The all-new Mahindra Thar has shown itself to the world and will be launched on the 2nd of October this year, which is also Mahindra’s Founder’s Day. For how it looks and what it packs, we must say the new Thar is now one of the most desirable SUVs on offer from a homegrown manufacturer.
Compared to the older model, the new Thar has been tweaked to appeal to a new set of buyers and also those who liked what it offered but sat on the fence as it wasn’t a practical vehicle for everybody. Mahindra has addressed that and will offer the new Thar in two variants – AX and LX. The former will be presented to the hardcore fan and will offer 16″ steel wheels with a soft top and a six-seater configuration (sideways placed rear seats), manual AC and power steering and windows, while a hardtop and front-facing rear seats can be ticked through an option pack. On the other hand, the LX comes fitted with all the bells and whistles like LED DRLs and fog lamps, eight-way adjustable driver’s seat, tyre pressure monitoring system, auto AC, 7.0-inch touchscreen and 18″ alloy wheels.
All variants will offer a manual shifter for the 4WD drivetrain with 2H, 4H, and 4L modes. The front now gets independent suspension while the rear gets mechanical locking diffs and gets rid of leaf springs in favour of a multi-link setup. The new Thar also meets the new crash and pedestrian safety norms and comes fitted with two front airbags. Other safety features include ABS with EBD, Isofix child seat mounts, hill-start assist, hill descent assist, ESP with roll-over mitigation and three-point seatbelts for four passengers. Inside the washable cabin, the front-facing rear seats offer a 50:50 split and music can be blared through roof-mounted speakers.
Inside, things look contemporary and there’s a new steering wheel with buttons for cruise control and audio/telephone, while the central infotainment screen gets weather-proof controls and a dedicated screen to display off-road driving information, including wheel turn angle, tilt angle, engine temperature and lots more. The new Thar can wade through 650mm of water and offers an unladen ground clearance of 227mm and approach, ramp-over and departure angles of 42 degrees, 27 degrees and 37 degrees.
The new Thar gets an updated version of the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine which cranks out 130hp, 300Nm and will be available with a 6-speed manual gearbox and an optional, Aisin-sourced, 6-speed torque converter. If you like petrol engines, the 2.0-litre mStallion motor will also be on offer. It cranks out 150hp of power and 300 Nm (MT), 320Nm (AT) of torque. Transmission options include a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Colours on offer are – Red Rage, Mystic Copper, Napoli Black, Aquamarine, Galaxy Grey and Rocky Beige.
Official Information:
- All-new BS-6 compliant Engine options: The 2.0-litre mStallion TGDi Petrol engine (150hp; 320Nm) and the 2.2 litres mHawk Diesel engine (130hp; 300Nm)
- New Gearbox options: 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission & 6-speed manual transmission mated to an authentic manual shift-on-the-fly 4×4 transfer case
- All-new Roof options: A Hard Top, a first-in-class Convertible Top and an optional Soft Top
- All-new Seating options: 4 front-facing seats & 2+4 side-facing seats
- All-new Technology Features: Drizzle resistant 17.8 cm touchscreen infotainment system, cruise control, adventure statistics display and a whole lot more
- All-new Comfort and Convenience Features: Sporty front seats, roof-mounted speakers and lots more
- New Safety Features: ABS + EBD, Dual airbags, ESP with rollover mitigation, Hill-hold and hill descent control and a whole lot more
- Authentic Body-on-Frame Construction- 3rd-gen Chassis
- Independent Front Suspension & Multi-Link Rear Suspension set-up
- Shift-on-the-Fly 4×4 Manual Shift Transfer Case with Low Ratio
- Mechanical Locking Differential on the Rear Axle
- First-in-Class Brake Locking Differential
- Class-leading approach (41.8 deg), departure (36.8 deg) & ramp over (27 deg) angles
- Ground clearance of 226mm in the unladen condition
- Water wading depth of 650mm
- All-Terrain Tyres 255/65 R18, with White Lettering: The Largest Tyre in its Class
- First-in-Class Electromechanical Driveline Disconnect
- Height Adjustable Driver Seat with Adjustable Lumbar Support
- One-Touch Tip & Slide Mechanism on the Co-Driver Seat
- Tilt-Adjustable Steering Wheel
- Power Windows
- Electrically Adjustable ORVMs
- Central Locking with Remote Flip Key
- 18 cm Touchscreen Infotainment System with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, USB, Navigation
- First-in-Class Adventure Statistics Display on the Infotainment System
- First-in-Class Adventure Connect: Mahindra Adventure Calendar Display
- First-in-Class Smart Watch & Phone Connectivity with Blue Sense App
- TFT Multi-Information Display in the Instrument Cluster
- Electronic HVAC Controls
- Drizzle resistant (IP54 Standard) dashboard switches
- First-in-Class Tyretronics: Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
- First-in-Class Tyre Direction Monitoring System
- Cruise Control
- Steering Mounted Audio & Phone Controls
- Crash-safety compliant bodyshell
- First-in-Class ESP with Rollover Mitigation
- First-in-Class Built-in Roll-cage with 3-Point Seat belts for all passengers
- Dual Airbags & ABS
- First-in-Class Hill Hold & Hill Descent Control
- First-in-Class ISOFIX Child Seat Mounts
- Intellipark: Rear Parking Sensor
