India’s first 5 door Mahindra Thar inspired by the Jeep Wrangler is here

What do you call a 5 door Mahindra Thar? A Bolero! Well, not exactly. Try as it may, the Bolero just doesn’t have the  classic ‘Jeep’ look, which brings us to this story about India’s first 5 door Mahindra Thar. This example is inspired  by the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. And it has some really massive street presence thanks to the meaty 37

inch tyres it’s  riding on.

Images courtesy RahulVerma on 4X4India

The front end of this modified Jeep is of a typical Thar. You get the round headlamps and the 7 slat Jeep grille. An  angry bird grille makes it look different from the hundreds of Thars on Indian roads while LED headlamps and a  shorted front bumper are other key changes. On the sides, the sheer length of this vehicle is what will strike you  and so will the height thanks to the massive mud terrain tyres shod on alloy wheels.

It seems like this extended wheelbase Thar is based on the DI version as there’s a solid axle up front, along with  leaf spring suspension. The rear suspension also uses leaf springs. The body is lengthened, and the chassis seems to be borrowed from the Bolero/Mahindra Maxx. The longer body means that the second row of seats have enough leg room while leaving enough space for a decent boot.

At the rear, changes are limited to a tyre carrier, metal bumper and a semi-hard top design where the canopy sits on  top of plywood/metal roof. Such semi-hard top modification jobs are very common in Punjab, and they help the Thar and other Jeeps offer much better weather and noise insulation while retaining the soft top look that a lot of owners simply don’t want to lose.

The Thar DI is powered by a 2.5 liter M2DICR turbocharged diesel engine that makes 63 Bhp of peak power and 180 Nm of peak torque. A five speed manual gearbox is standard while a four wheel drive transfer case is offered as an option. This example also seems to have a four wheel drive layout as there are a lot of extended wheelbase Mahindra vehicles such as the Bolero, Armada and Maxx that have been offered with a four wheel drive layout in the past.

Coming to the Thar CRDe, the off roader sold in India currently is powered by a 2.5 liter CRDe turbocharged diesel  engine with 105 Bhp-247 Nm. The engine is paired to a five speed manual gearbox and a four wheel drive transfer case with high and low ratios is standard. Mahindra is putting together an all-new Thar for launch in India sometime next year.

The all-new Thar will have a new body, and will sit on the Scorpio platform. The traditional ‘Jeep’ looks are  expected to be maintained though. The all-new Thar will be powered by a brand new, Bharat Stage 6 emission norms compliant 2 liter turbo diesel engine. It’ll pack in airbags and ABS as standard, and is expected to be a lot more refined than the current Thar. It’s also likely to offer better ride quality.