To say that Mahindra knows the Indian customer really well, will be an understatement. Their biggest hits have come in various forms over the years, from the XUV500 to the XUV700 and the Scorpio N in recent times. People queue up to buy them with online bookings pushing waiting periods up to two years. They could even shift 6000 units of the Thar every month – an otherwise impractical, three door, lifestyle vehicle when Maruti struggled to sell three digit numbers of the Jimny which was specifically made more practical for India by making it a five door. Mahindra doesn’t just understand Indian customers, they are Indian at their very core.
Enter the Thar Roxx. If you thought that the three door Thar wasn’t very impractical to be your family car, the Roxx has got you covered. You have the wheelbase extended by 400mm to 2850mm. It’s not a stretched chassis and a longer body put on top, but a totally new chassis which has more in common with the Scorpio N. It is also slightly wider to give better track and improved dynamics. The front end is very different to the smaller Thar, thanks to new six slot grille and very bright C shaped DRLs. The wheels are 19 inchers with massive AT tyres that look the part. The rear doors have an extra raised top frame over the fronts that lead to a slanted C pillar. The roof is now all metal and unlike the three door which comes in soft top, hard top and convertible body styles, here there is only one.
Interiors are also quite different to the three door with better materials and more tech. The dashboard layout is the same, but you get leatherette surfaces and a new larger glovebox. The door pads have also been redesigned with speakers moving to a more conventional location on them. The infotainment unit and driver display have been carried over from the 3XO but you get new UI including off-road info. You get 360-degree camera, ambient lighting, Level 2 ADAS, wireless charging, a blind spot monitoring system, electronic parking brake and automatic climate control.
The front seats are large with good visibility and now come with ventilation and electric adjustment. The rear seats are wide with adequate legroom and masses of headroom. The cabin gets bathed in light thanks to the sufficiently large windows and massive sunroof – the biggest of any car, Mahindra claims. The seats are finished in white which will be a pain to keep clean, but if you opt for the four wheel drive version, you can get brown seats too. One downside of the interiors is the lack of storage space. For instance, the door pockets cannot hold large water bottles and there is very little space for knick-knacks. Boot is sufficient at 447 litres and you can fold the rear seats down for additional space. The tail gate retains the split functionality which was a requirement in the three door because of the extra body styles, not on the Roxx.
The Thar gets two engine choices a 2.0 litre petrol and a 2.2 litre diesel. The engines have various power outputs, depending on their transmission and in the case of the diesel whether it’s four wheel drive. The most powerful petrol version gets 177bhp and 175bhp for the diesel. That’s nearly 27bhp and 45bhp over the equivalent three door Thars respectively. The diesel is the one I spent considerable time with, and ideally the one you should get too. The familiar 2.2litre engine is so refined that you question the need to go for petrol. What’s more, it’s just as powerful and almost twice as efficient. The 370Nm torque is delivered across a wider powerband and makes for easy off-roading and highway cruising. It is very punchy and the automatic keeps the engine in the meat of the powerband on all occasions. The Thar Roxx is very capable off-road with new features like Intelli-turn that reduce the turning circle by locking the rear wheels and Crawl mode which is like a cruise control for tough terrain where it maintains the right throttle to get you out of tricky situations.
The most impressive part of the Thar Roxx has to be its ride and handling which is way better than the Thars we are used to. The steering is now EPS and that makes a world of difference. Not only is it light at city speeds, it weighs up and gives lots of confidence at high speed. There is a hint of body roll, but the car feels composed and grip is great. You can still feel the ladder frame’s jitteriness, but the ride is also way better now. With its massive 235mm ground clearance and big 19 inch wheels and suitable 255/60R19 tyres, it rides over broken roads with an authority than only a body-on-frame SUV can.
The Thar is available in various trim levels but only the diesel gets four wheel drive. The bulk of the sales will be two wheel drive variants and they are priced rather well. With prices starting from Rs.12.99, you are in for a long wait, if you want one. But, you know what? It will be worth it.
