[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

This car is supposed to have the snorkel, roof rack and step ladder standard. Good luck explaining that to over overzealous cops. Prospective owners better be prepared to be challaned every now and then. Good luck explaining that all this is factory fitted and not an aftermarket mod.

The roof rack is anyway illegal for a private vehicle running white plates. It just screams violation. Even if Force manages to get it homologated, who will convince the cops? You simply cannot drive this thing in Delhi or Chandigarh or Kerala

Can somebody please provide proof that installation of a luggage carrier on private vehicles is illegal? Could not find it in the Motors Vehicles Act, 1988. Nothing is mentioned about it.

[bullitt1]

Originally Posted by Vinod_nair

This is how Thar's rear seats should have been designed, user friendly.

The only thing Force Motors need to change is their archic engine and GB.
Options: Fiat 2.0L, M&M. 2.2L, Tata or Hyundai's 1.5L with 6 speed gearbox.

It's a tall order.

the gurkha extreme abs had 2.2l mill producing
140 bhp and 320 torque with 5 speed gb

[H0RSEPOWER]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, the Gurkha would not have the 2.2 bs4 engine as they probably want to have the same set of 2.6 litre engine across their range to reduce the engine development cost for bs6 upgrade. But in order to reach the off road areas, one needs to use the highways in a higher speed. And for that, surely a different tune with higher power is very much required to move this huge SUV! Only if it is equipped with an engine capable of doing 100+ Kmph easily & having a decent interior (not as per early millennial decade standard), they might have better sales number.

[peus017]

I feel the tagline is always "Next Gen" its an open ended line no one knows what the previous was

The buzz and excitement that we show here wish Force motors would have shown 1% in practical world. If wishes were horses

Nevertheless in current times its a dead-on-arrival product when it arrives <sarcasm>

[SuperFlyBoy]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

The roof rack is anyway illegal for a private vehicle running white plates. It just screams violation. Even if Force manages to get it homologated, who will convince the cops? You simply cannot drive this thing in Delhi or Chandigarh or Kerala

Seriously?

What about other states or jurisdictions, like Mumbai or Maharashtra?

[amol4184]

All things point to a good car in general, just like it's predecessor. It has and always had distinct and meaningful advantages over Thar and yet I hardly ever see this vehicle on the road. I was recently in the market for a used utility vehicle and could find numerous Thars but rarely any Gurkha. What gives? Even the enthusiasts, a class which generally goes a little further to choose a vehicle seem to turn their backs on Gurkha.
Regardless, I like how this car looks. I dig the fact that Force accessorizes it directly from factory. Very cool! All the best to Force Motors.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by amol4184

All things point to a good car in general, just like it's predecessor. It has and always had distinct and meaningful advantages over Thar and yet I hardly ever see this vehicle on the road.

It's surpringly popular in some parts of the country - e.g. Kerala. Got a chance to ride in one and while it was even more agricultural than the previous gen Thar, I get the feeling it is a lot more capable off road. It really is, as the name suggests, an extreme machine.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by amol4184

All things point to a good car in general, just like it's predecessor. It has and always had distinct and meaningful advantages over Thar and yet I hardly ever see this vehicle on the road. I was recently in the market for a used utility vehicle and could find numerous Thars but rarely any Gurkha. What gives? Even the enthusiasts, a class which generally goes a little further to choose a vehicle seem to turn their backs on Gurkha.
Regardless, I like how this car looks. I dig the fact that Force accessorizes it directly from factory. Very cool! All the best to Force Motors.

You need to be on your to toes when it comes to service. The showroom isn't interested in selling them either, I think the company is focused on commercial same alone. A Thar is easier to buy and maintain.

[CalmConquests]

I really love the Gurkha. In my mind it is the Indian version of the old school Land Rover Defender of sorts.

However Force seems to have destined this car for failure straight out of the box. What were they thinking when they plonked the 90BHP 2.6L engine in there ?

I mean, they had the 140BHP 2.2L which they used in a special edition of the last gen Gurkha! So it's not like they have to develop an all new engine !

Now after it looks like they've fixed a majority of the problems with the last gen Gurkha, they go ahead & plonk a relic of an engine in there !!

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

The roof rack is anyway illegal for a private vehicle running white plates. It just screams violation. Even if Force manages to get it homologated, who will convince the cops? You simply cannot drive this thing in Delhi or Chandigarh or Kerala

I feel this roof rack debate has generated enough discussion for it to be spun off into it's own thread.

Hopefully more BHPians can share incidents of being harassed for having a roof rack on their private vehicles.

[Herbie98]

Originally Posted by Make my forest

Fact be told I hardly see any of the offerings come close to my expectations be it in Tata's, Mahindra's, or Force Motors. I am currently driving Bolero with crumpled space, used to drive Mahindra Commander 750 DP 5 door version and was happy with it.

Glad to see another person with our exact same requirements. I had a Bolero 2.5 MDI for 251,000 kms and was super happy with it except for the space. Unfortunately made a bad decision of selling Bolero and replacing it with a Scorpio. I had thought we could live the Scorpio ride quality, but it was terrible always bouncy and rocked left-right always, had to let it go after 73k kms.

Only the Gurkha seems to offer a better Bolero in every aspect. Hope Force is serious about launch, sales and service. They always have done a half-hearted job in selling this capable vehicle. Sadly there seems no competition who is interested in making work-horses, hence Bolero is the sole vehicle catering to this segment.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Herbie98

Unfortunately made a bad decision of selling Bolero and replacing it with a Scorpio. I had thought we could live the Scorpio ride quality, but it was terrible always bouncy and rocked left-right always, had to let it go after 73k kms.

If space was a limitation in Bolero I am surprised you went for Scorpio. For all its size and bulk, the space is strangely very tight in Scorpio - especially in the rear, not to mention absolutely horrid ride quality as rightly pointed out by you.
Its almost as if for years, facelift after facelift Mahindra just brushed the exteriors and shied away from touching suspension or interiors.

[Kosfactor]

The trouble with Gurkha is that it exists primarily in the internet.

The lifestyle offroad vehicles should be able to sell in the city more than rural areas itself, for the rural areas we have the utilitarian Bolero Camper. Force has next to no brand recall in the urban areas. The vehicle in itself does not look much like a Jeep , which is good for those who want something different however the Jeep look affords a vehicle to be crude , its expected to be crude and therefore it gets away with it. Once the vehicle looks more like an SUV, you expect it to be just as refined as any other, where this one will fail not to mention lack of sales outlets and service support.

Originally Posted by amol4184

Its almost as if for years, facelift after facelift Mahindra just brushed the exteriors and shied away from touching suspension or interiors.

OT : People are not dumb enough to spend their money on a vehicle if it was the same as it left the factory 20 years ago. The current Scorpio on sale crosses 20L OTR.

I recommend you go through our forum and you will know the history of the vehicle and the number of times the engine, drive train, suspension, body, axles and interiors have been revised over the years.

In the end it comes down to just one thing - Driver.

Being the tallest vehicle of its kind and the sort of pick up it has, you have to be a good driver to master a Scorpio.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

OT : People are not dumb enough to spend their money on a vehicle if it was the same as it left the factory 20 years ago. The current Scorpio on sale crosses 20L OTR.

I recommend you go through our forum and you will know the history of the vehicle and the number of times the engine, drive train, suspension, body, axles and interiors have been revised over the years.

In the end it comes down to just one thing - Driver.

Being the tallest vehicle of its kind and the sort of pick up it has, you have to be a good driver to master a Scorpio.

Well, I didn't say it's the same vehicle as it was 20 years ago since Mahindra update the looks and made other changes, it's just that none of them were enough to make it a good rider or liberated space inside.

I wouldn't call ourselves dumb, but let's not forget we keep buying outlandishly overpriced vehicles in hoards based on brand name and also some of the most unsafe vehicles built like tin cans. Opposite ends of the spectrum but it is what it is. If the customer base here made any sense lot of cars would be dead a long ago, including Scorpio in its current avatar.

I would like to know what mastery one needs to have to stop a vehicle that wobbles at slight hint of unrest on the road, from showing its natural tendency.
Yes, sudden evasive maneuvers and zigzagging are a strict no no but I'm genuinely curious what else one can do.

[Herbie98]

Originally Posted by amol4184

If space was a limitation in Bolero I am surprised you went for Scorpio. For all its size and bulk, the space is strangely very tight in Scorpio - especially in the rear, not to mention absolutely horrid ride quality as rightly pointed out by you.
Its almost as if for years, facelift after facelift Mahindra just brushed the exteriors and shied away from touching suspension or interiors.

Scorpio is much more spacious than a Bolero.

• Scorpio is wider than Bolero, making sit 3 in the 2nd row very comfortable.
• Scorpio 2nd row leg space is much better than Bolero.
  • In Bolero, the person sitting behind me would have kness poked into my seats.
• Scorpio luggage space is very BIG.

Its the ride & handling where Bolero trumps Scorpio out. I have drive 251k kms in Bolero, to our needs the ride and handling was just perfect. The same can't be said for Scorpio, we thought we will be able to live with it, but we couldn't travel long distances with that ride quality, handling was manageable as long as you understand the limits.

I would buy Bolero again if Mahindra gives better seats or atleast the old kind of seats. The current seats are simply horrible with no under thigh support and very poor low density seat cushion foam, it just sinks in.

The Gurkha that I test drove back in 2017 was spacious, comfortable and utilitarian the way we wanted it. The biggest worry is/was Force has never been serious about this product, so worried about the spares and service.

If Gurkha 5 door is offered with the 2.6 (same engine as in Tempo Traveller) it may be worth risking to but it since there are no other simple workhorses available. The 2.6 engine is a fool-proof engine and has proved it self. The 2.2 would be a risky buy, low volumes and much advanced engine, long term service and spares would be tough.