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-   -   Mahindra Thar : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/228360-mahindra-thar-official-review-35.html)

The new Thar has also started reaching Delhi's karol baug market for modifications. Here is one such video of the base variant.
Thar

The mods done look absolutely horrendous, those LED strips inside the wheels look :deadhorse. The dashboard has scratches where the tweeters have been installed, even the touchscreen hasn't been installed properly.

I agree. I also fail to understand why buy a base model, then spend money to install the exact mods which the higher version comes stock. stupid:

Something inside of me dies when I see LEDs being use on the boot, wheel spaces, etc. They look horrendous and are very tricky from a safety perspective for other drivers. People's attention gets diverted (sometimes even involuntarily) which can lead to accidents.

Mahindra should take away the custom serial number plate from this owner, just for the absolutely horrendous mods. :p

The damage to the area around the HU reminds me of another Karol Bagh mod where the installation person damaged a couple of panels on a poor guy's car because he was being distracted by an "influencer".

https://youtu.be/FdXJ9j6sCiY

Probably the third Thar to be damaged after the one that went into a lake and the other rolled off the road. Looks like someone drove into a deep ditch while off-roading. The bumper seems to be have been shorn off, and the damage to the AC condensor.

Was shared on Whatsapp. No idea from where.

An attempt like this perhaps?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDcv-ANhTsO/

So I have driven the thar extensively yesterday. Minus off roading. Basically I used it as my daily runner which has been the Innova AT and Verna for the last many years.

I drove it nearly 100 kms yesterday in massive traffic and my required multiple factory runs. All in reasonably good road with slight rough patches.

I also drove it for 50 kms this morning on the Lucknow expressway as I was supposed to go on my bike rides but chose to drive the thar for reasons obvious.

So the ODO stands at nearly 200 I think. That’s nearly 180 driven in 36 hours.

I will Be driving it for another 50 kms with the kids today. They love it and I took them last night for 20 kms. In fact even took my mom and she loved the sitting position in the front and felt it was fairly easy to get in but she is a tall woman.

My first impressions are excellent. While waiting for the thar to be delivered I was thinking I perhaps had made a mistake and should have stuck to something more logical like a creta or Seltos which could have added more options for the family.

I can say from yesterday safely that the car can be my daily runner. It has massive road presence which is the need of the hour looking at the traffic conditions in my city and with extensive constructions going around and the agra metro project kick starting just out side our neighbourhood I feel this can be a good commuter for me in the coming years to come. I also have the expressway and some great roads at my doorstep just a few kms away.

The sheer road visibility because of the high ground clearance is excellent. You get a brilliant view of everything.

The rear view is poor but the side mirrors are massive. So job done.

The two complaints I have are -

1/ the infotainment system although excellent resets itself and does not pickup or register your last played song. Frustrating.

2/ brakes have less bite and lack confidence and takes getting used to.

Other than this the thar has been a delight to drive around. It has not been tiring.

The cabin feels solid and tank like and the rear seats are not that bad. It’s just a matter of getting used to

The AC is absolutely killer. Actually a bit too chilling.
This morning when I left home my watch showed nearly 11 degrees on the temp and the car I think does not display the outside temp. I have not had time to play around the system. It has way too many things. Apple car play works flawlessly.

Anyways I had nothing on this morning in terms of blower or ac or heating and the car felt excellent and it was absolutely freezing outside. The insulation from outside noise and cars roaring on the expressway is brilliant and better than my innova.

Also the horn on the thar is insane. It is LOUD !

I will post more impressions regularly.

Here are a few pics I took on the nice expressway while I was waiting for my friends to arrive.

And yes the car pulled crowd again and people stopped on the expressway to get pictures.

Totally agree with you but believe me, this is nothing compared to how the other popular cars leave from there.

Regarding the scratches, its bound to happen when a person thinks that all he needs to open panels is a 2-in-1 screwdriver.

A friend of mine had done something similiar few years back and ended up spending nearly 90k. For them; fitting unbranded audio components, door visors, chrome bits, those projector fog-lamps and seat covers make their car 'base to top' and they feel good about it.

This has been shared in the previous page. Watch the video to check what this poor thing was subjected to. Maybe the owner was checking the radiator strength.

https://youtu.be/FzFSF7JG90I

Thanks for sharing. Much useful as I am waiting for my delivery, which unfortunately is a long wait for now.

Glad to see you are enjoying the first impressions and the family is also enjoying the beast.

You said you took it on the expressway the other day. How was the ride and composure of the vehicle. Did you experience constant pitching on the undulations or was it planted. Also, how was the high speed stability and constant speeds you could maintain.

Would be great to hear first hand impressions from you.

I refuse to believe adding LED strips should be filed under category of "mods" but who am I kidding. This stuff seems extremely popular, even among auto-waalas.

Also personally, Thar would look MUCH better with small wheels and high profile tires rather than big wheels with thin profile, sporty tires. Somehow when I see SUVs with garish, large wheels the term that comes to mind is "pimped up" rather than "modded". Each to their own though.

Just took another 51 kms ride with the family.
One more complaint. The AC is irritatingly cold. Even blower one and the heat setting right in the middle between cold and low does not set a comfortable temp. Put it on and it is too cold and put it off it is too warm in the sun.

Liveable irritant but one that exists never the less.

Also jack up the volume knob and suddenly the audio sounds bad. Best to upgrade or if you wish to keep stock then the audio volume cannot be high. I am going to keep it stock as I am really not bothered as long as I can hear my podcasts and few songs.

However the phone quality is absolutely too
Notch via the mic.

As far as your question goes regarding ride and composure. I come from an Innova driven family so for me the ride is not a huge change however the thar is excellent on the highway. As long as you are cruising 80-100. Over that god save you. I have not tried going over 90 but I don’t intend to either. This is a big suv and respect it’s weight and height. This is not built for speed. Anyone knowing this and respecting this will be happy.

One important thing I realised today is that one needs to acclimatise or familiarise itself with this car. This is going to be an important thing for all first time thar or 4x4 owners. It is a very very different machine. Understand it and drive it and spend time with it.

On the plus side It has a huge macho image and look and feel and ride and this feeling does not come easy.

And as of now it has been one hour I am back but all I feel right now is for some chore to pop up so I can grab the keys and get the thar out lol:

Thanks for the super real world review. This helps! I booked my Thar on the 31st of October. My delivery date is 17th of June! lol: Although I feel that's good. The real life reviews will be in. Most of the popular off market mods will be available. And one would have a lot of time to assess the decision. Basically no buyers remorse.

You mentioned that your mother loved it too. Did you have anyone in the back seat? How was the backseat experience after a longish ride? (>20Kms). Also, some of the reviews have mentioned that you're continuously bouncing around due to the soft suspension. I didn't feel that when I took the test drive. Did you?

Congratulations!!
Looking forward to hear from you on the car's off-road performance as well. Especially on the BLD, MLD mechanics.
In one of the off-road reviews from GC he said the hill/slope assist never kicked in.

I do not think I have the heart to go off roading on a new vehicle and frankly speaking this car for me is not for off roading as I know zero regarding off roading.

All I know is when the situation arises I do have a vehicle that is there.

I do have a few close friends who like off roading but that is probably another week or two away on weekends. Will probably try mildly on a good decent track / trail.

Congratulations! and thanks for these observations. I have heard same complaint about the A/C on Bolero from my brother in law who owned one.

Regarding the horn: where I live, bikers, cyclists, autos, hog all the lanes, don't pay attention to fast moving cars or just plain use the road like they are alone on the road. They would move but you have to honk. Sometimes it even wakes up people who have slept at the wheel. Loud horn is VERY handy!