[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by GTO

Taken from the Hycross thread (which is on fire).

Where would one source such delicious wheels for the Thar in India? Love this design & would be super happy to get them in 18".

Attachment 2384081

Well if money is no bar then might I suggest the original design company of these wheels. Rays Japan.

I think we have a importer in India. I get some pics regularly on my Facebook feed. Some PJ Speed Shop. No idea who the guy is but sure puts regular pictures of his imported Rays wheels.
The Rays Gram Lights are the ones which have similar design and are mostly featured on tuned japanese cars like the R34 etc. That's where I fell in love with them.

[Vinod_nair]

Originally Posted by GTO

Taken from the Hycross thread (which is on fire).

Where would one source such delicious wheels for the Thar in India? Love this design & would be super happy to get them in 18".

Attachment 2384081

As @navpreet has suggested top of the line from the month country.

A couple of other sources, Dubai, Riyadh, everything automotive accessories from the world are available here, you could use services of family, Friends, and dare i say T'BHP members, could help in shopping wheels for you.

My son left Riyadh a couple of years back, or he would have surely helped.

[swunkjyn]

@shankar.balan and @batish.

I have seen this with the Fuel Efficiency Meter, it is not at all accurate so that is why I follow Tank to Tank. This was after driving from Bangalore (JP Nagar 8th Phase) to Shoolagiri (pitstop). We were on our way to somewhere in Tamil Nadu.

Suddenly, its has become the talk of the town. I had shared this with my friends and poking them to get a Thar as it is giving more mileage than a Hybrid. I have seen that the sweet spot is 75kmph to 85kmph to get the maximum mileage.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Its fixed by the Mahindra Adventure chaps. So no fears with warranty.

For AVO please call Vinay Thomas in Bangalore - +91 96111 30954

It costs about 1.2 lac.

It is adjustable hence perfectly fine for both on road and off road applications. Just need to adjust it as per your comfort levels.

I know Vinay used to work (still works??) for Manindra Adventures, but AVO is not sold by Mahindra, nor it is approved by them. Otherwise, it would be part of their official catalog, which it is not.

While Arka and Vinay's contacts might help, officially Mahindra can deny you a warranty if the suspension is changed.

Happy to be proven wrong, if you can get it in writing from Mahindra.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I know Vinay used to work (still works??) for Manindra Adventures, but AVO is not sold by Mahindra, nor it is approved by them. Otherwise, it would be part of their official catalog, which it is not.

While Arka and Vinay's contacts might help, officially Mahindra can deny you a warranty if the suspension is changed.

Happy to be proven wrong, if you can get it in writing from Mahindra.

I don't think we will ever get this in writing from Mahindra. However I personally have no problem taking this chance, because the comfort given by the AVO vis a vis stock is worth it as my usage of my Thar is as a go anywhere highway tourer primarily.

If one were to split hairs, as Mahindra may if it comes to that, then I guess any upgrade/ modification from original can result in non acceptance of warranty.

Possibly even something as innocuous as changing the headlamp bulbs or introducing the different grille and under body protection plates.

@swunkjyn - irrespective of whichever car, the most accurate way of measuring Fuel efficiency is the tank to tank method.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by shibujp

I have been evaluating the Thar and the Gurkha. Gravitated towards the Gurkha due to the rear seat comfort that is much better as a family vehicle. Would be AVO suspension Thar be better?

Drive on,
Shibu

I was in a similar dilemma and went ahead and bought a Gurkha. For sure the Gurkha is super crude and no way as finished as the Thar. What sets it apart from the Thar is:
1- Ease of getting into the rear seats
2- Luggage space
3- Ride comfort, the Gurkha is very stable and hardly gets unsettled on bad roads or grade separators.
3- Minimal electronics
4- Doesn’t need adblu, hardly seen any Gurkha suffering DPF issues.
If you can live with the crudeness, the Gurkha can be considered.
I bought the Gurkha considering that this might be the last Diesel car I would own. The next would mostly be a Petrol-Hybrid or an EV.

The Thar is a better finished product than the Gurkha, has better aftersales support, better interiors etc whereas the Gurkha is a “ Truck”, period.

[shankar.balan]

Here is the real world.
I had filled up last Monday morning after returning from a three day weekend highway trip. I had done about 358kms at good highway speeds - driving at a max 120kmph and it had drunk 43 litres. 8.32kmpl.
My meter readout showed an average 9.2 kmpl consumption.
During this week I drove the vehicle for brief sojourns inside the city in heavy traffic and all. On the weekend I took it for golf on some bad roads and for fun I briefly put it into 4H. Also a goodish highway run on the way back where I was cruising past 110kmph.
Then again early this morning I just wanted to give it a highway run till around Attibele and back. General 100-110kmph. Put it into 4H briefly this morning also on a loose surface. Came back and filled up again.
My meter readout still showed an average 9.2 kmpl consumption.
It took in 21.5 litres of petrol. And I have done 150kms. So its effectively given me 7.14kmpl. Which is really horrible fuel efficiency.
But then on the flipside its also given me that joyous power delivery and whoosh and that feeling of invincibility. So in my book the trade off is ok.
Now tomorrow morning onwards I am on another 3 day highway plus hills trip for a wedding and golf. I guess I will be doing about 600-700kms. The tank is full presently as of this morning’s fill.
Let me monitor it again on this next trip and see what FE I get.
I have re set the FE counter as can be seen.
Basically from my experience over the last 21 months, don't buy the petrol Thar if you're looking for phenomenal FE.
Buy it as a toy if you're looking for some ‘jollies’. There is no substitute for the whoosh of its acceleration and whacking it across ‘terrain’ or on the verge, when overtaking some recalcitrant chap who refuses to give way. It is a tough beast and one just doesn't feel guilty cracking it along on our non existent roads on a day to day basis.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by shibujp

I have been evaluating the Thar and the Gurkha. Gravitated towards the Gurkha due to the rear seat comfort that is much better as a family vehicle. Would be AVO suspension Thar be better?

Drive on,
Shibu

Thar as a family vehicle isn't a good idea , however as a gift to yourself or to your wife for sailing through all the tough times in life - excellent.

You just need to learn to drive it without upsetting people sitting inside, it's not difficult at all but given the power train on offer you'd forget everything else often.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Thar as a family vehicle isn't a good idea , however as a gift to yourself or to your wife for sailing through all the tough times in life - excellent.

You just need to learn to drive it without upsetting people sitting inside, it's not difficult at all but given the power train on offer you'd forget everything else often.

Thar is perfectly ok if you’re a slightly adventurous family or two or maybe three. It isn’t ok for more than that number of people and luggage.

My Dad used to regularly tell me this when I had first learned to drive and was as a young turk, flexing my muscles in his Ambassador or MM540 or CL550. ‘Pay heed to the comfort of your passengers. That is an important trait of a good driver and not just ‘speed’, ‘cornering’ and ‘timing’.

And this is one of the reasons I don't want or like to drive my Thar at speeds higher than 110- maybe 120kmph at the absolute max. My AVO suspension certainly helps hugely in this ‘comfort’ factor at such speeds, on those nice long sweeping curves on the highways.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Its fixed by the Mahindra Adventure chaps. So no fears with warranty.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I don't think we will ever get this in writing from Mahindra. However I personally have no problem taking this chance, because the comfort given by the AVO vis a vis stock is worth it as my usage of my Thar is as a go anywhere highway tourer primarily.

If one were to split hairs, as Mahindra may if it comes to that, then I guess any upgrade/ modification from original can result in non acceptance of warranty.

Your willingness to take a chance is completely different from saying out loud in a public forum that the upgrade will not have any issues when it comes to the warranty. Just wanted to make sure everyone reading this clearly understands this and takes an informed decision.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Your willingness to take a chance is completely different from saying out loud in a public forum that the upgrade will not have any issues when it comes to the warranty. .

Mahindra is no Skoda

Obviously, Mahindra won't honour the warranty on suspension of another make but they won't use that as an excuse to refuse on anything else.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Your willingness to take a chance is completely different from saying out loud in a public forum that the upgrade will not have any issues when it comes to the warranty. Just wanted to make sure everyone reading this clearly understands this and takes an informed decision.

I had actually asked Vinay about this when I fixed it. And he reassured me that he would deal with it if and when required. Which is what I intended to state really by saying no issue with warranty.

Maybe I should have specified this in my hasty reply to that post. Not being an employee or anything connected with Mahindra, I cannot with impunity interpret anything on their warranties. Im just a customer like anyone else.

My generation has grown up around legends like Leelakrishnan the Ace Rallyist who is the driving force behind AVO for the Thar. I trust him to have done the right thing and tuned this AVO product perfectly for the Thar. So far in my usage of it Ive seen nothing to the contrary. And Ive spoken to him too and had detailed whatsapp conversations with him ref this AVO suspension. He has also reassured me that this suspension can be taken apart, serviced, lubricated etc if needed and re-fitted. And that he and his team are happy to do what it takes.

I am not viewing this forum as a place where one may be judged for sharing one’s usage based feedback and information, which is why, as a fully paid-up customer, I have given my own personal usage-based endorsement stamp to this product. I stand by my word in this matter as an user. And I have nothing to gain from this, financially or otherwise.

At the end of the day, as with everything in this life, one’s risk appetite is always going to be relative to that of others. And as always, everything in this life, even marriage, is governed by the old principles of ‘caveat emptor’. The power to choose always rests with the individual buyer who is spending his or her money.

Lastly I ll leave another thought here. Oftentimes we see (abroad) that people upgrade and modify their vehicles with ARB and IronMan and Bilstein and all.
The difference is that abroad, the manufacturers endorse/ approve some of these upgrades. In India so far, no manufacturer does this overtly. And this is because the market here isn’t quite as mature.

Take the case of K&N performance filters. They clearly say that the usage of K&N filters do NOT void manufacturer warranty. Incidentally, K&N filters let more air in. In Indian conditions this ‘more air’ also means more impurities. Read my other submissions ref this and what I experienced in my other vehicle. (Basically the engine oil becomes quite a bit dirtier than when one uses the standard filter.)

In many cases, if one views the offerings from the manufacturers’ official accessories division against those from the aftermarket, one finds most of the time that the aftermarket is way superior.

I have several live examples basis my own experience of the Thar.
1. Original M&M accessories - smoke grey floor mats. Very light and slippery soft plastic. The Aftermarket thick and weighty rubber Michelin Mats are far superior.
2. Original M&M PU ‘Forest Green’ perforated seat covers. Cery poor design. Perforations are at pressure points which cause these to tear. Poor quality PU with very poor abrasion resistance. The aftermarket Armoro Canvas Seat covers are much better and more durable. And even those could actually be better.
3. M&M accessories arm rests from the dealer. These are of poor quality and too expensive. Aftermarket ones from almost anyone are better.
4. OEM Radiator guard. Not so great. Aftermarket ones are better.

And so on.

End of the Day Ive only shared my experience and tried to share some knowledge for the benefit of all here. If others want to use that information they are most welcome to do so.

The prerogative of choice is always that of the reader/ buyer.

[GTO]

Has any BHPian done anything to enhance the security aspect? The Convertible / Soft-Top are obviously very easy to break into. Any thoughts on anti-theft devices (gear lock etc.) to prevent the car from being stolen? If Scorpios are so easily stolen, it's clear that thieves have figured out how to bypass Mahindra's immobilizer.

By the way, this is the only car that I've ordered parts for, before even seeing my own car! Such is the fun of customising the Thar. I think I've ordered 15 - 20 parts already. Just in, GFX mats (based on recommendations from BHPians). I also liked the 7D stuff, but picked GFX over that as these are all rubber (don't want carpet-like material when offroading) and that I intend to keep my Thar open a lot. Flashy mats will easily get flicked in India from an open vehicle.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Has any BHPian done anything to enhance the security aspect? The Convertible / Soft-Top are obviously very easy to break into. Any thoughts on anti-theft devices (gear lock etc.) to prevent the car from being stolen?

Basis my own experience of the Petrol Thar’s FE, the thieves will not be able to afford the required Fuel. Hence the Petrol Thar (and even more so a Bright Red Convertible) most probably wont be one of those ‘sought after’ vehicles from a robber’s view point.

Saying this, I would not leave anything at all inside the vehicle when it is parked, other than perhaps those plastic bottles of water. I would hesitate to leave even the Armoro Grab Handle Bag and the Roll Cage Storage Tubes, preferring to either not have them at all, or make sure to carry them with me when leaving the vehicle unattended.

I love the convertible. But in our country which is full of poor and hungry people and our cities which are full of unscrupulous characters, it is just not practical.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by GTO

......

Just in, GFX mats (based on recommendations from BHPians).....

You should have bought Pharoah mats. These are the same guys as 3D mats. The official ones. I have them. Worth every single penny. Didn't like the GFX ones as they feel plasticyand move around quite a lot.
I have a set available for anyone to pick up .