The Gurkha has some advantage over the Mahindra Thar in some areas, such as it has a better ergonomics, quiet cabin, nice off-road mannerisms, good ride quality, and a quieter cabin. On the other hand, Thar wins in terms of easy drive, a 2.5-litre engine which is good for highway travel, a peak power of 107hp when comparing with Gurkha’s noisy 2.6-litre engine generating 85hp.
Coming to the power, Force Motors addresses this area and it will definitely attract the customers. The Force Gurkha Xtreme comes with a Mercedes-Benz-licensed 2148cc common-rail diesel motor of OM611 2.2-litre which was previously available on the W210 E-Class and Force One SUV which was discontinued by the company. Now the OM646 has taken the place of the Mercedes’ common-rail diesel, but architecture-wise it is overall equal.
The Force Gurkha Xtreme produces 140hp of power at 3,800 rpm and 321Nm of torque at 1,600-2,400 rpm. It is paired with the same Mercedes-Benz G32 5-speed manual transmission and runs on a 4-wheel drive as standard along with rear and front differential locks. On the other side, Mahindra Thar takes a 2.5-litre, 2498cc diesel motor generating a peak power of 105 hp and a peak torque of 247Nm at 1,800-2,000 rpm. It gets a mechanical rear-diff lock which drags away from the exact controllability in the situation of low-traction.
The Gurkha as well enhanced proved supporting considering off-road capabilities, therefore the Xtreme has done a good work for its cut out. The Xtreme is available with the offering of 5mm lower ground clearance which measures now 205mm. However, it still measures higher than the Thar. The Xtreme gets wider tyres measuring 245/70 R16s. and Mahindra Thar obtains 235/70 R16s.
The Xtreme comes with a wider track of 1,530mm than Mahindra Thar of 1,445mm. The Gurkha Xtreme’s departure, approach, and ramp breakover angles stand at 35-, 44-, and 28-degree respectively, whereas Thar stands at 27-, 44- and 15-degree numbers which are comparatively lower.
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Coming to the on-road capabilities, the Gurkha is better as compared to the Thar in some specs. Owing to the good ride quality and quieter cabin make the Gurkha seems a better option. The Thar’s continuous hovering standard soft-top sometimes seems annoying if you are on a long ride on the highway. Although the cabin of Gurkha looks old-fashioned, it provides better ergonomics considering the control and switches. The Thar has a premium-appearing dash, however attracting 4x4 needs you to bend sometimes under the dash and it doesn’t seem comfortable. Both are available with power steering in order of creature comforts and air-conditioning, nothing we expect more. Force may have some value-additions as compared to the Thar.
The three-door Gurkha Xtreme will get a new 2.2-litre diesel engine and the five-door Expedition will have to wait for the new update. Although, the addition of the new engine will surely increase the price of the model. We can expect Gurkha to be price nearly Rs 14 lakh (on-road) higher than the price of Thar which is available at Rs 10.95 lakh on-road.