New Mahindra Thar vs Isuzu V-Cross in a classic drag race

lifestyle pickup trucks have not been that successful in Indian market. The only manufacturer who managed to find a space for itself in this segment was Isuzu. The Isuzu V-Cross is a very popular pick up truck among enthusiasts and we have seen several videos of it off-roading online. This year, Isuzu launched the 2021 version of Isuzu V-Cross with minor cosmetic changes and an updated BS6 diesel engine. Mahindra also launched their all-new Thar in the market last year and it quickly became popular among buyers. Both these SUVs are capable off the road but, how would they perform against each other in a drag race? Here we have a video on the same.

The video has been uploaded by Bunny Punia on their YouTube channel. The video starts with Bunny talking about the engine specifications of both the SUVs. Both Isuzu and Mahindra seen here in the video are diesel powered and they are automatic variants too. The Mahindra Thar is powered by a 2.2 litre mHawk turbocharged diesel engine that generates 130 Bhp and 320 Nm of peak torque. The Isuzu V-Cross on the other hand is powered by a smaller 1.9 litre turbo diesel engine but, it generates 160 Bhp and 360 Nm of peak torque.

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On paper, Mahindra Thar is lighter than Isuzu V-Cross and it felt like Thar might win the round. The drag race is conducted on a empty road and it was conducted in three rounds. For first round, both V-Cross and Thar were lined up at the start line and as soon as the race starts, both SUVs moved off the line at the same time. Initially, Mahindra Thar was at the front by a very small margin but, slowly V-Cross started gaining.

The V-Cross overtakes Mahindra Thar smoothly and it won the first round. In next round, both SUVs are lined up once again and they are driven by same drivers. The race starts and this time again, Mahindra Thar took initial lead and then V-Cross overtook it after couple of hundred metres. In both these rounds, AC was turned off and the cars were being driven in Drive mode.

For the third round, both Mahindra Thar and Isuzu V-Cross was slotted to the manual mode and in this mode, the lighter Mahindra Thar was able to perform pretty well. Mahindra Thar’s gearbox was performing well in comparison to the V-Cross. It moved off the line quickly while V-Cross had a sluggish start. The difference between both SUVs was not much, in manual mode Mahindra Thar definitely had a upper hand. By the time Isuzu V-Cross managed to close the gap, Mahindra Thar had already crossed the finish line.

Isuzu V-Cross is the winner of this race. Mahindra Thar was lighter than Isuzu V-Cross but, it was not enough to win the race. Isuzu generated 30 Bhp and 40 Nm more than Thar. This does not mean, Mahindra Thar is a bad SUV by any means. Both these SUVs are not meant for high speed runs. There forte is off-roading and they both do it beautifully.

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