[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

In your experience and opinion, do you think that the Jimny will fare equally or better than the Thar in off road conditions and highways? Sorry if my question sounds lame and a huge sorry to the OP for hijacking his thread.

Im hijacking the opportunity to answer. I currently own a Gypsy and a new Thar and use these regularly. I may also buy a Jimny if I feel like after some time.

The Jimny being narrow and light will be TOP ACE in the hills and estate roads and mountain tracks and all. Just like the Gypsy is. On highways and long distance touring one may wish the engine to have more power. So there is a bolt on Turbo kit available abroad. The suspension can be out of the box upgraded with the proven ready Ironman set up. And some underbody protection too. These three things will definitely help the Jimny.

The Thar is big and wide and is a pain on narrow mountain roads. However, right out of the box it gives you tremendous confidence over any sort of terrain. It is a superb long distance tourer and has the ‘legs’ and the turbo power for long hours of cruising. Thats where it will score over the Jimny.
In my book it definitely needs a suspension upgrade as an investment in comfort (AVO is what Ive put and Im happy) plus some good underbody plates will be nice (Ive put ARKA aluminium ones)

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Herein lies my dilemma. This is off topic but strangely relevant. Lot's of people have been comparing the upcoming Jimny with the Gypsy with lots of similarities. I have a Thar 700 and it is ideal for my 4x4 excursions. However the comfort leaves a lot to be desired. The Gypsy struggles on the the trails that I use. With the advent of Jimny, I feel optimistic about it's off roading credentials. In your experience and opinion, do you think that the Jimny will fare equally or better than the Thar in off road conditions and highways? Sorry if my question sounds lame and a huge sorry to the OP for hijacking his thread.

I suggest you book a slot with Mahindra`s Extreme adventure program, its a one day \ evening event, you will get to know many things about Thar and it will help you arrive at the answer.

A shiny Thar blitzing past you on the highway is quite a sight to watch sitting in a.. you get the picture.

[shreyashuilgol]

Hi all,

Thanks to all the replies I have decided to go with a Thar.
Shortlisted a few which can be considered. I am planning to test drive a couple of them this week. Hopefully, I can get a good deal.

Have tried searching for Scorpio 4x4 and Bolero 4x4 as well. But, does not look like there are many of these in the Hyderabad market. I'll still keep an eye out for them.

Thank you to all of you who helped me out with this dilemma.

Hoping I'll be posting pictures of the Thar pretty soon.

Search in ON!

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

In your experience and opinion, do you think that the Jimny will fare equally or better than the Thar in off road conditions and highways? Sorry if my question sounds lame and a huge sorry to the OP for hijacking his thread.

Jimny, as we all know, is a globally successful product and has a wide fan base for it's off roading prowess. Shankar has answered your query and rightfully so. He's a veteran with Gypsies and all Jeepy things.

I think both Thar and Jimny will have it's own pros and cons when it's off the road. Both are proven machines. I'm guessing Jimny may pip Thar by a whisker owing to it's light weight construction. But then, no one has quite tested the 5 door Jimny in off road conditions. So the jury is still out on that. We'll have to wait and see and hear what Jimny owners have to say as and when they lay their hands on them.

Going purely by the spec sheet of Jimny engines, it may not hold a candle against Thar on highways, especially when it comes to relaxed cruising for long distances. I'm not referring to 0-100 figures.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Im hijacking the opportunity to answer. I currently own a Gypsy and a new Thar and use these regularly. I may also buy a Jimny if I feel like after some time.

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I have a question here. I have very little 4x4 experience but in the RFC I have seen both Mahindra and Gypsy frames Being used quite successfully. From what I could make out the difference was in the way they attacked obstacles - where the Gypsy driver used the advantage of light weight and momentum to clear obstacles while Mahindra drivers used weight and excellent low end torque to achieve the same. If this is the case is the driving style that you prefer a factor in choosing which vehicle you would enjoy most.

Drive on,
Shibu

[JISHAN]

Hi Shreyas, I too am looking forward to get my first vehicle and in a similar confusion. I am a 20 year old. I shortlisted a few cars : A Gypsy (ex-army), Thar CRDe, and MM550 NGCS (ex-army).
I discussed with a number of veterans, and most of them suggested Gypsy as the best 4x4 vehicle for a beginner. It is affordable, easier to maintain, has less electronics, therefore few things can wrong while off-roading and spare parts are affordable.
I am more inclined towards the Mm550, because old school Jeeps have always fascinated me. I know that restoring and modifying a Mm550 might turn out to be quite expensive, but it is worth the effort, at least for me.
If you want to learn the basics of off-roading and want a cheap to maintain, rugged and reliable vehicle, go for the Gypsy undoubtedly. But, if you want a car for daily use, including highway travels, and which is slightly more comfortable than a Gypsy, its better to stick to the Thar CRDe.

Regards,
Jishan

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by shibujp

I have a question here. I have very little 4x4 experience but in the RFC I have seen both Mahindra and Gypsy frames Being used quite successfully. From what I could make out the difference was in the way they attacked obstacles - where the Gypsy driver used the advantage of light weight and momentum to clear obstacles while Mahindra drivers used weight and excellent low end torque to achieve the same. If this is the case is the driving style that you prefer a factor in choosing which vehicle you would enjoy most.

Drive on,
Shibu

Im sorry I only observed this query now - nearly 11 months later!

Anyway here goes;
Gypsy. Especially the soft top version.
Yes indeed its light weight and strong 4x4 can get it over loose surfaces, steep climbs and various obstacles. Where it comes into its own, are those steep and narrow mountain paths and trails. With its slim stock cross ply nylon tyres, it rarely gets bogged down too deep. But you need to know what to go for and what to avoid - when in the course of normal daily work on an estate. Because of its ‘lightness’ (985 kgs) and free revving petrol engine, it kind of ‘skips’ over most irritants.

Thar. We used to use the grandpa of the Thar, the MM540 with the 2112 cc Peugeot Diesel and later the 2493 cc uprated engine in the MM550. These were quite light Jeeps too though heavier than a Gypsy. Yet they used to handle most of what the Gypsy did up in the hills. MM’s were broader, wider and taller and heavier, yes, but those NDMS and other old style nylon cross ply Jeep tyres used to give it a certain ‘fleet footedness’ over obstacles. The Diesel engine wasnt very powerful - it used to make some 50-60bhp but it had decent torque and could chug up the hills in 2nd gear.

The Thar Crde is a different animal. On paper and in practice the bhp and torque and all is very good. But I will say one thing here based on my own experience. The Turbo engine will always have a ‘lag’, the Crde more than the Chain drive. And the Turbo will always lag compared to the Naturally aspirated engine. It takes time to ‘spool up’ and there lies all the difference when it comes to keeping up one’s momentum when ascending a steep and slippery slope.

I am now finding all these new Thars and other Jeeps to have become very obese and wide and heavy and ponderous even though they have crazy power and torque compared to what we had in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I also state that all these new age ones (barring the Jimny) are more suited for the Great Wide Open Spaces than those narrow and steep hill areas. The tyre sizes are another thing. All these new age Jeepies (barring the Jimny) come with very big fat heavy tyres and some folks also put on even bigger tyres. It is better in my book to have a more versatile, universally useable all rounder tyre on sensibly sized wheels. Nowadays most Jeepy things look lovely - bit like Hotwheels cars with slightly exaggerated wheel sizes. This makes for great street cred but are not always automatically best for the purpose of estate use and trails.

I owned this new Thar from Feb 2021 and sold it just this week, after having gone to quite a few private trails and estate roads and plenty of highways etc over the 30K kms that I drove it for.

The new Thars make one feel like one is invincible and indeed it can make mincemeat of most trails and things. These are great powerful highway tourers and they are a good combo for getting you to your trail in relative comfort, doing the trail with relative ease because of all the Hill Hold and AT and Electronic Aids and all and getting you back home to the city when you're tired after a days trail driving.

The diminutive Jimny will cruise happily for hours at 100kmph and while it is not as powerful as the Thar, it is much happier on tight trails, steep and narrow mud tracks and the high mountain passes. It is also a good highway tourer provided the driver likes a more sedate, steady pace and is not a high acceleration/ overtaking enthusiast.

I drove my Gypsy today early morning up and down to Mysore and back on a spare parts delivery errand to my friend. I am used to Jeeps and enjoyed the ride at 80-90kmph sitting in the left lane and sometimes middle lane. A total of 300kms driven up and down between 0600hrs and 1130hrs. Ive driven the Gypsy (and my other Gypsys) many times over the years to Ooty and Coorg and Chikmagalur and all. And I’ve done a lot of trails in the Gypsy. It holds a very special place in my heart.

Truth be told, Ive said this many a time before. The stock Gypsy with its ‘archaic’ leaf spring suspension and rigid front axles and soft top and light weight and no power steering and no AC, with its stock nylon cross ply tyres filled to the recommended 20PSI actually rides much much better than the stock new Thar and even the old Thar Crde and/ or the MM540/550’s. The ride quality of the Jimny, likewise, is way superior to the Thar.

If people don't believe what I say, then I will invite my friend Bibendum to speak and endorse. And if people still don't believe, I will happily demonstrate this fact personally using my own Gypsy.


After this long winded story I attempt to specifically answer your question.

It has always been horses for courses and always will be so.

Where you need towing and lugging ability - towing a trailer up the estate dirt tracks in the monsoon with the day’s plucked Tea leaves or coffee bags or fertilizer or machine parts or labourers for example, the low end torque and slower chugging diesel of the MM540/550 or Major works really well.

Where you need to get atop a wet hill on a surface composed of long slick grass or a slushy up-slope, quickly and safely without sliding all over the place, the lightweight Gypsy is the King.

Both the vehicles are very very good at what they do. And no one can honestly state that one is better than the other. It is a matter of the requirement as per ‘use-case’ and it is also (very importantly) a metter of personal preference.

If you ask me mine, I definitely prefer the lightweight vehicles; the answer clearly lies in the fact that while I sold my 2021 Thar, I have retained my 2014 Gypsy. And one day, I will definitely buy myself a Jimny. The desire for the Jimny is very very strong in me as the more comfortable Grandson of my Gypsy.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Im sorry I only observed this query now - nearly 11 months later!

Anyway here goes;
Gypsy. Especially the soft top version.
Yes indeed its light weight and strong 4x4 can get it over loose surfaces, steep climbs and various obstacles. Where it comes into its own, are those steep and narrow mountain paths and trails. With its slim stock cross ply nylon tyres, it rarely gets bogged down too deep. But you need to know what to go for and what to avoid - when in the course of normal daily work on an estate. :

Excellent explanation especially given the real life usage examples. Kind of like the difference between diesel and petrol engines. You need to figure the driving style and the need to be truly happy with either.

Drive on,
Shibu