Force Motors has finally launched the more practical iteration of its three-door lifestyle off-roader Gurkha at a price tag of Rs. 18 lakh. Currently, the Gurkha five-door has no direct rival in the country. However, in the coming months, it will be facing stiff competition from the Mahindra Thar five-door. Speculated to be named as the Thar Armada, the five-door version of Mahindra’s SUV will come equipped with a ton of features and new design. So, how will both of these SUVs fare against each other? Read ahead to find out.
Exterior Design
Force Gurkha five-door
First off, let’s talk about the exterior design of the Force Gurkha five-door. Before diving into the specific details, it has to be mentioned that the new Gurkha five-door looks exactly the same as the Gurkha three-door from the front and rear.
This means that it also gets a single horizontal bar grille with the Gurkha lettering, circular LED headlights with LED DRLs, and Mercedes-Benz G63-styled turn indicators on the fender. It also gets a massive snorkel on the right fender.
Apart from this, the side profile gets an 18-inch set of diamond-cut alloy wheels. The main highlight of this vehicle is the additional doors in the middle. Meanwhile, the rear remains the same as the three-door model. It comes standard with a metal ladder to climb onto the roof.
Dimensionally, the Gurkha five-door measures 4390 mm in length, 1865 mm in width, and 2095 mm in height. The five-door model offers a wheelbase of 2825 mm. Meanwhile, its ground clearance is 233 mm.
Overall, the Gurkha is a dedicated off-roader with its massive dimensions and styling cues. To some, it may not feel like a vehicle that they can use daily despite it having more seats now.
Mahindra Thar five-door
Coming to the exterior design of the Mahindra Thar. The SUV will come equipped with a new grille design as opposed to the three-door Thar. It will get a new six-slat grille which will be divided into two parts by a horizontal line. It will also get new LED headlights. However, the rest of the front will remain the same.
Coming to the side profile, like the Gurkha five-door, the new Thar Armada will also get two middle doors. These doors will help in increasing the practicality of the Thar.
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Apart from this, the top-spec variant will come with 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. It will also ditch the fiber roof for a metal one. The rear will look pretty much the same as the three-door Thar.
Overall, the Thar five-door will look a little less rugged as it will not get a dedicated roof rack, snorkel, or a metal ladder. In terms of choice between the two, it will depend upon the liking of the individual buyer. Styling is always a personal thing.
Interior and Features
Force Gurkha five-door
The Gurkha five-door boasts the exact same interior as the Gurkha three-door. It gets a very rugged and basic dashboard with a ton of hard plastics. It does not feel premium and will be best suited for those who buy this SUV mainly for its utility.
The Gurkha gets a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment screen, 7-inch digital instrument gauge cluster, and an electronic four-wheel mode selector for 2H, 4H, and 4L. Apart from this, it also gets power windows, manual AC, and some bronze gold accents on the center console.
Other features of the SUV include cornering lights and follow-me headlamps. It also features dual airbags, ABS, and EBD. Additionally, the Gurkha five-door gets a tire pressure monitoring system too. As per the company, the SUV offers best-in-class headroom and legroom.
Thar five-door
The Mahindra Thar five-door, on the other hand, is expected to come equipped with a much more premium and well-finished interior. The overall layout is likely to remain the same as before. However, it will now be ditching its small 7-inch infotainment screen for a 10.25-inch unit seen on the new XUV 3XO.
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Meanwhile, it will still get manual AC, but reports state that it could also get a new digital instrument and a multifunction steering wheel. Apart from this, the SUV could come equipped with a 360-degree camera, TPMS, and Level 2 ADAS.
Other features on offer will include roof-mounted speakers, AdrenoX connected car technology, and a single-pane electric sunroof. Lastly, it could also get a number of auxiliary switches underneath the AC controls as well.
Overall, the interior of the new Thar five-door is expected to be much more premium than the Gurkha five-door. It will also be the more equipped of the two and will be better suited for buyers who want to go off-road but do not want to have a bare-basic vehicle.
Engine Options
Gurkha five-door
The Force Gurkha five-door gets a single powertrain option – a 2.6-liter diesel 4-cylinder engine. This motor produces 140 PS of power and 320 Nm of torque. This engine only comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
Thar five-door
The Mahindra Thar five-door, on the other hand, will come with multiple engine options. As per reports, it will most likely get Scorpio-N’s 2.0-liter turbo-petrol and 2.2-liter diesel engines.
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The petrol engine is expected to deliver 200 bhp with 370 Nm or 380 Nm of torque. Meanwhile, the diesel engine could produce 172bhp with 370 Nm or 400 Nm of torque.
As for the transmission options, it could offer a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. The smaller 1.5-liter engine from the three-door Thar is not expected to be offered with the five-door Thar. This is because the five-door Thar will be heavier than the three-door model.
Overall, the Thar five-door will be catering to a much more diverse number of buyers. There will be numerous options for the enthusiasts to pick up from and Gurkha five-door’s single powertrain option will most likely lure in very niche buyers.
The post 5-Door Force Gurkha vs Upcoming 5-Door Mahindra Thar: Available Details Compared first appeared on Cartoq.
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