Force Motors is not leaving any stone unturned in giving a pleasant driving experience to their customers.
BHPian Cool-Shine recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hello Folks,
Yesterday, I got a chance to test drive the new Force Gurkha. I must appreciate Force Motors for bringing this vehicle to my place for a test drive even though their showroom is ~27 km away from my home. They called me one day prior to check my availability and arrived right on time the next day. Full marks to Force Motors here. I drove this car for almost 20 mins and for ~10 km.
Below are my observations:
- Size: This car is simply HUMONGOUS. This car is an absolute looker. Other vehicles on the road give you the way when they see Force Gurkha coming!! I experienced this firsthand during my test drive yesterday.
- Engine: The engine is quite refined. The engine noise is also well contained. You will feel a slight jerk after cranking the engine, but apart from that mild diesel grunt, you will not feel any vibrations. Low-end torque is nice, and you don’t have to frequently change gears in city traffic. On the highway, you can easily cruise between 90-100 km/h.
- Steering: This was a big disappointment for me. There was a noticeable kickback from the steering when the car went through any rough patch on the road. I asked the company executive if this was a glitch with the vehicle in general or there was some issue with this particular vehicle, but he said that there was no issue with this test vehicle as such. If this is the case, then I personally feel that Force Motors should really address this issue on priority.
- Gearbox: I found this to be a bit notchy and was having difficulty in slotting the 3rd gear. But I assume this was an issue with that test drive vehicle. Also, I felt that the gear shifter was a bit short, and I had to stretch myself for changing gears.
- Seating: You really sit quite high in this vehicle – the sitting position is definitely very commanding! There were hardly any blind spots. However, Force Motors should have given height adjusted driver seat in this car. As this functionality was not there, the steering was rubbing against my thighs even after adjusting it to its maximum limit. Due to this issue, I had to push my seat backwards which again created a problem while changing gears as mentioned above.
- Suspension: I really liked the suspension set-up of this car- very comfortable and much better than the rivals.
- Space: This car is huge and very spacious. It can easily accommodate 4 passengers along with their luggage. Also, rear passengers can easily get in and out from the rear door.
- Infotainment system: Nothing specific to mention here. It does its jobs well. But the sound quality is strictly average.
I also observed one weird thing. This vehicle has four reverse parking sensors, but surprisingly there is no visual display available in this car to see the distance between the vehicle and the rear object. It only beeps while reversing the car – this was a real letdown. Force Motors should have ideally provided a visual display for the reverse parking sensors, which would have aided the driver while reversing this giant vehicle.
Conclusion
This is really a nice vehicle and a leap beyond its predecessor – Force Motors is not leaving any stone unturned in giving a pleasant driving experience to their customers. I will give them full marks for this. However, a few things like height adjusted driver seat, steering kickback, notchy gears, visual display for reverse parking, etc., should be addressed by Force Motors. Also, they should quickly come up with a 5 door version with a TC gearbox. If they do so, we could see a steep rise in the number of Gurkha vehicles on the road in the future.
Keyword: New Force Gurkha drive impressions after a short 10 km spin