I did not do much of maintenance or mods expect for oil change every 10K due to lack of time.

BHPian PhantomLord recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Posting 36K quick pictorial update, Gurkha BS6 has been serving me well for past 2 years. Did not do much of maintenance or mods expect for oil change every 10K due to lack of time, yet to change the air filter.

Gurkha somewhere near Gaali Kere

Handing occasional towing duty

Gurkha Night view, lighting up a mountain(ok mound  )

Shaft catcher catches a stick while off road.

BS6 had some recall of sorts where some early Gurkha's were missing thread locker on steering knuckle bolt, mostly cause of early steering related accidents ? Mine had thread locker, but one of the bolts had some slack, this could be added to 10K maintenance check list.

Old and new bolt, I changed the bolts just incase and used Loctite 262 and torqued bolts to spec.

Right upper ball joint boot had a tear.

Upper ball joint mount had some rust, cleaned it up.

Time for changing Radar RT+, it lasted 25k approximately.

BFG 235/85/R16, GTD 290 to D 90 ?

Black Cat Commando guarding Gurkha

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While we wait for the BS6.2 Gurkha, here's a breakdown of what actually makes these two similar beasts so different.

BHPian vigneshkumar31 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Force Gurkha Vs Mahindra Thar - Engine & Drive Train - Technical Analysis

The Thar and the Gurkha have their own strengths and weaknesses. While the Thar has enjoyed runaway success, the Gurkha sales figures can be celebrated only in comparison to its own previous generations.

While I have often lectured that these are two different beasts for different kind of folks, the loudest nay against the Gurkha, where it has been battered to shreds by netizens has been for its paltry 91bhp power output. This is the popular opinion of many test drivers and unanimous complaint of even more keyboard warriors. But you ask the GURKHA owners - while they nod vigorously that they would love more power, they silently agree that the Gurkha does pull clean at the low end, out of anything. And while its not meant for triple digit speeds on highways, it slowly climbs up to 90-100 and it can hold it all day like a freight train. The Thar on the other hand zooms past and rides triple digits on highways comfortably (for jeep standards). The Thar is more eager and the Gurkha laid back and ponderous.

So while wait for the BS6.2 Gurkha, here's a breakdown of what actually makes these two similar beasts so different. As I wrote in my initial review, what makes one the Swiss Army Knife and the other a Sledge Hammer?

While this tech breakdown may be basic knowledge to many forum members, I hope few would find it educating.

Let's start with the gurkha's FM 2.6 common rail - this is a mercedes-derived engine the good old om-616, it's been called a dinosaur of engines and has been around for decades. Force has it across the board as its staple even right up to its latest premium urbania. This is mated to the mercedes-derived old Workhorse g28 5-speed gearbox this combo is old but it works- it's simple and gets the job done. But in my personal opinion this combination is unfair to the bs6 gurka.It deserves the 2.2 liter engine and the g32 gearbox combination which we saw in the extreme, that would have been a fitting kit for this purpose-built off-roader sadly we have to deal with what's on offer so the 2.6 and g28 it is.

We will pit it against the thar's 2.2 M-hawk for equivalence, we will not involve the petrol M stallion.The mhawk is mated to the 6r320m six-speed manual gearbox. I just love the mhawk and how versatile Mahindra has tuned it in its different products. it's a superb engine!

But how are these two powertrains different? You will not find that answer anywhere on the internet so here is the exclusive engine performance curves, I have generated, of both these motors.

The mhawk makes its peak power at 3750 RPM putting out 130 horses while the Gurkha's 2.6 puts a lower peak of 91BHP but a little earlier at 3200 RPM. It is sad that they didn't even bother to give us the Tempo Traveler tune of 115 BHP on this gurkha

The mhawk and 2.6 both have torquey motors with flat top curves but the gurkha hits its peak talk earlier at 1400 RPM itself while the mhawk takes its time till 1600 RPM to put out a decent 300 newton meters of torque and holds its flat over a wider RPM bandwidth.

Hitting Peak at 1400 RPM, so early is a very impressive thing for the Gurkha which makes it a very strong low end puller. Within their respective flat top bands you will see that the power delivery is nice and linear and makes both these engines strong torquey Motors. But, on the right side of the graph the Gurkha has virtually no top end and that's the region where the thar clearly shines stronger it gets better run at speeds on highways and the wider torque band also means that the thar will have better in gear acceleration and overtakes better on the highways while at these speeds, the Gurkha will run out of breath.

In summary, make no mistake the mhawk is clearly the more powerful engine because simply at every RPM it makes more power and torque than the 2.6 but the engine is just one part of the puzzle!

The next bit is the gearbox. Let's break open both these gearboxes -The gurkha's g28 has five gears whose diameters are in the ratio shown in the image, which we call the gearing ratio and the thar has six gears.

Lets calculate the "gear ratio spread" which is simply the largest gear divided by the smallest gear - this gives us an idea of the bandwidth within which the gears are distributed.

The Gurkha has a wide 5.83 bandwidth while the thar crams its six gears in a narrower 5.53 bandwidth. What this means that the gurkha's ratios are wider and relaxed spread than the thar's.

The lower gears are of a larger diameter and help in torque multiplication and pulling while the higher gears are ideal for speed and easy cruising. We can immediately see how wide the lower gears including the reverse gear, are in the Gurkha compared to the thar. The Thar has a smaller fifth and sixth gear for highway speeds additionally.

What are these gearing ratios and diameters and physically what do they mean?

Well if the first gear has a 3.96 is to one ratio in thar - it means that whatever torque the engine supplies the gearbox will multiply it 3.963 times when the vehicle is in first gear, so the gurkha's wider first and second gears are going to help it with the torque and pull better while the thar's narrow fifth and sixth are going to help it with speeds and Highway cruising.

The next part of the puzzle is the differential on the axle, which introduces another set of Gears which multiply the torque again by the number which we call- "axle ratio" which is 4.3 for the thar and 4.363 for the Gurkha.

The combined effect of all these gears is what is called the "final drive ratio" which means the torque which is supplied by the engine of the Gurkha gets multiplied about 20 times by the time it reaches the wheel, the Thar does it 17 times!

This is the reason for the tractor-like pull in first gear of the gurkha- strong low end torque!

This also means that if the engine's crankshaft is spinning at 2000 RPM then the wheel axle will only spin at 100 RPM (or 20 times rotation speed reduction)

In Top Gear you want the opposite you, want a smaller torque multiplication and more speed instead so the overdrive gears (which have ratios less than one in decimals) they are slotted into in respective top gears the thar has the
final drive ratio of 3.08 which is better because we want a lower number and more speed while Gurkha does 3.52, so Thar is going to hit higher speeds on highways easier and cruise with lesser strain on the engine and return a better mileage because of these smaller overdrive gears. The Gurkha climbs up on the speedo slow and steady and settles down comfortably at around 90 to 100 kmph its large displacement 2.6 liter engine, can hold the speed and cruise all day like a freight train effortlessly.

But the story is not finished even now because these are four wheel drive trucks and they have transfer cases, which again have a set of Gears inside one for high range and one for low range. If we slot into 4H, the transfer case ratio is (one:one) so we get no torque multiplication additionally but we merely clutch in the front differential and the transfer case splits torque to front diffs where it is identically multiplied by the front differential ratio which is same as the rear differential.

In four wheel drive low 4L, is when you get the beast mode The transfer case multiplies the torque, by another 2.018 times before the split so the final drive ratio in this case when you're using all extreme gears - like first gear on the manual box and four wheel drive low in the transfer case will result in the maximum possible final drive ratio which is called the "crawl ratio" which is a whopping 41 times stock multiplication

So the 100 Newton meter your engine put out comes out as a massive four thousand hundred Newton meter at the wheel and that will pull through anything on your path in four wheel drive low. Remember your axle now spins only one time for every 40 RPM of the engine so you're going to get that much control while applying this torque through yourslow moving wheels and hence this is called a crawl ratio. The Thar similarly has a slightly better crawl ratio of 42.26 which makes both these trucks beasts - when four low is engaged.

Hope this clears the air out -Sledgehammer vs Swiss Knife! I've explained this in more detail in this video.

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The market is full of machines differentiated by seductive features like the number of cup holders or USB ports or leather armrests. This Beast is different.

BHPian UniMuni recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Falling in Love with Segue: My BSVI Force Motors GURKHA

Executive Summary

• Fell in love with the BSVI FORCE MOTORS GURKHA
• Bought one. Named it SEGUE.
• All other marketing choice theorists, consumer buyer behavior modelers, analysts, reviewers, guru-prattle, experts, face-offs, pissing contests, road testers…can take a walk, a permanent one.

Unabridged Version :

I Fell in Love: If you have ever fallen in love, you will know what I mean. And if you haven’t ever, there is no point explaining it to you.

Nothing like it: The market is full of machines differentiated by seductive features like the number of cup holders or USB ports or leather armrests. This Beast is different. Utterly. Comprehensively. Totally. There is NO way you can mistake it for anything else in the world.

Easy to Choose - There is ONLY ONE CHOICE: All the other ‘machines’ come in ‘variants’, flavors, schemes, types, and models…... Some cootchie-pootchie variants of the inane and ultra-banal. Sunroof, vanity mirrors, dashboard trim, soft tops, internet ….irrelevant and annoying. Or some vainglorious mixture of drives, fuel, manual, auto, transcendental, engine capacity, which wheel is driven, alphabet soup (SUV, MUV, ABC, XYZ..). I do not even know if these are choices. And by the way how in hell are you going to figure out whether you got delivered what you ordered? Are there really 16 bolts in the crank-fusion reactor or is it the 12-bolt-fission reactor version?!!!

With the GURKHA there is one choice – just one -only one ALL EMBRACING CHOICE. Buy it or leave it. No versions, no choice matrices, no variants, no mumbo, no jumbo. ONE MODEL -SIX colors. Choose the color. You are done.

No accessory confusion: The GURKHA comes in ready to drive. And if at all you want to fit a few accessories, they come in, all-ARAI approved and homologated, and can be fitted at the dealer even before you take delivery.
There is a rooftop carrier with a section for a Jerrycan. I have one gifted me by my Hero father-in-law, an Artillery Vet. It was with him during the ’62, ’65, ’67, and ’71 wars. Knock me over with a feather, when I tried fitting it on, the “JerryCan Cage” on top had thick foam pre-installed for a snug fit. Did I tell you about being loved right back when you are in love?

No Wheeling Dealing: While I had test driven the GURKHA at a couple of other locations, my first serious visit was to the Ahmedabad dealer with the improbable name: MSS MediTechno Pvt. Ltd. Located in a gritty industrial suburb.

I reached, leather-jacketed, helmeted, late one cold winter evening on my Bullet. An unlikely buyer. It was already dark and my mission was to see how the Gurkha behaved in the dark. Mit the dealer/owner and Vishal from GURKHA has just returned from a day-long activity and were visibly bushed.

While waiting for them, I was chatting with the old security guard who welcomed me, sat me down, and answered most of the sneaky questions I had. How many sold? Anybody had shouting matches? How many were towed in? He answered them all. And as a seasoned interviewer, I know when someone has been indoctrinated and when someone is bullshitting. This old security guard was the best security man as a Brand Ambassador I have ever met in a looooong career as a marketer/cold-caller/researcher across hundreds of organizations.

And when Mit came in and started giving me the vehicle specs, I rudely interrupted him and asked him a couple of ultra-technical questions (Sorry: It is my job). He admitted right away that he didn’t know. I could go on…but the thing that I remember the most about that interaction was Mit telling me that there are two things I need to know about the vehicle:

A. The fuel lock is externally operated with a key. No internal pop-lever

B. The Wing Mirrors are manually operated. Not motorized.

In all my years as a Professor of Marketing, I never expected that this sort of decency would exist outside a Textbook. Over the years I have attended, and indeed designed marketing presentations in mahogany-lined boardrooms, splendid hotels, and resorts surrounded by fine food and wines, HEPA-filtered air factory floors, with digital devices, and presentation equipment beyond sci-fi.

But that evening, one old security guard, and his raconteuring, one rickety broken chair, cardboard-lined and held together by plastic packing straps, by the light of a dull mercury halogen lamp in a gritty/dusty industrial suburb; with a dealer telling me the shortcomings of the ONLY vehicle model he has, in the presence of the Company Sales Rep ……I saw the soul of what Brands really are about.

Mileage: Mileage or fuel efficiency is quoted as km/liter of diesel. Will you please quote it in Rupees/Kilometer? Because if you do so, for BSVI, you will also have to add the cost of the AdBlue !!!!!!! Every other vehicle needs AdBlue. Dunno AdBlue? Go ask the Pintle-Puntle Gurus. The BSVI GURKHA does not need AdBlue and meets BSVI emission norms via a clever alternative system.

Instant: for some strange reason, vehicle marketers believe that Waiting Time = Brand Prestige. How about NEVER?

I have an insane allergy to this very idea. I have been through this. I have had to beg an unloved uncle for US$ 500 in foreign exchange to book a scooter that took 6 years to come in. The alternative was Indian money and 20 years !!! I have been through this and I hate it with all my heart. My very first question about any product I wish to buy is: waiting time? Anything beyond reasonable logistics is completely unacceptable and unless there is NO WAY out (like a passport or visa), I am out of it.

A new Green GURKHA was waiting to be named SEGUE sitting inside the workshop. A Grey one would take 15 days to come in from Pithampur, MP. So there.

BIG and Only-3Door: Yes, it is big. And tall. This enables me to put a ladder on top and trim trees at home more conveniently. Transcends the limitations of my TATA Xenon pick-up truck. Do you have a problem?!

And yes, it is 3 doors. One too many for me actually. Just me and my wife – 2 doors. If I wanted to ferry my village, I would buy a tractor and a trailer, why bother with doors? By the way, this door proliferation hegemony: my refrigerator/vehicle/house has more doors than yours is puzzling indeed.

If one is so hung up on doors, Jim Morrison is at your service, it is Doors all the way!

OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY: As far as I am concerned, ALL Indian driving is off-road quality. Check this out.

Except for the magnificent new superhighways, all Indian driving comes with potholes/slush/mud/water, etc as standard. I DO NOT WANT TO SEEK THEM OUT.

Do not even get me started on water wading capability, manual diff-locks, 4H/4L, and else. I have seen those videos. Leh-Ladakh-top-of-the-world-ultra-off-road-mega-altitude-conquest videos with testosterone-charged, insanely modded 4X4s. And if you watch the videos carefully you will also see, ordinary, simple, tiny family cars patiently slogging the SAME roads just as easily. Please.

And please stop this chattering about ground clearance. What is yours? If one insists on walking with legs on either side of an obstacle that will certainly annihilate one’s crotch, what is needed is brain surgery, not leg extension. I want a JCB 225 LCM backhoe too. To do my serious off-roading on…hell, making 'off-roads'! And do call me for any obstacle course, tug-of-war and other such contests. Let’s play off-road: off-road with my BackHoe.

Luggage capability: For reasons, I am unable to fathom, people want to leave their snug homes and get away from it all. And to achieve that they need a ‘car’ with many, many doors. And then they want to fill it up with people and all their household stuff including the sofa and the 42” LCD TV. Remember these are the people and the stuff they wanted to get away from in the first place.

The GURKHA has PLENTY of space for me, my wife, and a couple of unicycles I always have with me. And the back seats are the place where I keep the unicycles so that there are NO pesky people who will sit on them.

RAZOR-thin Service Network: Yes, the GURKHA does have an exceptionally slim network but that’s the dedicated GURKHA dealers. FORCE MOTORS, the mother company, has an extraordinary network rivaling the Indian Post Office and they have been around forever. The GURKHA engine is derived from the legendary Mercedes OM 616 workhorse engine that powers virtually ALL Force Motors vehicles. You know where this is going….
Case in point: I recently drove down from Ahmedabad to Raipur moments after I took delivery of SEGUE. Some 1250 km. I wanted a routine check at Raipur. Problem: the nearest dealer is at Bilaspur, 2.5 hours away. Called up the local FORCE Motors dealer. They said ‘come over’. Vivek the area guy, emailed Anjan & Dhara the local specialists, the service checklist. Anjan and Dhara rounded up their team who first admired the first GURKHA they had seen. They hoisted the machine up, raced through the checklist, and were done in an hour. A small bill later and I was on my way. But then being a 31-year-long owner of a Royal Enfield Bullet 350 cc machine, I know what Family Love is!

The 6 A° Pintle Puntle: Any poor guy checks out the reviews when they want to buy a machine. This is exactly the ‘victim’ the wannabe gurus are praying for. And so with the information they have extracted from the sales brochure, random websites, back issues of Top Gear and other ‘gurus’, they go to town with all manner of irrelevant, annoying stuff that they think makes them sound so ‘guru’. Mule, lift, departure angle, diff lock, ECU, sway, NVH, TPMS, and soft shackle….are all grist to the mill.

The newbie reverentially learns that the Trepidator-Soft Top-Two crandik QTXR version is superior to the Annihilator -Titanium Bash Plate-Cowdung Annealed – MQXY because its Pintle-Puntle is tuned 6 A° closer to the Terculator Spindle. ( Note: 1 A° = 1 Angstrom Unit = 0.1 nanometre). This obviously is a critical feature when you wish to zipline your off-road 4x4 from the top of K-2 directly into the depths of the Mariana Trench, which is something you do every evening.

5 such reviews later your ordinary nice guy turns into a spec vampire that haunts showrooms and has dark circles under his limited-slip differential. Worst case scenario he turns into a guru perpetuating this Pintle-Puntle nonsense. The horrible thing is that the REAL guys with the REAL info remain virtually unheard, unread, and unheeded.

MORBID Dealership: The first thing that strikes you when you hit a Gurkha dealership is a yard filled with Ambulances, Dead Body Vans, Blood Donation Mobiles, and School Buses, and in the middle, there are a couple of GURKHAs. It is disconcerting. And anyone would suggest to the dealer to cover these off. I did too. But then is a deeper thing here.
This FORCE Motors Company has been around forever. Some of us would remember the ‘scooby doo’ Matador and even the Tempo. With a minimum of fuss, this company has been moving the country accomplishing hard-core transportation for decades. Yes, most ambulances, hearses, dead-body vans, school buses, and the ubiquitous airport-pickup buses are all FORCE MOTORS. Overwhelmingly. Tempo, Traveler, Trax, Gama, Judo and Toofan….are all FORCE MOTORS. And each one of them is powered by the very same OM616 Mercedes variants. If you have ever seen a TEMPO TRAX, the improbably long vehicle with over 25 people perched all over and grain sacks and goats and lumber and coal and everything else stacked in between climbing up a hill with the driver on the outside of the vehicle, you will have some idea of the utter dependability of these vehicles. And from birth via ambulance to school via bus and death via the dead body van – The FORCE is with you always; to dreadfully mix a metaphor.

I am also a professional woodworker (www.neoteny.in) and this is a favorite of mine: https://bit.ly/TAMASHA_LAKDI_KA a song about how ‘wood’ is with you through all the stages of life: from cradle to ‘Gulli danda’ to wedding palanquin to bed to a walking stick, and finally a funeral pyre. As a writer and poet, I see FORCE Motors also paralleling one through life from birth to death !!!! Sentimental and treacly and cloying, but true no ??!!! The GURKHA is but part of this cycle.

The Parents leave you alone:. With many other machines, the Parents gate-crash everything including the honeymoon and anniversaries. They force you into clubs, communities, associations, owner’s groups, etc. For many of these, they will arm-twist compulsory attendance and insist on what my friend DiNgo calls “Enforced Gaiety”.

With the Gurkha, you step out of the showroom and your ONLY connection is the 24x7 helpline which as you know is practically useless since you will be out of range: of cellphone or service networks. You are on your own.
Case in point. The SEGUE was driven down from the Pithampur, Indore plant one week to the dealer. The next week I was taking it to Raipur. Pithampur is on the way. And so out of sentiment, I drove via the Plant to show SEGUE its home! It was a Sunday and the plant was closed. The guards were adamant that I do not take pictures of MY SEGUE outside THEIR PLANT. It was impossible to explain the context. I had to threaten them saying I was taking a picture on a public road, for which I had paid Road Tax, it was MY vehicle and if they didn’t want their blasted factory in the background, they could move it out of sight! Baby out of sight, out of mind. I kind of like it that way.

Seguing Out :

And ladies and gentlemen if you think this is some macho male rant…think again. My daughter has fallen in love with the SEGUE. She has offered me her luxury-sub compact in exchange. Maybe I need to buy another GURKHA. I think I will name it RIFF.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Every modification has an implication, and I believe we trade off the pros for the cons, and live with some side effects, in return of gains, that suit our individual use cases.

BHPian vigneshkumar31 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Every modification has an implication, and I believe we trade off the pros for the cons, and live with some side effects, in return of gains, that suit our individual use cases. I constantly preach that it is crucial for the car owner to understand these side effects and weigh their options with a “whole of vehicle” approach rather than committing to certain mods just based on localised gains or aesthetics alone.

So here’s a list of ALL my mods, with their gains and side effects.

Maxxis Mud Terrain Upsize Tires (245/75/R16):

Gains:

• Improved Traction on mud and sand (aired down)
• More resilient against punctures on trails.
• Aspect ratio throws in more rubber for the wheel, great offroad.
• GC increase.

Side Effects:

• Wheels roll heavier tires - associated wear.
• Lower Mileage.
• Higher Road Noise.
• Minor torque shave due to effective drive ratio change.

Alloy Wheels Neo Killer 16”:

Gains:

• Lighter than steelies.

• OEM supply. Rare to find an aftermarket fit for the Gurkha PCD 160x5

Side Effects:

• Standard alloy vs steel wheels offroad compromises robust, repairability etc.

Offroad Bumper:

Gains:

• Protection and Strength
• Provides Winch Base
• Improved Approach Angle
• Hi-Lift Jacking Point
• Introduces Proper Recovery Points in the Front compared to low positioned stock tow-eye rod
• Higher Position of Recovery Points makes recovery from pits and slush easier.

Side Effects:

• Not Road Legal, Only for offroad use.
• Airbag operation will be affected.
• Weight, concentrated front nose weighs down front IFS.
• Steering characteristics marginally affected not manifesting due to low speed and BOF manners

Rock Slider:

Gains:

• Superior protection and slide over rocks and side break overs.
• Hi Lift jackable from side.
• Non Slip foot rail acts as sidestep.
• Upward Angle helps in sliding.
• Kick out at rear helps to pivot and kickout rear end.

Side Effects:

• Added weight (but distributed over relatively long span)
• Marginal increase in overall width beyond wheels.

Roof Rack:

Gains:

• OEM Supply. Perfect fit.
• Versatile and flexible to pack flat overhead with raised lips for securing.
• Great for securing dirty stuff outside the cabin enclosure. Have custom mounts for jack lift and traction boards.

Side Effects:

• Adds top weight and invites further top weight in terms of luggage and gear overhead.
• Reduces garage clearance- Adds top height above snorkel head. Jerry can holder is highest point.
• OEM option is Not full length of roof. Limited capacity.
• Jerry can holder eats up flat space.

Rear Half Ladder:

Gains:

• Manageable to climb onto roof if one is athletic.
• Differentiates rear end from Trax cousin.
• May mount some gear on it for ready reach (Older gen had a jerry can here) (I used to have traction boards here).

Side Effects:

Obscures visibility through rear side glass slightly, especially with gear mounted.

Windscreen Guard:

Gains:

• Barkbusting protection for windshield.
• Has mounting point for aux lights if required.
• Narrow trails extremely effective to part branches.
• Improves Aesthetics of a blank windshield- oozes offroad cred.

Side Effects:

• Blind spots especially on driver side. Earlier gen gurkha snorkel used to be huge blindspot. Presently bs6 snorkel is in line with A pillar but this windshield guard gives blindspot on certain view angles.

Underbody Bash Plate:

Gains:

• OEM front plate is steel. decent for normal use. offroad heavy usage requires heavier protection.
• Underbody diff guard from OEM is notorious (Tax plate installed for lower paper GC and hence reduced tax slab) So needed to change and swap.
• Perfect mating to bumper contours and OEM mounting points.
• Protects radiator etc from front bash and protects underbody hits of front diff.
• Can mount a GoPro inside safely for recording suspension and wheel travel.

Side Effects:

• Weight in front bias.
• Difficult to quickly inspect/ work underbody area.

Rear Diff Guard:

Gains:

• Lowest point on my Gurkha.
• Pumpkin had hit repeatedly on several occasions in rougher trails offroad.
• Now my Custom made ‘taco’ style rear diff guard protects the diff.

Side Effects:

• Clearance from diff reduces rear GC slightly.
• Any Hit transfers to mounting points on live beam axle.

Headlight Grills:

Gains:

• Stone guard.
• Aesthetic nod to older Xtreme.

Side Effects:

• Mounted by drilling hex nuts into headlight housing.
• Rust and leak scares.

Jerry Can in Holder:

Gains:

• Heavy truck low mileage, 63L tank. Limited range.
• 20 L extra fuel is godsend in remote.

Side Effects:

• Limited capacity.
• Filling requires funnel and spout.
• Metal rattles on top and exposed to atmosphere Rust scares.
• Not as convenient or spacious as an additional aftermarket fitted fuel tank.

Reversing Camera:

Gains:

• Tall truck with wide rear glass but huge blindspot at lower height.
• Required for reversing in normal times and especially on tight trails.

Side Effects:

• Mounting point is below rear bumper. Lens blinded in slush easily.

Tall Gear Shifter Leather Wrapped

Gains:

Easier and shorter reach.

Side Effects:

• Not chunky hold. slender form factor.
• Not visual sync with 4wd lever.

Hi Lift Jack with Butterfly Mount:

Gains:

• Easy to use versatile and can jack up from different points.

Side Effects:

• Rattle snake . Heavy kit so mounting issues.
• Dangerous recoil if not used correctly.
• Prone to rust and lockup if not maintained.

Traction Boards with Butterfly Mount:

Gains:

• Easy solution to traction on loose surfaces.
• Can bridge small gaps and crevices.
• Superb option for sand recovery.

Side Effects:

• Needs special mount for easy reach and stowage. Large planks prone to wind buffeting if not secured right.

Wing Top Chequer Plate:

Gains:

• Aesthetic nod to the ol’Defender
• Drop Tools and gear while working under the hood.
• Can stand on it to access roof from front.

Side Effects:

Black plates gets heated up like a hot plate.

Radio Setup:

Gains:

• Easiest communication on trails with convoy.
• Simple setup. Not CB. Works on PTT Motorola Set.
• No wiring hassle.

Side Effects:

• Limited range.
• Battery drains too quickly.

Knee Pads:

Gains:

• Perfect cushion for long drives.

Side Effects:

• Angle of knee fixed.
• Prone to adhesive getting ripped off.

Custom name plates:

Gains:

• Aesthetics.
• Personalisation.

Michelin Floor Mats:

Gains:

• Non skid.
• Easy to remove and clean unlike stock mats which are buttoned down.

Side Effects:

• Needs care for pedals clearance.
• Generic model.Not perfect fit.

Sloped Rear step:

Gains:

• Before - When parallel to ground - Always hits at steep departures.
• Now inclined upwards. Better departure angle.

Side Effects:

• Higher and odd slope difficult to climb for rear entry.

Upcoming mods:

270 Degree WrapAround Batwing Awning.

12000LB Winch.

Full Suspension Upgrade.

I've compiled a video explaining all the mods in detail.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The shortlisted cars included the Mahindra Scorpio-N, Bolero Neo, Thar and the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross.

BHPian er_sb_blogs recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The degree of complexity for the human mind is directly proportional to the amount of information it is exposed to. Hence, being an auto-enthusiast, one of the most difficult decisions is to come up with a car of choice and that too, of your car purchase.

Coming from an above-average middle-class family, the luxury class segment is obviously out of the scope. Hence a mass market segment’s passenger car is what we strive for because this car satisfies our need for Value justification, popularly known as Value for Money or VFM.

After owning a Volkswagen Polo for 9 years, it was time to either upgrade the car or add a car in the garage which can fill the void. Naturally, that void can be fulfilled by some machine that can perform the majority of the things that can be achieved by the Polo and do value addition to what it cannot do. That is the reason I was searching for an SUV which is built on a ladder frame chassis, is superior in mechanical capabilities, and has a commanding seating position. Basically, in a journey to purchase an SUV, I wanted to avoid falling for pseudo SUVs or crossovers.

The following cars were shortlisted for a detailed comparison:

• Isuzu D-Max v-cross
• Mahindra Scorpio - N
• Mahindra Bolero Neo
• Force Gurkha 2022
• Mahindra Thar
• Jeep compass 4*4

Isuzu D-Max v-cross was one of the first cars that I test-drove. I had spent a good amount of time researching Overlanding capabilities. But the steep pricing was against the sense of value for money. Also, my family was against a truck-shaped vehicle. So after spending around 3 months wish-listing the car, I ultimately decided against the car and also halted the car buying process for 6 months.

My passion and enthusiasm restarted in June 2022 when my extensive search for a car landed me in a force motors showroom during a bicycle riding event. I visited the showroom for a test ride where I was demonstrated 4x4 capabilities straight away. Later my SA promised to do a vehicle demonstration at my home for my family members. This happened in mid of July 2022. My father suggested having a look at Mahindra Thar for obvious reasons.
Later, my brain was exposed to a storm called “Mahindra Scorpio-N” which checked all the boxes of my requirements. It promised a great VFM only to realize a gruesome waiting period of 9 months even though being in the first 25,000 bookings. It was not only the waiting period but how the top model was given undue exclusivity, giving a feeling of inferiority to my booked variant Z8 Manual 4WD.

Due to the ill experience from Mahindra, I reconsidered and refreshed my thoughts towards Force Gurkha. But I wanted to be more prudent this time, hence I took test drives of the Jeep Compass 4*4 where I faced issues with headroom in the driver's seat.

After a few days, due to my father, I considered taking a test ride on the Mahindra Bolero Neo option model. We liked the overall value proposition against the features offered, including an MLD at the rear which gives a nice offroading capability on a small budget. On the very next day, we received a call from Bolero SA that we need to decide and book the variant on the same day to avoid delays of over 3 months. We disliked the behavior and the pressure of booking a vehicle on the next day of the test ride. Luckily this time my father understood the poor VFM associated with Mahindra regarding the customer's buying journey.

All these events were making Gurkha closer and closer to purchase.

Extraordinary pre-sales service by the Force MSS Meditechno team, the highly capable 4WD of Gurkha, unmissable road presence, and superiorly commanding seats made us finally proceed with the purchase decision of Force Gurkha 4*4

User experience of the first 5000 Km with Force Gurkha 2022 4x4 Black color.

The following review contains detailed information about the buying journey of my Gurkha, a product review, and the scope of improvements for future iterations of the machine. I would also try to convey my perspective on the facts which might already be known.

Firstly, let us talk about the dealership because the behavior of staff at the dealership involved in pre-sales and post-sales contributes highly to the experience with the product and the value that gets attached to it.

I remember, my first visit to Force MSS MediTechno Private Limited, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar dealership while I was returning from the cycling track on Saturday. My outfits not conveying my interest in the purchase of a car. But I was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming attitude of Mr. Rahul who paid an ample amount of respect while briefing me about the product. He led me to a nearby offroad track straightaway in my first test ride iteration. I liked how he explained the limitation of the vehicle because every car has its share of shortcomings. However, the fantastic offroading capabilities of the Gurkha were screaming loud about its purpose. On completing the test ride, he showed eagerness to do a 2nd test ride at my home which was 25kms away so that I can showcase the car to my family. I was amazed at this attitude which spoke about their confidence in the product, sincerity about their sales, and regard towards customer satisfaction.

Thereafter we had a couple of more test ride iterations and every time I was encouraged to test the limits of the vehicle instilling huge confidence in going forward with the purchase.

Not only pre-sales but also registration formalities were taken care of smoothly even though I wanted to register my vehicle in a different city. I am thankful to Mr. Mit who was always there to answer my calls at each step and he braced my impatient attitude with a great level of understanding.

After a great buying journey, it was time to feel the new machine as an owner of the vehicle. Following are detailed pros and cons of Force Gurkha 4*4 2022:

Pros:

• Highest commanding seats in the segment and many segments above. The view of the road from the driver's seat is just a level next. You look down at every vehicle you stare at, that includes Scorpio-N and Fortuner. With this high seating position, you have ample headroom for a driver 6 feet 3 inches tall. A direct implication of this fact is that you have the best judgment of lanes, traffic, and speed of vehicles ahead. Hence, you tend to reach your destination without frequent deacceleration and braking. There is ample opportunity to plan yours overtakes in a better and safe way.
• A tremendously huge road presence is the USP of this vehicle. This car is not just a head-turner but also a neck twister! At so many places like fuel stations, and tourist spots, people approach you a request you to take a selfie or reel with the car. You feel no less than a celebrity. My suggestion is to purchase good dark sunglasses and always wear them while you drive this car.
• Linear acceleration is one of the positives to consider if one is looking toward a relaxed long drive. The motor having low bhp and high torque ensures that it carries the weight of its body, passengers, and luggage very efficiently while providing a good roll-on acceleration.
• Control arms are located slightly lower than usual offroading vehicles. The advantage it provides is good driving dynamics with minimum body roll at sharp turns at relatively higher speeds.
• For the size of the vehicle, it handles with great levels of precision. There is no understeer or oversteer felt while cornering and the car feels stable at the time of moderate maneuvers.
• Ride comfort is superior with perfectly tuned suspension except for moderately sized speed breakers. One needs to make sure that large speed breakers are passed with the minimum possible speed otherwise it can unsettle  passengers and luggage in the car.
• Standard accessories provided by the company are highly functional and value-oriented with good quality materials.
• Force has provided great damping around the car engine bay and inside the passenger cabin which efficiently isolates traffic and engine noise.
• The snorkel lying just near the driver seat, on the outside, tends to be a good companion with its sweet sound of air intake.
• Highly mechanical and least electronic Gurkha feels reliable, simple, and capable on highway and offroad drives.
• The air conditioning system is very strong and quickly cools the cabin in a very short time.
• Inside the cabin, Gurkha is more spacious and practical than the Mahindra Thar.
• Affinity for modifications
• The presence of Front and Back Mechanical Locking Differentials provides more confidence in control in difficult situations.

Cons:

• The company that provided aftermarket accessories has reliability issues. Kenwood entertainment's system is 2020-made with lots of bugs. The TPMS provides false alarms due to sensor connectivity issues.
• The texture of the black color of like that of an orange peel which doesn’t give the premium feel and it is very difficult to maintain the cleanliness even after the ceramic coating job.
• Slightly uneven exterior panel gaps.
• No official NCAP safety rating.
• Common service center for Force Gurkha (passenger vehicle) and Travellers (including dead body vans, school buses, and ambulances)
• Scope of Improvement:
• The addition of more large-sized door pockets would be great.
• Including luggage organizers as company provided accessories would be quite helpful.
• The inclusion of a 360-degree camera would help manage this mammoth vehicle with some ease.

Conclusion:

Considering the great buying journey, strong mechanicals, and powerful road presence due to its design language, I am highly satisfied with my purchase.

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Concrete surface is pretty rough, since the Gurkha comes with AT tyres, the ride was a bit noisy.

BHPian rakesh_r recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Did our yearly sojourn to seek Sai baba’s blessings with our newly purchased Gurkha. Since the Samruddhi Mahamarg was starting from Shirdi, decided to take this opportunity to cover the stretch:

• Excellent road conditions, seamless joints. The expressway is fully concrete, bridges are tarred.
• Roads are well marked.
• Most petrol pumps from Nagpur to Shirdi are operational (fuel availability). Most petrol pumps stock on wafers, snacks, and machine dispensed tea/coffee. We survived on Haldiram wafers and apple juice.
• Absolutely no wayside amenities available. You can use the washrooms of the fuel stations, no questions asked.
• Concrete surface is pretty rough, since the Gurkha comes with AT tyres, the ride was a bit noisy.
• Saw foxes, langurs, peacocks and stray dogs wandering all over the highway. One needs to be alert as i saw lot of carcasses (dogs).
• The Nagpur entry point is all decked up with laser lights and flowers. One can visit the entry point at night to see the lightings and project presentations, with speakers blaring out songs praising the obvious.
• Saw lot of tyre burst cases and accidents (a completely burnt Duster, an Ecosport with a sheared roof as it ploughed through the barrier, a completely totaled Accent with a missing front end, a truck minus its under carriage)

All in all, it’s a boon for people heading to the Vidarbh.

PS: Also visited Lonar crater for which we took the Mehkar interchange.

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I also fitted a spare W124 rear view mirror that I had lying around.

BHPian PhantomLord recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

From what I could gather from Force representative 2022 Gurkha has 3 updates.

• Updated Steering hose routing and new rack/pinion setup.

• Dead pedal.

• Insulation above transfer case or silencer end can.

Steering Hose : For me major concern was steering hose mounting clamp, every day before taking Gurkha out I had check if clamp was fine after re-welding. Weld did not last a week, luckily I saw it before drive and used large hose clamp to tie the fluid cylinder to stabilizer bar.

May 2022 Steering Update Parts

Mounting Clamps

Note that these clamps are present in 2021 Gurkha, since mine is early batch Gurkha, I guess it is present all BS6 Gurkha. If you are planning this update you can skip these clamps, this also indicates unaddressed known issue before delivery.

Old Steering Hose Setup

New Steering Hose Setup

New Steering Hose and Bleeder Cylinder Installed

Bleeding: Workshop manual does not have any information for steering components. I just drained oil after removing hose union/joint near cylinder and installed new hose. Filled new steering oil into reservoir and gravity bled at the cylinder while turning steering wheel, re-filled as reservoir emptied. Later started Gurkha, re-filled steering oil and bled till no air bubble was seen.

Other Updates

Dead Pedal: When I was the local dealer, was told that 2022 dead pedal was available. But for installation tinkerer was on leave and there was no information on how to mount it. Dead pedal has two bolts, I could not find a mounting point for it in driver foot well of 2021 Gurkha. Improvised and mounted it as I wanted it. Initially dead pedal felt too close to clutch, now I am used it. Since pedal is sheet metal you can bend to suite your angle of preference.

Rear View Mirror: Manual dimming of rear view mirror was always pain with Gurkha due to excessive flip spring tension, everytime I tried to dim, mirror lost its alignment. I had spare 124(black) mirror so mounted till I get a auto dimming mirror.

Turbo: Turbo Oil leak via PCV returned, so concluded issue is not oil level related. Cleaned the turbo again and disconnected PCV, will update how this goes.

DPF 1000 RPM issue: I saw this issue again during a stop, so wanted to verify if this goes down after 30 minutes as Force representative mentioned. Waited for 38 minutes and RPM stayed at 1000, looks like this issue may not be DPF auto run.

My Lift Kit(tens)

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After sealing the cover and re-filling oil it was clear that leak was from spreader hole.

BHPian phantomlord recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

There was oil leak near diff rear cover, I was concerned it could be from case spreader hole. Gurkha has elaborate arrangement to vent diff and transfer case above 700mm, such leaks mean water will enter diff or transfer case while water wading. Force representative told oil leak from spreader hole is not likely, so planned to re-seal the cover.

Leak location

Diff cover removed.

Cleaned Cover

After sealing the cover and re-filling oil it was clear that leak was from spreader hole.

Case spreader holes are not properly sealed, weld looks poor.

Used JB weld to seal it, as of now it's working fine.

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Measured tank full to tank full has between 8-9 km/l, not much highway driving, mostly driven in 3rd & 4th gear.

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12K Update: It was joy driving Gurkha in rain everyday, no meddling only driving since past 7K, have not even washed Gurkha since June except for glass

Daily Drive:

Gurkha rain drive video

• Suspension: At least 12km of daily 32km drive was on poor roads, can be compared to pothole testing tracks. Gurkha suspension has been brilliant.

• 4 Wheel Hardware: Have been using Gurkha regularly in 4 wheel drive mode with diff locks, performed flawlessly.

• Tyres: Have been running RT+ at 34 PSI due to poor roads, tyre is good on dry and fully wet roads, braking is adequate, has poor grip on drillzed road though. With RT+ and Gurkha's suspension you won't feel a thing on bad roads. Tyre depth when new was ~12.4mm, when I rotated the tire after 5350km it measured 9.6mm, I feel it should last 25K max with 5 tyre rotation. Usage is mostly 60% good road, 30% poor road, 10% off-road.

• Mileage: Measured tank full to tank full has between 8-9 km/l, not much highway driving, mostly driven in 3rd & 4th.

Night drive with D2 dually

Windscreen Bar: Bar is well made, mounting could have been better. Major issue is bar creates huge blind spot for right handed turn (you could miss a bus) when driving in narrow winding roads, tall mirror adds to blocking the view. I think bar could be re-designed to eliminate right edge bar so that snorkel takes its place.

Roof Rack: Well made, jerrycan holder looks after thought, plan to remove it. I had roof bars earlier, much easier to clean, rack doubles the effort needed to wash Gurkha properly (like maintaining long hair).

Rear Ladder: Well made, has limited utility, recommend you use Anti-Scratch tapes like https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08MY35KJT on rear door opening bottom and bumper, else in no time stepping on these or loading luggage will remove paint.

All above accessories have paint holes for painting internals but parts are painted only on outside, every-time you wash or drive in heavy rain you will have rusty water dripping on body leaving stains, ideally this should be addressed before fitting the accessory.

Rear Child Seat: Installed the rear child seats, with rear seats upright adults under 5.5' can travel for shorter distances. Main utility in my case was it compartmentalizes storage behind rear seats. You can tuck in tools and small stuffs under it, which would otherwise be projectiles. Seat needs some modification if you want rear seats to recline fully.

TPMS: Stock TPMS unit was not accurate and erratic, replaced it with Dhunikart D280, its been running fine since April. You can short green wire to ground in stock wiring harness to remove dash TPMS warning.

Moved it to center console to keep dash clean of wires.

External Sensor, BR bolt caps keep wheel bolts clean.New So Far So Good logo ?

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It's difficult to find aftermarket underbody protection options for the Gurkha.

BHPian vigneshkumar31 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

PRAD 4X4 underbody armour:

It's difficult to find aftermarket options for the Gurkha, but luckily Prad4x4 has this custom kit for the BS6 which bolts on direct:

• Thick plate.
• Strong Sheet Metal.
• Direct Bolt on OEM mounts.
• Comes in two pieces with a pouch of all nuts and bolts you'll ever need.
• Perfect alignment with mounts and bumper.

Full video review here.

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