[Pretorian]

In awe with the current Gurkha, would have picked it up but for practical reasons i choose v-cross, simply because i need a big boot space, to carry farm produces, and hauling motorbikes around, this is the only option I have. If only Gurkha can carry the Xpulse with rear seats down, i may still consider it.

[UP!!!!]

Voted for Mahindra Thar. It's a no brainer for me.

Reason -

• Personally, I find Mahindra Thar (minus grill) is better looking car then the competition (apart from Jeep Wrangler).
• 4* in Global NCAP for Mahindra Thar. No airbags and ABS were the only reason why I didn't buy Thar in 2016.
• Refined, reliable and powerful engine with option of Automatic transmission.
• On road driving pleasure with excellent off road capability. For me, both are equally important.
• Thar's interior are a generation apart from Gurkha. In 2021, I cannot compromise on features and interior.
• Wide network of after sale service.

[sgmuser]

With Mahindra's service back up and engine's supremacy and road presence it is straight simply THAR for me! It is my next car, Diesel AT 4WD. I will never ever go close to Gurkha, just for that 20 years old interior. It is not designed for the use what I intend to. It may sell well in rural and hilly areas. Isuzu lost its VFM tag when they went through this price hike. Especially after XUV 700 et all.

[fawad0222]

Voted for Gurkha, though I haven't driven any of them. My knowledge is theoretical. Preference for Gurkha for it being the most accomplished off roader, having good space, comfortable ride and handling. Neither Izuzu nor Thar can match it's off roading potential. For the roads more travelled there are better soft roaders than what Thar could do. Izuzu is a good compromise between off roading and regular use but is it so really. Regular use needs regular cars where V cross dimensions are a big handicap.

[Shekhar Rao]

Hi
As someone who has booked the new Gurkha and is seeing pictures everyday trying to decide between green and orange, the overwhelming vote in favour of Thar was alarming and made me wonder whether I have made a mistake ! But the last 2 posts by Maanuj and Fawaad have brought in some reassurance that I am not alone
I have made some observations in the other 2021 Gurkha review thread about my reasoning in thinking of replacing my 2011 Thar CRDE with the new Gurkha and so I will not repeat them here except to say that despite all advances with the new Thar ,I liked my old Thar more in comparison after a brief test drive ( immediate impressions) Maybe if I was driving a Thar for the first time , I would have thought differently?
For all the reasons mentioned in other posts , the seating position and view out as well as use anywhere and anyhow capability, the improvements over my old Thar and for the looks of the vehicle my vote goes to the new Gurkha
Hope I am not disappointed after driving it
Also hoping that we will see a new era in after sales service and will not be let down as a community of enthusiasts.

[Aish_4761]

Heart goes with the Gurkha, mind wants the Thar!
Voted for Gurkha due to its sheer capabilities and uniqueness. Majority of "these car" buyers will already have other car(s) in their garage, so, if I want to cruise down a highway, I won't take any of'em at all.
Although I have always been a fan of pick-up trucks, I honestly did not like the Isuzu much, I would have rather bet my money on a Tata Xenon back in the day!
I somehow make stupid choices some times but hey, I am not buying a 4X4 for going to the mall on a Sunday! Perhaps, off-road performance and ruggedness are the key factors playing a major role here!
So yea, mind can keep its peace with the Thar however, the heart has always won!

[Slushmaster]

Voted for Mahindra THAR. Gurkha will outshine THAR in extreme (read less than 5%)offroading conditions, but anywhere else THAR is equivalent. And when you add highway cruising, service network, parts availability and sales, THAR suddenly starts to make a lot more sense. No doubt the Gurkha is improved, but the benchmark is not any other vehicle currently on sale, the current Gurkha is just better than the Gurkha available before 2017 which used to make 80 odd HP. Also, offroading is not only obstacles, but also the highway drive to those obstacles.

[karthikd21]

Voted for the Gurkha. Own one(2016 model) and love driving it. It's the most practical one for me.

Would have voted for Thar if it had proper metal hard top and some boot space. What it has now is a joke. I love to take my 4x4 across the states and carry a lot of lagguage.

If not for Gurkha, I would have gone for the Vcross. But, it's too long for off roading.

[darkLightning]

In my personal opinion this poll is a little ahead of time because all the three vehicles listed here are really good but have their specific shortcomings. 2 years down the line would be a better marker to see which one has addressed it's flaws and become a better choice.

Thar - Too small (still can't get my head around Mahindra's decision to keep it sub 4m in length), the 5 door Thar will bring interesting propositions in the market.

V-Cross - Too big and next generation is overdue, in the next couple of years Isuzu should launch it's next generation and improve the service experience, that would make V-Cross extremely formidable.

Gurkha - The efforts Force is putting in is apparent both in terms of new Gurkha as well as their inclination to up the service game. But right now it is too early to tell, 2 years down the line we should be better able to judge how sincere Force is.

Also 2 years down the line we may be able to see 2 mythological creatures land on our shores i.e The Jimny and that small Jeep which has been teased.

[swunkjyn]

I always had and have a soft spot for V-cross. To me it's like the perfect overlanding vehicle with 5 people. The tent, customising the boot with a canopy and accessorizing it.
ARB does make some good parts for it and the new one has notched up the game too.

Thar is good but it's just 2 seater only and not a 4 seater. Having said that, Mahindra did improve a lot of things and they do deserve credit.

Gurkha is like the odd man out here. It's like a beast but rarely does one want to tame it so you let it be where it is. It's great vehicle but that is not the only thing we would look for. We would always worry about service, spares and parts.

[iceman7]

Voted for the Gurkha. Here is why -

1. Has a proper metal hard top
2. Rear is much spacious than the Thar
3. Thar has a claustrophobic rear seat setting. I just can't get my head around it
4. Gurkha can carry more luggage than the Thar
5. It's 2021. I ain't waiting for months on end to get delivery of the Thar

I understand that the Thar has a more refined engine, better service network, et al. But the Gurkha will end up as a third car for me, if ever I buy it. And I am happily willing to go through some pain to maintain it.

Oh, and the Gurkha looks SMASHING!!

[gongura]

I own a V-Cross. I am one of the first 100 owners of the vehicle. Purchased in 2016. When I purchased the vehicle my on road cost was 14.5 lakhs (Hyderabad).

I'd like to clarify a couple of things that the OP put in the Isuzu Vcross "What you wont" section.

a) The "no audio system in a ~30lakh vehicle" is misleading. Isuzu sells several variants of the V-Cross. The variant that sells for 30 lakhs most definately **has** a music system with 6 speakers. It also has an Aisin 6 speed torque convertor auto box as well as 6 airbags and has a 5-star ASEAN NCAP crash test rating. The lower variant V-cross -- bare bones -- which is simaler to what i bought in 2016 - is the one without an audio system.

Note: in 2016 the audio system was offered as an optional extra that could be fitted by the dealer for 35k. I didnt get it but i know lots of folks who did. The vehicle came with front and rear speakers prefitted as well as steering mounted controls. All you needed to do is add the headunit. The front speakers are great, the rear ones are a bit meh. Could be easily upgraded as the internal wiring was all done.

b) When the V-cross was initially released - and when the Team-BHP review was written, the service interval was 5000 km. This was subsequently revised to 10,000 km. I think it was sometime around 2017. In my 6 years of ownership of this vehicle this is what i've been maintaining throughout - 10k service interval.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by sgmuser

I will never ever go close to Gurkha, just for that 20 years old interior. It is not designed for the use what I intend to. It may sell well in rural and hilly areas. Isuzu lost its VFM tag when they went through this price hike. Especially after XUV 700 et all.

Originally Posted by UP!!!!

Voted for Mahindra Thar. It's a no brainer for me.

Reason -

• On road driving pleasure with excellent off road capability. For me, both are equally important.
• Thar's interior are a generation apart from Gurkha. In 2021, I cannot compromise on features and interior.
• Wide network of after sale service.

It’s funny how people are passing judgement on a car they have never even seen in real life forget having driven it. The new upgraded interiors are not that bad in the Gurkha. It is designed as a utilitarian vehicle so pointless to view it in isolation rather than look at the whole package for what it offers. Force has also promised a new tie up with a third party agency to provide a more dense after sales and service network - but only time will tell.

Personally I rode the Thar for about 40 mins on the highway and drove it myself on an off-road trail for another 20 and my reaction was a big “NO”! One simply cannot do confident and sharp turns at a brisk pace on hair-pin bends on hilly terrain. I got a vertigo like giddy sensation driving on the twisty curvy hilly roads due to its super soft squishy suspension and while doing the off-road section comprising of a dozen hair-pin bends, I found extremely poor visibility all around - had to lean to the right and crane my neck multiple times a minute literally tilting on my ass to check where the sides of the car were and if there was risk of damage on the turns. Left side visibility low down was about “ guessing” and “judgement”. This is not a true blue off-roader! It’s a family car for the modern nuclear family to do some weekend soft-roading and better handle washed out roads in rural areas. Nothing about its initial base design is practical for off-roading except the off-road components like 4x4 and BLD slapped on it later as an afterthought to meet the checklist for an off-roader. I will not touch it with a barge pole! The Gurkha beats it hands down in practicality as well with rear seating and luggage space! As for the Thar - Lesser said about its midget looks the better - not to say it’s tiny, but simply the oddly weird shortened looks much like the adult circus clowns in Indian circus acts of an bygone era, where they were deployed on account of their physical deformity to amuse and entertain. Besides that what kind of idiot designs that sort of grill for a car? Reminds me of a toothless old man with gaps in in his smile - beats me how that design got a sign-off from senior management within Mahindra - just what sense of aesthetics do people working there posses? The Gurkha in comparison is a handsome strapping stallion that wins hearts for its sheer looks!

This thread and poll is too early - let the Gurkha hit the road and let people other than the Mahindra fanboys get their initial test drive reports out!

[UP!!!!]

Originally Posted by Ragul

It’s funny how people are passing judgement on a car they have never even seen in real life forget having driven it. The new upgraded interiors are not that bad in the Gurkha. It is designed as a utilitarian vehicle so pointless to view it in isolation rather than look at the whole package for what it offers.

With all due respect Sir, I do not necessarily need to drive a car to vote on a poll here. I have read the official reviews of both the cars and if I would have been in the market, Mahindra Thar will be MY obvious choice.

Force Gurkha might have more potential than Mahindra Thar in off-roading but I will not buy a car solely for that purpose and IMHO, Mahindra Thar is a better package as whole.

In the above post, you have also mentioned interior of Gurkha as “not that bad”. Why should I settled for “not that bad” interiors when I have better options ?
Also, I do not need to see the interior in person to make a judgement. The images from official reviews are enough.





I respect your decision to like Force Gurkha and you should respect mine.

I rest my case, your honour.

- A Mahindra fanboy

[sgmuser]

Originally Posted by Ragul

It’s funny how people are passing judgement on a car they have never even seen in real life forget having driven it.

I did not drive but I have been in one of the version for almost 5 to 6 hours. Just saying! And the pictures what I see in internet is more than enough to get an idea. Please do not say, I have to touch and feel. Many many car decisions are taken by just looking at it and then only driving it. I clearly mentioned the needs are different. There are many other reasons for me to reject that car. It is outdated, to simply put it. The one advantage it has is its ride quality which is any day better than Mahindra's. Somehow, Force knows a thing or two about how to tune the ride quality, like Renault.