The Mahindra Thar gets a complete makeover but is it now good enough to be your daily driver?
The amount of likes and retweets I have received on new Mahindra Thar post have outnumbered the likes on my previous posts. I have also never received so many number of phone calls from friends and acquaintances, all asking about the new Thar. Just purely on the basis of this, it would be easy to surmise that the new Thar is the most awaited launch of the year. Just like the Royal Enfield Bullet, Thar attracts a certain ‘type’ of buyer — the young alpha or wannabe alpha male, the old gentleman or a woman, who wishes to relive her youth now that the kids are slightly grown up. The latter is something that psychoanalysts would call a mid-life crisis purchase. Elsewhere in the world, you might buy a Porsche or a Mini but here, in our rugged country, you got yourself a Thar.
It is for those people that I am writing this review of sorts because I turn 42 in a couple of weeks and I completely understand where the urge to buy a Thar comes from. The truth be told, the first-generation Thar was a great car for the first kind of buyer but thoroughly impractical for the mid-life crisis just like buying a convertible is for someone wearing a wig. The earlier car was a wonderful off-roader, one in which I have had lots of fun on the sand dunes outside Bikaner and Jaisalmer as well as the muddy Western Ghats next to the Mahindra factory at Igatpuri. However, you scratched your head at why hundreds of people went to Goa and rented one for the holidays. That suspension could help it climb up a 50-degree incline but would shatter your spine on a speed breaker and give you a workout operating the steering and the gears. And that offset steering, that became a private joke among those of us who evaluate cars for a living.
So I’m happy to say that the all-new Thar not only looks amazing than the previous model but drives way better on the roads as well. I was recently driving a pre-production second-generation Thar with the 130hp proven mHawk diesel engine and 130hp of power mated to a six-speed torque converter automatic and on the hard-plastic fixed-roof option.
Driving down the Gurugram-Faridabad highway, the car was comfortable to drive. While I cannot talk about the infotainment system other than to say that the speakers are mounted on the rollbar and the power window switches are in the centre. This is because the doors are removable as is the fixed roof, that said, unless you know what you are doing don’t try that at home. The air-conditioner works well and keeps the cabin pretty cool, although the black plastic roof does absorb heat. As for the switchgear, kudos to Mahindra for the solid look and feel of the buttons and fitting steering mounted controls. While not spartan, the interiors did certainly look like they could be hosed down after a muddy day.
Yes, it is a bit ‘floaty’ in the corners, but listen it is a short wheelbase car and it is quite clearly not a vehicle you would want to attack corners in. It isn’t a racer either, but it is quite comfortable for two adults to use it on a daily basis. I am not allowed to comment on the new Thar’s off-road capabilities. I did not use the four-wheel gear system, you can change from two-wheel high-ratio to four-wheel high-ratio on the fly. If you are a passionate off-roading enthusiast, shifting to four-wheel low will multiply the torque 2.48 times and with a mechanically locking rear differential, you could possibly take this car anywhere. Honestly, I cannot wait until I get an opportunity to take this car to some muddy or a sandy place. I did take it on some trails around the Bhatti Mines area and on rough tracks, and I must say that you have a level of confidence with Thar which is unparalleled.
However, those rear seats are pointless. Yes, they are front facing but if you are more than five feet tall, they will not be comfortable. If this is indeed a mid-life crisis car and you have kids, this is not the car for a family vacation, although it works just great as your office commute car. Thankfully, the rear seats can be easily removed. While no formal price announcement has been made yet, the top-end petrol and diesel models are expected to be in the 12 to 15 lakh range. It is a great car to buy during a mid-life crisis because it has so much more to offer.