NEW BODY, NEW SOUL

ALL-NEW MAHINDRA THAR SUV

- P. Tharyan

Mahindra & Mahindra unveiled the all-new Thar SUV on the occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day. The new Thar will be officially launched on October 2, 2020 and its prices too will be announced on that day. Motown India was part of a ‘Freedom Drive’ organised by Mahindra & Mahindra. Since the drive was extremely brief, I shall refrains from commenting on the drive experience. This report will focus on the new features of the all-new Thar

EXTERIORS

With a massive ground clearance of 226mm in unladen condition, the new Thar has a Body-on-Frame Construction. The new Thar continues with its 2-door shell, but overall there have been several design changes. With a wider, better-balanced stance, the new Thar now comes with a choice of hard top and convertible roof top options. The convertible soft-top can be lowered manually in a matter of minutes. Also available is an optional fixed soft top with removable side facing seats.

Coming to the front, you get to see a smart fascia, with LED Daytime Running Lamps and Dual Tone Bumpers. You also get front fog lamps. Surprisingly, the headlamps and fog lamps have halogen bulbs, there is no LED here. The rear, however, gets LED tail lamps. The wheels are R 18 Deep Silver Alloys. Wheels. The standard tyre size is 245/75 R16, the optional one being 255/65 R18 with 789 mm tyre diameter. The new Thar has the largest tyre size in production amongst Indian SUV’s. R18 variants offer white tyre lettering for just the right amount of visual flair while the R16 variants feature painted steel rims that celebrate Thar’s lineage. Variants with R16 wheels are also compatible with snow chains for harsh winter conditions.