[GTO]

Thanks to all BHPians for the stellar advice . As it turned out (and some of you had advised), I have ended up keeping both Jeeps! The '97 Classic remains in the family, while a '22 Thar Petrol AT Convertible will be joining the garage soon.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks to all BHPians for the stellar advice . As it turned out (and some of you had advised), I have ended up keeping both Jeeps! The '97 Classic remains in the family, while a '22 Thar Petrol AT Convertible will be joining the garage soon.

Can't wait for the new one to join and then first thing we do is go to Learn Offroad for the inaugural offroad initiation!

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks to all BHPians for the stellar advice . As it turned out (and some of you had advised), I have ended up keeping both Jeeps! The '97 Classic remains in the family, while a '22 Thar Petrol AT Convertible will be joining the garage soon.

Wonderful choice!!.. I'm sometimes amazed at how precise and to the point your choice of vehicles are.

The Thar Petrol AT is the most powerful and peppiest of the lot. And is super duper fun to drive around in cities. For Offroad, it is the best, and it doesnt have the Achilles heel of the diesel version - the low hanging DEF Tank.

With the soft top down, the vehicle looks soo good!

So with this purchase you get.
- Stellar Reliability.
- Excellent Offroad Capability. Even better than old thar and old MM Jeeps.
- All new Gen Tech and excellent on-road dynamics.
- Not sure how relevant it is now (May be with some tasteful mods), but, some snob value.

Two mods I would suggest you to get is:
1. A better suspension.
2. A manual locking rear diffs. May be ARB.
With these you can use it for the next 15 years!

I also have a request - Please do post an Off-Road comparison between the Classic and the Thar.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

2. A manual locking rear diffs. May be ARB.
With these you can use it for the next 15 years!

Will these be significantly better than the existing BLD/ MLD that the new Thar comes with?
Will they be a relatively easy install?
Do you have some idea of what these may cost?
Would love to know more.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Will these be significantly better than the existing BLD/ MLD that the new Thar comes with?
Will they be a relatively easy install?
Do you have some idea of what these may cost?
Would love to know more.

The existing BLD (Brake Locking Differential) has a torque limitation. In situations where you need torque, it wont be able to pull you out. The MLD even though 100% locks, locks after the traction is lost. Also the activation is sudden and when you revv it to good torque. So might push you out of line. Eg: Where you need careful placement of wheels over boulders.

Also, there are some places you need to play around with open diffs and power. You cant do that with an Automatic Locking Diff.

Yes, the ARB lockers come as a whole diff case and are easy to install and extremely reliable for 100 thousand kms. They will cost you cost around a lac or more excluding the compressor. The compressor will cost you around 35k if you choose a good one. Around 80k if you choose the twin piston one, which is the best in the business.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Also, there are some places you need to play around with open diffs and power. You cant do that with an Automatic Locking Diff.

They will cost you cost around a lac or more excluding the compressor. The compressor will cost you around 35k if you choose a good one. Around 80k if you choose the twin piston one, which is the best in the business.

A couple more questions:
The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon comes with front, centre and rear locking diffs. How do you rate that compared with the ARBs?
Will these ARB’s work better as per you, with the AT or MT Thar?
The question is Will a new Thar equipped with the full ARB set up as described, be able to offer ~90% or more of what the Rubicon does? Also bearing in mind the 3 door Thar is a short chassis vs the longer chassis of the 4 door Rubicon.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

A couple more questions:
The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon comes with front, centre and rear locking diffs. How do you rate that compared with the ARBs?

ARB is just a company which makes reliable diff lockers. The Rubicon comes with E-Locker, the ARB lockers are pneumatic.

The Thar doesnt have a center diff. So, it behaves like it is always locked.

Will these ARB’s work better as per you, with the AT or MT Thar?

The lockers are for diffs. Nothing related to transmission. Will work when you need locked diffs for better traction.

The question is Will a new Thar equipped with the full ARB set up as described, be able to offer ~90% or more of what the Rubicon does? Also bearing in mind the 3 door Thar is a short chassis vs the longer chassis of the 4 door Rubicon.

The Thar is a very capable machine. Yes, with the ARB lockers and better suspension, and may be a nice remap for throttle response, it can be at par or even better "Off-Road" performer.