[shreyaskr]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

This looks like a great car, I love the wide stance. Going by Mahindras' reputation, I think this will be a great car.


Wonder what is the box behind? Is it for real world emissions testing?

The box is On-the-road AVL Smoke meter. It measures the opacity of the exhaust gas so as to measure the visible smoke emitted from the tail pipe. A small amount of smoke is taken from the tail pipe into the instrument to do the measurement.

In Diesel engines, visible smoke is emitted a lot during sudden acc pedal tip-in from low speed low load, calibration engineers use this instrument to measure the amount of smoke and tune the engine parameters to reduce the smoke.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Mahindra's seems to be moving away from ugly designs. I hope they keep the basic design element of the Thar the same. Just like Porche has done with the 911 and Jeep with the new Wrangler. .....

It is indeed heartening to observe that M&M is sticking to the basic design of the current Thar. One of the biggest fears of most classic jeep aficionados was that the an all new design would be introduced.

Assuming that the exteriors of the final product maintain this basic design, the engine is as powerful as the current version and the pricing isn't prohibitive, I would certainly buy the next gen Thar for daily use and occasional long distance drives.

[KMT]

Guys, isnt this a 4x4 Scorpio chassis with a widened Thar body?

[terra85]

What would be great is if this exceeds the safety norms set by the wrangler which did quite poorly if I remember correctly in Euro NCAP. .That would put Jeep in a pickle.

[Blooming Flower]

The front grille of the camouflaged test mule seems to bear a stark similarity with the Azad 4x4's Jeep Hipster design. Something like this.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

The front grille of the camouflaged test mule seems to bear a stark similarity with the Azad 4x4's Jeep Hipster design. Something like this.

Yes, there is a striking resemblance to the Jeep Hipster design in the pic you shared. If the final product looks like this, it certainly ticks one of the boxes of Thar fans.

With safety and emission norms also in place, the big question is the engine that will be provided. Will M&M focus primarily on its current market, rural India, industry and hard core off roaders or will it try to woo the lifestyle segment too?

[Blooming Flower]

Sources indicate that the new Thar will definitely get an engine upgrade but not by increasing the cubic capacity. Instead they are going with the trend of downsizing the engine with more refinement and more power to boost up the performance and improve poor FE the current gen Thar returns. With a downsized engine Mahindra has already proven to beef up power; consider the case of Marazzo. I expect the Thar to follow the same path. OTOH, the ruggedness of the CRDe engine cannot be outshined with the present trend of engines.

[green_ninja]

Spotted this today in Coimbatore on Avinashi Road near Le Meridien Hotel. Looks like they were just doing short test runs. There was also a heavily camouflaged XUV300 aka Tivoli and a couple of Marazzos. One of the Marazzos had test equipment with very little camouflage and the other was in street clothes just giving company. The Thar did not have any visible test equipment like that box on the rear bumper. The Marazzo had one.


The Thar looks pretty wide. From what I could gather by riding alongside for the a couple of seconds, the frame sort of looked like the Mahindra Axe with a Thar style body bolted on. The wheel fenders are abominably huge. That may just be for the prototypes.


Sorry, couldn't take pictures as I was on my bike and these guys were going pedal to the metal.

[Parm]

As a performance vehicle, Mahindra should focus on the capabilities of Thar and not the beauty as its not going for a beauty contest!

Thar is all about mountains, desert, beaches, jungles, rivers, water, mud, ponds etc. that is where the Thar belongs to, not the mall!

[wrongturn]

I don't think it's the new Thar. The body is too wide and the wheelbase looks too long for it to be that of a car like Thar.

I assume mahindra is testing an all new chassis of an entirely new car and is just using the extra wide Thar bodyshell as a cover up, maybe it's the next gen Scorpio. Definitely not the new Thar IMHO.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by Parm

As a performance vehicle, Mahindra should focus on the capabilities of Thar and not the beauty as its not going for a beauty contest!

Thar is all about mountains, desert, beaches, jungles, rivers, water, mud, ponds etc. that is where the Thar belongs to, not the mall!

You have hit the nail on the head, insofar as the what M&M is going to focus on when launching the net gen Thar.

Originally Posted by KMT

In rural areas the Thar extensively for towing trailers, pumpsets etc us folk need at least a 2L engine. With the 1.5 it will be rendered useless for rural areas.......

At the end of the day, the target market for a vehicle like the Thar is those who use it, on a daily basis, for off road activities in industries like mining. Or people living in hilly terrain like Sikkim or Idduki in Kerala or Uttarkhand, to name a few places, where going off road is the only way to get around. Or in the hinterland of India, where the Thar is used for towing, as KMT reminds us.

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

Sources indicate that the new Thar will definitely get an engine upgrade but not by increasing the cubic capacity. Instead they are going with the trend of downsizing the engine with more refinement and more power to boost up the performance and improve poor FE the current gen Thar returns. With a downsized engine Mahindra has already proven to beef up power; consider the case of Marazzo. I expect the Thar to follow the same path. OTOH, the ruggedness of the CRDe engine cannot be outshined with the present trend of engines.

In continuation of what is stated above, I believe that M&M will opt for an engine that fulfills the needs of its core market and probably offer a variant or variants that provide the creature comforts, at a premium, for the 'lifestyle' segment.

[r_nairtvm]

If MM have not frozen their design for the next gen Thar, may be they can take a few tips from the creator of this mod job (?) I found in Trivandrum today





It doesnt sport a registraion plate yet - and I don't think its been in use yet - the wind shield is still having a covering in place.

I found it near the Workshop of a Jeep specialist, Hope its not a next gen test mule

But I must say that but for that dummy scoop kind of thingy on the hood it looks really cool.

Best Regards and Drive Safe

Ram

[shiva75]

Thank you for posting these pics. I am going to put it out there at the risk of getting trolled .

Yes, the Thar does look wider as seen in the pics, however...I do not like the fact that the wheels seems to be a lot more inside and almost overshadowed by the body and flaps. The current Thar has good proportions and the wheels seem to sit perfectly in their slot and not with the body protruding out like this.

Almost reminds me of some poorly built bus that I see on the road with oversize protruding bodies. This is a very personal opinion based on what I can see in the pics , so maybe i am judging too early.

[Magnus Drayne]

My dearest BHPians,

We're entering a new year. I wish you all safe journeys.


Year 2019 has the Mahindra Thar changing again. Some news outlets today are claiming the new variant is a few months away. Others maintain we have another year to wait.

So with change in sight, let's take some time out to remember a car that despite many shortcomings remains a hot favourite. I know people who have paid full sums for one - some as recent as last week. The damn thing is still selling - even in the age of airbags, ABS, automatic gearboxes, austerity, awareness and common sense.

My Thar CRDe - image attached to this post - is entering its second year; the odometer stands at 12,000 kilometres. It's my other car. My primary mode of transport is a 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.2 petrol. It's no beast, but it's beautiful.

So is the Thar, in my opinion.

I believe the Thar has been Mahindra's best-looking creation. Wait: I went to school in an Armada Grand; a neighbour had the Classic; and a former boss had the Bolero. Let me change what I just said. The 2015 Mahindra Thar, in my opinion, is the last of a fantastic design philosophy: Robust, honest, clean lines, straightforward and perhaps even handsome. The XUV 500 has too many curves; the only thing good about the 'KUV 100' was its television commercial; the 'TUV' was ghastly; and the NuvoSport was, well... tall-ish.

The Thar stands out for another reason - the name. Everything Mahindra makes today ends with the 'oh'. But the Thar screams heritage, topography, testing terrain and harks back to a time when navigation meant looking at paper - it's dust, sand, hats, goggles and a spare fuel can. It's adventure.

But I'm no explorer. I bought the vehicle because I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever set my eyes on. The only exploration I have done so far is look for good roads in Maharashtra. I'm still looking.


Ownership experience

The sounds the Thar makes belong to another age. There are the rattles the Matador Van used to make. Some owners have reported squeaks from the rear seats. Months of hard 'door shuts' could cause vibrations to emerge from the passenger or driver windows. At high speeds, there's that steering shake from the Maruti 800.

But mostly, these are the sounds an honest car makes when it meets dishonest roads. My Thar has seen some incredibly rough surfaces. It survived. One could even say the rattles are audible battle scars. Nothing has come loose either; nothing has stopped working - except for that annoying fuel gauge (I never know how much of the good stuff is left). However, it has the grunt without the whine; it has the strength without the complications. The 2015 Thar then is the best go-anywhere vehicle for the Indian middle-class - period.

It's boys' hostel ka maggi; it's that first house party you threw; it's the dhaaba roti-sabzi; it's the trip to Goa from college.

What we want

When I say 'we' I write with the hope I belong to a community. My credentials are weak: I have sent power to all four wheels only once in my life. And I admit, I have never been to Goa.

Through Team-BHP's massive loudspeaker, I urge Mahindra to stay on the path of tradition - but with a mix of modern amenities. Make the 2019/2020 Thar good for families. Buying a Rs 10-lakh SUV is a big decision for many of us motorheads: My mum-in-law chipped in; my wife – who loves the car as much as I do (or maybe more) gave me Rs 3 lakh, and my dad shook his head. I want a vehicle that can take them all camping in comfort. I want them to laugh at cars stuck in the mud, just like I do.

Please, I beg of you Mahindra... rethink those seats. Allow buyers of the future variant to customise the rear layout - let us pick (my hopeless mind has been dreaming of mini captain seats. Possible?)

Keep the air-conditioning

Improve the ride quality

Improve electricals

Give us wipers that are not sticks

Give us good OE security

Give us better NVH protection

Give us better windows

Give us better highway stability at speeds

Give us a more rigid canopy

Most importantly, make the Thar an excellent highway cruiser. We're not asking for speeds - just comfort. The Hexas and Innovas are comfortable spaces to sit in. Hell, you can even nap in them. But it's absolutely uncomfortable for a person to take a nap inside the Mahindra Thar when it's on the move - what turns heads should not break necks.


I urge the community to add to this list of demands. Or perhaps delete a few?


I'm sure we're all happy Mahindra are bringing the Thar into the BSVI age. Unfortunately, that may be it. The BSVI phase is the Cretaceous - final age of the dinosaurs. I don't think there ever will be a Thar 'EV'.


Happy 2019

[Samurai]

Did you just use the word Thar and wishlist in a single sentence, that too as a title?

Oh, that feeling of Deja Vu... at least for the old timers.

That is how the seed for Thar was sown 10 years ago by the creator of Thar.