The lifestyle off-roader SUV market in India is about to see a clash of the Titans. Recently, Force Motors has unveiled its new Gurkha, in three-door and five-door trims. The 3 door version of the Gurkha takes on the current Thar while the 5-door version of the SUV will be taking on the upcoming Mahindra Thar five-door, which will be launched around 15 August this year. These SUVs, although very similar on paper, will be very different in real life. So today, we thought we should give you a comprehensive comparison of the four SUVs.
Exterior Design
Gurkha Vs Thar three-door
Both the Force Gurkha and the Mahindra Thar are rugged, no-nonsense designs that emphasize their off-road capabilities. The newly updated three-door Gurkha however comes with a much more utilitarian design as compared to the three-door Thar. It features a massive snorkel, and a roof rack along with a rear metal staircase and its overall dimensions are much larger than that of the Thar.
The three-door Gurkha now comes equipped with a bigger set of 18-inch alloy wheels. Apart from this the rest of the SUV remains the same as the pre-facelift model.
The Mahindra Thar three-door on the other hand features the iconic Thar styling with a slats grille and circular halogen headlamps. Its overall dimensions although big, are dwarfed by the Grukha three-door. The Thar also comes with 18-inch alloy wheels.
Gurkha vs Thar five-door
The newly unveiled five-door Gurkha, this SUV maintains the iconic design cues of its three-door sibling. The only new additions are the two extra doors in the middle. As for the front, it gets a single horizontal grille with Gurkha lettering. It also gets the circular LED headlights and DRLs.
It will also come with new 18-inch alloy wheels and a roof rack, snorkel, and rear metal staircase. The Gurkha five-door will come offered in four color options: green, red, white, and black.
Coming to the design of the Mahindra’s soon-to-be-launched five-door Thar, it will also continue to boast a similar design as its three-door counterpart. The Thar five-door will, however, get a different front grille and new LED headlights and DRLs.
Like the Gurkha, the side profile of the Thar five-door will also get two additional doors with handles mounted on the C-pillar. It will also get bigger 19-inch alloy wheels and a metal roof as well.
Interior Design and Features
Gurkha vs Thar three-door interior
Force Motors along with the Gurkha five-door has also updated the interior of the Gurkha three-door. It now gets a bigger 9-inch touchscreen and new 7-inch digital instrument gauge cluster. Apart from these updates it looks pretty much the same as the old model.
The Thar three-door on the other hand gets a much better looking interior. It also utilizes a lot of hard plastics and gets small touchscreen. However, its quality is far better than the Gurkha. The Thar comes equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Other features include manual AC and cruise control.
Gurkha vs Thar five-door
The Gurkha five-door gets a simple and utilitarian dashboard with hard plastics all around. It will come equipped with a range of modern features, including a 9-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
It also gets a 7-inch digital instrument gauge cluster, and a tilt and telescopic steering wheel. Safety features of the newly unveiled Gurkha include dual airbags, ABS, EBD, and a tire pressure monitoring system. The Gurkha three-door has also been given these updates as part of its refresh.
On the other hand, the Mahindra Thar five-door will be leagues above in terms of the interior design features and quality. It will get a dual-tone interior design with a lot of modern features.
The Thar five-door will come equipped with a bigger 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment screen. There will also be a multifunction steering wheel, electric sunroof, and roof-mounted speakers.
The main highlight of the new Thar five-door will be the introduction of advanced safety features such as Adaptive Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Most likely, its ADAS suite will include adaptive cruise control and high beam assist.
Other features could include traffic sign recognition, automatic emergency braking, and driver drowsiness system. Recently, a test mule of the Thar five-door with its ADAS camera on the windshield was spotted testing in the country.
Off-Roading Capability
Both the Force Gurkha and the Mahindra Thar are renowned for their off-roading capabilities. The Gurkha three-door and five-door boast electronic shift for 4H, 4L, and 2H. They also come with impressive departure and approach angles, gradeability, and water-wading capacity.
It features a manual transfer case, live independent front axle, rigid rear axle, and manual front and rear differential lockers. Similarly, the Mahindra Thar could also offer the same off-roading equipment as the Gurkha once it’s launched in India.
Powertrain and Performance
The Force Gurkha five-door and its three-door sibling both come powered by a 2.6-liter diesel 4-cylinder engine. This motor delivers a total of 140 PS of power and 320 Nm of torque. Sadly, it comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox only. Earlier the Force Gurkha three-door came powered with this same 2.6-litre diesel engine but it used to make 91 PS and 250 Nm of peak torque.
On the other hand, the Mahindra Thar three-door offers multiple engine options. These options include a 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol and a 2.2-liter diesel. There is also a smaller 1.5-litre engine on offer. The Thar five-door (Armada) on the other hand is expected to be offered with more powerful engine options than the existing Thar.
It is believed that it could be powered by the Scorpio-N’s 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and 2.2-litre diesel engines. The petrol engine will deliver 200 bhp with 370Nm or 380 Nm of torque. Meanwhile, the diesel engine will produce 172bhp with 370 Nm or 400 Nm of torque. The transmission options will include a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. The smaller 1.5-litre engine is expected to be offered with the five-door Thar as it will be considerably more heavy than the three-door model.
Pricing
Gurkha vs Thar three-door
The Force Gurkha is only offered in one variant and that is priced at Rs 15.10 lakh. On the other hand the Thar starts at Rs 11.25 lakh for the 4X2 variants and goes up to Rs 17.40 lakh. There a lot more options with Thar as it is offered with multiple drivetrains and soft and hard top roof options.
Gurkha vs Thar five-door
The pricing for the Force Gurkha five-door is yet to be announced officially. However, reports have stated that it could be priced around Rs 15.5 to Rs 16.5 lakh. Currently, the Gurkha 3-door is priced at Rs 15.1 lakh. However, it could also see a bump in the pricing once the new model is launched.
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Meanwhile, the Mahindra Thar is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 15-25 lakh. The Gurkha five-door is set to make its official debut on May 2. On the other hand, the launch of the five-door Thar could possibly be around August 15.
The post Just-Launched Force Gurkha Vs Mahindra Thar: A Comparison first appeared on Cartoq.
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