Test driving the new Force Gurkha in city & off-road terrains

The SUV is a lifestyle vehicle that is good for daily city commute and also great for recreational adventures.

BHPian Airavat2020 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi all, I test drove the new Force Gurkha (White) today and here is what I felt about the drive.

The drive included 45 minutes in city roads amidst traffic and 15 minutes of mild off-roading, through extremely bad sections and piled up sand, stones and debris just to test the 4WD and the differential locks. No issue here at all, the Gurkha managed to get out of all situations comfortably.

Pros:

• Excellent commanding view of the road and awesome street presence
• Clutch was very light
• Very spacious interiors, especially the rear seats. Though the sliding option for the rear seats would have been good
• Generous luggage space with 4 people on board
• Rear seats are the most comfortable with loads of space and a great view of the road from the huge panoramic side window
• Getting to the rear seat is considerably easy through the back door. No need for the front passengers to get down
• Cabin insulation was quite good. Outside noise was well contained
• Air condition worked really well
• Suspension set-up was excellent. It absorbed the undulations and soaked up bad roads very well
• Turning radius was pretty good for a considerably large vehicle

Cons:

• Brakes could have been better
• Felt a slight lack of power during initial pickup from standstill and during hard acceleration while the vehicle is in motion
• Gearbox felt notchy (advisor said that since it was a test drive vehicle, it has been roughly used)
• Output from speakers was average
• Sound from the horn was very average

My personal opinion is that the new Gurkha is a lifestyle vehicle that is good for daily city commute (mainly because of the light clutch, hardtop and apt dimensions) and also great for recreational activities/adventure enthusiasts to drive to places where 2WD vehicles would not be able to reach. Of course, AT and 5 door versions might be the icing on the cake, but I would definitely recommend the current Gurkha as a great proposition to someone even as the only vehicle for their home.

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