Ronald Romano
04-07-2011, 08:36 PM
To get noticed, this is the road to be in Pune, The Thar immediately seemed to grab attention on the crowded and traffic infested street of this side of this metropolitan city with ease, My first stop came within two minutes to fill up diesel and that is when the reality further struck me From the fuel attendant to other customers, all eyes were on us - the Thar and mel This was surely going to be an interesting day .. The Thar was first shown aggressively by Mahindra at the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi, Since then, thousands of enthusiasts have waited patiently for the company to make this a dream come true for them, For some, this might be a modified MM540 with the Scorpio engine - but this is pure crapl There is so much more to the Thar then what some people have misconceptions about It surely has the MM540's classic lines like the tapering bonnet.
rounded fenders, the drop-down type windshield etc. Deep down inside though, the chassis comes from the Bolero that has seen modifications to take on the MM540's body Changes ofcourse have been made to the chassis to hold the new power-train too, Coming back to the design, the reason almost all eye-balls were on us is the fact the Thar carries typical retro Jeep styling Then there is the generous helping of chrome - ofcourse this isn't really a chick magnet but we were surprised to see the number of people giving attention to the Thar while negotiating Pune's awfully slow traffic while on our way to the shoot location, The chunky alloy wheels with 235/70 tyres look great On the inside, where I spent a good hour [before stepping out to admire the Thar once at our locationl. things are pretty basic. I have seen people cribbing about the lack of creature comforts and quality on various public forums but isn't the Thar meant for adventure experiences? In my opinion, the interiors are spot on for they have to take on elements like rain, hail, snow [in some casesl. sand, dust and everything else that a typical owner would subject it to, Now, you don't want your twenty grand music system to go 'kaput' in the rains, right? Until unless you are one of those who will take out the Thar only in the evenings, on city roads, to impress the fair sex - now that will be.
A shame for thiS kind of vehicle, Comparing the Thar to its main competitor the Maruti Gypsy, the insides feel much better and more comfortable as well, Instrumentation console is basic though a tachometer finds itself right there There is provision for after*market air-con as well as a music system - thumbs up for that The Thar can probably seat five in comfort with enough space left for luggage The real deal however lies under the hood of the Thar, Finally there is a diesel heart that can stand up to its own in front of the likes of the 1,3-litre motor of the Gypsy, The Thar comes with two engine options but we are glad we test drove the one that has a mightier heart Under the hood is a 2,5-litre turbodiesel unit that pushes out 105 horses along with 24 7N m of torque from just 1800rpm onwards, The engine's cubic capacity, bore and stroke are same as the XD3P engine though the Thar's motor obviously is a common-rail unit The gush of torque from low engine speeds is the secret behind making the Thar a joy to drive on all kinds of terrains, On normal roads, the torque flow takes you by surprise and you can chug along happily, overtaking traffic easily, On the roads that the Thar is really made for, all this torque comes in handy, Yo·u don't have push the engine hard, Just a tap on the throttle does its Job Pedal to metal, it takes roughly 17 seconds for the 0-1 OOkm/h dash, We didn't really test the Thar for its top speeds stakes though it did show a quick 120km/h easily, At highway speeds, the Thar is rattle and vibration free Steering feel however at such speeds was pretty bland,
rounded fenders, the drop-down type windshield etc. Deep down inside though, the chassis comes from the Bolero that has seen modifications to take on the MM540's body Changes ofcourse have been made to the chassis to hold the new power-train too, Coming back to the design, the reason almost all eye-balls were on us is the fact the Thar carries typical retro Jeep styling Then there is the generous helping of chrome - ofcourse this isn't really a chick magnet but we were surprised to see the number of people giving attention to the Thar while negotiating Pune's awfully slow traffic while on our way to the shoot location, The chunky alloy wheels with 235/70 tyres look great On the inside, where I spent a good hour [before stepping out to admire the Thar once at our locationl. things are pretty basic. I have seen people cribbing about the lack of creature comforts and quality on various public forums but isn't the Thar meant for adventure experiences? In my opinion, the interiors are spot on for they have to take on elements like rain, hail, snow [in some casesl. sand, dust and everything else that a typical owner would subject it to, Now, you don't want your twenty grand music system to go 'kaput' in the rains, right? Until unless you are one of those who will take out the Thar only in the evenings, on city roads, to impress the fair sex - now that will be.
A shame for thiS kind of vehicle, Comparing the Thar to its main competitor the Maruti Gypsy, the insides feel much better and more comfortable as well, Instrumentation console is basic though a tachometer finds itself right there There is provision for after*market air-con as well as a music system - thumbs up for that The Thar can probably seat five in comfort with enough space left for luggage The real deal however lies under the hood of the Thar, Finally there is a diesel heart that can stand up to its own in front of the likes of the 1,3-litre motor of the Gypsy, The Thar comes with two engine options but we are glad we test drove the one that has a mightier heart Under the hood is a 2,5-litre turbodiesel unit that pushes out 105 horses along with 24 7N m of torque from just 1800rpm onwards, The engine's cubic capacity, bore and stroke are same as the XD3P engine though the Thar's motor obviously is a common-rail unit The gush of torque from low engine speeds is the secret behind making the Thar a joy to drive on all kinds of terrains, On normal roads, the torque flow takes you by surprise and you can chug along happily, overtaking traffic easily, On the roads that the Thar is really made for, all this torque comes in handy, Yo·u don't have push the engine hard, Just a tap on the throttle does its Job Pedal to metal, it takes roughly 17 seconds for the 0-1 OOkm/h dash, We didn't really test the Thar for its top speeds stakes though it did show a quick 120km/h easily, At highway speeds, the Thar is rattle and vibration free Steering feel however at such speeds was pretty bland,