First report: The 5-door Thar joined our fleet recently, and the initiation wasn’t limited to city chores; it included a full-blown 1,200km Mumbai-Indore-Mumbai trip.
The timing for this new long termer entering Autocar India’s fleet couldn’t have been better. With monsoons setting in, a 4×4-capable SUV was more than welcome. However, before we indulged in some mud-slinging fun, we put it through a proper road trip.
Mumbai to Indore and back – a 1,200km round trip is a pretty solid initiation for our newest garage entrant. And it’s thrown up quite a few things: good, not good, and typically Thar.
Our Thar Roxx is a top-spec diesel automatic version, the 2.2-litre mHawk paired to a 6-speed torque converter. It’s the combination most buyers gravitate towards, and after this trip, I see why.
This isn’t your everyday urban SUV, but it didn’t leave me fatigued even after 600km.
I really like the motor; it is super-refined, and performance is effortless. In fact, the refinement is so good that it can be easily confused for a petrol motor on the go! There’s a healthy dose of torque in reserve and it feels overly peppy at times, so you have to ease-off the accelerator very often; triple-digit speeds are achieved effortlessly. I also like the utterly light steering, especially in traffic.
The gearbox, too, is smooth and quick, and it does a fine job of keeping things relaxed. What irritates me, though, is the engine stop-start, which is slow to respond and then sends a massive shudder through the cabin that’s hard to ignore when it cranks the engine back on. It’s a reminder that beneath the urban gloss, the Thar Roxx is still a hardy, body-on-frame 4×4 at heart.
Massive panoramic sunroof lets in abundant light and makes the cabin feel spacious and airy.
What’s made a big impression early on is the panoramic roof. It’s massive and not only lets in heaps of light but also gives the cabin a properly airy feel. It’s a great touch, especially if you’re spending long hours on the road and the weather is pleasant. Pair that with cooled front seats, which work well without sounding like a mini cyclone under your backside, and you’ve got the makings of a fairly civilised off-roader.
Ventilated front seats work quietly, with barely any fan noise, and do a good job of keeping you cool.
Mahindra’s done a commendable job with the cabin layout, too. Everything’s where it should be, and it all feels robust enough to take a beating. However, the white upholstery on our Roxx will be difficult to keep clean, especially with the different users and usage our long-term cars go through. They’re spotless now, but I’m not betting on them staying clean for too long, especially once the monsoon kicks in in full swing. I would have appreciated a bit more storage space, especially for a regular 1-litre plastic water bottle, which, even in the front-door pocket, needs to be really squeezed in.
If there is one area where the Roxx still needs polish, it’s the low-speed ride comfort. Mahindra’s clearly tried to dial in some urban usability, but on patchy tarmac or through villages with rumble strips every few kilometres (and there are a lot between Mumbai and Indore), the Roxx moves around a lot.
The suspension lets through hard kickbacks over rumble strips and makes the occupants uncomfortable.
The firm suspension does not compress over smaller imperfections, thus transferring all that movement to the body and shaking the occupants side-to-side. The rear passengers, in particular, bear the brunt of the jostling, so if you’re heading out with friends or family, prepare for some complaints from the back seat.
The boot space, too, isn’t a strong suit for the Roxx. While you can stuff in a few duffel bags or cabin bags, it’s tight for a car that looks this big. On our trip, we did manage to fit in a fair amount of luggage but had to do a lot of juggling. It’s a compromise. And while the split rear door is charmingly old-school, it’s not the most practical setup when you’re juggling luggage in the rain.
Boot space is tight, especially given the Thar’s size. Packing things needs some planning.
And speaking of rain, the wipers need an upgrade. In a heavy downpour, the blades struggled to keep up even at their highest speed.
Another thing I noticed on this drive was an issue with the fuel lid. It refused to pop open on multiple occasions at fuel stations. Even after pressing the fuel-flap release button, the lid did not open and needed to be pulled out physically with a key or a coin. I suspect that some mud and muck have probably caused the lid mechanism to jam. It surely needs to be checked during its next service. What was a bigger surprise was a glitch with the infotainment and the instrument cluster blacking out completely while driving, but thankfully, it came back to life on its own.
The instrument cluster and touchscreen blacked out a few times while driving and turned back on on their own.
The Thar’s fuel efficiency figure hovered around 10kpl during the round trip. Now, that’s not catastrophic for a heavy, 4WD SUV with an automatic gearbox, but it’s also not something to boast about either. On the whole, the Thar managed the trip well. It did cover a 600km stretch in a day without leaving me fatigued, which is more than I can say for some monocoque SUVs.
Next up? Well, the monsoon’s here, and so are a bunch of off-road trails just waiting to be explored. The Thar Roxx’s 4×4 hardware hasn’t seen much action yet, but that’s about to change in the next report. Mud, slush and maybe a hill or two. Time to find out what this Roxx is really made of.
| MAHINDRA THAR ROXX 4WD DIESEL AT AX7L test data | |
|---|---|
| Odometer | 13,157km |
| Price (ex-showroom, India) | Rs 21.28 lakh |
| Economy | 10.3kpl (overall, this month) |
| Maintenance cost | None |
| Faults | Sticky fuel flap, screen glitches |
Also see:
2025 Hyundai Verna long term review, 17,000km report
Audi Q7 long term review, 8,000km report
