Since it was first revealed on India’s Independence Day, almost everything about the new Mahindra Thar is known, except for the price. Available in two variants – AX and LX, both are available with petrol and diesel engines and 4WD as standard.
Today, on Mahindra’s Founder’s Day, the manufacturer has announced prices and test drives, as well as bookings, begin today. An automatic transmission is available for the LX version for an extra INR 80,000 – INR 1,06,000. Deliveries will begin on the 1st of November, 2020. Mentioned below are the variant-wise prices of the new Mahindra Thar:
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.
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. Colours on offer are – Red Rage, Mystic Copper, Napoli Black, Aquamarine, Galaxy Grey and Rocky Beige.
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.