[honeybee]

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

If it's indeed standard fitment, carry the brochure and other paraphernalia stating these are standard features.

Anything aftermarket may be illegal, but if the company is selling it as standard fitment, it cannot be called an aftermarket mod.

[rdst_1]

Using a roof rack to carry luggage seems to be perfectly legal, even for private vehicles, from what I could gather from online search. I've a 2002 Fiat Palio on which I had to install a roof rack in 2015 and I've used it all over Himachal and even in Chandigarh, which I visit every 3-4 months. In fact, the manual for my car, mentions the luggage carrying capacity of the roof as 50kg. There are some threads even on our forum where people have permanently mounted roof boxes on their cars and travel all around India in their cars.

https://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/r...nt-2683776/amp

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by Miel

Found this on YouTube. This seems like the Extreme variant of the Next-gen Force Gurkha, out testing. The vehicle is same as shown at Auto Expo 2020 and has an all black interior. Maybe production will commence soon?!

This looks neat. Even the interiors seem more palpable now.

If they are showcasing without Camouflage, is it ready for launch. Love the way Force motors persist with upgrading this. Hope they show similar interest for selling. My request for a test drive is pending since 3 years now

One question on the ride quality of Gurkha vs the Thar. Gurkha seems to have better ride quality based on what I read on the forum. Did anyone here drive both of these for considerable time. If so any feedback.

[Miel]

Originally Posted by Fx14

The video reflects 4 forward facing bucket seats + side facing jump seats at the rear ?

Yes, that seems right! I just noticed it too. 2 rows of front-facing bucket seats plus last 1 row of side-facing jump seats. A 6-seater in total. This is what was showcased at AutoExpo too.

A shot from the video at the 1.05 mark.


Rear seats as seen at AutoExpo.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by Miel

Yes, that seems right! I just noticed it too. 2 rows of front-facing bucket seats plus last 1 row of side-facing jump seats. A 6-seater in total. This is what was showcased at AutoExpo too.

Rear seats as seen at AutoExpo.

This layout of seats would make the second row of bucket seats easily accessible from the rear door too, doing away with the need to flip down the front passenger side seat as in the older version.

[SchrödingersCar]

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

As far as I am aware, roof racks are not illegal. Can you please mention the section of Motor Vehicles Act which may indicate so?

Note: I also googled, but most links seem to say that they are not illegal.
Here's a sample link among others.

https://www.cartoq.com/luggage-carri...rt-department/

[KPR]

Originally Posted by Miel

Yes, that seems right! I just noticed it too. 2 rows of front-facing bucket seats plus last 1 row of side-facing jump seats. A 6-seater in total. This is what was showcased at AutoExpo too.

Now it gets exciting. Two captain seats in the rear is something practical too may woo a bit of Thar buyers if priced sensibly.

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by SchrödingersCar

As far as I am aware, roof racks are not illegal. Can you please mention the section of Motor Vehicles Act which may indicate so?

Note: I also googled, but most links seem to say that they are not illegal.
Here's a sample link among others.

https://www.cartoq.com/luggage-carri...rt-department/

The point here raised by other members is not about this being legal or not as per rule book, the problem you will face is, suppose travelling in UP / MP / Chandigarh or any other out of state places and getting stopped by cops who are just looking for any chance to put a fine on you. we have already seen how many times travellers have been fined for slightest of issues with the car and even when there were no issues. It will be very difficult to argue or convince them that this came out of the factory. No rules, no laws or arguments will help there I feel

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by swarnava.ch

The point here raised by other members is not about this being legal or not as per rule book, the problem you will face is, suppose travelling in UP / MP / Chandigarh or any other out of state places and getting stopped by cops who are just looking for any chance to put a fine on you. we have already seen how many times travellers have been fined for slightest of issues with the car and even when there were no issues. It will be very difficult to argue or convince them that this came out of the factory. No rules, no laws or arguments will help there I feel

Well then we should increase our knowledge and carry this information alongwith us on trips, on how it is not illegal. Like I have said before, I drive regularly in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana in a HP number car, with a roof rack installed on my Fiat Palio. Instead of just giving up, we can come up with a way to tackle this issue instead in a separate thread.

[Vinod_nair]

Originally Posted by Miel

Yes, that seems right! I just noticed it too. 2 rows of front-facing bucket seats plus last 1 row of side-facing jump seats. A 6-seater in total. This is what was showcased at AutoExpo too.
A shot from the video at the 1.05 mark.
Attachment 2112051
Rear seats as seen at AutoExpo.
Attachment 2112050

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

Originally Posted by KPR

Now it gets exciting. Two captain seats in the rear is something practical too may woo a bit of Thar buyers if priced sensibly.

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.

[anilp]

Technically, roof racks are not illegal if it's endorsed by the RTO on your RC book. So there should be no issue if Force Motors is sending this out as standard fitment and is mentioned as such at time of registration.

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by anilp

Technically, roof racks are not illegal if it's endorsed by the RTO on your RC book. So there should be no issue if Force Motors is sending this out as standard fitment and is mentioned as such at time of registration.

I had this same argument when I bought my Triber. I went and asked the RTO people to endorse a Roof Carrier in my RC, but they said it's s not illegal and it's not needed to be added in the RC. So, even though I have a roof carrier installed since I bought my car, there is no mention of it in my RC by the seller or the RTO!

On a recent trip to New Delhi, I removed the carrier as I had to pass the Chandigarh Tricity region and NCR region. I did not need all 3 rows of seats, so it was okay. But what if I had a housefull inside, then I would have had no other option but to carry the luggage on the roof carrier, and I don't know how much harrassment I would have had to face by Chandigarh and Delhi Police.

Even on asking specifically to endorse it, it wasn't granted by Manali RTO!!

[Make my forest]

Hi Fellow BHPians,

It's been a while since I wrote on Team-BHP. The discussion on Force Gurkha drew my interest. An excellent feed on what we can expect, what more should be added/ gotten rid-off. My 2 cents.

We are a 6 member family and I am always keen on UVs. I have encapsulated my thoughts and expectations from a Utility Vehicle

1. Should comfortably accommodate 6 to 7 people
2. Comfortable exits and entries (5 Door preferable)
3. Carry enough load (say at least with a carriage capacity of up to 300 KGS apart from 7 passengers) would be happy with 2 captain seats in the front row, a comfortable bench seat in the mid-row and 2 large enough jump seats in the last section
4. A 2.6 Ltr engine is good enough with ample torque
5. Should be comfortable able to hit a speed of 120 KMs per hour for highway cruising
6. Should be capable to do moderate offroading to wade your way through some occasional forest tours (all our rural roads are still offroading friendly)
7. A decent mileage of 15 to 17Kms
8. Would love to have a rugged-looking stance on what Gurkha is up to
9. Sturdy body shell
10. Moderate maintenance (It should be within 15K per annum)
11. Powerful lights with decent visibility for night drives
12. A simple music system to enhance the driving pleasure (happy with single din music system)

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 cramped space, used to drive Mahindra Commander 750 DP 5 door version and was happy with it.

[vellatechie]

There are loads of +ves going for Gurkha
1. Moster road presence. Not a copy of Wrangler is a plus (at least for me)
2. Pull-Type door handles
3. Grab handle on the A-Pillar
4. Proper roof. Still sceptical of the hardtop on the Thar
5. Bucket seats in the second row.
6. Longer length will ensure Second Row legroom is not cramped like Thar.
7. Seems like from the rear door people can walk into the second row.
8. Love the all-black interiors.
9. Luggage space.

Let's hope Force just price this right. Either we will have a great alternative to Thar or this maybe the kick in the butt for Mahindra to improve the Thar even further. Win-win for the consumers.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Make my forest

...
...
1. Should comfortably accommodate 6 to 7 people
2. Comfortable exits and entries (5 Door preferable)
3. Carry enough load (say at least with a carriage capacity of up to 300 KGS apart from 7 passengers) would be happy with 2 captain seats in the front row, a comfortable bench seat in the mid-row and 2 large enough jump seats in the last section
4. A 2.6 Ltr engine is good enough with ample torque
5. Should be comfortable able to hit a speed of 120 KMs per hour for highway cruising
6. Should be capable to do moderate offroading to wade your way through some occasional forest tours (all our rural roads are still offroading friendly)
7. A decent mileage of 15 to 17Kms
8. Would love to have a rugged-looking stance on what Gurkha is up to
9. Sturdy body shell
10. Moderate maintenance (It should be within 15K per annum)
11. Power full lights with decent visibility for night drives
12. A simple music system to enhance the driving pleasure (happy with single din music system)
...

Most of these boxes are ticked by the Gurkha. From whatever I have interacted with the Force vehicle drivers, including a Gurkha owner and their sales and workshop people, my impression about the whole experience is positive. The vehicle owners had no negatives to share, and the sales team was nice enough to share the contact of a Gurkha owner staying down the lane for me.

So contrary to the general perception, I think ownership of the Gurkha would be a good experience.

The reason why I didn't go ahead with it is it didn't have the basic safety features, and the service centre is almost 30kms and at least an hour and a half drive away.

Also no matter what people say, the company is investing in the brand to keep it alive, so I think you will have support.