[GTO]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Thanks GTO for the words of caution and advice for people like me who have never driven or owned a Jeep/Thar like vehicle to not get carried away by the looks.

There are two things that can happen. You can either fall in love with Jeeps, or hate them. If you fall for it, then it's a love affair for life. All of us offroaders were newbie Jeepers at one time. Experience it, test-drive it and evaluate whether it's for you. Having a tough 4x4 is a different, fun way of life but again, it has many compromises & isn't for everyone.

What are the chances (like petrol_power mentioned) of Mahindra tweaking the final sale version vehicles (at least the LX) to have better ride quality, stability and steering feel after the feedback from the Freedom rides.

Zero. The Thar will see incremental improvements with time, as with all Mahindras. But there won't be much of a difference between what the media drove & what's coming to showrooms.

[airguitar]

How would you rate the cabin safety of the Thar 2020 from a top impact (e.g. when driven in mountainous areas prone to boulder/rock/stone rolls from above and landslides ) ?

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by airguitar

How would you rate the cabin safety of the Thar 2020 from a top impact (e.g. when driven in mountainous areas prone to boulder/rock/stone rolls from above and landslides ) ?

I don't think any non-armored car can withstand an impact from top, even NCAP does not test a direct impact from top.
What would be of interest is the safety of cabin in case of roll over.

As for the boulder/ rocks/ stones rolling from above and landslides it is not correct to drive through it, we should wait for a window and then go ahead.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

I don't think any non-armored car can withstand an impact from top, even NCAP does not test a direct impact from top.
What would be of interest is the safety of cabin in case of roll over.

The 1980's Saab 900 that was dropped on its roof from a crane in TopGear comes to mind.

Damn, I miss that show.

[distiller]

I am happy to see 125 pages on the thread and still going strong.
After seating on fence and reading all interesting tidbits, I couldn’t restrain myself from making a comment.
Long back I had an opportunity to drive MM540 for a couple of days & I put in quite a good number of kilometres. I loved every bit of the experience but when it was time to decide for my own ride I choose to go the sedan way. As I gave importance to practicality over heart
For a true SUV it will be highly impossible to achieve best of both worlds, I mean comfortable tarmac scorching and off roading. Going by the promotions and positioning of the vehicle, it’s targeting the off-road & rugged application. The design with body on frame, long travel suspension, high Ground clearance and short wheel base are perfect for off road application but disaster for soft road.
Hence I feel it’s for us to decide. If we can live with bone jarring (although to not that level as per the first look videos) ride, not so well appointed interiors & the not so comfy passenger seats. And be happy for the go anywhere capability, macho design the THAR is for us.
If we need the macho look with good road handling tide character, we have a plethora of choices across vast budget range to choose from.
Happy motoring !

[Venkatesh]

New Mahindra Thar imagined as a police vehicle



Source : MotorBeam

[46TheDoctor]

Originally Posted by petrol_power

THAR has confused me after the various reports from FREEDOM drive. I love the design and was closely following from spy shots (A very potential customer as my existing car has crossed 5 years).
=========
My only hope/wish is that the FREEDOM vehicles are of initial prototypes and the final version has a better ride quality/stability/steering.

The key word to clear your confusion here is 'LIVEABLE'

New Thar will provide the following PROs in spades:

1. Road presence, timeless looks and attention magnet in some colours
2. Ability to munch completely broken roads/trails with complete ease.
3. Open top motoring in Nature where other convertibles cant reach due to road conditions.
4. Off roading

And yet the New Thar will be LIVEABLE in all the other parameters which the previous 'jeeps' were not:

1. Steering - Thar will not track dead straight on highways like monocoque cars and it will need corrections on highway but still it will be much improved and hence LIVEABLE
2. Suspension and ride quality - will not be as flat as crossover SUVs or the monocoque cars on the smooth roads but will be LIVEABLE
3. Fuel and maintainance costs - will not be as low as the pseudo SUVs or equivalently priced cars but wont be as high as other True SUVs either, so very much LIVEABLE
4. Features - will not be as loaded as the other similarly priced cars but again it will be sufficiently LIVEABLE
5. Seating comfort - apart from the ingress and egress for the rear seats, it will be fairly LIVEABLE

So to conclude, for someone who is looking for the above mentioned 'PROs', New Thar will be a LIVEABLE, well engineered 'jeep' which can be used everyday in the city as well unlike the ones before it.

[GhostRider28]

Fantastic coverage of the features.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Attachment 2043262

• Automatic makes the Thar easy to manage in the city, particularly in stop & go traffic.

• Transmission shifts up at the earliest. It is smooth shifting. I didn’t feel any jerks during the drive. Foot hard down, the gearbox shifts up at ~ 4,500 rpm.

• Gearbox does get confused from time to time, especially while driving aggressively. It’s not very responsive to throttle inputs. Kickdown time is not quick. I used manual mode when I needed to get a move on. It is best to drive the Thar in a relaxed fashion.

Just wondering if they have given the option of leaving the automatic parked in neutral. In the automatic, if I engage N in the 4x4 TC shifter does it free up the transmission even if the automatic shifter is in P model? Might come in handy in a couple of cases -
1. Leaving the car movable in neutral for tight parallel parking in peak hours at office/busy streets
2. Be able to tow out if someone is stuck in deep water crossings and cannot start the engine. More probable in cities during monsoons than off-road river crossing trails!Remember the Gurgaon parking lot?

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by distiller

I am happy to see 125 pages on the thread and still going strong.
After seating on fence and reading all interesting tidbits, I couldn’t restrain myself from making a comment :
For a true SUV it will be highly impossible to achieve best of both worlds, I mean comfortable tarmac scorching and off roading. Going by the promotions and positioning of the vehicle, it’s targeting the off-road & rugged application. The design with body on frame, long travel suspension, high Ground clearance and short wheel base are perfect for off road application but disaster for soft road.
Hence I feel it’s for us to decide. If we can live with bone jarring (although to not that level as per the first look videos) ride, not so well appointed interiors & the not so comfy passenger seats. And be happy for the go anywhere capability, macho design the THAR is for us.
If we need the macho look with good road handling tide character, we have a plethora of choices across vast budget range to choose from.
Happy motoring !

The Thar is not a SUV, it's a jeep. Don't expect it to be a long distance mile muncher with a good ride, it can never be. At best it is better at travelling than an original jeep, but that's it. A thar will always remain a capable offroader. If you want to compare this, compare it with a gypsy.

If you want a perfect vehicle which rides well, is luxurious, fast , and offroads well then spend some money and invest into the landrover family. Ideally the new defender.

[petrol_power]

It may be true that THAR is not for everyone. But Mahindra made us believe that it IS FOR EVERYONE, through the LIFESTYLE series branding. And I am sure that Mahindra is considering THAR as a mass market product for all (someone from Mahindra even mentioned that they are expecting 3000 nos per month sale), AND NOT JUST FOR OFFROADING enthusiasts, as then they would NOT have given the following:

1. Auto Gear box - The hard core offroaders still do not approve this for off-roading.
2. The nice interiors with lot of creature comforts (touch screen, nice layout, lumbar support for a comfortable long distance travel, electrically adjustable mirrors, etc)
3. 18 inch awesome looking alloys.
4. A stonker of an engine by giving one of the best Petrol Turbo engines (at-least in paper), which is not actually required if it is only for off-roading (eg: Jimny).

If they were targeting only off-roaders, all they needed was Adventure series and that is what I have mentioned in the previous post also. Roxor kind of vehicle is what they would have introduced if they wanted only a niche crowd.

So its very clear that Mahindra is thinking to pull in the less hardcore people also. But unfortunately the LX variant landed neither here, nor there. I definitely do not mind paying a 2 lac extra for the 4x4 system and so do all the people who love THAR. I feel that I can also try some offroading if I get a 4x4 vehicle. So having a 4x4 is NEVER a deterrent for anyone who love the THAR.

And please note that Mahindra has been testing THAR for 3 years and still they could come up with only cosmetic differences between Adventure series and Lifestyle series.

And for the people stating that 4x4 and on-road behaviors DO NOT co-exist and if it is required we have to buy a Defender, you guys are completely wrong. please remember that this product is from 2021 and not from the 90's (Gypsy, Sierra, etc). Starting from a humble DUSTER AWD, which has been said by many in team-bhp that it is not bad for off-roading roads (It cannot be compared with THAR, but for lifestyle series its more than enough). And when Mahindra spoke about LIFESTYLE series, they should have kept Duster 4x4 as their benchmark! Then there is Jeep Compass Trailhawk/regular 4x4. Anyone driven Jeep Compass would definitely appreciate its on-road manners also.

And THAR/Jeep design does pull the strings for many of us who grew up seeing jeeps around us. Even my mother (67 years) who believes that Alto is more than enough for A to B transportation, completely likes the new THAR. And didn't scream when I said that the pricing would be 20 lacs on road .

But I guess finally, as GTO mentioned, THAR case would end up another Harley Davidson. But that is not what Anand Mahindra expected, for sure. Mahindra tried to bring in the common crowd also, but they gave out a half baked product for LX series.

[Axe77]

I think the last few pages have been very instructive.

I believe for a lot of owners who are looking for a much more robust vehicle experience but still want hardcore 4x4 capabilities, they may need to look at a V Cross as well as a Thar. Of course, the size (and related aspects like departure angle) makes them totally different kind of off road beasts, but I speak for people who want an urban vehicle that is more comfortable and be able to do some seriously harsh terrain. It will also perhaps be a more practical vehicle to drive long distances to your 4x4 adventure. Like if you want to use it drive in Himachal but you live in Mumbai. Easier perhaps driving a V Cross till Shimla than a Thar.

Lots has been said on the ride quality. Completely echo sentiments here. It'll be the best riding "Jeep". That does not mean it will be better than monocoque crossovers like Creta or even bigger 'body on frame' SUVs.

Buying a Thar is like wanting your first big motorcycle and choosing a supersports / sportsbike. They look best in the wallpapers but when you ride a sportsbike / supersports vs a big naked, you realise its the naked bike that you feel much more comfortable on and is the big bike that you can actually imagine living with. Unless you are a seasoned rider who's actually going to visit a track regularly. You need to be pretty sure that is the riding you can and will do - otherwise the naked / less committed sportsbike is the correct purchase.

As I see more and more posts on the Thar the following is evident to me.

Test Drive

Definitely, I am going to TD one, multiple times, before I decide whether I want a product like this. I have no confusion about what this product means and what compromises it comes with. I also have no doubt how it will find place in my garage if I like it, but the TD will endorse whether I truly want it and how I 'feel' about the compromises, when I see and drive it in the flesh.

Options

I will definitely weigh this vs a V Cross. Simply because the V Cross comes with some advantages (size) and disadvantage (again, size) over a Thar in terms how I can make use of it vs a Thar. A V Cross is more likely to require me to have a 3 car garage vs a 2 car garage.

Timing

Perhaps 18 - 36 months. I may actually want to wait out for the first edition where they formally address niggles. Waiting for a few years is also worth it to try and land a sparingly used version with people having buyer's remorse. I expect these to come up within two years or so.

[AirbusCapt]

Interesting to see comparisons between the Thar, jeep compass and the duster. I guess it's because they are in a similar price bracket. Both the duster and the compass are soft roaders (can do slush, dirt, gravel but will struggle on rocks). This is more than enough for 95% of so called "off road" trails in India. Actually these cars are a right mixture of a practical size, good on road manners and a decent trail run.

The Thar on the other hand is an offshoot of a purpose built offroader. They can try to "civilize" the beast, however the Thar will always be a compromise when compared to even the cheapest hatchback. The gizmos, the alloys etc are there to tempt the mall goers who want to look "outdoorsy" it's like wearing a hiking boot to work.

[darklord]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

A salute to the Man behind the Thar -

Mathrubhumi has run a report, in Malayalam though:

https://www.mathrubhumi.com/auto/car...thar-1.5018555

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by 46TheDoctor

1. Steering - Thar will not track dead straight on highways like monocoque cars and it will need corrections on highway but still it will be much improved and hence LIVEABLE

.

What is stopping it from tracking dead straight? and cars in this general reference are uni-body, not monocoque.

[highwaypatrol]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I will definitely weigh this vs a V Cross. Simply because the V Cross comes with some advantages (size) and disadvantage (again, size) over a Thar in terms how I can make use of it vs a Thar. A V Cross is more likely to require me to have a 3 car garage vs a 2 car garage.

As long as V Cross comes fitted with a leaf suspension at the rear, I will be the last to consider this vehicle over Thar.