Maruti Jimny 5-door, Mahindra Thar 3-door, And Force Gurkha Specifications Compared

The holy trinity of Indian off-roaders is now complete with the introduction of the Maruti Jimny five-door at this year’s Auto Expo. Up until now, the Mahindra Thar and the Force Gurkha have been the quintessential rugged off-roading SUVs for us Indians. And the Maruti Jimny, the latest kid on the block, is creating quite the ruckus since its inception. So naturally, we just had to compare how the three SUVs stack up against each other with our usual on-paper spec comparo. Let’s go:

Size matters

We Indians love road presence and these SUVs aren’t lagging in that area. Even though two of the three are just sub-4m SUVs, they look the part of a much bigger one and that’s thanks to their wide and tall proportions. Let’s see which’s the biggest of them all.

The longest and tallest of the three is the Force Gurkha but it's the Thar that’s the widest and boasts the best ground clearance. The Maruti Jimny, despite being the only 5-door model here, sports the same length as the Thar and has the longest wheelbase of the three SUVs. So despite having extra doors, it’s actually the tiniest of the lot. 

We reckon the upcoming five-door versions of the Thar and Gurkha will triumph the Maruti in that parameter as well.

Powertrain

The Mahindra Thar is the only SUV to get both petrol and diesel engine options. Also, Mahindra recently launched the RWD variant of the Thar, which gets the same petrol engine, though the diesel has been downsized to a 1.5-litre unit. The latter only gets a manual transmission option.

The Jimny gets a single 1.5-litre petrol engine, while the Gurkha is powered by a Mercedes-derived 2.6-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. All SUVs get standard manual gearboxes, but the Gurkha is the only one without an automatic option. 

Off-road stats

There’s no doubt that these SUVs look the part of a quintessential off-roader. But do they have the numbers to back those off-roading-ready looks? Let’s find out:

Some impressive numbers all around but it’s the Thar that comes out victorious. It boasts a better approach and rampover angle than the other two and even has a better departure angle than the Force Gurkha. Unexpectedly, the Jimny has the steepest departure angle of the three but we couldn't get a confirmation on its water-wading capacity. In terms of water wading capability, the Gurkha betters the Thar by around 50mm. 

Off-road technology

Those impressive off-road stats above weren’t just achieved out of the blue. There’s proper off-roading technology that went into backing those numbers. Naturally, 4x4 is standard on all the three, with a low range transfer case for shifting between 2H, 4H and 4L. 

The Gurkha’s 700mm water-wading is thanks to a snorkel. It also gets mechanically locking front and rear differentials, while the Jimny packs a limited slip differential that relies on the brakes for optimum traction. The Thar on the other hand features an electronic locking differential on the front axle and mechanical brake-locking differential on the rear axle, although the latter is limited to the top-spec LX Diesel trim as a paid option.

Features

Now these aren’t your run of the mill SUVs laden with creature comforts. They are made to take you to places and roads that you wouldn't dare take in a standard SUV, but even still, they pack some decent features to help you take the road not taken.

The Mahindra Thar and Maruti Jimny pack a strong list of features with automatic AC controls, electric ORVMs, and cruise control. The Jimny boasts the largest infotainment screen of the lot and even gets six airbags as standard. The Force Gurkha, though, seems a little short on features in comparison, with manual AC controls, ORVM and no ESC.

Price

With the introduction of the rear-wheel drive variants of the Thar, the entry point for the SUV now starts at Rs 9.99 lakh and goes all the way up to Rs 16.29 lakh for the 4WD trims. In that respect, the Gurkha is offered in a single trim priced at Rs 14.75 lakh (all prices ex-showroom). 

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Maruti is yet to disclose the Jimny’s pricing, but we expect it to start from around Rs 10 lakh. That’s on par with the RWD variants of the Thar but it’s a whole Rs 4.75 lakh cheaper than the Gurkha. Sure, the prices will go up as we go up the trims but as a whole, the Jimny has a pretty alluring argument that will get cemented with the right prices. We say go bold with the prices @Maruti.