The upcoming 5-door variant of the Mahindra Thar will be based on the recently launched Scorpio-N platform. This information was confirmed by R Velusamy, Mahindra Senior VP & Head of Automotive Product Development.
Speaking about Mahindra Thar, it is one of the best off-road SUVs you can buy in the country. The SUV not only features iconic styling, but it also comes with plenty of aftermarket support to make it even more capable despite being a relatively new vehicle in the Indian automobile market.
This is because the new Mahindra Thar SUV was among one of the most-awaited cars in the Indian market and the updated iteration of the model quickly became a hit among the Indian audience.
Compared to its predecessor, the new Mahindra Thar was leaps and bounds ahead in terms of refinement, build quality, comfort, features and performance. That is not all, the new Mahindra Thar even comes with a 4-star safety rating from Global-NCAP – Making it a very safe SUV as well.
In terms of powertrain, the Mahindra Thar is powered by two engine options, both of which are a lot more powerful and refined than the engine options in its predecessor. The most popular choice is the 2.2-litre diesel engine with 130bhp of peak power and 300Nm of peak torque.
The next engine option is the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol unit with 150bhp of peak power and 320Nm of peak torque. In addition to that, both engines can be specified with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic gearbox.
Since the Mahindra Thar is an off-road friendly SUV, it comes with a shift-on-fly four-wheel-drive system. This system makes it easier for amateur off-road enthusiasts to use the four-wheel-drive system.
However, despite all these fantastic qualities, the Mahindra Thar still has a major weakness considering the Indian audience. This is because the Mahindra Thar is offered as a 3-door variant in India and the SUV could only seat 4 adults and barely fit their luggage.
Mahindra knows this very well and the company is developing a 5-door variant of the Thar SUV. As mentioned earlier, this SUV will be based on the recently launched Scorpio-N platform. This means, the upcoming 5-door version of the Mahindra Thar will be a lot more comfortable and stable – Thanks to its Penta-link rear suspension from the Scorpio N SUV. Apart from that, we also expect the more powerful powertrain options to compensate for the additional weight.
This means the new Mahindra Thar will come with the more powerful iteration of the 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine. This powertrain is likely to produce around 150bhp of peak power and 360Nm of peak torque (lower than Scorpio N). This is more likely to avoid competition with Scorpio N.
By using the Mahindra Scorpio N platform, the upcoming 5-door variant of the Mahindra Thar is expected to be a lot more spacious and also come with a 5-Star safety rating. Moreover, dimension-wise, expect similar dimensions to the Scorpio N SUV – Especially the wheelbase.
We expect Mahindra to launch the 5-door version of the Mahindra Thar during the first half of 2023. In addition to that, expect a starting price that is close to Mahindra Scorpio N SUV.
Thoughts About Mahindra Thar 5-Door
The upcoming Mahindra Thar 5-door variant could easily become one of the best-selling models in Mahindra’s history. However, we are not sure how Mahindra will handle the production, given the waiting period for the XUV700 SUV extend up to 2 years.
Keyword: Mahindra Thar 5-Door Is Based On The Scorpio N Platform