It is great to see Mahindra’s processes and tangible progress.
BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I have a 2021 Feb manufactured Thar P AT 4×4 HT. I found right from the beginning that the hydraulic power steering was excellent, heavy when needed with very good response and feedback.
And I also found the suspension tune not so good because it used to sway a lot over bumps and nose dive and pitch headlong while braking. So I upgraded to AVO and have not looked back since.
Yesterday, I drove my friend Bibendum’s Feb 2023 manufactured Thar D AT HT 4×4 (he is a fellow member here).
I was immediately struck by the fact that the power steering is extremely heavy compared to mine. Maybe 30% heavier. This might argue greater control, and stability and assure one of a sort of non-floaty behaviour at higher speeds on highways, (not to say that my Thar floats about on highways), but I worry a lot that one will need very strong arms at parking speeds and in the city. I also felt the new vehicle’s suspension tuneup to be significantly stiffer and different from my vehicle insofar as the fact that this vehicle honestly wasn’t swaying as much over bumps. However, the nose-diving and headlong pitching behaviour is still there under braking.
So I wonder, are others also seeing these differences?
Can this be a part of their continuous improvement program in ongoing product development? If yes, then it is great to see Mahindra’s processes and tangible progress.
Here are the two Birds of War parked together last night.
Here’s what BHPian Bibendum90949 had to say on the matter:
Yes, we discussed it last week too. Incidentally, I happened to drive BhPian Pho3nix’s D AT CT Thar. A few days back we met on the highway and swapped our cars. He was driving to Hyderabad from Coimbatore and me from Kochi to Bangalore. I drove his car for around 130+ kms. His is a 2020 Thar, most likely from the first month of production. The serial number is 1798.
Though I’ve driven a few other Thars over the last two years including Shankar’s P AT Thar, the steering of the 2020 Thar felt very floaty and dead at highway speeds. It lacked any sort of feel or feedback. It also had the AVO suspension. While the suspension was making a significant difference to the composure of the car at speeds and on flyover joints and highway undulations, the steering wasn’t complementing it. It was living in a different world of its own. It had similar behaviour and vibe of a poorly tuned EPS – first-gen Creta comes to mind or the first-gen Scorpio.
Compared to that, Shankar’s 2021 Thar, steering is slightly heavier than the 2020 Thar. I vividly remember driving it in the twisties of Coorg with confidence, back in Feb 2021. Coming to my 23 Thar, there’s a massive difference between the 2020 Thar and a significant difference with the 2021 Thar. My Thar, as Shankar mentioned, it’s pretty heavy with a nice, good feel and feedback. You’ll get the feeling it’s an HPS, unlike the 2020 Thar. And I find it quite good for my liking on highways and even in slow-speed city driving. The confidence you get is quite good for a heavy and tall ladder-frame vehicle like the Thar. My highway speeds are in the range of 90-100 and occasionally 110. This set-up may tire your arms out if one goes for multi-week trips and long-distance journeys.
Coming to the suspension, I’m not sure if it’s going to ease out and settle a bit since the car is only 45 days old and has done around 4k kms. Need to see how it fares after it hits 10-15k.
Overall, it’s pretty evident that Mahindra has been constantly improvising the Thar. It’s quite reassuring for the new buyers.
Keyword: 2021 Thar owner drives 2023 Thar SUV: Surprised by changes & upgrades