[Auto70]

I have recently faced an issue regarding paint and would appreciate any clarification/thoughts on the topic. Post washing my car last week I noticed blistering on car paint on the front left side of the bonnet. I have confirmed it’s paint and not some dropping and have taken the issue with Mahindra. From what I have read, it seems to be paint defect in that moisture trapped inside while painting is getting released and if left untreated, will lead to rusting of the paint in the long run. Since it is a fault from Mahindra’s end (the car is less than 8 months old), I am hoping they would repaint it. However, I wanted to ask if (i) it is advisable since a manual paint job cannot replace factory paint and (ii) how worried should I be about it lowering my car’s resale value if I decide to go through that route in a couple of years. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Ketan]

Originally Posted by geekyengineer

Looking for daily use experience from owners in Metro cities. How has been your experience in terms of

- Daily drive experience in city traffice for auto or manual transmission.
- FE in city conditions for both Petrol and Diesel.
- Any fatigue observed due to typical BOF architecture.

I own a diesel AT for a year and half now. We don't drive a lot/daily through the city, we enjoy it more around the outskirts of Bengaluru. However, at times we have to go through the city traffic and it drives just fine. My son and I always would like to pick Thar over XUV500 whenever I want to take it somewhere or he wants to take it to his college/hostel (42kms). On weekends or when both of us have to go out, we found pleading each other to take the other car or Motorcycle.

In the city driving, I get around 12kmpl while on the highways it used to be little above 13. In my two recent long trips, I have found that its now touching 15kmpl on highways if roads are like NH44/48 and cruise control set to just under 100kmph.

The driver seat position is bit awkward I feel, when compared to XUV500, its not that comfortable on highways, but I can easily manage switching my position accordingly. I'm thinking of getting a better seat or position someday when I can. However, I have comfortably done long trips, most recent one was 1300kms roundtrip on a weekend, without much fatigue. My longest was 1100+ kms in a day, Nagpur-Bengaluru (part of 8k kms Zanskar ride) which was also without any major fatigue or aches. I lower the seat position by a few inches on long highway trips, I think it may be helping a slight bit with fatigue issue since it may toss you around less with lower height (I may be wrong, that may or may not make perceptible difference). I do like to mention that AVO suspensions have been very useful. No nosedive on breaking, rolling/pitching have come down considerably, it's a worth upgrade.

[ak10]

I have started a habit of resting my foot on the clutch once i come to a halt in stop-go traffic. I do this so that the start-stop system doesn't kick in when the stop time is very less. I still want to use the start-stop feature when i know the halt is longer (>30sec), so i don't want to switch this off completely. When i come to a stop in traffic and i am unsure about the halt duration i put the gear in neutral (i drive a manual) and then keep my foot ever so lightly over the clutch so that the start-stop system doesn't engage and cut off the engine.

My understanding is as the gear is in neutral, this will not harm the clutch plates. Can someone please confirm this? Once the car is moving i never rest my foot on the clutch.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by ak10

My understanding is as the gear is in neutral, this will not harm the clutch plates. Can someone please confirm this? Once the car is moving i never rest my foot on the clutch.

This is wrong. If the clutch pedal is pressed (irrelevant of the gear) the pressure plate will start releasing the pressure off the friction plate and it will start slipping.

Ergo, it’s possible for you to burn out the clutch even in neutral. Albeit slower.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by geekyengineer

Looking for daily use experience from owners in Metro cities. How has been your experience in terms of

- Daily drive experience in city traffice for auto or manual transmission.
- FE in city conditions for both Petrol and Diesel.
- Any fatigue observed due to typical BOF architecture.

Just to ensure that you have the correct expectations - Thar will have a stiff low speed ride, typical of Mahindra vehicles - even the XUV is like that, it gets better the faster you go. Their target customer is always in a hurry, so it works well for both of them.

From a fatigue perspective you are covered because the visibility is good, engine is peppy, steering and controls are light, very easy to drive through traffic, AC is good too.

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Do not exceed 110-120kmph at the very maximum.

How good (or bad) is braking at 100-120? I mostly drive my SX4 at 110-120 Max as car seems to lose weight beyond that speed. Would like to know if one feels confident cruising at 100 on highways in Thar.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

How good (or bad) is braking at 100-120? I mostly drive my SX4 at 110-120 Max as car seems to lose weight beyond that speed. Would like to know if one feels confident cruising at 100 on highways in Thar.

Most likely something needs repair in your SX4 given it's age, but Thar will happily cruise at speeds well beyond that. Take it for an extended test drive and make sure to drive it like a Jeep

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Take it for an extended test drive and make sure to drive it like a Jeep

Thanks for the feedback. In a few test drives I took, didn't really find many unexpected issues so far except this irritating flapping noise at 80+ on CT and need to push brakes harder. Probably need to take some longer test drives to check on braking.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Most likely something needs repair in your SX4 given it's age

There is no technical problem with SX4 as such, I have driven it at triple digit speeds without much issue; just that I feel like car is flying at those speeds Some other forum member also mentioned similar experience.

From this post https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post3301314 (My Silver Steed - 2011 Maruti SX4 ZXi. EDIT: Now sold)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

"One issue I have faced is that at about 120-130 Kmph the car starts to feel very light. Almost like it is floating. Once past these speeds it is back to normal again and I have touched 182 Kmph on a couple of occasions."

Cars like the SX4 and the Mahindra Thar and indeed all vehicles have a ‘safe speed’ permissible limit within which we need to operate them.
Hence, as an experienced, responsible and prudent driver it is not possible to endorse anything more than 120-130kmph on a straight run on a bone dry fully divided super-highway in bright summer for a car like the SX4 and max 110-120kmph for a vehicle like the Thar.
Anything more and you’re asking for serious trouble - very likely the ability to come to a stop denoted by ‘distance to dead halt’ under braking, will be seriously affected. Its quite possible that the vehicles in question may take half a km distance to come to a dead halt and there is bound to be wheel-lock accentuated drama as well. I would hate to imagine hard braking at such speeds in wet conditions. It is merely sensible to operate your vehicle within its limits.

[yadavsid21]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

Thanks for the feedback. In a few test drives I took, didn't really find many unexpected issues so far except this irritating flapping noise at 80+ on CT and need to push brakes harder."

The flapping noise can be reduced upto 80-90% with jugaad mentioned in earlier posts.

Ever wondered why mHawk and mStallion are restricted to 130/150 bhp (even the torque figures) unlike XUV and ScorpioN? One answer is chassis and brakes.
I stick to max speed limit @100

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by yadavsid21

The flapping noise can be reduced upto 80-90% with jugaad mentioned in earlier posts.

Thanks. Hopefully that would work for me.

Originally Posted by yadavsid21

Ever wondered why mHawk and mStallion are restricted to 130/150 bhp (even the torque figures) unlike XUV and ScorpioN? One answer is chassis and brakes.
I stick to max speed limit @100

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Hence, as an experienced, responsible and prudent driver it is not possible to endorse anything more than 120-130kmph on a straight run on a bone dry fully divided super-highway in bright summer for a car like the SX4 and max 110-120kmph for a vehicle like the Thar.

True and I totally agree
I personally have no need and intention to test these limits either. Just trying to ensure Thar will be able to handle these speed limit (100-110) safely.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

Just trying to ensure Thar will be able to handle these speed limit (100-110) safely.

The Thar is easily able to handle speeds like 100-110. The best speed range to use for long distance highway mile munching + optimum fuel efficiency is 90-110. Petrol or Diesel this is the most efficient highway speed.

[shankar.balan]

I saw this worthy upgrade for the new Thar tyres today at Tyre Empire near my neighbourhood.
Yokohama Geolandar G015.
265/60/18.
Excellent tread. Feels tough yet soft.
They cost approx 18K or so each.

[highwaypatrol]

Hello Guys,

Which is the best Thar LED Head light upgrade so far after experiencing all sorts of cheap Chinese ones, STEDI ones from Australia etc?
I am looking to upgrade my stock HL to a proper branded high quality LED 7inch sealed unit. Some of the options considered as of now are as follows.

1. Philips Integral Beam H6024LED
2. STEDI Homage
3. Truck Lite 7 Inch series

Any one has installed any of those above can share your experience which will help me in finalising on the best possible option for me. One major worry for me is many of these models are made as per Right Hand Traffic (LHD), however for us in India we need those made as per Left Hand Traffic (RHD) specs.

Any suggestions or advice are welcome!

Highwaypatrol

[BleueNinja]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Congratulations man.

Once you understand how this Jeep likes to be driven , you will enjoy it more than pretty much any other vehicle you will come across, even on the highway you'd be grinning ear to ear.

Thank you , looking forward to it!

Booking Update :- My Thar is finally here !

I did it’s PDI today and the car ticked all the boxes. They also allowed me to test the engine and AC, there were no weird noises or unwanted notifications. The car has done 9 kms. I completed the down payment process post PDI.

I was lucky enough to get it within 1 week of booking.

One thing to note is that my experience with Mahindra was much better this time compared to last year when I was looking to book XUV700/Harrier.

They were very courteous with all my requests this time and there was no pressure to buy unwanted Accesories. Infact they matched my insurance quote this time for which they vehemently refused last time and they were very gracious with the Test Drives as well. Me and wife took 4-5 long Test drives in different traffic and road conditions to be sure that the vehicle would be a good replacement and suitable for our usage.

Very happy with my decision so far.

Looking forward to my ownership with Thar.

Cheers!