[SA-G13B]

Originally Posted by ravishankr89

2) I want to change my stock headlight bulb to more powerful one. I don't want to change the whole light itself. Just the bulb. I know about the Philips one. Any newer or better ones? Looking for something that also will not blind the oncoming traffic.

3) Underbody protection. Which one is good? I know aluminium is the way to go but I've heard some people having heat issues with the underbody protection. Any issues or upgraded options?


Thanks in advance!

Hi Ravi,

1. Headlights: You got 2 options, if you want brut power, but yellow, go for Philips Rally H4, rated at 130Watts. I’m running this set up, and man does it light up the road. If you want a whitish yellow colour (somewhat 4300k feel), go for Osram Night Breakers at 60W.
These are the only options (and other brand equivalents) if you don’t want to blind the oncoming traffic.
CRITICAL: Please use a relay, or you’ll fry your factory wiring. It’s a simple plug & play.

2. Underbody: I’m running PRAD plates, all the way from my radiator, to my DEF tank at the end. Been over a year, and I’m super happy with them. Zero rattles, and they’ve taken A LOT of abuse. Removed them once to check the car body, and it was very well protected.
PS: Sourced these from Jaspreet, got a banger deal!

Sarthak M4WD

[ravishankr89]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

1. Thar Petrol mileage is not great. However, 6.7 seems too low. Are you quoting from the MID or from the tankful to tankful method? If the latter, then I surmise heavy traffic where you are stationary with the engine and AC on. Or that you have a heavy foot. Or that your driving style in each gear needs tweaking. The manual Thar is a vehicle where you can be efficient in your gear up shifts and still be fearless because it has a lot of Torque.

1a. My Thar consistently gives me 9-11kmpl on highways unless I am heavy footed. When driving up steep ghats and hills, it drops to 7-8kmpl. The best I ve got is on a trip to Hyderabad where I managed 12 by driving 80-100kmph with occasional bursts to 110. I have also got 6.2-6.5kmpl when I drove rather fast up the hills in order to make it for an appointment. This year (in fact just last weekend), Bangalore-Ooty-Bangalore with some local running, returned 8kmpl because I drove ‘fearlessly’ - enjoying the Thar’s instant response.

1b. My friend uses a Petrol Manual AX version (from October 2020 onwards - amongst the very first Thars) for his estate work and hauling etc a lot of which is done in 4H and 4L. He has recorded 3kmpl mileage. Yes the Petrol Thar is a joy but it drinks Dino Fossil Juice like nothing else.

2. I use the Philips G Force Xtreme Vision H4 Halogen which is a straight swap and of the same wattage with a great throw. Osram night breakers are also lovely. As a long time Jeep user in hills and mist and rain, I will always prefer to stay with good Halogens of stock wattage and a straight swap. You can also check Philips racing vision H4.
2a. In addition, I have added Hella 700 Fog Lamps mounted on a bracket on the front bumper. These cut through the cold grey moist mist and fog in the hills very well indeed.

3. I have been amongst the early few who went for Arka Aluminium Underbody Protection three years ago, for three reasons.
3a. Leelakrishnan the ace rallyist is behind it.
3b. Aluminium does not Rust. (Important anywhere because the underbody gets wet and particularly in coastal areas because of salt air led corrosion.
3c. It is lightweight yet very strong.

1. Yes it's all calculated using thankful to thankful. I am not heavy footed while driving. I have never got over 7.5kmpl under any circumstance. mostly been around 6.5kmpl which i think is too less even for the fuel guzzling thar. I have tried different driving styles too. It all gives me the same result. Never got more than 300kms range. Highway, city, traffic...anywhere..all the same! Now, I am almost sure there is some issue that's beyond driving style and the common 'the thar is a guzzler' ideas. What do you think the issue could be?

2. I'm a bit confused between the Philips H4 and the osram night breakers. They both seem really good. May be I will have a look in person and then decide. Any idea on the warranty and durability of both?

3. Again, confused between the Arka and the Prad ones. Both seem very promising. Will the underbody protection weight affect the mileage in anyway?

Thank you Shankar. Always value your input!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ravishankr89

1.. I have never got over 7.5kmpl under any circumstance.
2. I'm a bit confused between the Philips H4 and the osram night breakers.
3., confused between the Arka and the Prad ones. Both the mileage in anyway?

Thank you Shankar. Always value your input!

Try and use a fuel additive to clean the injectors. And try using an Octane Booster for a a few tankfuls. Also use XP95 fuel for a few tankfuls and see if these things make a difference. Take the vehicle onto some highway early morning and do a 200km steady run to clear out any carbon deposits etc. Then lets see if the mileage improves. (See pics of product) (I use this stuff in my other car with every tankful but I treat my Thar to these only occasionally.)



You can use either the Philips or the Osram. Both are good. I am using Philips stock 55 watt halogen and they burn away the darkness. (See pic) Just make sure that when installing the bulbs the fellow doesnt touch the glass surface at all. Use a hanky or something if need be.



Arka underbody armour adds about 18-20kgs weight. Prad maybe 22-24kgs. This is a negligible thing in terms of affecting your mileage. I have given the reasons why I will choose Aluminium over Mild steel for the underbody protection. (See pics)



The end can guard and diff guard are also very good. These are in Mild Steel and were sourced for me by the Arka chaps. (See pics)



AVO Suspension pics (rear) just for Reference.

[rajeevsulu]

Hi
I got the Maxxlink bulbs installed in my Thar. I am not a fan of Led"s, so, went with the warm white bulbs from Maxxlink. They are straight plug and play and come with a ballast.
I have these Maxxlink bulbs in my fog lights too and I have tested these bulbs over the last 8 months and 14,000 kms.
I am very happy with the results.
Cheers

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by ravishankr89

...

3. Again, confused between the Arka and the Prad ones. Both seem very promising. Will the underbody protection weight affect the mileage in anyway?

...

While the choice is yours, depending on access, support, etc. near you, last I checked, the Arka shield was the one that covered the fuel tank without any extra shields, and other underbody protections needed a separate shield for the fuel tank.

Along with being Aluminum, Leelakrishnan sir's support is simply brilliant, like Shankar's said - I'll update some details why I say so sometime soon in my ownership thread...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ravishankr89

I have never got over 7.5kmpl under any circumstance. mostly been around 6.5kmpl which i think is too less even for the fuel guzzling thar.

I get 6 kmpl, but that's because of the torque-converter AT, fatter tyres and leisure commutes which are sometimes just 4-km to Worli (one way). Short commutes are very bad for FE.

Yours being an MT, it should definitely be +1 to +2 kmpl. But again, there are 100 variables. Driving style (especially with turbo petrols), traffic conditions, commuting distance etc. As an example, Dippy's Thar Petrol AT gets far higher FE figures because his work commute is longer distance, in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic and entails driving on the Freeway / Highway.

[jimmyjagga]

Originally Posted by GTO

I get 6 kmpl, but that's because of the torque-converter AT, fatter tyres and leisure commutes which are sometimes just 4-km to Worli (one way). Short commutes are very bad for FE. .

Curiosity question, what is your average weekly drive distance.

Regards

[ravishankr89]

Originally Posted by GTO

I get 6 kmpl, but that's because of the torque-converter AT, fatter tyres and leisure commutes which are sometimes just 4-km to Worli (one way). Short commutes are very bad for FE.

Yours being an MT, it should definitely be +1 to +2 kmpl. But again, there are 100 variables. Driving style (especially with turbo petrols), traffic conditions, commuting distance etc. As an example, Dippy's Thar Petrol AT gets far higher FE figures because his work commute is longer distance, in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic and entails driving on the Freeway / Highway.

That's the strange part for me. Being a manual I should get better mileage than autos. All my friends who drive autos are getting between 7-8kmpl. Which i find believable. I'm not even getting that much. Also, it doesn't change much whether it's highway driving or city driving or a mix of both. I've tried different kinds of driving styles too. The max I've got is 7.5 once...on the highway...which i think is too low. I'm not expecting much but I feel something is wrong. Just don't know how to address it with the SC guys to get to the bottom of it

[Nair.V8]

Originally Posted by aak7420

Nair.V8 How many kilometres has it since been ? Eagerly waiting for your review of the suspension

Hey there aak7420, my Thar has driven over 16,000 kms in total, & over 6,000 kms with the Ironman dampers (got them in Nov 2023). Thoroughly enjoyed the new suspension during my ~4000km road trip in Dec 2023 (route: Mumbai> Pune> Bengaluru> Coimbatore> Ooty> Palakkad> Cochin and back!).





Me & my cousin along with our 2 weeks’ worth of luggage had a very comfortable experience throughout the trip. The stiff Ironman dampers are perfect for highway cruising, with significantly less body roll (as compared to OEM Gabriel units), & the ride quality was better with more load. The whole trip was done while maintaining 30 Psi pressure on the stock CEAT Crossdrive A/T’s.



However, the ride quality is not that great over certain bad patches of Mumbai roads. The ironman dampers feel noticeably stiffer when driving the vehicle solo & with no luggage/load. Reducing the tyre pressure to 28 Psi (on the stock tyres) has helped to an extent here.

I have planned a few mods for the near future. These include Prad metal bumpers (front & rear), Prad roof carrier & eventually switching to lower profile steel rims (16”/17”) with fatter side wall tyres. These changes should help to soften the ride as well. Will post a detailed review after this. Cheers!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Nair.V8

Hey
These include Prad metal bumpers (front & rear), Prad roof carrier & eventually switching to lower profile steel rims (16”/17”) with fatter side wall tyres. These changes should help to soften the ride as well. Will post a detailed review after this. Cheers!

Attachment 2574627

You should seriously consider the 245/70/16 AX tyres and Thar steel rims. And another very handy modification is the tumble folding rear seats which I find incredibly useful.

[Nair.V8]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

You should seriously consider the 245/70/16 AX tyres and Thar steel rims. And another very handy modification is the tumble folding rear seats which I find incredibly useful.

I have my eyes on the MAXXIS - Bravo A/T 980 275/70R16 tyres, paired with a set of suitable steel rims. The stock AX tyres will look rather skinny in my opinion. The tumble folding seats is something i will be doing for sure though.

[udy]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Some dealers in India have started selling Tough Dog suspension for the Thar. In Australia, Tough Dog is rated better than some of the other renowned brands. Any reviews ?

Originally Posted by 13thpsycho

So I have been researching about the tough dog as well. The guys offered me 4 years unconditional warranty. The technology seems to be similar to ironman foam cell.
What I gather from the Australian pages is that it comes with 9 step adjustable damper and each level changes the suspension settings by 100%. That IMO is huge! Now I am not sure yet if they are offering the adjustable suspension for the Thar. Something similar to AVO, these guys don’t have the suspension in stock and it could take weeks to months.

Other suspension setups available in the market are
ARC - I was told here on the forum that the difference is marginal from stock. But now they have springs for the back and I am assuming the ride quality would be better than before.
IRONMAN - what I hear is that they are good for off-roading and slow speed ride quality is not that great. On road performance is also ok. They come with springs and shockers and usage based suspension setups as they have foam cell and nitro both.
MMG- i don’t know much about this
Others please enlighten us if I have missed out on any other brands
Hope this helps

Found this review online for Tough Dog on a Thar. Hope this helps as he mentions everything from the dealer to price etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y0z3idXPxM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CNjKS15Ry0&t=16s

[vijay_rodie]

Hi All,
I have planned to buy new Thar in month of June/July 24.
Can Thar owners in Pune suggest a reliable aftermarket accessory store in Pune/PCMC area ?
Planning to replace the front grill and fit armrests.
Thanks in advance.

[sachinayak]

Folks, have an persistent squeaking noise coming from my 4WD Diesel Thar, which has clocked 18K kms. Everytime I report this to a service center and they claim to fix it, it comes back within a week post the service. Its not intrusive but quite annoying. Anyone else has faced any similar issues and any potential solutions?

[madhavv]

Hi everyone - I’m about to book a Thar petrol, 4X4 automatic, and am looking for some last minute advice prior to doing so.

My queries are around

1. A couple of modifications and how best to go about them.
2. Whether it makes sense to wait for a facelift, in case there is one expected along with the launch of the 5-door version

Regarding the modifications:

- I was planning to upgrade the headlamps to the LED ones, both for aesthetic and functional purposes. However, I have seen a recent post by one of our brave members about the Thar whose headlights caught fire, and I am sure that there would have been other such incidents. The dealer is offering to do the headlamp upgrade themselves, for a price of 9k-11k (I don’t remember the exact amount). From the research I have done on the threads dedicated to this, these lamps seem to be the Chinese models which might be risky. I love the STEDI Homage lamps that GTO and some other members have added onto their cars, and I understand that there are no wire replacements or cutting required. Would going for these eliminate the risk of sparking and catching fire?
- I have the same question about adding reverse cameras and/or upgrading the speakers, as all of these are electrical fitments.
- I am also planning to upgrade the seat covers - the first option was to get nappa covers from Stanley/Ovion, but I would like to investigate vegan leather/artico leather options, if there are any which have the same quality and feel of the real leather ones by Ovion/Stanley. I was wondering if anyone has experience or recommendations of high quality providers in Bangalore?

Regarding the potential facelift, I am wondering if it is likely that many of these upgrades (lights, reverse camera, maybe even 6 airbags) may be offered as standard with the car as factory fitments. Would anyone know the likelihood of this?

Thanks in advance for reading this and for offering your insights! My daily drive used to be a Thar CRDe between 2016 and 2021, and now I am drawn back to the 3 door like a moth to a flame, and very excited for it!

Thanks once again!