[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by petrogeek

Looks like the 5 door Gurkha is way ahead in terms of being production ready compared to the 5 door Thar. These two will surely slug it out for the butch SUV space soon!.

I wonder whether 110HP will be decent enough to pull the 5 door Gurkhas body weight?

If it can pull a traveller with more than 20 people that too with AC, will be a walk in the park for the engine on the Gurkha, and we know how these Travellers wreck havoc on the roads. The same engine does duty on the wide body traveller also which coincidentally had the FMCR 3.2 5cyl engine option as an option in the BS4 avatar, sadly got axed.
If wishes came true, would have loved to see the 3.2 on the Gurkha, at least as an option...sigh.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

If it can pull a traveller with more than 20 people that too with AC, will be a walk in the park for the engine on the Gurkha, and we know how these Travellers wreck havoc on the roads. The same engine does duty on the wide body traveller also which coincidentally had the FMCR 3.2 5cyl engine option as an option in the BS4 avatar, sadly got axed.
If wishes came true, would have loved to see the 3.2 on the Gurkha, at least as an option...sigh.

The gearing could be very different for a 13 seater Van vs a 4 seater UV. Traveler is geared very well for the task at hand but it would stand still (relatively) at highway speeds , there is no top end. A vehicle like Gurkha needs to carry more speed.

Traveler is very light for its size, it is a unibody with not much in it. Kerb weight of Gurkha and Traveler will be closer than one would think, probably quite similar.

[purohitanuj]

More than the 5 door version, Force should work on the AT variant. It is a big miss in the current version and would make Gurkha a true rival to the Thar.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

The gearing could be very different for a 13 seater Van vs a 4 seater UV. Traveler is geared very well for the task at hand but it would stand still (relatively) at highway speeds , there is no top end. A vehicle like Gurkha needs to carry more speed.
Traveler is very light for its size, it is a unibody with not much in it. Kerb weight of Gurkha and Traveler will be closer than one would think, probably quite similar.

Agreed and true, all zeroes down on the gearing but the Gurkha was never about top speed either. The 2.2 was apt for highway cruising though.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by petrogeek

Looks like the 5 door Gurkha is way ahead in terms of being production ready compared to the 5 door Thar. These two will surely slug it out for the butch SUV space soon!.

I wonder whether 110HP will be decent enough to pull the 5 door Gurkhas body weight?

Oh no please; we just concluded months of 'is 90 BHP enough'

and now a new debate will ensue - "is 110BHP enough"

Believe me it has more than enough grunt, as Rakesh has rightly put in, this has the capacity to carry 15 people plus luggage in a Traveler. Gearing changes or not. None of the FM engines are weak as such.

We all have witnessed the good ol' Trax Toofan Cruiser with its 60 something BHP carrying an entire village inside, haven't we.

Lets leave the brutal acceleration to the Boys while Daddy goes places.

[ValuableRecluse]

So is this a Toofan with a coil sprung rear suspension and 4x4?

Really want to be excited for the five door launch but unfortunately Force likes doing things differently from other manufacturers.
Other manufacturers generally provide a more powerful engine with each iteration, Force has done the opposite.
Other manufacturers would build on their vehicles current capabilities. Force decided their Gurkha was capable enough, so did away with the front coil sprung solid axle.

Sure, there have been some improvements in the body build quality and interiors, but Force needs to do much more.

So, if this is nothing but a modified Toofan, I really don't see many 5 door's flying off the showroom floors except for tourist taxi duties in our mountainous states and that would be a real shame indeed!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Agreed and true, all zeroes down on the gearing but the Gurkha was never about top speed either. The 2.2 was apt for highway cruising though.

Yes, 2.2L is the sweet spot in terms of power output and NVH for a 4 Cylinder diesel engine, any bigger and it would start to act like a truck engine, anything smaller and it would not have enough go at the lower engine speeds needed for a heavy vehicle like Gurkha. BS6 killed a lot of engines that way.

Here is an old thread for further reading.

Link (Is the mHawk140 = 2.2 FMTECH 4 = DiCOR 2.2 VTT)

Force need to have enough volumes to justify spending the money on a 2.2L engine just for Gurkha, currently their bread & butter models are run on 2.6L engine and Gurkha gets the same. Similar case with Tata as well, they did not have any plans to continue their BOF format in the passenger segment, so the 2.2 Varicor got axed.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by ValuableRecluse

So is this a Toofan with a coil sprung rear suspension and 4x4?

I have the same doubt lingering in my mind but couple of below points make me think otherwise-
1- Had LED, cornering headlights same as that of the current SWB Gurkha. Pretty sure FM wont give LED headlights for Trax, or is it an export version of the Trax (if any)? The wheel track doesn't look Trax-ish.
2- If you see the rear closely, it has the mounting points for the ladder, dont think Trax gets those.
3- Front Grill, very much of the SWB Gurkha minus the gurkha badging.
4- Snorkel was present
5- The rear side window glass was no way big as the Trax.

These points still makes me feel, it indeed could be the much awaited 5 door Gurkha.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I have the same doubt lingering in my mind but couple of below points make me think otherwise-

These points still makes me feel, it indeed could be the much awaited 5 door Gurkha.

You are absolutely right! Confirmed it the same day.

I am looking forward to a more detailed view, as far as I know these are yet to reach Pune.
I want to check it for real which will help us finalize whether to wait on for the 5 door.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by ValuableRecluse

So is this a Toofan with a coil sprung rear suspension and 4x4?

Really want to be excited for the five door launch but unfortunately Force likes doing things differently from other manufacturers.

Force IS different from other manufacturers. They make money hand over fist with the Traveller, engine manufacturing for Mercedes and BMW, and some heavy duty casting jobs, from what I know.

The fact that they have kept the Gurkha alive and is working to make it better is commendable. Inspite of negligible sales of the previous iterations.

Dunno any other Indian manufacturer doing anything for enthusiasts like them. Not without guaranteed returns.

Cheers

[vigneshkumar31]

Force Motors has hiked the prices of the BSVI Gurkha by Rs.51,000 from 13.59 lakhs to 14.10 lakhs (Ex-Showroom). This is the price for the 3 Door 4x4 variant which is the only model on sale presently.

[Sandegov]

Wonderful video showcasing Gurkhas capabilities in the hands of a skilled driver.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=78R-1fvffe4

[FourX4]

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

Force Motors has hiked the prices of the BSVI Gurkha by Rs.51,000 from 13.59 lakhs to 14.10 lakhs (Ex-Showroom). This is the price for the 3 Door 4x4 variant which is the only model on sale presently.

Attachment 2254872

For me Gurkha and Force motors are on a heart breaking spree. First the Engine,second already overpriced and now further increase in the price
Everytime I convince myself to sell my 2013 THAR and get Gurkha Force motors pushes me away.

[vigneshkumar31]

Originally Posted by FourX4

For me Gurkha and Force motors are on a heart breaking spree. First the Engine,second already overpriced and now further increase in the price
Everytime I convince myself to sell my 2013 THAR and get Gurkha Force motors pushes me away.

I totally understand your point and can empathise with the Gurkha moving further away from your convinced dollar value.

But the price increase was impending and standard across the market FourX4.
Many manufacturers have revised their prices from Jan 22 and that’s across the board. So it was always coming.

[Trojan]

Along with the price hike a new color has also been introduced and should be out soon - Black!

Having seen it in flesh, can tell you it looks S M A S H I N G!