2020 Mahindra Thar takes on the Jeep Compass Trailhawk off the road

The Indian automobile market is not exactly a 4X4 frenzy market. That’s why most manufacturers have stopped selling 4×4 variants of the vehicles but there are a few SUVs that can be regarded as the champion of off-roading trails. The newly launched Mahindra Thar, which has a massive waiting period due to the high demand is one such vehicle. Jeep Compass Trailhawk, which is the most capable version of the Compass model is another such car but it costs twice as much the Thar. So which one does better off-roading? Here is the video.

The video by Bulu Pattnaik shows some soft off-roading and there is nothing hardcore here. However, both vehicles take similar challenges in the video. The video shows Mahindra Thar going over a natural rock formation and doing it quite easily. Yes, it hits the stepping board of the SUV but that is because the vehicle came at a momentum. At slower speed, it would have avoided the hit completely.

Also read: Buying a pre-owned Mahindra Thar is better than buying a new one: 5 reasons

The Jeep Compass then takes the same challenge and it completes it without much of a fuss too. However, several times wheelspin happened during the obstacles. Both the vehicles then take on a few other challenges too where the Mahindra Thar completed without any drama or wheelspin but the Jeep Compass Trailhawk’s wheels kept on spinning to find the grip.

From the video, it is clear that both the SUVs are quite capable when it comes to off-road. However, the Mahindra Thar had All-Terrain tyres installed while the Jeep Compass had the road-biased Highway Terrain tyres. All-terrain tyres provide much better grip and performance compared to the H/T tyres installed in the Compass, which is why the wheels of the vehicle were finding it difficult to find traction. Serious off-roading enthusiasts always rely on Mud Terrain or M/T tyres that offer much better grip and traction on the off-road sections. They are much more expensive but they do not do very well on the tarmac. That’s why most people choose A/T tyres that offer the best of both the worlds.

The Mahindra Thar’s price starts at Rs 9.8 lakh for the base versions and all the variants of the SUV offer 4X4 system with a low-ratio transfer case. The Jeep Compass’s most affordable 4X4 version is priced at Rs 24.21 lakh and it does not get a low-ratio transfer case. The Trailhawk rated Compass that is seen in this video is priced at Rs 26.8 lakh for the base variant, which makes it more than double the price of the base version of the Thar.

Now the Compass Trailhawk offers various modes and it is only available with an automatic transmission. Whereas, the Mahindra Thar gets the good old mechanical levers to change the drive mode of the vehicle. The Thar is more mechanically inclined where the Compass is more about electronics. In all, the Mahindra Thar also offers much lower features and space than the Compass Trailhawk. However, when it comes to off-road, both the SUVs seem to be equally capable.

The Mahindra Thar is only available with a two-door layout with two seats in the rear for the front-facing variants. The Jeep is a five-seater and is much more comfortable compared to the Thar.

Also read: DC Design new Mahindra Scorpio custom looks wild!