Mahindra Thar-based Roxor in showdown with Honda & Polaris ATVs through ice & snow [Video]

The Mahindra Roxor has been making waves in the utility vehicle segment lately. The vehicle, which is only limited to the US markets, recently got entangled in a lawsuit by FCA over copyright issues. It has been marketed as a tough off road utility vehicles and its affordable price tag is the main USP Mahindra is riding on.

In the US market, it rivals the likes of Polaris Ranger and Honda Pioneer which are both proven off road vehicles. While there have been many reports and videos on how the Roxor performs, we today bring you a video by TFLoffroad which pits it against the competition. Take a look at the video to see how it fairs against the other utility vehicles.

The long video is very descriptive and shows the real life performance and usage of the Mahindra Roxor. The reviewer emphasizes on the fact that the vehicle feels very planted and takes a bit of muscle to drive as well. Compared to the Honda and Polaris offerings, the is longer but has the same width along with being equipped with 16 inch stock tires.

The first challenge it faces is in the form of a splash pit laden with ice. The Roxor, due to its low grounds clearance is unable to cross during the multiple attempts. however, the testes note that this does not have to do anything with power and it struggled because of a bit traction loss and poor approach angle due to the lower ground clearance. The Polaris Ranger and the Honda Pioneer cross the pit easily owing to their higher ground clearance along with better off road tires. The last attempt sees the Roxor also complete the challenge, although the traction loss still appears to be an issue due to open differentials.

The interiors are totally spartan compared to the other two, with functionality being the main focus. It gets a lot of space and decent seats but that’s that. The gear and clutch functionality is also pretty good and the Roxor is not very easy to stall in gear, which is actually a pretty great thing for off roading. The leaf springs means that the ride is quite bumpy as opposed to the other two which provide a cushioned ride. Next they run all the three vehicles through a rut to test articulation. The Roxor did fairly well and had it’s wheels on the ground for most of the time. The Honda Pioneer put on the best show and easily walked through the rut. The Polaris Ranger, on the other hand didn’t actually struggle but articulation was an issue for sure.

Crawling speed is lowest on the Polaris Ranger, followed by the Mahindra Roxor and then the Honda Pioneer. The Ranger’s lowest crawling speed was about 2 km/h, Roxor was at about 4 km/h and the Pioneer had a crawling speed of 4-5 kmph. While the Ranger and the Pioneer have CVT and DCT transmission respectively, the Mahindra Roxor has a more conventional manual gearbox. As for the pricing, the Pioneer is the cheapest, followed by Mahindra which is a shade expensive and then the Honda Pioneer.

The Mahindra Roxor gets powered by a  2.5-liter inline-four turbo diesel engine which churns out 62 Bhp of power and 195 Nm torque. It comes mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. It comes with a four-wheel-drive system as a standard fitment. The top speed is limited to merely 72 kmph as it falls in the off-highway category and is not street legal. Box steel frame, solid front and rear axles and leaf springs type suspension on all the four tyres are some other details that define the Roxor.