[Vinod_nair]

All this 5 doors Thar getting the greenlight is good on paper.

What happens to the roof? Same fixed and convertible soft top and hard top dilemma?

[speedmiester]

This puts a spanner in our plans. I would love a 3 door Thar anyday, but with this news I am sure my wife would want to wait for the 5 door one due to it's practicality.
Hope this new launch is not too far in the future.

[johy]

Originally Posted by HTC

Sorry to be off topic - wish Mahindra sold bolero with 4x4. Many would have bought it for the practicality it offers for the price. Sigh!

They did launch it. Blackpearl , one of our distinguished team bhpians has one. Few bought it.

[whitecloud]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Mahindra Thar 5-door rendered

Attachment 2058437

Attachment 2058438

Attachment 2058439

https://gaadiwaadi.com/five-door-mah...ikely-in-2021/

This renidition of Thar with 5 doors could be an excellent staff car for the armed forces while a three door 8 seater model could be the ideal troop carrier/ambulance .It could turn out to be an ideal replacement for Gypsy king especially for higher altitudes where petrol vehicles are the preferred lot.

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by whitecloud

This renidition of Thar with 5 doors could be an excellent staff car for the armed forces while a three door 8 seater model could be the ideal troop carrier/ambulance .It could turn out to be an ideal replacement for Gypsy king especially for higher altitudes where petrol vehicles are the preferred lot.

While I do agree with the first half of your comment, I would not on the second part. The Thar has a high tech direct injection turbo petrol which would lag behind in reliability (presumed because it's a new technology) and I believe it will not even be able to take the abuse.

Additionally, partly the reason why the Gypsy succeeded was it's very light kerb weight. The Thar is very heavy in comparison and a petrol+heavy weight will result in limitation of its capabilities that are necessary in tough conditions.

Do correct me if I'm wrong

[HTC]

Originally Posted by johy

They did launch it. Blackpearl , one of our distinguished team bhpians has one. Few bought it.

Yes I am aware of that. But now its not sold by Mahindra. Between, I am big fan of @Blackpearls travelogues. Have gone through all of them

[ADI7YAK]

Got this over WhatsApp. Accident took place while a magazine was reviewing the car apparently. No further details.




Edit : Happened to see it posted already after I posted it. Requesting mods to delete this post.

[TAHR]

Originally Posted by DSY

Came across a few images of the new Thar in ax trim in Black .
P.s. the front bumper is missing the silver portion:

A couple of observations on the pictures.

The contentious grille seems to have been quietly changed from the time of the reveal and as seen on the media vehicles. It is now back to the traditional 7-slat design, without the horizontal slats, but with what appears to be a new, broader single horizontal strip placed at the 3/4th position from the bottom. Is this some last minute surprise change that Mahindra is pulling off? And perhaps why only that section is demurely camouflaged.

The other thing is, the steel wheels are unpainted, unlike in the older Thars where they were painted black. With this, owners will be forced to either fix wheel covers, replace them with alloys or paint them black, as it certainly looks cheap and hideous the way it is.

The silver portion on the front bumper was anyway meant to be only on the LX version, not the AX.

[whitecloud]

Originally Posted by sodapop

While I do agree with the first half of your comment, I would not on the second part. The Thar has a high tech direct injection turbo petrol which would lag behind in reliability (presumed because it's a new technology) and I believe it will not even be able to take the abuse.

Additionally, partly the reason why the Gypsy succeeded was it's very light kerb weight. The Thar is very heavy in comparison and a petrol+heavy weight will result in limitation of its capabilities that are necessary in tough conditions.

Do correct me if I'm wrong

My limited point is that Maruti has stopped the production of Gypsy king due to the upgraded BSVI and other vehicle safety norms .There's no other 4x4 SUV with NA petrol engine confirming to the revised norms .Hence , if army is looking out for a petrol engined troop carrier for higher altitude duty or towards the replacement of Gypsy king ,the only option they would have is Mahindra Thar petrol ,though it's petrol engine is complicated enough to be ignored for heavy duty.The GSQ requirements and tests are quite stringent .

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by whitecloud

.There's no other 4x4 SUV with NA petrol engine confirming to the revised norms .

There is one which should have arrived last year but looks like it's maker just doesn't want to launch it. Suzuki Jimny.

Originally Posted by HTC

Yes I am aware of that. But now its not sold by Mahindra.

I had a discussion related to this particular Bolero 4WD model with one of my schoolmates who was till some time ago a Mahindra employee. He said that Bolero 4WD is still possible to procure but you will need some connections for it (either Government employee like it was previously for Bolero LX 4WD or some good internal connections in Mahindra) The key thing here is that Bolero platform is still 4x4 capable and Bolero Camper still includes the 4x4 system so engineering the standard Bolero 4WD is not a big challenge for Mahindra but it's sales volumes were not justifiable for Mahindra to keep it as standard option, they would rather have it as a rare secret that can bring higher margin.

[WhiteSierra]

Originally Posted by DriveOnceMore

This is the limit of carelessness.
I think manufacturers and PR agencies need to tighten some loose ends now.
It's high time.
There have been numerous such instances where people have gone overboard as there is no liability associated with it.
Sad to see this happening to a car because of some silly (so called) enthusiast journo

On reading your post, first thing who came into my mind is a famous Automobile YouTuber, he has his own channel as well as his website official channel. He treats media cars and test drive cars like crazy, he revvs the life out of the engines to redline, burns clutch and does wheel spins to take off and goes to the maximum speed in each gear till the engine cries to shift to a higher gear. There should be some sense of responsibility and kindness to vehicles when the engines are new. Even before the running in period, if someone drives these vehicles like crazy, and if some unsuspecting and unfortunate person ends up buying it for a discount, it would ruin the whole experience of a car for the poor chap. I commented on his youtube channel many times, but he never replied. Manufacturers should actually stop calling such over enthusiastic auto journalists to media drives.

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by TAHR

Not sure if the timing of this announcement is a good thing. With the 3-door launch just about a week away, it's likely to put people in two minds.
Going by the sizeable numbers who were apprehensive about the cramped rear seats and inconvenient access on the 3-door, they might just decide to wait and watch, as a 5-door version will conform to their crucial one-car-fits-all-roles requirement.
And that surely won't be great news for Mahindra who must be hoping all that initial excitement translates to actual bookings on the ground, especially in these tough times.

I had the same inkling.

There are many of us who are fence sitters, praying to the elements to keep the on-road pricing under 15 (or even less); desperately trying to overlook the cramped up rear seats, acrobatic rear ingress and egress, a boot big enough for a couple of smallish backpacks - while we tell ourselves "Aall is well".

Smack in the middle of this already difficult predicament, M&M drops in another variable - a 5 door possibility. Difficult to gauge how long M&M will take to realize this dream, maybe a few more years, but this definitely serves as a food for thought and yet another set of "maybe, should I, ifs and buts" to contend with.

Bad timing M&M - should have held this intel back at least till the beginning of the new year.

[navpreet318]

One point I feel which almost everyone here has not mentioned is the fuel lid opening mechanism. We're in 2020. That key opening thing is a way of the past left behind so many years that it would be a crime to have it in any modern car!
They have to provide a button opening system for it, be it a mechanical wire linked mechanism or a electronic one. They have to provide it.
Not only will it be inconvenient, at times it will be unsafe. This is one feature that they definitely need to add to the vehicle immediately!! Everything said an done that might actually be a deal breaker for many now. I would never want my wife to be handing over the keys to someone to fill up the fuel or to get out herself especially in these times.

This should have been thought through by Mahindra and is a extremely glaring omission!!!

And if at all they do not I might first enquire for an aftermarket fitment from someone other vehicle and only then plonk my money for the Thar!

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

For some reason, there are vehicles that stand out better off as 3 doors rather than 5, you get that sense of individualism and meant for me and only mine, don't bother to carry anyone along, Thar to me belongs to one such category, obviously when you wanna seat more, take the hard top off and ask folks to jump in.

Some other such vehicles are, Mitsubishi Shogun, LC SWB (3 door), in fact on my Classic 500, right from the showroom, I got the rear seat uninstalled, that long pipe and solo riding was unadulterated fun.

To me, Thar looks smashing is the 3 door version, 5 door loses it appeal.

The Thar is just not a family car. The brand, the legacy promises something very different. I cant visualize a scene where a 5 door Thar pulls in at a mall parking and a happy looking family of 4 (you can throw in a pair of grandparents as well, now that we have more room!!) steps out of it and heads straight for the food court.

That is not what the Thar is about, hell no!!!. The Thar symbolizes freedom, grit, solitude - a maverick kind of a persona - and that does not gel well with a 5 door mini-van kind of a look. A better bet would be an Innova or an Ertiga.

The Thar (and I mean the 3-door here) is meant to tame the gravel tracks of the Himalayas, not to ferry the kids to their weekend soccer practice.

@Mods - I am ranting here. Please pardon and remove this post if found inappropriate.

[ghatotkatch]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

They have to provide a button opening system for it, be it a mechanical wire linked mechanism or a electronic one. They have to provide it.

Given the soft-top variant where the "windows" can just be unzipped from outside, the fuel-lid lock may have been done on purpose. A regular fuel lid lever could allow for easy pilferage if parked in a shady area. A proper lock would not allow it. Same could be the reason for dashboard cubby lock as well.