[varunswnt]

Originally Posted by sanemate

Better pics here. Notice the wheel arch cladding on the door.

https://x.com/PowerDrift/status/1812413442659168660

One more oddity, coloured door handle on rear doors does not match with black door handle on front doors. But they had to do it as door handle is placed very high above waistline.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by sanemate

Better pics here. Notice the wheel arch cladding on the door.

https://x.com/PowerDrift/status/1812413442659168660

The closed panoramic sunroof can also been seen!

[Xtremecrd]

Originally Posted by Streetracer_372

What was the reason for changing the grille while the one on the 3 door was perfectly fine.The whole front fascia looks like one of 3 doors with wacky aftermarket accessories. It also seems to have weird proportions especially by seeing the side profie

Well mahindra want to go global with this model. Hence they made deliberate attempt to differentiate the car from jeep wrangler so FCA won't be able to sue them over design patent copy. Even the lights are not round asper say in terms of looks as they appear like C.same is the case with rear side doors in appearance.

[sulliavi]

Whatever they do with the design of this product, its going to sell like hot cakes ! Until the day of launch they will not show proper product image and Mahindra is good at hyping their product and creating FOMO

[volkman10]

Updated render by ACI based on the actual sighting of the Thar:

[sebastian5ettel]

Not a fan of the trapezium-shaped quarter glass, they could have kept it simple.

What the Thar needs above everything else is a proper features revamp, hope they fix it with this one.

[Dry Ice]

Looking at the photos, it feels like a kid trying to change a few lines here and there to escape punishment for copying homework.

I mean why try so hard, people know (and don’t care) where these models are coming from!

[Sk8r]

Looks decent in my opinion. Off-course Jeep aficionados will be pissed off, but this will retail for 1/3rd, probably 1/4th of what Wrangler retails for. So I guess it’s a win win for everyone.

And, Mahindra - you’re going to hit it out of the park with this as well. But don’t get too greedy and jack up the prices immediately

[SportsMedicine]

Horrendously designed front grill and the rear door handles.

Worst on earth is that triangular quarter glass. What on earth was in mind of Pratap Bose to approve rather design such stuff that reminds of school days. He has long lost his credibility as an automotive designer.

[ASP007]

Regularly placed pull type door handles on the body would have been better on a 4 door vehicle. Otherwise, it should be like in the Jimny, subtle and gel well with the car. At least we can do something about the grill!

[vivekgk]

Just thought I would flip these pics as they are mirrored. Probably taken using a selfie camera or intentionally flipped for some reason. Notice that the Thar logo on the ORVM is the correct way now, and so are the windscreen wipers.





Here's what I think about the reason for the unconventional rear quarter glass and the oddly placed rear door handle.

The front door is shared with the 3-door version, which means as with all 3 doors, it is a bit too long. to mask it and yet stay within a reasonable length, the rear door extends over the rear fenders almost halfway.

With the original rounded rear fender of the 3 door Thar, it would have looked comically large, as seen in early renders of the 5 door variant.



In the pic above, you can see how the rear door has to be cut short, as there is no room between the window line and the fender line to place a door handle. Also notice the really tiny rear door windows.



In the latest renders we can see that the door handle has been placed on the pillars. This has been as the space between the window line and the rear fenders is still too narrow for a door handle. The reason for this is the design of the door, with a prominent crease below the windows, which basically dictates the positioning of the door handle. I think this is done to follow the bonnet line around the car.

Relocating the handles to the door pillar creates another issue, as the C-pillar looks too thick now. There's also the rear roll bar, which is usually exposed in the Original Wrangler once you remove the hard top. See pics below for reference which also show the shorter rear door of the Wrangler, and the pull type door handles.





Mahindra did it differently, with the rear roll bar being integrated into the C pillar. To do this, the C-pillar has been made into a triangular design. the reason it looks weird to us is because we are comparing it to the Wrangler, IMO. I don't think the hard top is removable on the 5 door Thar. So it doesn't make sense to have an exposed roll bar that obstructs the rear glass.

Also, you can see that due to the sloped C-pillar, the blacked out roof portion actually begins before the line of the door handle, making for an overall slimmer looking C-pillar.

I think that overall, Mahindra has done well to move away from the Wrangler design and while it is unmistakably a Jeep, they have gone their own way. Love it!!!

[swami69]

To make it a practical 5 door, they had to compromise here and there. The renders above make the creases below the windows too prominent and it kind of cheats our eyes and we might feel the design to be little odd. But, I guess the actual product will not have that much strong creases, or, it will gel with the overall paint scheme and make it overall look good. If a 3 door, which was supposed to be a niche item sells 5K every month, this will fly off the shelves.

Swami

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Updated render by ACI based on the actual sighting of the Thar:


Attachment 2627139

I don't think ACI have updated the design changes observed in new spy shots.

I tried a hand at editing their image to add quirky design step above second door frame, blacked out D pillar, body-colored rear door handle and black roof merging into the rear quarter glass. I feel this is how it would look from sides:

[man_of_steel]

I can already see that wrapping the whole area behind the rear door and above the shoulder line in matte black will be a popular mod!

I personally liked the design. Come on, Mahindra NEED to distinguish the Thar from the Wrangler. Also, am I the only one who feels that the front grille looks unfinished and there could be a cladding on top of it as a tribute to the Armada?

[Turbanator]

Pretty dumb design, reasons I can think of

Cost savings to develop completely new 5 door design.
Retain flexibility to shift production of 3 and 5 doors on same production line.
Keeping "Jeep" away from any legal hurdles. Grill is a 10 minute job, they might have intentionally kept that way. Plenty of options already.

However the door handles on the rear doors look completely out of the place, maybe they will fix in few years.

If I was a Wrangler owner, I won't feel bad with such imitation. This is more Chinese than the otherwise matured 3 Door Thar.

Armada name does sound nice and older folks will connect.