Team-BHP - Review: 1st-gen Mahindra Thar (2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjbiju (Post 2226254)

As far as I can recall, no details of the Thar project was shared with Team-BHP members. Yes, the inputs from forum members were sought.

There is a picture put up by the reviewers showing a personal injury caused by the rear seat bottom springs. So it is not entirely a misconception. And as far as the channels holidng the seat mechanism are concerned, it is quite logical to put some plastic covers on either ends. Should cost about Rs. 5 each.

Maybe you should read older threads. The Thar was driven by many teambhpians before the official launch too.

And why is it that me or dad have never got a single cut or bruise in the Thar?? And the one we are using in properly barebones.

Dear moderators and fellow members it disheartens me to stoop down to this level on a fun, friendly, helpful, informative and educative forum such as ours and I hope I'll be forgiven for the following reply.

Dear Cyrus sir,

i) Never before have I said the interiors are dangerous, but in my previous post. After seeing the pictures posted by deiscoverwild, the first thing that came to both my wife's and my mind was - dangerous. The question of repeating myself doesn't arise and I feel that you're on a witch hunt of sorts towards anyone who points out the evident negatives of the Mahindra Thar.

ii) Conveniently, you chose to ignore that I stated the Mahindra Thar has looks and an engine to die for while stating that the interiors are dangerous. Can't I say something that's evidently wrong with the vehicle I've chosen my forum ID after and obviously love?

iii) Sir, my family and I have been Mahindra faithfuls for decades and have owned almost 80% of the models Mahindra has offered. Do you work for Mahindra/ own Mahindra? If you do, kindly let me know and I'll make sure that none of my family members, offices or close friends ever buy a Mahindra vehicle again. Such high headed attitude is not what we expect in return for being faithful customers over decades and buying more than 10 Mahindra vehicles over the mentioned time.

iv) Yes, at least I did wait ever since the day Mahindra Thar was mentioned in this forum by Behram sir (a man for whom I have immense respect not only because of bringing the Mahindra Thar to the market, but also because I've heard that he's a helpful man who has even stopped to help a Mahindra Scorpio owner who had trouble with his Scorpio etc.) and that too with money to make the full payment aside. If you can't understand that, I can't help you.

v) Cyrus sir, I urge you to understand that it's people like us who are giving Mahindra first hand feedback. This forum and our posts are very valuble for Mahindra to grow and offer better products. Kindly do not undermine this great forum and it's members, thank you.

vi) Having stated what I have above, I'm looking forward to both of us becoming good friends in the future.

May God bless all of us with peace, intelligence and friendship... And a better Mahindra Thar!

Hi Thar (Since I don't know your name),

Cyrus is DB Sir's son.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyrus43 (Post 2226239)

Brilliant. She is a fantastically comfortable highway cruiser!!

Boss, We have been using the Thar for more than a year now and have never had any of your Cuts and Bruises. There is a logical limit of exaggeration.

Try telling that to my 8-yr old son who loves jumping around in the car from one seat to another. Also, the test drivers themselves were bruised and said so in that many words. (BTW, I think my son was 5 when the Thar was being discussed).

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Ultra Reliable!! Bahahaaa!!! YEs Sure!! Those will always work fine wont they!!

Please dont logically tell me that those power steering units which stick out like sore thumbs in front of your grille are actually going to work fine without ever breaking down. No way in hell it can be as reliable as a factory fit.

I didn't say I would be using godforsaken cheap spares anywhere.

Quote:

And now there is this new thing about the interiors being unsafe. We have been using it for more than a year now and have never had cuts and bruises. I dont know where you get your misconceptions.

What may seem a new thing to you is something that everyone has voiced their concerns about. It's only you who has been talking about what a great highway cruiser the Thar is. That is the least bit of my bother. I am happy if it does 80 and has better interiors than this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyrus43 (Post 2226259)

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjbiju (Post 2226254)

As far as I can recall, no details of the Thar project was shared with Team-BHP members. Yes, the inputs from forum members were sought.

There is a picture put up by the reviewers showing a personal injury caused by the rear seat bottom springs. So it is not entirely a misconception. And as far as the channels holidng the seat mechanism are concerned, it is quite logical to put some plastic covers on either ends. Should cost about Rs. 5 each.

Cyrus, I have read through every post of every thread on the Thar. The fact that a few Team-Bhpians drove the Thar after it was almost the final product does not mean the design specs were shared with the members. Fazil, DKG and others shared their driving impressions of the Thar on the forum. What was their feedback on the design? How many of their suggesions were incorporated into the final product? Will you show me a single post detailing the design specs of the Thar on the forum during its development cycle? I personally do not expect the manufacturers to do that. But any manufacturer that does not know the pulse of the market will make products that will simply fail.

The Thar has some very strong points and some negative points as well. And that would be true about almost every car on the planet. You cannot please all. If people have been giving feedback to improve the product, it is because many of these people, including me, are interested in buying this vehicle. You do not have to go overboard in defending this vehicle's negative points. If there is something you can do to improve them, do that. We have put our faith in DB sir, who has said that he will do whatever it takes to make it a success. And for my own selfish reasons, I hope it will be a success.

Personally, I will make Thar my next ride if:
1. It gets AC, ABS and a soft top.
2. Better interiors, smooth out the edges (I can do without the dashboard, just provide all the meters on a well rounded metal plate and a separate blower unit for HVAC (roof mounted maybe), smooth out the exterior (no protruding and saw cut metals), improved Gear/4WD lever location),
3. the seats are made better for my 6 ft medium :) frame
4. optional, scuff plates
5. optional, LSD
6. it costs below 8L

am I asking too much?

Its just my wish list for my Thar. I find the Thar on road to be as good as it can get (except ABS). As said earlier, it manages most offroad stuff comfortably, just needs a few creature comforts and eye candy.

You guys are constantly crying about thar not being a lifestyle vehicle.Right?

Now what are the other life style vehicles available in the country.The Xenon and the Getaway!

What is their price for 4X4 models?---10 lakhs ball park figure!

Right so whats the thar's price?

6 lakhs plus minus.

I am not including the road taxes in any the vehicles.

Now lets take the Thar's price to 10 lakhs.What do you get?

You get the Thar Adventure!Now that is your proper lifestyle vehicle!

Oh yes about kids i agree the rear seats when folded are an issue.But man you kids are not going to be hopping under the seats!

Do you know where all and i mean ALL kids get hurt the most!-With thier fingers in the door! and its possible to get hurt that way even in a rolls royce!

And will you guys be driving with your hands under your seats to get the bruises.

How many of you have actually looked under your car's seats untill these pics were posted.

Do you know that the seat sliding mechanism in call cars be it even a merc will get your hands cut!

You all want this and that and want it below 6,7 or 8 lakhs ask yourself is this possible?

What are you benchmarking this price point by?

No seriously apart from the so called dangerous interiors issue what are you benchmarking the Thar against?

Now lets talk about the offroading - you guys say it can't crawl! it can't do your EXAM! it can't do your XYZ!
Well again what are you benchmarking it against?
You jeeps?

You have devised those OTR routes with your jeeps and gypsies in mind.right.Well lets set a track with the custom rock crawllers which can scale standing mountains. than lets see how your jeeps perform.

Do your jeeps have independent front suspension? do they handle like the Thar on the road?
Do your jeeps do 90 kmph let alone 140?

Keep in mind that this Thar has been built with a normal person in mind.Who would like to own a good retro looking jeep.With the ability to overcome anything that the roads can throw at them.and make it to the occasional offroad and if their is not able to overcome a particular obstacle they would go around it rather than curse it for not being able to do that one thing.

This is not made with one obstacle in mind.The is not a custom offroader.

For you offroaders its the thar MDI with the regular leaf springs up front.Then you guys cry about the engines.Right.So if you guys are comparing the thar to your custom build MM550 then why do you need the CRDE engine.You could well do with the similar MDI engine also.Because during offroading you guys would be doing crawling.So why the need for more power.It comes in a very good budget as well.

Guys:

Before I put in a hard top, I was had AC in my MM540. The softtop is sufficient to cool the interiors. However, the problem is that the rear flap cannot be sealed fully the sides can be zippered but the bottom part of the rear flat generally has Velcro straps that don't seal it fully. Bsically your vehicle will be filled with dust after driving in dusty conditions which basically most of our roads are.

The issue is not with cooling but the amount of dust and grime that enters the cabin through the gaps in the rear flap.

Regarding the Thar CRDe canvas top, it is definitely a much better material than the older canvas tops or even the Thar MDI canvas. However, the issue with the open rear flap remains and you stuff will be covered with dust....

@navpreet: We get it dude. You really love the Thar and there is no harm in that. The criticism of the Thar is aimed at Mahindra and not at you. Please don't take it so personally...

Quote:

Originally Posted by navpreet318 (Post 2226513)

Now lets talk about the offroading - you guys say it can't crawl! it can't do your EXAM! it can't do your XYZ!
Well again what are you benchmarking it against?
You jeeps?

You have devised those OTR routes with your jeeps and gypsies in mind.right.Well lets set a track with the custom rock crawllers which can scale standing mountains. than lets see how your jeeps perform.

Navpreet you dont need to make a custom route for the Thar during OTR's.

A Quote by Frankinstein in the Bangalore Aavalakonda (hope i got the spelling right)annual otr 2011 thread. "The thar was right behind my jeep on day one , it did the trail easily and could do more".

I wonder why none of the Bangalore and some Hyderabad Offroaders at the event are talking about this. I believe someones MM550 also topled there.

By the way my Thar comes home on the 2nd of feb. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedy (Post 2226615)

...
A Quote by Frankinstein in the Bangalore Aavalakonda (hope i got the spelling right)annual otr 2011 thread. "The thar was right behind my jeep on day one , it did the trail easily and could do more".

I wonder why none of the Bangalore and some Hyderabad Offroaders at the event are talking about this. I believe someones MM550 also topled there.
...

I am quite heartened by this news. I was looking forward to some videos of the Thar, especially while it was doing obstacles that required crawling kind of speed. Also of the Thar doing obstacles where off-roaders believe IFS would have been a big limitation.

We will be eagerly waiting for the first Thar ownership report on the forum once you get your Thar. I am still waiting for its launch in Pune.

-Biju