Heart Transplant

The new Force Gurkha Xplorer gets an updated engine and quite a few mechanical changes. Enough to smooth out all the rough edges in the previous model?

- Rahul Richard

Driving the new Force Gurkha Xplorer has stirred up quite a few emotions -- some good, some bad. And this was the case even when I first saw images of the vehicle when it was launched. I really wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not, and hoped that seeing it in the flesh would help me make up my mind. Well, it didn’t initially. It looks a bit awkward from certain angles, like from the side because of 2-door setup (in the short wheelbase version), but from the front and rear it has this old-school, rugged design that I’m personally a very big fan of. I especially like the steel bumpers which look like a neat aftermarket fitment. And while the optional 16-inch wheels looked a little small, they didn’t look shabby and their simple design suits the rest of the simple boxy theme. Overall, Force Motors has made the Gurkha look a little less sophisticated and more rugged, which is good thing considering the old car was stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to be both.

The interior on the other hand, is a big no-no straight away. The dashboard, which hasn’t really changed from before, is just poorly made, flimsy plastic. It had a few more storage spaces around the gear lever and between the seats, but there’s still a lot of empty space which could have been put to good use. You do get the bare minimum necessities like pretensioned front seat belts, heating and air-conditioning, and a 12V port to charge your devices, but that’s about it. The driving position was quite awkward, thanks to a slightly upward facing steering which didn’t allow me to push my seat back far enough from the pedals. It had a very utilitarian feel that was far from being appealing.