Maruti Jimny vs Thar vs Gurkha: Which 4x4 off-roader would you buy?

These three new-generation offroaders have improved to such an extent, they can be used as daily drivers too.

BHPian Aditya recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Maruti Jimny

What you'll like:

• Extremely stylish retro-modern SUV with loads of character. A total head-turner that’s available in very interesting colours
• Build quality is more solid than you’d expect of a Maruti. Even the interiors feel hard-wearing (note: plastic quality is nothing to write home about)
• An agile mountain goat! 4x4 with low range, satisfactory all-round visibility, 210 mm GC, good wheel articulation and excellent approach, departure & break-over angles make it a potent offroader
• Compact size & lighter kerb weight (than the Thar & Gurkha) bring advantages off-the-road and on it (in urban confines)
• Stylish interiors with good space utilization for 4 adults
• 4 doors make it more practical & family-friendly than the competing 2-door offroaders
• Smooth torque-converter automatic transmission available
• You can expect lots of modification & customization options, as is the case internationally. Go out & personalize your Jimny!
• Features such as the hard top, tinted green glasses, near-flat reclining front seats, LED auto headlamps with washers, rear wash & wipe, cruise control, 9-inch touchscreen HU...
• Safety kit includes 6 airbags, 3-point seatbelts for all, ESP, brake-based limited slip differential, traction control, hill hold / descent control and ISOFIX mounts
• Maruti’s excellent after-sales service, wide dealer network & fuss-free ownership experiences

What you won't:

• Small size doesn’t give it the presence of a Thar or Gurkha
• Unexciting 1.5L petrol engine with merely 103 BHP and 134 Nm. Don’t expect Maruti-esque fuel economy either (we saw high single-digit FE in our test-drive of the MT variant)
• Notchy 5-speed MT with a heavy clutch pedal. MT owners will find the footwell to be cramped
• Firm steering requires effort to operate. Vague on-road behaviour, weak return-to-centre action and wide 5.7 m turning radius
• Just a 4-seater (even legally). Not being able to carry 5 limits family-wise practicality
• Imperfect ride quality. Don’t expect road manners like a monocoque crossover, yet it is superior to the Thar’s bumpy ride
• 4-speed AT feels very old and outdated (has an “OD” button like in the ‘90s!). That being said, the gearbox has smooth shifts & proven reliability
• Missing features such as a sunroof, DRLs, rear A/C vents, auto wipers, TPMS, driver's seat height & lumbar adjustment, steering reach adjustment, auto-dimming IRVM, dead pedal…
• Boot space is just 208-liters; however, it is useable and more accommodating than the Thar’s. Disappointingly, the Jimny’s cabin has very few storage options & cubicles
• No soft-top convertible or 2-door options available. Forget about the joy of open-top cruising
• No diesel engine for those with high-running. The market still loves diesels in body-on-frame SUVs

Link to Review

Mahindra Thar

What you'll like:

• Fun, fun, fun! A loveable car that will bring you loads of laughs & smiles
• Handsome Jeep styling & brute character. Tough build too
• Far more user-friendly than the ol’ Thar due to superior interiors & the amenities
• Very competent, refined turbo-petrol & diesel engine range
• Butter-smooth 6-speed Automatics available with both engines
• 4x4 hardware, offroad capability & 226 mm GC. Get ready for slush, muck, deserts, jungles & the mountains!
• Practical hard-top or fun convertible available in the Thar – take your pick
• Features such as removable doors, ESP, cruise control, hill hold / descent, TPMS…
• 4-star rating in the GNCAP crash test (more information.

What you won't:

• Very bumpy ride quality. The Thar is never settled, no matter what the road or speed
• Poor road manners at high speed. Best to cruise at 100 - 110 km/h only
• Impractical due to the 2-doors, 4 seats (not 5) & difficult access to the back seat
• Laughably small boot simply isn’t enough for holiday luggage
• Petrol AT is thirsty due to its hefty weight, 150 BHP & torque-converter AT
• Premium pricing for the higher variants. Lot of money for the Thar's limited usability
• Sad feature list for a 19-lakh car. No reversing cam, auto-dimming IRVM, auto headlamps & wipers, electrically-folding ORVMs, rear wash & wipe…
• Apprehensions of niggles & Mahindra's hit-or-miss after-sales service quality

Link to Review

The 1.5L RWD

Force Gurkha

Link to Review

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Let me start off by saying I am VERY HAPPY to see 3 amazing choices of offroaders under 20-lakhs. These are relatively affordable prices for any enthusiast. The predecessors of all these cars (Gypsy, 1st-gen Thar, last-gen Gurkha) were too barebones, too crude and too outdated. These three new-generation offroaders have improved to such an extent, they can be used as daily drivers too (admittedly, with a lot of compromises).

God bless competition. Competition makes things better for us customers. Now, under 20 lakhs, you have a more diverse choice of offroaders than you do of corner-carving fast sedans. How times change.

My 1st Choice = Mahindra Thar. Reasons:

• Jeep bodystyle. I love Jeeps
• Fast turbo-petrol & fuel-efficient turbo-diesel engines. Both are impressively refined
• Smooth 6-speed ATs that are superbly tuned for driveability (not economy)
• Excellent performance. Thar turbo-petrol AT can out-accelerate a Honda City CVT or Fortuner AT
• Bigger, more butch & macho than the Jimny
• I love the styling & image of a 2-door
• Only car from these 3 to offer a convertible top (which is the one I bought)
• Way too much fun.
• 4 stars in the GNCAP
• Currently has the best aftermarket support (modified suspensions, LED headlights, body parts, interior accessories...)

2nd Choice = Maruti Jimny. Reasons:

• Smart & stylish.
• 4-doors make it 10X more practical than the Thar or Gurkha.
• It's the smallest & lightest of the 3. Big advantage offroad, easier to live with in the city.
• All the Maruti-related benefits in terms of reliability & after-sales.
• AT might be old-school, but it works well and is reliable.
• More fuel-efficient than the guzzling Thar Petrol. I love its interiors as well, very different.
• Ride quality, although imperfect, is more liveable than the bumpy Thar
• I have no problem with the Jimny's price. I only have a problem with its puny engine specs of 103 BHP / 134 Nm. The Thar Turbo-Petrol has 50% more horsepower and 2.5 times the torque!

3rd Choice = Force Gurkha. Reasons:

I love the Gurkha's styling, mighty presence, offroad capability, Mercedes-esque face etc. But it doesn't have an AT nor a turbo-petrol, is much slower than the Thar, its service network is too tiny, no convertible soft-top, no crash test rating. As handsome as the exterior styling is, the interior looks like it's lifted from a 1997 Tempo.

Here's what BHPian Samba had to say on the matter:

For an off-road car, I prefer manuals over automatics, & even on-road I prefer a MT over an AT. Incase I need a small hatchback for daily commuting in city traffic, only then I may consider an AT, else not.

Now, given the new norms and the way our government is dealing with the diesels, I will personally avoid plonking my money on a diesel. Plus I do not want the headache of DPF.

Had the new gen Thar been offered in BS4 diesel, without the insecurities of the future of diesels, it would have been my default choice!

So now my choice will be limited between the Thar Petrol MT HT and the Jimny MT.

The Thar petrol MT with a kerb weight of 1800 kg

• Power/weight (BHP/Ton) - 83 Bhp/ton
• Torque/Weight (Torque/Ton)- 166
• Peak torque is available from as low as 1250 to 3000 rpm.
• 0-100 - Roughly 10-11 secs

The Jimny MT with a Kerb weight of 1200 kg

• Power/weight (BHP/Ton) - 86 Bhp/ton
• Torque/Weight (Torque/Ton)- 112
• Peak torque is available at 4,000 rpm.
• 0-100 - Roughly 14-16 secs

Advantages of the Thar over the Jimny

Apart from the above, the Thar has a better ground clearance with a lesser wheelbase.

The Thar has received a respectable 4 star in the crash test too.

Though, I should not comment on the Jimny's safety ratings before it gets tested.

I personally prefer the looks of the Thar over the Jimny. Plus I do love the road presence of the Thar too!

People might say that these vehicles are made for a certain purpose where the 0-100 timings do not matter and blah bla bla, but for me, the drivability does matter! It is always satisfying to drive a car with instant power on tap. We won't participate in a drag race with either of these two cars, but on a single-lane highway, the ease of overtaking other vehicles does matter.

Till now the Thar looks to be a better deal by paying the extra 1.5L.

Now coming to the advantages of the Jimny

The Mstallion gets overheated under heavy offroad drives, whereas the K15B has no such complaints worldwide, though it's yet to be tested on the sand dunes of Rajasthan in summer!

On any given day, I will trust Maruti's after-sales service over Mahindra's.

If broken the age-old and less complicated k15B can be repaired anywhere, plus this engine is time-tested. Am yet to see an exhaustive review of the Petrol Thar which has its odo reading in 6 digit figure.

With the increasing fuel cost, mileage does matter! Anything from 10 km/l is acceptable to me. In Thar, it will vary from 6 to 11 km/l depending on the traffic, terrain and driving style. In the Jimny, we can expect something between 8 to 15 km/l.

Again if we consider practicality, It's anytime Jimny over Thar.

From the reviews, my understanding is that the Jimny is less bumpy on bad roads than the Thar.

Coming to the off-road capability

It will be very difficult to say which will be better. This is going to be typically another Thar vs Gypsy debate, another light vehicle vs heavy vehicle debate, another short wheelbase vs long wheelbase vehicle debate. All I can assume is both will be equally capable off-the-road.

Plus thanks to Mahindra for not providing the MLD anymore in petrol Thars! So the petrol Jimny and the petrol Thar both have the BLD.

Lastly, if we consider the pricing, the Thar and Jimny both are overpriced by a lakh or so!

Regarding voting in this poll, I have refrained from putting my vote until I drive the Jimny on and off the road. Till then heart says Thar, mind says Jimny.

Here's what BHPian Kosfactor had to say on the matter:

I like Jeeps and 4WD vehicles in general however I do not like to suffer their incompetence in handling road driving for hours together on the highway or city roads, spoilt by Scorpio no doubt.

This is where the 'invention' of Thar is significant.

4x4 is one thing but getting there effortlessly from the confines of a large city and then through a fast highway is even more important if you want to appeal to those who have the money to purchase it.

While my friend there was looking at the elephant from a distance, it seems like the elephant did not need binoculars or 4WD, that fellow managed to follow us to the place where we were staying and did some damage, chased us to our living quarters and kept us awake all night.

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

The Scorpio N with 4WD is I believe, envisaged for exactly the above use case.

Getting someone to the ultimate destination in great comfort, convenience, speed and safety with great competence. And being able to do some good levels of ‘adventuring’ at the ultimate destination. And bringing everyone back in comfort to the starting point, when they are nice and exhausted.

A good analogy is those Desert Safari Toyota Land Cruisers in Dubai, Jordan and other Middle Eastern destinations.

They come and pick you and your gear up at your swanky Hotel. Drive quickly to the fuel station. Gas up. Air down. Take you furiously through the scrub and camel thorn and give you a nice roller coaster ride through the desert across dunes and throw up some nice soft sand and create lots of thrills and photo opportunities. And then when you are nice and tired and all ‘petered-out’, they bring you back in Air conditioned comfort to your swanky hotel.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.