[dhanushs]

Probably the most passionate and detailed review of any car! I'm one of those guys who think, if its a Jeep, it has to be open. The diversity in your garage has given you the freedom of going open top! The bomb of a 2.0L Petrol + Beautiful Slick AT + Open top + Red. Damn.. Your choice cant be better than this GTO!

I'd suggest or rather request - fit in a winch too. I know it wont be used much, but, whats a 4x4 without a winch and a Snorkel. Also, will give you that immense freedom of even trying out few things on your own.

Another mod I'd suggest is to get an on-board air compressor and a Pneumatic Air Locker (ARB). That'll make your Thar a complete FTD but also a super capable off-roader too.

Also, being the most sexy open top in India and probably, the most passionate and detailed review of an open top Thar, you havent done justice in terms of open top photos!... Please post more... .

Also, reclarifying a point on suspension upgrade. You have managed to make it more comfortable at slow speeds and also make it handle better at high speeds? Nice.. Need to look more into that..

[IanNazareth]

Thank you @GTO for the very detailed review, upgrades and photos! Most importantly for sharing your passion with us fellow BHPians!
You've inspired me to add more variety and situation based cars to my garage apart from the A3 TDI that I got 2 years ago that is still carrying out all duties alone.

[CarML]

Originally Posted by GTO

Interior Mods

The stock AC vents are okay, but are known to be fragile. I loved the styling of these AMG-inspired vents.

Congratulations on the modified Thar, GTO! This is one of the best reviews that I have read on the forum. I started reading on my mobile. Then, I switched to my laptop to ensure I see the pictures in detail.
Very tastefully done modifications, indeed. The Aircon vents are something else. They look soooo good. What a great choice!
Wishing you many miles of safe and joyful rides with the Thar.

[asingh1977]

Lovely review.
Many on the fence are going to get swayed by this review. Clearly the Thar is urban landscape compatible.

[powertrain]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Bi-LED foglamps have a healthy throw. While shopping for the Thar & also house renovation projects in recent years, I realised that if you are willing to spend a premium rupee, India now has extremely high-quality products in the aftermarket. There is a lot of cheap stuff in the bazaar, yet there are also a few A+ grade offerings. All the aftermarket fitments I got are either OEM-grade or....better than OEM quality! I was very firm that if anything goes on the Thar, it had to be built well. The first image is of pure white LED mode, the second is the yellow light mode (for driving through dense fogs) and the third one is a mix:

Hello GTO!
As always, your thread is a treat to read!!

Have a query regarding the foglamps. What make are those?! And where did you get it done?! Any leads will be appreciated!

Regards,
Powertrain

[sgmuser]

Sweet looking Thar 4x4 and full of tasteful mods especially the wheelies. I wish I had a CT instead of HT. But my highway requirements forced me to go for HT. Once I have some moola at disposal I will get the same wheels and tires for my Thar as well. I have upgraded the suspension to AVO even though the 2023 Thars are having not so bad ride quality. But AVO makes them 'very good'. I am impressed with your mind control not to swap cars at will and holding on to your purchases (BMW 5 series) and using to their fullest potential. Kudos to you being so balanced and for all those useful points throughout your review. Everything makes sense and helpful!

[Vicks79]

Hi GTO,
What a treat & treatise it is to read your review.

Reading your review woke me up from my slumber (Our 2022 XL6 Petrol Automatic loves being driven in a sedate slumber ) and actually take a TD of the Thar Petrol Automatic 4x4 and boy did it put a grin on my face...

Never had I felt that I would like the ride of a ladder on frame, honestly I even encouraged enough to TD the Scorpio N Petrol Automatic. In fact from a intra city driving point of view I felt the Thar Petrol Auto had more benefits vis a vis the Scorpio N Petrol. More than anything the smooth responsive engine drives great and I could instantly feel that other vehicles on the road make way for you on the road or at intersection/turning.

The Navi Mumbai dealer whom I reached out to, did not have a petrol Thar or Scorpio. Also the Diesel Scorpio N which they did provide for TD didn't leave a good impression. The TD vehicle IRVM was cracked right in the center, the software of the ICE was not updated and the front/rear view camera video feed was very choppy. Also the vehicle cleanliness was not upto mark.

After reading about your experience with NBS International, I turned to their Kandivali branch for a TD of the Petrol engine. A friend of mine from Borivali had purchased his Scorpio N from them. NBS Kandivali handled the whole TD affair very professionally and now I am actually waiting for my wife to take a TD as well. She too is really excited about the whole thing and has also read your review.

Hopefully If all goes well we should be able to welcome a Thar Petrol Automatic soon enough. Although we are still not sure whether it should be 4x4 or just the RWD, engine we are sure will be the petrol automatic.

Cheers and thanks again

[GTO]

Thank you all, for the wishes .

Originally Posted by masterChief007

How do you keep the odometers ticking on all the vehicles

Active social life + fun drives (just for the fun of driving) + highway drives + road-trips + we are all foodies (minimum of 2 new restaurants a week, most times 3).

That being said, the average running of each of my cars is just 5000 km / year. Got the Thar in December and as of date, it has just 2800 km on the clock.

I also try to spend a few days test-driving every important new car launched in India.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

I'd suggest or rather request - fit in a winch too. I know it wont be used much, but, whats a 4x4 without a winch and a Snorkel. Also, will give you that immense freedom of even trying out few things on your own.

Another mod I'd suggest is to get an on-board air compressor and a Pneumatic Air Locker (ARB). That'll make your Thar a complete FTD but also a super capable off-roader too.

Thanks & noted. Will keep modifying over the years.

Also, being the most sexy open top in India and probably, the most passionate and detailed review of an open top Thar, you havent done justice in terms of open top photos!... Please post more... .

Haha! Yes. Will keep updating this thread with my drives & happenings (as I have with the active 530d thread).

Also, reclarifying a point on suspension upgrade. You have managed to make it more comfortable at slow speeds and also make it handle better at high speeds?

Yep. Way more stable in a straight-line at 120 kmph (although still overall an extremely poor handler).

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

You've inspired me to add more variety and situation based cars to my garage apart from the A3 TDI that I got 2 years ago that is still carrying out all duties alone.

You just have to! A pocket rocket, a bike, a 4x4...too many vehicle choices out there...to live with just one.

Originally Posted by powertrain

Have a query regarding the foglamps. What make are those?! And where did you get it done?!

Forgot which make, but got it from Bimbra. At the time, they had only one type of foglamp with 3-switchable modes. Check with them.

Originally Posted by Vicks79

Reading your review woke me up from my slumber (Our 2022 XL6 Petrol Automatic loves being driven in a sedate slumber ) and actually take a TD of the Thar Petrol Automatic 4x4 and boy did it put a grin on my face...

Awesome to hear. Be sure to read my "What I Hate" points as well, since the Thar isn't for everyone. It has many limitations.

Do also parallelly take a test-drive of the equally stylish Jimny which has 4 doors & better ride quality, but a lame engine & none of the macho road presence.

[Vicks79]

Originally Posted by GTO

Awesome to hear. Be sure to read my "What I Hate" points as well, since the Thar isn't for everyone. It has many limitations.

Do also parallelly take a test-drive of the equally stylish Jimny which has 4 doors & better ride quality, but a lame engine & none of the macho road presence.

Thanks for suggestions regarding the Jimny TD. But I must admit your review has made the 3 door Thar, more desirable. We are a husband/wife family so for the two of us the regular Thar should be great, specially considering that we will retain our XL6 Alpha AT for daily duties. In fact when we do get a Thar, most probably the first mod will be to get rid of the back seats altogether. Probably two folding cycles will occupy that space.

That being said, now that so many people are writing about it, it seems that the Jimny drives better, the engine seems to be holding me back. As part of our car selection process we had tested the older 4 speed AT on the pre 2022 XL6, also having used the 4 speed AT on the Hyundai i10, I feel the six speed gear box on the Thar feels far better.

But for sure a Jimny TD is slated soon.

Cheers

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Vicks79

We are a husband/wife family so for the two of us the regular Thar should be great, specially considering that we will retain our XL6 Alpha AT for daily duties. In fact when we do get a Thar, most probably the first mod will be to get rid of the back seats altogether. Probably two folding cycles will occupy that space.

Ah, wasn't aware of the use case and your XL6. In that case, go for the Thar Petrol AT and rev away into the sunset. Get the 4x4 variant so it can take you to offbeat places for your cycling.

Regardless, do take a spin of the Jimny too, although since you already have a practical Maruti with the same engine, the Thar is what I'd recommend for variety.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Vicks79

We are a husband/wife family so for the two of us the regular Thar should be great, specially considering that we will retain our XL6 Alpha AT for daily duties. In fact when we do get a Thar, most probably the first mod will be to get rid of the back seats altogether. Probably two folding cycles will occupy that space.

We are a husband/wide family too, and we bought a Thar 4x4 Petrol AT just for this "two person" use case. And so far we are loving it. Bad ride quality or not, my wife loves traveling in this 2-person Thar and it is a lot of fun for sure.

I am also thinking of removing the rear seats altogether. But so far, we have not really needed to go anywhere with a lot of luggage and thus did not feel any need to do anything. So far, at least for our 2-3 days travels, it turns out that the 2-person luggage for a 2-day trip can easily fit in even with rear seats just folded (and not removed). We will see in future.

Originally Posted by GTO

In that case, go for the Thar Petrol AT and rev away into the sunset. Get the 4x4 variant so it can take you to offbeat places for your cycling.

Exactly! +100 to this. For a 2-person, 2-seater car, Thar Petrol AT 4x4 is the way to go. The Jimny scores big over Thar for the rear ingress/egress and rear seats, but that is all irrelevant for a 2-person family!

Regardless, do take a spin of the Jimny too, although since you already have a practical Maruti with the same engine, the Thar is what I'd recommend for variety.

I was in the same boat again, and had a beater car with almost the same engine. Did not want another car with the same engine (which honestly was already too underpowered for my driving style) again, and hence Jimny was a no go for me.

Looks like @Vicks79's requirements and use cases are very similar to mine, and so far, we are happy with Thar for those requirements.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I am also thinking of removing the rear seats altogether.

Don't remove the rear seat, bud. Never know when they might be required. A 2-door car is impractical enough, a 2-seater car is too extreme for India where we have an active social life.

Instead, get the seat-folding mechanism that I got. You can fold the entire seat in whenever you need more cargo room, and still retain the rear seat for the occasional rear passengers / friends / family members.

[sumeethaldankar]

Did you get any security for the car? I would recommend using something like this (Onelap Go - A GPS Tracker for my Ford EcoSport). I have been using the device for more than a year, and it has a good battery backup of around 20 to 30 days if the car is not driven much. I am very happy with the performance of the device. It provides additional peace of mind knowing where your car is just by looking at the smartphone.

By the way, your car, in one word, is "Legendary."

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by GTO

Instead, get the seat-folding mechanism that I got.

Good tip but is there no way to aesthetically cover that hideous seat base? Agree there are numerous cutouts for all the fittings though.

Currently looks totally jugaad.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by GTO

Don't remove the rear seat, bud. Never know when they might be required. A 2-door car is impractical enough, a 2-seater car is too extreme for India where we have an active social life.

Instead, get the seat-folding mechanism that I got. You can fold the entire seat in whenever you need more cargo room, and still retain the rear seat for the occasional rear passengers / friends / family members.

Thank you GTO! Yes this is a very useful modification and a great suggestion. I have seen this in Robi's car, and he also suggests the same. So yes, this is a very good alternative to removing the seats altogether. I might just get this done. Will see soon. Thanks again for the suggestion!