What does your car say about you? Most cars, like most people in the world, say little if anything, other than being ‘average’. But there are some that say a lot, like the Mahindra Thar.
It says that you are an ‘outdoorsy’ type who wants to conquer parts of the world where other vehicles dare to tread. And the Mahindra Thar is very good at that. I spent almost an entire week in a Thar last year traversing western Arunachal Pradesh. While road infrastructure is improving, the Thar came in handy most of the time on the road between Tawang and Zemithang — a stretch that is being redone.
But here is the thing: most of us pretend to be something that we are not. Or make resolutions at the start of the year that we ‘want’ to do something different. This is what we tell ourselves. There is nothing wrong in aspiring to be something. That said, I would not put down my money on a vehicle that I ‘might’ take off-road only once in a while.
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Know your Thar
Of course, there are a large number of Thar owners, and I know quite a few of them, including many journalists, who do go hunting the forgotten trails, and take their Thars across the sand dunes of the eponymous desert. Some others try to find valleys in the Himalayas where they can set up camp and go fishing. But there are a large number of Thars that never really leave the city. I’m not even getting into how the Mahindra Thar, both the old one and current generation, have embedded themselves in Punjab’s deadly gangster rap culture. The outsized (and frankly ridiculous) wheels, the massive light bars on the roof and insanely powerful sound systems playing music with lyrics that would make a Delhiite blush.
When people call me up for car advice, one of the things I tell them is not to buy a car for that one-use case in a year. Don’t buy a diesel if you ‘might’ go on one long-drive a year, don’t buy an oversize car just because you expect relatives over with a lot of luggage once in a while. And really, don’t buy a four-wheel drive car if you don’t really leave a paved surface or if you deal with some bad patches of road. The Thar 4×4 is quite nice. But honestly, it is overkill most for most daily use. Do you really need off-road capability if you have to traverse between Andheri and Churchgate?
And Mahindra, to their credit, realises this.
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The practical Thar is here
The introduction of a rear-wheel variant of the Thar is an acceptance of the company’s stress on practicality. It looks the same, minus the 4×4 badge. And while some might think that the badge is what matters, believe me the Thar Rear-Wheel Drive is car enough for everyday use. Heck, it is car-enough even for all but the most extreme off-road circumstances. It is less mechanically complicated, and a lot cheaper. Prices begin at just Rs 9.9 lakh, and the new Blazing Bronze colour does look stunning in the morning light.
However, I am not the outdoorsy type. Sure, I might travel a bit on some interesting drives but I really like comfortable seats, large screens and a nice audio system at the end of the day. And there is a reason — I’m a guy in my mid-40s and because of what I do for a living, my mid-life crisis doesn’t involve cars or motorcycles. My neighbour got himself a Royal Enfield Bullet 350. It thumps once a month. And I fear that some Thar’s will be bought, used a few times and then while away in the garage. And Mahindra won’t mind the additional sales.
The steering is hard and you bounce around. The tyres are loud (off-road tyres on tarmac are not a great idea) and you don’t want to get back home after a long drive with all your muscles and bones aching. On our last day in Arunachal, three of us in a Thar drove all the way from Tawang to Guwahati in 12 hours; and while you’ll feel uncomfortable in many vehicles, at the end of it I was in pain. As were my fellow passengers. It isn’t the most comfortable ride stretch and while I’ve been on state roadways buses in my student days, this is not something I want now.
See if you’re young and you want to make an impression, sure get a Thar. Maybe even fit it with oversize tyres and disco lights. But as well as the Thar is engineered, don’t buy one to satiate your mid-life crisis.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)