[ashkamath]

I just saw an YouTube review of the new 5 Door Gurkha and my immediate thoughts were,

Force is trying to cram up an extra row of seats just to show it as a people carrier offroader. A strange combination so to say.

The ideal layout would be to remove the 3rd row altogether and have 2 reclining wide captain seats in the second row with adequate leg room. So, the 2nd row seating would be similar to the 3 door version. The boot space will be quite large and usable for a real offroader to carry the tent, hiking equipments and stuff like that.

Make the 2nd row seats detachable so that, a camping enthusiast can use the vast space for laying a mattress and you have an outdoor camper vehicle.

The dash panel looks plasticy, the steering wheel looks outdated. I understand the vehicle is primarily tuned for offroading with a little creature comforts. I could do with a bit more modern features and soft touch panels for the price point where this Gurkha will be pegged at.

More padding in the engine bay and improve / better NVH.

The head mounted AC unit at the 2nd row looks incredibly cheap. Perhaps some better work there would be appreciated.

With the engine producing 140 HP, 320 NM torque, I believe the power aspect of the new Gurkha has been addressed and it should be adequate for a decent performance.

And finally, the 5 Door Gurkha is quite imposing as it's 3 door sibling and hope it makes the numbers it deserves.

[Mitadru]

Originally Posted by ringoism

I'd bet you couldn't find any owners of previous model here in the threads complaining of any lack of power for "tricky situations". Some exceptions aside, slow and steady is the standard recipe there.

Those complaining have been partly armchair-critics looking at data/figures only, or those wanting to do 130kmph on the highway... which besides being illegal doesn't seem very advisable to me in a vehicle with such high COG.

I am not saying that the Gurkha needs it . I had read the review of the 3 door in Autocar. It had said that " it goes into places in 2wd where most namby pamby SUV'S require engaging 4wd" . So yeah it's a capable offroader. I said that the lack of power in the context that some members in the Jimny ownership review thread said that a bit more power could be useful in some tricky situations. And I agree with you on the speed fact. These vehicles are meant to tackle the roads less travelled, not set lap records around Nurburgring . One day when I will get my first car , it's going to be a Gurkha Hope ICE engines exist till then.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Bird's eye view of the centre console. The lever to operate the 4WD system has been replaced by an electronic shifter, which means you get an additional cubbyhole to use. Two cupholders have been provided as well

1. The shift-on-the-fly switch for the 4WD system is on the right: It looks juggad work by using the same knob from Mahindra (Mahindra Bolero, Scorpio had the same 4x4 knob) and installing it in place of the gear lever is good from the drivers perspective. But they could have redesigned this piece to look like part of the theme not out of place.

2. Rear A/C blower: For a moment I went back to 2006-2007 when Safari 3 liter DiCOR was lunched with the very same blower. But this was 18 years back. Force couldn't even change the plastic colour to ensure it gels with the overall plastic colour.

3. Cupholder for 3 row seat: They could have bought better-looking cupholders from Aliexpress rather than using these cupholders from an auto/truck/bus.

I hope they don't use the word premium anywhere in their advertisement/PR. This vehicle is purpose-built, not a lifestyle vehicle by any means (unlike Thar, Jimny). They just reused a lot of parts available in the market to make it. Gurkha used to be a good product with a questionable service network, but that was in 2009-2012. In the last 12 years, the market has matured more than how it was in the last 20 years. We have world-class products being sold in India by many Indian manufacturers. I am not sure who their target customers are with the price they will launch this vehicle at?
Let's see if they launch it below 16 lacs ex-showroom (highly impossible, though).

PS: BTW, the latest Tata trucks have better-appointed interiors than this Gurkha

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by vshankarhere

I find the fit and finish to be questionable from the photos and many of the features(eg roof AC system,USB ports, etc) look like an afterthought purchased from the local market. Exterior looks macho and butch, especially in that fiery red!

Funny you mentioned about the roof AC, that AC unit including its On/off switch looks very much similar (read same) as the one I had in my 2005 Safari Dicor!

Having said that, I just really can't stop drooling over the Black Gurkha 5 door. The 5 door looks well-proportioned to me unlike the 3 door and the road presence of this is going to be mammoth! Hoping that Force sells more of the 5 door and builds a solid customer base while improving the product further and further.

[CARDEEP]

Well my brother could be the one drooling for same, but won't go for the simple reason that the nearest dealership is in Old Gurugram, akin travelling other end of Delhi.

Had there been any in Noida/ Ghaziabad, I would have happily helped him with the maintenance hassles.

I believe Bhpian Manuj has fairly satisfactory experience... there another one - NSBhagwat (IIRC).

This is purely heart overriding the head decision in current scenario, but once one may get a hang he/ she will definitely the rock-n-roll with the beast trying to fit in daily formals.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

So they're going to provide this "updated" 140 Bhp engine in the 3 door version from now onwards? Economically too it doesn't make sense to plonk 2 different engines in 3 door and 5 door versions. I looked at the tech specs in the brochure and it only mentions the "updated" engine specs only, not the old one..

[Lone Ranger]

The five door's proportions are really nice! However I do wonder why Force would make the last row seating (for the 5 door) so inflexible - wouldn't the typical buyer want decent luggage handing capabilities for those long road trips? While the roof rack does exist, it really isn't practical as the ONLY option to carry stuff. With those seats in place, it would be quite tedious to load and unload luggage, even if you just plonk them on top of the seats. This would be all the more exacerbated by the fact that the access is only through the tailgate.

Maybe they expect that many buyers will simply remove the last row seating and be done with it?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

1. The shift-on-the-fly switch for the 4WD system is on the right: Looks jugged work, by using the same knob from Mahindra (Mahindra Bolero, Scorpio had same 4x4 knob) and installing it in place of gear lever is good from drivers perspective. But they could have redesigned this piece to look like part of the theme not out of place.
2. Rear A/C blower: For a moment I went back to 2006-2007 when Safari 3 liter DiCOR was lunched with the very same blower. But this was 18 years back. Force couldn't even change the plastic color to ensure it gells with overall plastic color.

Wrangler was launched a few days ago I think, Now its the turn of Force - All this has to happen well before the arrival of Thar 4 door. May be from a PR perspective there cannot be a better time to launch these two products.

All other engineering and marketing efforts, showrooms , service centers etc be damned, it wont matter anyways if Thar 4 door becomes successful.

[MB4DI]

Although, the specifications of the current engine used with retune of 140hp and 320nm torque is a very good move, but they have completely messed up the second row position in order to facilitate the third row seating.

Instead, they should have provided ample legroom to second row and the third row could have been side facing jump seats, which can be folded to allow more luggage space for practical purposes.

What is the advantage of buying a 5-door Gurkha which cannot serve its said purpose, feels defeated.

Regards,
MB4DI

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by GTO

Among offroaders, we now have 4 serious options under 20-lakhs (both the Gurkhas, Thar, Jimny).

I think this 5-door will be above 20 lakhs on-road!

[nsbhagwat]

Originally Posted by Lone Ranger

Maybe they expect that many buyers will simply remove the last row seating and be done with it?

I maybe wrong here, but the last row must have been given with some excise tax bracket in mind. More tax for 5 seater UV and less for 7 seats.
Anyway people will remove the last row and definitely modify the middle row to fold flat and use it as a camper. I will definitely do that if I had the vitamin M and was in the market for a camper.

[Reinhard]

Sad that for what continues to be a mechanically strong and capable car - what catches my eye the most is the KarolBaug spec Android head unit with a Nippon print - that I had even in my Alto!

These latest units with wireless android auto / apple car play via 3rd party apps - are available at literally 12K INR even without bargaining, anywhere across India. While they are capable enough, and have quite good built-in amplifier performance - what takes my goat is the embarrassing laziness by the OEM Force Motors to not even make an effort to integrate a better head unit - just to avoid looking lazy!! I guess a the budgeting and decision making meetings, some manager said "customers won't care as long as its a large touch-screen with plenty apps. Easy to save money here." Sigh.

In the end - Happy to see that the Gurkha gets a much needed facelift with some improvements and a usable middle row with doors. Lack of folding last row of seats is again hilarious but unsurprising. The car is still the BEST looker on the streets when scaring people around you is a requirement in urban confines . I hope this succeeds and creates a good fan-following for a long run. I hope Once again i.e.!

[justwheels]

So finally a 5 door Gurkha arrives with a much better tune of 140 BHP. At least that's one department it necessarily needed an improvement.

After having gone through the TBHP review as well as a few YT videos, my thoughts:

1. It is still spartan in its own merit and comes across as a mechanical, industrial workhorse with take me anywhere looks and pedigree
2. It can no way stand a chance in front of the more mature Thar (in 5 door offering) for a simple reason that Mahindra has managed to get a balance of livable features and offroad worthiness
3. Where it can shine is a capable overlanding vehicle with oodles of space and rugged built , but that use case is limited in our environment
4. Force seriously missed a chance to improve on the interiors, it looks bad (subjective and just me)
5. The head unit, dashboard design, steering horn pad and that AC roof vent doesn't speak 2024, but 1990's, and the competition has gone too far
6. Ofcourse the name "Gurkha" and the mechanical nature of the vehicle will attract some buyers, but what could have been a game changer for Force as slightly mainstream player is a lost opportunity now
7. Force sees 5k 3 door Thars being sold consistently month over month and wants to have a pie, but with this, average Joe won't be in it's showroom ever
8. Thar managed to enter a lot of urban homes as a second car, Gurkha will always be a purposeful car only (may be FML wanted that to keep the niche)

On a personal note, 2 names always inspired my childhood, the Safari and the Gurkha. One has become a mall crawler and lost the charm of "Reclaim your life" and the other hasn't grown into an acceptable vehicle in the garage yet. Sigh!

[arnav17]

Brilliant review as always .The new 5 door Gurkha finally looks proportionate IMHO unlike the 3 door. Interiors look good and the Instrument cluster is definitely a welcome change. What I am surprised to see is the rear AC vents and the cabin lights have been carried over from the 2008 Safari Dicor, which has completely identical parts . Guess the parts are shared between cars?

[gururajrv]

What caught my attention is the comparison of interior quality that of Tata & Mahindra. Certainly feels like an accomplishment for homegrown tigers! Take a bow there, Tata & Mahindra!

Quality is still not close to Tata/Mahindra vehicles

As for Gurkha, 5 door seems quite balanced as against 3 door. I'm sure there'll be buyers for this version as compared to it's 3 door sibling. It'll stay here but doesnt still have the mettle to go against the king Thar which has petrol, diesel manual automatics on offer. That's where this car will suffer.