Just closed Youtube after watching some off-roading videos of all New Mahindra Thar today, and So as I had a chance to drive it on the road with a bit off-roading, I thought to share my views on what’s so special about this one, compared to the older rugged utilitarian Mahindra Thar.

The new Thar was a transformation from the older one, this is completely new, from the front plastic bumper to the rear tail lamps which says Thar on it for the 11th time on the Thar if you look for it, and Speaking about the 11 Thar badges, we should continue on the special things on this desi Jeep (I intentionally called Jeep because of the influence of wrangler in the design).

There are some easter eggs on this vehicle and some are even in the Thar. Two camels and a Thar on the windscreen and a serial number plate on the dashboard are a few.

Look wise the Thar is undoubtedly like a baby wrangler, Grill looks out of place, saw some trolls as the grill seems like a jail door, which is true to an extent but the good news was, there is already aftermarket grills available as someone made it before even Mahindra launches the Thar.

The Thar looks big, and getting inside will be a task for elders. Getting into the rear seat will more hectic, as one has to move the passenger seat forward and if you reach there, you can sit comfortably, There are front-facing seats on this version which I drove (the top manual diesel trim). There will be a lower version of the Thar coming with side-facing rear seats.

Sitting inside, on the driving seat, you might feel some resemblance to the TUV here, especially the steering wheel. The dashboard looks cool with a nice infotainment system, the system follows the tradition of other Mahindras, Scorpio for example, it has information about the car with some offroad widgets. The glove box is small, I am afraid that you cannot keep the owners manual in it, yes that much small.

The seats are very good, you are sitting on a comfortable commanding seating position with everything on reach, The only problem will be with the left leg, there is no space to rest, no dead pedal or even a small space there, the same case with the older model. The one thing I should mention here, the center console does not hinder your visibility like in the previous-gen Thar which is good.

The Clutch is on the lighter side, gear shift got better with six cogs, shifting is smooth and sure slotting, with a 300nm torque Thar can start off from the standstill in second gear and even in third gear if you try hard, engine capacity is 2184cc and Mahindra calling it Mhawk 130, which represents the 130bhp power, Please note the power figure is mentioned in bhp and not in PS. Since this car belongs to BS6 you have to fill 20 litter Exhause fluid with 57 liters of diesel diet.

The suspension is rugged, there are no utilitarian leaf springs but coil springs at the rear. Axles are semi-floating, we will talk about the offroad capabilities with all of these features in another article hopefully. Independent double wishbones at the front which helps you to fly on the bad roads without any sort of issues literally, The Thar rides plush, thanks to the 18inch wider tires (255/65 R18)

Mahindra not considered rear disc breaks in the new Thar which is normal for a Mahindra SUV, look at the Scorpio for example.

To conclude, The Thar already belongs to the niche category, The new one got better, very much better.

To watch the review video Please click here (in Malayalam btw)