the normal buyers and wanna be off road enthusiasts.

[tomraven99]

Not trying to pit the Thar against the barebones Gurkha but Mahindra could have attempted something like a partial metal hardtop if the fiber top was designed to be non removable. Apart from being more durable, roof racks or retractable awnings could be easily mounted. Notice also the larger side windows also give a less cramped feeling for the rear passengers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8p6tpCtdq0

[aasheeshmehta]

I think the Gurkha has all the advantages over the Thar except the interiors. I feel Thar has a much better interiors but apart from that it's a win for the Gurkha. The approach to the rear seats is much better in the Gurkha through the rear door and the split in between makes it easier to sit. As both the cars have only two seats in the rear so it makes both of them 4 seater. But Gurkha has a lot more space behind those two rear seats which is a massive advantage for touring and camping and off road adventure for longer time. Kids only the interiors of Gorkha that has to be worked after market and I think if we invest around 50 to 60 thousand after buying it then the interiors can be somewhat matched to the Thar.

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by aasheeshmehta

I think the Gurkha has all the advantages over the Thar except the interiors.

Gurkha's biggest disadvantages against Thar or for that matter even Gypsy and Jimny are are

1. Power. - 90 PS for a car weighing 2 tonne in 2020 ?
2. Scarce Delivery and Service network.

Unless Gurkha improves on the above two it will remain an off road only machine.

[swami69]

Very interesting to read all the wants posted by forum members..

When we had the Old Thar, we wanted
Front Facing seats,
ABS, Airbags
Better Engine
Automatic
Factory fitted Hardtop, Convertible top etc.,

and Mahindra has given all this in the New Thar. Now, we go to the next wish list

4 door Thar
Better boot space
Removable Hard Top
Metal Hard Top & Roof Carrier
Easy access to rear seats etc.,

It is not best of both worlds that we want, What we want is best of all worlds at a price 1/5th of a Wrangler, and..it should not look like a Wrangler too.

Mahindra would have their head spinning. I think Mahindra should just fit the 4x4 transfer case AND and Auto Box in All their Scorpio, Bolero, XUV, TUV models so that most of the "wants" can be fulfilled by one of the other vehicles. Now, bringing all of the attributes of these vehicles into Thar would be like...

To me personally, while i appreciate all that Mahindra has done is great, if they give the Thar without good driving Dynamics, Road manners, it does not matter how good it looks, what it contains, i will retain my Old Thar for the purpose intended which would be easy on my pocket.

Swami

[Venku2015]

Here's another video posted yesterday by Siddhart Patankar of Car & Bike show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA07DH5pSR4

I am quite happy with this review despite a few shortcomings like missing reverse camera etc which can be fixed easily.

[kamilharis]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

Gurkha's biggest disadvantages
1. Power. - 90 PS for a car weighing 2 tonne in 2020 ?

Gurkha now comes with a 140 hp@3800 rpm/321Nm @1600-2400rpm FM 2.2 CR Engine IIRC.

Or they are plonking back the 90ps/280Nm 2.6L diesel motor again in the BS6 Gurkha ?

[KPR]

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Or they are plonking back the 90ps/280Nm 2.6L diesel motor again in the BS6 Gurkha ?

From the below thread of ours it looks like that only unless Force surprise us.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4658296 (Next-gen 2020 Force Gurkha spied)

[daywiz]

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Gurkha now comes with a 140 hp@3800 rpm/321Nm @1600-2400rpm FM 2.2 CR Engine IIRC.

Or they are plonking back the 90ps/280Nm 2.6L diesel motor again in the BS6 Gurkha ?

Isn't that the step up engine on a higher 3 door variant?

[patwardhan]

I think the AX petrol (with soft roof/ manual option) if priced well can be a game changer for Mahindra. Ex Showroom price of 11.5 L would bring in good numbers.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by sknair

It would be interesting to see the waiting time once THAR is launched in October, especially for the petrol 2.0 litre AT.
...
I would think the AT would be in high demand from the city lifestyle segment.

While A/T would be the higher selling transmission for sure, I see diesel outselling the petrol in A/T avatar, given the abysmal fuel economy for the latter, especially for city usage. Also, for some folks, a jeep HAS to be a diesel.

Originally Posted by justwheels

Looking for the 4 seater versions for occasional friends and family trips. Agreed it won't be the best highway tourer, but would it bring smile on the face..

While the new Thar will not be a highway scorcher, I am sure it would do quite well as a tourer for short to medium distance trips (300-600 km) for 3-4 people. Anything more than that, and your rear passengers would politely excuse themselves to take the next bus back home If it is just the two of you, cross country drives are very much possible with tumbled rear seats to free up enough boot space for the luggage. Of course, it depends a lot on the temperament (read "appetite") of the travelers as well, since this is no Innova for sure While it will not pamper you with business class comfort, the "feel" of a 2-door adventure vehicle will more than make up for it. Takes me back to my 16-hr Pune-Bangalore solo drive a few years back, done in a 18-yr old Gypsy! Such experiences are unparalleled and at the same time, not everyone's cup of tea.

And yes, if you do plan to do cross-country drives, please opt for the hard top without a second thought. A flapping soft top will drive you crazy with the noise, in addition to being a security concern.

Originally Posted by T2luvroads

I need 6 sitter arrangement (but obvious the rear bench seats) to get RTO approval of passenger capacity for 5+D, still I shall purchase the rear front facing seats which I may put up when it's required, (this will provide access to accommodate my in-laws for some family functions), is this a feasible wish ?

I doubt if it is going to be a seamless switch but should be possible for sure, with some extra holes drilled to mount the new set of seats.

Originally Posted by T2luvroads

As the HT is of fibre is there any ray of hope to get a rooftop carrier, even if aftermarket?

Highly unlikely, as the load bearing capacity of FRP tops is very less. Some "jugaad" might help, wherein the carrier is directly bolted on to the body frame and not the top. I'm sure about evolution of a lot of options on this front, as the new Thar becomes popular.

Originally Posted by crdi

Brilliant effort from the Mahindra team, but somehow the new Thar doesn't appeal to me. Maybe because I am one of those few guys who might pick up the bare bones Gypsy, if the Gypsy and the Jimny were sold side by side.

I know exactly what you mean. However, the new Thar is developed with the intention of appealing to a much wider set of customers, over and top of "purists". I really liked the idea of providing lifestyle and adventure series - and I am sure the AX lineup would appeal to many who prefer function over form but would still want some basic amenities/creature comforts like A/C, power steering, power windows, airbags, ABS, etc. which you won't get in a Gypsy. In fact, the more I think of it, AX is a really good option, subject to pricing, of course.

Originally Posted by justwheels

Not sure if it's only me but for someone who cannot manage 2 cars and niether Thar suits best for being only family car, an Isuzu dmax vcross makes more sense

This is not an apple to apple comparison, as I see it. I would not want to buy a V-Cross unless I have a very specific use case for it - carrying farm equipment or loads of adventure gear (dirt bike) etc. Not only are pickup trucks a big pain to drive around in the city (given the size) but also compromise on off-road capability due to (usually) a very bad departure angle and longer wheelbase.

Note to all enthusiasts: While it is great to see so much of enthusiasm and excitement for the new Thar, let me remind you to NOT compare this with your regular compact SUV like a Creta or a Seltos. For all the marketing fanfare from M&M about spanking new interiors and superior comfort levels, at the end of the day it is a jeep and one has to have the appetite to live with it. Those of you who have not driven a similar vehicle before, please do not make bookings without taking a test drive, once available.