[Trojan]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

If the Automatic is launched it will prove to be a game changer for the Gurkha.

Saw a video of the 5 door being tested on the roads and took some screenshots to share here..here it is then!

It looks very good in my view.

Oh yes that it will be and this 5 door test video really got me hooked! Looks extremely well proportioned.

We were at the FM HQ last week and were driven around in the 5 door BS4 Gurkha, and it again reminded us how awesome it would be to have something like that in the BS6 avatar and there the cat is out of the bag!!

Now I am seriously considering waiting for the 5 door and there starts the test of patience and difficult decisions!

Will/Should I give in or not!

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

I look forward to driving the Gurkha everyday and so far I am very happy with my impulsive decision on becoming a Gurkha owner!

Your impulsive decision on becoming a Gurkha owner and subsequent reviews, reports and details of additions in this forum have caused OCD in many, OCD of checking out T-BHP updates on Asterix and his siblings, and the YouTube videos everyday!

Whether I can own it or not, I will remain a follower of this review/ ownership thread.

[For me, I need an Auto for my next purchase. It's not due to the convenience, but due to physical limitations (knee problem). Felt it again last week after driving 11 hours to my destination.

Also, fund and parking space are two personal constraints. Funds need to be protected due to workplace turmoils. And my existing swift is too good on wallet (FE) and on curves of mountain roads ]

1. Is the 5 door Gurkha going to be lengthier? Or same dimensions of existing 3 door?

2. Whether AT (if at all possible in future) will be in both 3 door and 5 door?

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by RijuC

Your impulsive decision on becoming a Gurkha owner and subsequent reviews, reports and details of additions in this forum have caused OCD in many, OCD of checking out T-BHP updates on Asterix and his siblings, ..

1. Is the 5 door Gurkha going to be lengthier? Or same dimensions of existing 3 door?

2. Whether AT (if at all possible in future) will be in both 3 door and 5 door?

Thank you for your love and support!

The 5 door will be lengthier. The current one is 2450 mm and the 5 door will be 2750 or 2850 mm. Trojan says that it will be offered with the Automatic Transmission option as well. He has some inside info on this.

As far as FE goes it is about half of what you get with your swift.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Its been one month today since the ownership review of the Force Gurkha went live on teambhp. That this review has garnered a whopping 2.25 lakh views in such a short space of time is testament to how popular the new Force Gurkha really is.

That's faster than many official reviews . Wow! Three reasons for that IMHO:

- Your frequent + detailed updates. The most popular ownership threads are the ones that are updated often.

- Your detailed updates find their way to the homepage "hot threads" frequently. In fact, this latest post of yours will go to hot threads this week.

- The level of interest in this really special machine, the Gurkha.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by GTO

That's faster than many official reviews . Wow! Three reasons for that IMHO:

To add further to those:

- The COTY entry for Gurkha having the link to this thread.
(that is how I discovered it)

- Manuuj's warm, engaging and extremely helpful manner. Eg: on being asked about whether a certain dimension is sufficent, where a simple "no" might suffice he takes the trouble of measuring, taking pictures, and replying in detail as can be seen here (Asterix, my 2021 Force Gurkha | The adventure begins).

[Nair.V8]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Thank you for your love and support!

The 5 door will be lengthier. The current one is 2450 mm and the 5 door will be 2750 or 2850 mm. Trojan says that it will be offered with the Automatic Transmission option as well. He has some inside info on this.

As far as FE goes it is about half of what you get with your swift.

Hi there Manuuj, kudos to you on keeping this post lively. I'm loving the frequent updates!

I have a quick question regarding the 2.2L 140hp motor from the previous gen Gurkha Extreme, is there any news regarding this motor making a comeback? The additional power would give the new Gurkha some added muscle.

[msk_kapoor]

Thanks Manuuj for keeping great amount of details on new Gurkha registered in this thread. I have some queries below. Sorry for asking a lot

- Will you be able to compare the high way ride quality with respect to XUV 500 or the Previous generation Scorpio. I use Linea for highways and need some point of reference to talk to my better half. I sure am planning for a test drive, but not sure whether i will be able to test it on highways

- Any concrete information on Auto gear box in the 3 door version? I am planning this as my daily driver to office within city. i am thinking of 3 door version which i feel will be good enough for my family of 4 and also will help in city traffic

- The long window looks great and i love it. But during day trips i feel there should be some sort of sun screen which will help kids sleep in backseat. Are you planning something for this?

- Will we be able to add a back camera integrated with the Kenwood HU?

- I might not use this for heavy off-roading purpose and primarily will be used for city drives and highways. Do you recommend to change the factory fitted CEAT tyres?

- Any other mods you thinking in mind which you will be adding to Asterix soon?

[Jagatvir]

Dear Manuuj, me and my father have religiously followed every update on this thread. I must confess that having followed the thread, it was not long before we too test drove the vehicle and took delivery of the Gurkha on 11.12.2021. It was certainly an impulsive decision and one taken from heart and not the mind, as there wasn't any need of buying another vehicle. Having said that, it's been a pleasantly positive ownership experience. Here's a few pictures of our car:



We have retained the stock tyres size i.e. 245/70/R16 but changed the tyres to Apollo Apterra AT-2.

Here are the list of Modifications:

IPH Bi-xenon 3 inch Fog Lamps coupled with 4300K GS Bulbs. They were sourced from Amit, Blaze India.
Blaupunkt Horn
Plati alloy wheels painted in matte black colour
Armoro spare wheel cover.




Here's a few pictures of the car height/size comparison to a few other vehicles:






Having driven the car for some time here are a few key takeaways:

• The NVH levels are quite well contained.


•

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Oh yes that it will be and this 5 door test video really got me hooked! Looks extremely well proportioned.
Now I am seriously considering waiting for the 5 door and there starts the test of patience and difficult decisions! Will/Should I give in or not!

Yes it sure does look great in the video posted by fellow bhpian Rakesh Ravindran. Great catch by him!
You know the answer to you dilemma as well as i do. Go for it brother!!

Originally Posted by GTO

That's faster than many official reviews . Wow!

Thank you so much GTO!

Originally Posted by Poitive

To add further to those: - The COTY entry for Gurkha having the link to this thread.
(that is how I discovered it)
- Manuuj's warm, engaging and extremely helpful manner.

Thank you brother!

Originally Posted by Nair.V8

Hi there Manuuj, kudos to you on keeping this post lively. I'm loving the frequent updates!
I have a quick question regarding the 2.2L 140hp motor ..

Thank you for your kind words brother! I do not think the 2.2 one will make a comeback at all. There were some issues with having it meet BS6 emission norms. I do not think that the low volumes of Gurkha sales warrants an investment by Force Motors into having it converted anyway.

Originally Posted by msk_kapoor

Thanks Manuuj for keeping great amount of details on new Gurkha registered in this thread. I have some queries below. Sorry for asking a lot

Thank you so much for your kind words.

- I can compare the ride quality to my Fortuner and my Endeavour both of which i have driven extensively. The Gurkha has great ride quality and is pretty good at cruising on highways. It lacks the punch and grunt of the Fortuner and Endeavour ofcourse. But the same time you can cruise at 80-100 kmph easily without the Gurkha running out of breath.

- No information on the 3 door getting an autobox but the 5 door very well may get it.

- There are many screens available for the rear window and i have even got one rear windscreen screen which i can affix to the Gurkhas side windows. Yet to test it out though. Maybe just V-cool 100% transparent film can keep the heat out.

- I have already installed a Blaupunkt rear camera. Works very well. I posted about this a few weeks ago in this thread itself.

- For mostly highway driving and mild offroading the Ceats should be just fine.

- sound damping is next on the list of mods planned alongwith speakers upgrade. Leaving the HU as it is.

Originally Posted by Jagatvir

Dear Manuuj, me and my father have religiously followed every update on this thread. I must confess that having followed the thread, it was not long before we too test drove the vehicle and took delivery of the Gurkha on 11.12.2021.

Thank you for your kind words.

Congratulations on getting your Gurkha. The Plati Alloys do look great and suit the Gurkha a lot and the Bi-xenon fog lamps are a very very useful upgrade! I have the same!

Here is a heads up for you and generally all 2021 Gurkha Owners. (Specially ones made in October or November)

1. Do place clean paper under the car just behind the engine to check for any Oil leaks from the transmission. Its a minor issue and can be easily rectified. Ved ji who is the North India head for Service is aware of the issue and a solution has been found and has already been applied to later manufactured models. Maybe your vehicle being a later one came with the fix already from factory.

2. Power Steering Fluid Pipe may come loose due to vibrations if it is touching the radiator pipe. There is Brass T that connects the pipe carrying the fluid to the Steering Damper. This is where the nut can come loose and power steering fluid may leak out.

My experience from last evening ran like this.

I was about 700 meters from my house when i heard a strange whine coming from the bonnet.
(I know now that it was the Power Steering Motor that was making the noise as the Power Steering Fluid had started running low due to a leak that had developed.)

The steering started feeling very heavy and also the noise increased. By this time I had reached home and I quickly parked up inside.
I looked under the car and realised that a Red Fluid was rapidly dripping out from under Asterix. This i reasoned must be the power steering fluid leaking that caused the subsequent loss of Power Steering.
I called up Ved Ji and he asked me to check the Power Steering Fluid Reservoir. I did so immediately and found it to be almost empty!

He asked me not to drive the car and assured me that he will be with me in the morning with a mechanic from the workshop and Power steering fluid as well.
He arrived in the morning today and the mechanic quickly tightened the nut to the T-Joint that had come loose.
Ved ji told me that it was in contact with the radiator hose and the vibrations of the engine had made the nut come loose over time. This was a design issue with only some earlier Gurkhas and the issue has been resolved in all the later models by relocating the Pipe carrying the Power Steering fluid to the brass T joint further away from the Radiator Hose.
They made the necessary adjustments to the pipes, tightened the Nuts and refilled the Power Steering fluid and bled the system also to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped in the system. We drove to the workshop then so they could take a proper look at everything and also check the Gear Oil Seal fix that had been done sometime back. Post this we took a test drive and everything was working fine again.

Ved ji and Nitesh ji assured me that this issue has been diagnosed and fixed for good now. He further told me that they will check all earlier Gurkhas for similar issues and fix them if found. The entire process of relocating the pipes, tightening nuts, refilling fluid and bleeding the system took barely 30-45 minutes and was pretty simple and straightforward.

As a Gurkha owner I wish this Power steering pipe and the Gear Box Oil Seal leak issue had been diagnosed and fixed during their own vehicle testing process and I as a customer did not have to deal with it. At the same time the response and support from Force Motors After Sales was lightning quick. The issue was diagnosed and fixed very fast. I checked a new Gurkha that was also standing there as well as their own Test drive vehicle and found that the fix of relocating the pipe had already been applied to both of them from the factory itself.

There is some communication gap between the R&D and Production departments at Force Motors and the Aftersales Department is facing the brunt due to this. This needs to be addressed.

Force Motors can ill afford bad publicity by any disgruntled customer left stranded on the side of the road due to these minor design issues that cause these problems. I too was very fortunate that i was only 700 meters from my home when this happened and not on some faraway snowy trail in Spiti or Ladakh.

These pics below may explain things better:

Leaked Power Steering Fluid on the driveway. Asterix is bleeding!!


One can see the fluid leaking everywhere.


The leak is due to the nuts on this brass T joint coming loose.


Since the pipe that carried the fluid was touching the radiator hose it had a lot of vibration that caused the nuts of the T joint to come loose over time and the leak started suddenly last evening.



After the pipes were relocated there was adequate gap between them now and the problem should not reoccur now.


I checked in the 2 other new Gurkhas standing there and found that the issue had been fixed and the T joint was suitably relocated. One can see that even the orientation of the T-Joint in the newer model Gurkhas is different from that in my October manufactured Gurkha.


The whole point of posting about this isn't to malign Force Motors but to have any current 2021 Gurkha owners take a quick look from below the bumper and make sure the Power Steering Fluid Pipe isn't in contact with the Radiator Hose in their vehicles. It is an easy fix at the Force Motors workshop if infact they are touching.

I still continue to be a happy Gurkha customer and to be honest am very happy that the issue had already been diagnosed and fixed at the factory itself in the later batches of Gurkhas that were manufactured after mine was. It just shows that the company is proactively finding niggles and design faults and fixing them too.

I don't know whether its more their bad luck or mine that both issues found their way in Asterix which by now must be the most recognizable and well known 2021 Gurkha with a presence on Team Bhp which is the largest Automotive Forum around.

It can be a double edged sword. If things are great they will be reported and the Gurkha will gain admiration and similarly if things go bad then that will also come to the fore.

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

Force Motors can ill afford bad publicity by any disgruntled customer left stranded on the side of the road due to these minor design issues that cause these problems. I too was very fortunate that i was only 700 meters from my home when this happened and not on some faraway snowy trail in Spiti or Ladakh..[/i]

This we can not really imagine if it happens in pahari rasta in Gurgaon while driving with family, or somewhere in Rajasthan after sundown. Me and my family need more security and hence a reliable car!!

As a special customer you have developed the good relationship with force motors and they are providing quick services to resolve the problems. But their attitude from the TAPL showroom Rama Road Kirti Nagar Delhi just for few queries on this car clearly shows how they are going to treat the average joe for such problems.

It seems their R&D is not yet complete. That is okay till they acknowledge and sort out the problems within acceptable timeframe. But loosing power fluid due to bad design or workmanship and thereby car getting stalled (almost) is unpardonable from my viewpoint (as a design engineer).

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by RijuC

As a special customer you have developed the good relationship with force motors and they are providing quick services to resolve the problems. But their attitude from the TAPL showroom Rama Road Kirti Nagar Delhi just for few queries on this car clearly shows how they are going to treat the average joe for such problems.

It seems their R&D is not yet complete. That is okay till they acknowledge and sort out the problems within acceptable timeframe. But loosing power fluid due to bad design or workmanship and thereby car getting stalled (almost) is unpardonable from my viewpoint (as a design engineer).

I agree with you on all points except one. I honestly am not a special customer at all. Their attitude is the same for all the customers that i have interacted with.

Infact today at the workshop i met a Customer of the 2018 140 bhp Extreme model who recognised Asterix from teambhp. (He isn't a member.)
He had requested for the 2021Gurkha front and rear seats to be installed in his 2018 model vehicle.He had come to pick up his Gurkha after Force Motors and TAPL went through the trouble of retrofitting the seats after making suitable modifications to the mountings etc. for him. He was just an Average Joe just like I am.

Please PM me your number if you are interested in the Gurkha. I will put you in touch with the right person at TAPL.

[ThatBalenoGuy]

So with the 5 Door test mule video increasing excitement.

I was wondering how it would look like from the front Like there's a rule in place for distinguishing two different body types.

Similar to how Swift hatchback and Swift DZire are made to be different from the front.
Similar to how Polo Hatchback and Vento Sedan are made to be different from the front.

Gurkha 5 Door will have to carry a different front face.

Just for fun I tried to see how the Gurkha looks with the side cladding body colored.
Added the grille design and the bumper as well from the TRAX



The same TRAX grille also looks handsome with the Gurkha bumper



The merc emblems are just a fun add-on here! had seen it on a BS4 Gurkha so added it here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Maybe FM can make like an addon Luxury/Glamour package for like the 4x2 models which need not be as rugged looking.

It could cater to the Bolero Modifying niche of people who are willing to spend for comforts on a rugged and tough vehicle that rides well on potholes unlike the sedans in the family.

It's also not a daily driver but like a segment of lifestyle vehicle that the current-gen Thar also somewhat caters to.

Being a full 2BHK of a vehicle the 5 Door Gurkha would be, this 4x2 can still be a 5 seater with a large boot.

FM is on the right train of thought with the FORCE-ONE. But now they have a handsome-looking vehicle which is gaining admirers.

It would be a Very capable Luxury SUV that would never be given the abuse it's built for. Like a Baby-G-Wagon

[ThatBalenoGuy]

Originally Posted by AjayV

A 2.5 ton+ vehicle. Which is heavier due to the added luggage and driver. I’m inclined to believe that the hook is more capable than what we currently believe.

About the towing/pulling ability, You should watch this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KkJmXKQ-3M

Didn't understand a word on this but my mind was blown.

[Sandegov]

Originally Posted by ThatBalenoGuy

About the towing/pulling ability, You should watch this one.

Another one to add to the towing capabilities of Gurkha

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=78R-1fvffe4

[AjayV]

Originally Posted by ThatBalenoGuy

About the towing/pulling ability, You should watch this one.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=_KkJmXKQ-3M

Didn't understand a word on this but my mind was blown.

Originally Posted by Sandegov

Another one to add to the towing capabilities of Gurkha

https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=78R-1fvffe4

I’m thinking it’s because of the weight of the vehicle which allows the tyres to “grab” the ground nicely and pull. In the tug of war with Thar, the thar was going spinning like Ferraris on a track.
Correct me if I’m wrong but she may not have the top end and “punch” but it’s not needed. Gets all the jobs thrown at done in a neat fashion.
Discussion is still going on at home. Hope to pick her up soon this year.