My Mahindra Thar petrol AT highway experience: 2 days, 1700km

Apart from the low fuel efficiency of 10 km/l, I had no other complaints throughout the entire journey.

BHPian Headoverheart recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Since the day I purchased my petrol Thar LX AT, in spite of all the opposition from family and friends, I've been always extremely pleased with my decision. Worried, but pleased nonetheless.

My go-to line to describe the way people look at the Thar has been "Thar is that hot looking girlfriend that everyone wants to date, but no one wants to marry"

However one of the things that worried me most was this is not a vehicle we would do a Mumbai - Goa run in; the steering is constantly giving feedback, the suspension is busy, there is a lot of wind noise etc. The Thar can get tiring on those super long journeys. We’d be alright with a 5 hour Mumbai – Mahabaleshwar drive, but that's our upper limit quote from the official review.

Everything was in line for me, since it would be my only ride. Yes, we do have another vehicle in Bhubaneswar, but I was temporarily there and had to move back to Mumbai. And the day finally came when I was to drive it down. The target was to do 1700 km in 2 days.

I've been pleasantly surprised with the vehicle I must say. About 850kms on day one: Bhubaneswar - Nagpur and 800 odd Nagpur - Mumbai on day 2. Apart from it being a guzzler with a mileage of about 10 km/l, there weren't many complaints whatsoever.

Doing speeds mostly between 90-110kmph, Thar was pliant(as a ladder frame chassis can be) for most parts, pulling vigorously when required and stopping at the drop of a hat. The ride wasn't the most pleasant across bad patches. You do feel every stone that's there and the steering gives feedback. However, on such patches, if your hold is slightly loose, it's a lot less stress on the hand. Also, the tyre pressure makes a huge difference. Slightly on the higher side and the ride quality worsens drastically. Thankfully no cases of the hood flying open either. I had switched lights to Philips Xtreme vision G-force which I would say were barely adequate. Ideally would want to switch to something more powerful.

Want to mention that the roads were beautiful for most parts. The stretch of about 200 km within Odisha was both scenic and smooth before leading to narrow single roads. Chhattisgarh again had really smooth highways and so was the stretch between Nagpur and Aurangabad, adorned with beautiful yellow and red flowers.

Here's what BHPian sammyboy had to say on the matter:

I agree I have done same day Doon - Gurgaon - doon trips (600 km door-to-door) thrice. Even with stock suspensions and tyres, I have had 0 complaints. 90-110 is a perfect speed and I do use Cruise control quite a bit. Even on highways with a speed limit of 120, the Thar has felt completely composed, with excellent noise insulation.

Even after spending 10+ hours in the Thar, I am fresh enough for another few hours and that's saying a lot.

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