[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

The suspension and tyres are a close fit - kinematics wise. You can go for slight offset alloys, but that's about it. Anything else and you will find the ride/handling gets upset. Even a slightly heavier wheel and tire will make that vehicle upset , it's like BD Sir's soul is inside it . I have tried different tyres and then spent the money on OE spec Bridgestone Dueler - also it needs exact 34 PSi cold.

But the results are good - It goes up winding mountain roads like it's on rails, excellent road holding, braking etc. Slow speed ride quality will rival a Bajaj RE , it is the most basic 4 wheeled vehicle in that department, other than careful driving for passenger comfort there is nothing you can do about it without messing with all other things that make it a Thar.

Thanks brother, am lapping up all this information like gold dust

I am on the stock dueler and mahindra factory alloys at the moment and running it at 28 psi cold. I did try 32 one time and i thought i would be thrown off a bucking horse! At 28, the ride is softer, pliant, and the rear does not jump at all at reasonable speeds over speed breakers and what have you. I am now working out what kms to the litre of diesel this will give me so i can work out DTE numbers in my head

I agree about slow speed ride quality, its fantastic just chugging along and enjoying the sights. No fear on city roads.

I am spending time with the Thar as well as owners such as yourself and ex owners on and off the forum to learn everything I can...in the meantime theres a creaking sound from somewhere on the RH front which i am trying to work out lol!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I am spending time with the Thar as well as owners such as yourself and ex owners on and off the forum to learn everything I can...in the meantime theres a creaking sound from somewhere on the RH front which i am trying to work out lol!

Once the tyre stays firm, the suspension gets to do its job. It's designed to be firm and provide very good steering response , also even a 2 PSi drop would make the rear end roll, not good.

Also these tyres have generous sidewall, the last thing you want is their sidewall to flex as you try to maneuver your way out of something at triple digit speeds. As long as the tires themselves aren't too old, 34 gets you best acceleration , braking, high speed ride , steering response etc. Since all you have is the tires for safety, it's one component you don't want to stress by under inflation.

FE , please account for 10 in the city and 10 in the highway , this way you're going to be happy when it rarely gives anything more than this. So a fill up at around 450 kms is good enough for that 60L tank.

The noise you hear can be from the steering Ujoint which is a bit costly or the upper ball joint which is not costly. It may not warrant a replacement sometimes, Ideally the steering should be very direct.

[abhikb]

90,000 Kms update:



The Thar had been lazing around since we got the Pajero as the daily driving and road tripping were undertaken in the Pajero while the Thar was used for weekend drives and OTRs.

From the start of 2024, Till the mid of December-2024, Pajero had clocked 32k Kms whereas the Thar had clocked a relaxing 7800 Kms in the same span.

We had organized a 2 day OTR event in Ahmedabad at the start of December, 2024 whereby the Thar was used extensively for doing the track trials since it was a purpose made track followed with usage as a recovery vehicle during the event.






Bhpian Zamindar helping with the Trial



Continual usage during the trials and recoveries did took a slight toll on it, the ODO had already crossed 87k Kms by now so once the event was concluded had sent it for a premature 90k Kms service at the SVC.

Time taken for the service and repair jobs took almost a week and the bill came upto a whopping INR 18,200 . However, the Thar was now running up smooth and in best of its shape.

Below were the list of the repairs which were taken up:

1) Front plastic parts of the bumpers had broken off, removed both of them and have retained the metal part of the bumper.
2) Replacement of air and diesel filter,
3) All lubes replaced including Differential, transfer case and gearbox,
4) Flushing, removal of dirt, mud, sand from the disc and Greasing of wheels.
5) General 90k Kms service related works.
6) Wheel alignment and balancing.

While all this was being done, we were preparing for a road trip down south to capitalize the winter holidays post Christmas. Till now we were planning to take the Pajero only like we did during the Desert drive in Jan and an Indo- Nepal drive in May-June. A chance conversation with better half over dinner led us to conclude on why not take the Thar this time, as it has been our trusty companion since we got it and it’s in top notch state especially after the much needed repairs and maintenance job done at SVC.

And so we embarked on a road trip down South:



We started our journey from Ahmedabad at 06:00 hrs in the morning on 24th December, 2024. Our route, distance and time taken is as mentioned below.

Day-1: Ahmedabad to Mahableshwar - 790 Kms/16 Hrs
Day-2: Mahableshwar
Day-3 & 4: Mahabaleshwar-Hampi-Adiyogi (Chickballapur)-Bangalore - (a) 490 Kms / 8 hours (b) 430 kms / 7.5 hours
Day-5: Bangalore
Day-6,7,8,9: Bangalore-Wayand -Ooty-Madumalai Tiger reserve
Day- 10: Bangalore
Day-11: Bangalore to Pune - 900 Kms/ 13 hours
Day-12 & 13: Pune
Day-14: Pune to Ahmedabad- 756 kms/ 15 hours





For reference from Ahmedabad-Pune we took the Surat-Nashik-Pune route as against going via Mumbai since the current state of roads isn’t good and with such long hauls one needs the sanctity on the perfect road conditions. It was vice-a-versa during the return drive, Similarly, we took the Mahableshwar-Satara- Bijapur route to cover the between Pune - Bangalore and back.


Relaxing in Hampi

Drive statistics are as follows:

1) Total distance covered: 3801 Kms
2) Fuel consumed: Around INR 28,000
3) Tolls:Around INR 3,000
4) Longest haul in a day: Bangalore - Pune - 900 kms- 13 hrs
5) Average FE: Around 12-13 Kmpl.

Issued faced: The 4H & 4L indication would come up quite often while driving on its own, at times it will go away immediately or will stay like this for few hours and then eventually it would go away.



I suspect that the 4WD indicator switch might be malfunctioning, don’t have an idea if it would be available off the shelf at SVC, but it’s available on boodmo and will roughly cost about INR 600-800.

Similarly the hand brake indication light along with the ABS would often come up and then go off on its own, probably the connector or wiring is causing some issue in this.

Was fortunate to meet bhpian Skyocean (Gagan Sagar) while we were in Bangalore. He too is a proud owner of a Thar 700 CRDe, had a well spent evening discussing Thars and Cars over tea and dinner.


2 Thar 700 CRDe in a single frame

The ODO now currently stands at 91,456 Kms since we returned from the trip down south and is back to getting utilized for weekend drives and OTRs.

Finally a closing pic


They learn what they see, my 5 year old cleaning her beloved possession while we had a rest day in Bangalore

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by abhikb

I
Regarding FE, prior to remap during city driving I used to get around 11-12 Kmpl, on highways it depends on the driving style, I have listed it as below:

1) 70-80 Kmph: 14.5-15 Kmpl
2) 80-90 Kmph: 13-14 kmpl
3) 100-110 Kmph: 11-12 Kmpl
4) 120+ Kmph: 9-10 Kmpl

The FE figures have remained unchanged thus far after remap, primary reason could be because its a CRDe engine and designed to perform better in the mid range, hence, the RPM range of 2000-2200 RPM is the sweet spot to extract the best output, however, the more you floor the throttle it starts guzzling fuel like anything.

Man, a remap giving you better mileage! I have been getting the same 11-12 kmpl on my runs too at about 80-90 kmph - i dont really dare take it higher into the 3 digits fear of life mostly.

If 15 kmpl is normal with a remap, i think one must consider it strongly, considering the other driveability benefits too.

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Man, a remap giving you better mileage! I have been getting the same 11-12 kmpl on my runs too at about 80-90 kmph - i dont really dare take it higher into the 3 digits fear of life mostly.

If 15 kmpl is normal with a remap, i think one must consider it strongly, considering the other driveability benefits too.

Hi, I drive with a feather touch tap on the accelerator and often try to drive in the same rhythm so as to avoid continual change of gears. With remap, once you start flooring the accelerator, the mileage goes down, which is why I get single digit mileage on 120+ speeds.

15 kmpl I get when driving at 70-80 kmph speeds, otherwise I would say 13-13.5 kmpl is the most idealistic FE. Although my requirement of remap was to address the slow delivery of low end torque which has been addressed now.

[abhikb]

1,00,000 Kms Update:



The 3507 has gone past 1 Lakhs kms of running recently, all this came up during our Yearly Himalayan Trip up the mountains and our 2nd Himalayan Trip in the 3507.

Took around 5 yrs and 10 months to reach this milestone and overall has been trouble free ownership all along. Reliability and User Experience is top notch and hasn't left us stranded anywhere.

Right before the trip, the ODO was couple of thousands kms short of 1 lakhs, hence, took for premature maintenance so to avoid any issue during the trip and below were the works done:

1) Radiator clutch fan repairing,
2) Front & Rear Brake pads replaced,
3) Radiator, Condenser and Intercooler serviced,
4) Air-con system general servicing done,
5) Replaced the Engine and gear box mountings,
6) Replaced all rubber hoses and Fan belts,
7) 1 Lakh kms Service at Mahindra SVC,
8) Air-filter replaced,
9) General wheel alignment & balancing
10) Wipers changed to Size 14

Total Cost associated with the above: Rs. 35,300/- . Sounds too high for a 1st Gen Thar but then its ok considering the amount of beating it takes on OTRs and Road-Trips, for a major milestone its nothing.

Few works were done at a FNG and the general servicing was done at Mahindra SVC. Time & cost both have gone high in SVC, hence, I get the repair works done at FNG.

Thankfully haven't faced any major issues till now and more so these Old Mahindra techs are highly reliable and need only regular maintenance and upkeep.

Below is the time taken to complete every 10,000 Kms interval:



80k-90k interval was the longest since Thar was very rarely used and was mostly doing weekend and OTR duties, but since last 2-3 months, it is back to being used daily and hence, the kms going up.

Coming to the Himalayan Trip



We (myself, wife and kiddo) did a 4000 Kms to and fro journey up the mountains this summer, this was the third in last 3 years, we did this one and the one to Adi Kailash in Thar whereas the last year's drive to Manang, Nepal was done in Pajero. All these are not on maps destinations and require solid endurance of the machine to last the terrain, low temperatures and much more.

This year we chose the less explored part of Chanshal Valley in Himachal Pradesh such as Janglik, Jiskun and Jhaka village, this was followed with a drive to Mundali near Chakrata and lastly ending the trip with last 2 days spent relaxing at Musoorie.

There were many parts requiring 4x4 to be used especially while going to Janglik, Jhaka and Mundali. The Goodyear Silentrac A/Ts were put to good use and performed well on the muddy & rocky uphill trails while it rained continuously.

Sharing a closing Pic from the Trip, Somewhere near Jhaka (not on maps), it carries the same appeal when it was new even being 1 lakh Kms old

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by abhikb

1,00,000 Kms Update:

Congratulations

Quick question: changing the wiper blades to 14 - straight fit or some juggad? You fit flat blades or conventional?

Your updates are awesome. I am amazed at the kind of overlanding you are doing with a soft top Thar!

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Congratulations

Quick question: changing the wiper blades to 14 - straight fit or some juggad? You fit flat blades or conventional?

Your updates are awesome. I am amazed at the kind of overlanding you are doing with a soft top Thar!

Hi, the wipers are a straight fit, although the co-driver side wiper at horizontal position would foul with the Windshield rubber beading by a few mm, but that's manageable. The result is far better than the stock 12 size ones.

Mine is technically not a soft top, its a Semi-hardtop the outer layer is Soft top as against metal or FRP. Insulation is done with proper framing and everything on the inside, had posted on this in Post No. 54 of this thread which you may check once.

thanks