Latest Update: With the 5 door Thar expected to launch with several new features in the coming weeks, the 3 door Thar too is likely to get a mid life update. Mahindra is likely to add a few new features from the 5 door Thar to the 3 door Thar.
To know more about 5 door Thar & its new features, Check this: Mahindra Thar Armada 5-Door Interiors Spied - 10.25" Touchscreen, Sunroof, & Flexible Seating Undisguised Before Launch.
Key Highlights
Exterior & Design
The 3 door Mahindra Thar continues to carry the silhouette of the OG Thar or the classic Mahindra Jeep. However, it now gets several modern and unique elements like different design for front and rear wheel arches. The front arch of the Thar gets a squarish design while the rear wheel arch gets a circular design. It further gets all around thick cladding. The round headlamps along with vertical front grille adds to the classic jeep design and rugged look of the off roader.
Interior & features
Inside the cabin, the 3 door Thar gets 2 speakers in the dashboard + 2 speakers & 2 tweeters on the roof, making it a 4 speaker + 2 tweeter audio system. The infotainment touchscreen is the old one from Mahindra. However, it shows off-road stats like power and torque delivery info, tyre pressure display, tyre direction display, pitch and roll angle of the vehicle, gear position indicator, direction compass, speed and rev info etc.
Engine and Transmission
On the powertrain front, the 3 door Thar comes with 2 diesel engine option and 1 petrol engine option. The petrol one is a 2 litre mStallion T-GDi engine that produces 150 PS of power and 300 Nm of torque in the manual and 320 Nm of torque in the automatic transmission variants. In diesel, first one is the 2.2 litre mHawk engine producing 130 PS of power and 300 Nm of torque and second one is the 1.5 litre D117 CRDe engine that produces 118 PS of power and 300 Nm of torque.
On the transmission front, Thar offers two transmission options i.e. a 6 speed manual gearbox and a 6 speed torque converter automatic transmission. The manual transmission can be paired with the petrol as well as both the diesel engines. While the automatic gearbox can only be paired with the mStallion petrol engine and the mHawk diesel engine.
Drive Train
Mahindra Thar is one of the few off road specific and extremely capable compact SUV currently available in India. It comes in 4X4 as well as RWD (rear wheel drive) option. The 4X4 offers the driver 2H, 4H and 4L modes along with Electronic Brake Locking Differential for RWD, Advanced Electronic Brake Locking Differential for 4WD, and Mechanical Locking Differential.
Variants and Colour
Customers can choose to go with either RWD Thar or 4X4 Thar. One can also choose from a manually convertible soft top roof or a hard top roof. For colour, there are 5 options, all with black roof (hard top or soft top). Further more, one can choose from 2 different variants i.e. AX OPT and LX, the LX being the top end fully loaded one.
Segment & Rivals
It's sub 4 meter in length and thus its real competitor is 5 door Maruti Jimny. However, the Force Gurkha too is one of its main rival as they both are available in the same segment and similar price range.
