Aficionado: A person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime
Is precisely what you can call the person behind this brilliant mod job. Named after a barren desert in the western part of India, this tuned Mahindra Thar is definitely an oasis which has bloomed after a connoisseur sprinkled a lot of his brilliance on its arid metal.
Where a factory-spec Thar is powered by a 2.5-litre CRDe motor which pushes 105 bhp and 247 Nm, this bright example called ‘ScapeGrace’ runs a RedBandRacing performance remap and an upgraded blow-off valve which has bumped power output to nearly 160 bhp! Interestingly, the jump in power is a result of a tune-up alone and there are no other hardware upgrades involved to improve performance.
Built to take on extreme challenges, this tuned Mahindra Thar gets heavy-duty Bilstein off-road suspension which is conjoined to an upgraded crown and pinion ratio to accommodate bigger tires. How big? Those 16″ off-road rims are wrapped in 36×12.5×16 Maxxis Trepador Rubber!
The flush fitting hard top is custom made and all that bodywork is protected and stiffened further by a custom external roll-cage. A specially crafted off-road snorkel handles air intake when this Thar goes river crossing and occupants inside are tightly harnessed in their Bride Rally 4-point bucket seats when ScapeGrace decides to play in its natural habitat.
Custom built fenders and flares stay clear of those monster wheels when they ply over and bulldoze everything in their way, while off-road bumpers sit higher up to hike clearance numbers. A beak type custom built bull guard wraps itself around a big winch which will probably be deployed to rescue other vehicles more during its lifetime, and will maybe pull this Thar out on rare occasions.
A super bright LED bar sits neatly above the front windshield, there are additional spotlights near the wing mirrors, and the standard main candles have been replaced with aftermarket projector units for lighting up the bushes with daylight. A commendable effort which has been tastefully executed and all that we can say is that is a job well done! We’ve already got it on our screens as our wallpaper.
Source: STI, sreeragKB on Instagram