[shankar.balan]

We can all sit and talk here and grumble about Thar 2WD and so on. The plain truth is that 90% of Thar users or indeed users of any 4WD machine, simply do not ever take their vehicles onto any off road situation. The worst terrain most 4x4 vehicles will ever see is the school run or the mall parking lot for the grocery run. And the large majority of these big 4X4’s are chauffeur driven to boot!

The Thar 2WD will seriously widen the market. It will be much lighter and easier to live with on a day to day basis and the whole maintenance thingy will be less too because of the simpler drive train and transmission. It will certainly be more fuel efficient compared to its 4x4 brother.

It will definitely be easy and light for ladies to drive and to calmly brave our ubiquitous potholes and floods and bullying drivers and errant bikes and rickshaws with that superbly commanding view and that high ground clearance. It will drive a preference for self drive to an extent.

Being a rear wheel drive, short wheel base and basically a very rugged body on frame vehicle it will easily be an much better performing alternative to all these raised hatch-backs like the Sonet and Venue and Kiger and so on. Another factor will be its attractive pricing, considering the present day pricing of the available sedans and raised hatch backs here in India.

Not least, considering the pages and pages of discussion here and elsewhere, the Sales and Marketing Dept at Mahindra have clearly been able to create a good level of hype.

So I have a strong feeling this will end up a runaway hit with many months of waiting. And the Thar 2WD may very well even become the Car of the Year 2023! It just ticks so many boxes for so many people!

Mahindra seems to have understood the pulse of the market, for sure.

I just wish they would consider making some tasteful changes in their colour palette on offer.

[sanchari]

Is there any weight difference between 2WD and 4WD versions? The brochure for 2WD Thar doesn't mention weight

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sanchari

Is there any weight difference between 2WD and 4WD versions? The brochure for 2WD Thar doesn't mention weight

The Thar Petrol 4x4 Hardtop Lx is 1735 kgs.
Add another 100-120kgs for the Diesel 4x4.

It is likely that the Thar 2WD will be at least 120-150kgs lighter, considering the removal of the entire 4x4 hardware and all the fixings. Would be great to get the ‘real data’ pertaining to this piece.

[heydj]

My only wishlist is better color options. How about a nice green or yellow or blue or camo. Jeep Compass has so many good color options similarly Thar should copy that.

Also better interiors would be a dream as ones right now are Spartan and functional at best.

I would love to own a nice vibrant Yellow colored 2WD Petrol AT Thar for occasional use. Kind of like a toy!

[Sherlocked]

So the Petrol Thar 4X2 will only be offered with an automatic transmission? What could be the reason of it not being offered in MT?

[Benoit]

Like they use the 1.5L diesel, to achieve tax benefits, can they not use the 1.2L TGDI to achieve the same tax benefits. Would benefit the petrol users as well. The 1.2L TGDI wouldn't be a slouch. They just need to make the XUV300's engine RWD ready. Not claiming it's a straight fit, but should definitely be cheaper than the 2L TGDI.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by highwaypatrol

Honestly I am finding it difficult to understand the mindset of those customers who are buying a proper jeep like Mahindra Thar without having 4x4 mechanicals. Its like buying an iPhone without an apple iOS in it.

Pardon my ignorance!

Why would this be so difficult to understand? The 2nd generation Thar is more of a lifestyle vehicle, rather than the very functional and utilitarian 1st gen Thar. Lets face it, many of us like the Thar simply because of the way it looks, although i feel its too heavily inspired by the Wrangler. And this 2nd gen Thar is not that difficult a car to live with for daily commute. This is not a Creta or a Seltos rival. This is a lifestyle vehicle that serves as a great 2nd car. In fact, if i can afford it, I will surely suggest the Jimny or the 2WD Thar as a replacement for my wife’s i20 when the time comes.

Both these vehicles seem to perform very well on really bad roads, also look like they can take a bit more abuse than a typical Urban Cross over, and obviously they look really unique and cool. If you dont need 4 doors all the time, then why not? I would think the Thar has enough going for it even without 4WD. The only issue is the price. I have always felt that the Thar is overpriced by 2 lakhs, especially given how value for money the Scorpio-N and even the XUV700 seem in comparison.

[Comrade]

I know many people in friends and family who have bought Thar just for looks. They would have happily bought 2WD if it was available then.

However, I think to attract this urban crowd (other than NCR), Mahindra needs 2WD diesel automatic, which is surprisingly omitted! There is already established perception that petrol automatic is neither fuel efficient nor has good resale (mainly due to poor FE). This is already pushing most of the Thar sales to LX diesel automatic with hardtop. Mahindra should have worked on RWD torque converter for that D117 engine. Else I am not sure how many real sales will come from RWD except for less entry price for marketing purposes.

[swunkjyn]

Its 2 sides to the same coin. Fortuner 4x2 sales are a lot higher than the 4x4 variant, so this will push the sales for Thar a lot and any enthusiast still has the option to buy 4x4 variant.

Recently I was in Varkala and did test Thar (my 4WD) on sand with 4 Adults and 2 kids in the vehicle. Loved every bit of it & Mahindra giving the BLD in the 4x2 variant will still hold good for some mild offroading.

[2000rpm]

Amazing product planning from Mahindra.

This is the perfect product for people like me who would love to own a Thar but cant justify a 20 lakhs price tag. My vehicle running is only a few 100 kms per month.

The Thar makes complete sense for that. And I have been on the look out for a good auto vehicle for last 3-6 months but the useless price inflation in the Used car market has kept me away from an upgrade.

At 14 lakhs on road pricing for a Petrol AT, which will be bad-ass to own, with the option to convert, will be a great option.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

It is likely that the Thar 2WD will be at least 120-150kgs lighter, considering the removal of the entire 4x4 hardware and all the fixings. Would be great to get the ‘real data’ pertaining to this piece.

Also the 2.2 litre engine is being replaced by a much smaller 1.5 litre engine in the diesel. This will also contribute to weight reduction.

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

So the Petrol Thar 4X2 will only be offered with an automatic transmission? What could be the reason of it not being offered in MT?

My guess, this is to make sure there is less overlap between the base Z2 manual of the ScorpioN, which is currently priced at 11.99 lakhs, and has most of the features of the ScorpioN 4X2. Bringing in a petrol manual of the Thar 2WD, M&M cannot achieve as low a price point as the 117D Diesel, as the MStallion is a sophisticated and expensive engine to build. This would have resulted in the Thar 2WD petrol manual being priced too close to the ScorpioN Z2 and Z4 petrols.

Originally Posted by Comrade

)Mahindra needs 2WD diesel automatic, which is surprisingly omitted! There is already established perception that petrol automatic is neither fuel efficient nor has good resale (mainly due to poor FE). This is already pushing most of the Thar sales to LX diesel automatic with hardtop.

Providing a diesel auto in 2WD would have taken away too much of the sales volume from the 4WD AT full fat Thar that accounts for a lion share of the sales revenue and profit for he company. M&M are trying to expand the market at the lower end of the price range and bring in new customers there for the Thar brand, while not cannibalising sales and profits from the existing potential customer base at the higher end of the range.

Originally Posted by Benoit

Like they use the 1.5L diesel, to achieve tax benefits, can they not use the 1.2L TGDI to achieve the same tax benefits. Would benefit the petrol users as well. The 1.2L TGDI wouldn't be a slouch. They just need to make the XUV300's engine RWD ready. Not claiming it's a straight fit, but should definitely be cheaper than the 2L TGDI.

Great point, but the 1.2 may be a bit too weak to lug around a heavy SUV like the Thar which will weigh in at 1500 kilos plus, even with 2WD and small 1.2 petrol engine. But the turbo lag will be horrendous as the engine would have to be tuned to spin at much higher rpms to produce the necessary peak Torque. Small turbopetrols driving big cars or trying to produce high performance figures are generally atrociulously fuel inefficient, as they will be under a more stressed zone of operations very frequently.

[TusharK]

Mahindra Thar 4x2 to be launched on January 9

Mahindra is gearing up to launch the 2WD version of the Thar this year. Details of the Thar 4x2 have already been shared on the brand’s official website, except for its price, which is expected to be announced on January 9, 2023.



The Thar 4x2 will be available with two engine options. These include a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol unit producing 150 BHP and 320 Nm, which will be mated with a 6-speed automatic transmission and a 1.5-litre diesel producing 117 BHP and 300 Nm. The latter will come with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

The Thar 4x2 will be available in two variants: AX OPT and LX. It comes equipped with an Electronic Brake Locking Differential, ESP with Roll-over Mitigation, Hill Hold and Hill Decent Control, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and Tyre Direction Monitoring System.

Inside, the Thar gets features such as a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, Voice Commands and BlueSense App connectivity. The SUV will also get two new exterior colour options: Blazing Bronze and Everest White.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP News

[landcruiser123]

Wonder who the target market for the 2WD + small engine is considering that it doesn't have an AT.

Big miss if the target consumer was an affluent urban dweller.

[AG86]

Well timed launch by Mahindra! Very useful for users like me who don't want to take in the 4*4 adventures. Being a sub 4m & <1.5L engine, there should be a good price difference with the 4*4 variant (touching 20L) unless Mahindra gets greedy here. What would've sweetened the deal further would be a 1.5 diesel automatic. Maybe I'm asking too much! So now I'm eagerly waiting for the price reveal. Let's hope Mahindra don't mess up ��

[vredesbyrd]

OT: Looks like a viable option, even without 4WD.
As much as I hate using MT in traffic (or dislike MT in general), I'd still take this 6-MT over Jimny's 4-AT.
The thing is, if I book now, I might be able to snag a Petrol-RWD.
If I wait a year, then Diesel (or 2016 3.2 Endeavour).
If I wait two years then Scorpio 4WD AT (or 2017 4WD Fortuner).
It is truly a game of patience and planning.

Spoilt for choices. The market is becoming better and better. Now if only salaries were hiked like car prices.

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

So the Petrol Thar 4X2 will only be offered with an automatic transmission? What could be the reason of it not being offered in MT?

Joke: They want to un-Tata things and ensure that there are absolutely no Petrol Thar 4x2 sales in Uttar Pradesh (my home state) .
I don't think any other state hates automatics like our good 'ol UP does.