April 2022 - Mahindra Thar Petrol, Diesel Variants Explained - Which One To Buy?

Updated (April 4, 2022): This update of the 2022 Mahindra Thar petrol and diesel variants explained article includes the latest prices of the Thar.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Mahindra Thar?

The pros or advantages of Mahindra Thar are:

• A solid 4-star GNCAP adult safety rating
• The diesel engine only costs Rs. 21,000 - 31,000 more than the petrol
• The Thar petrol has surprisingly good performance as the 300Nm-strong torque is available from just 1250rpm
• No competition in the petrol-manual, petrol-automatic and diesel-automatic off-road SUV space; the Gurkha only has a diesel-manual powertrain
• Iconic design catches eyeballs wherever you go
• The wide body offers stability during off-roading and road presence while the short length of under 4m gives it good breakover angle while making it it easy to park in small-car spots
• Second row seats are surprisingly not that difficult to access
• With the automatic transmission and a hard top, the Thar has just enough features to become your daily driver without making it too delicate for mud-splashing and rock-crawling

The Mahindra Thar has the following shortcomings or problems:

• The price is fairly high to begin with as it has gone up a lot compared to the previous generation model
• While a convertible soft top is an option, it’s noisier on the highways compared to the hard top; we wish it had a removable hard-top option
• Automatic transmission carries a steep Rs. 1.50 lakh premium
• A 2WD version with brake locking differential and a smaller 1.5L turbo diesel engine could make it very affordable while offering similar road presence for those who only want the Thar for road use
• Being a 2-door car, access to the second row seats is difficult than pretty much any 4-door car

What Is The Price Of Mahindra Thar Petrol And Diesel Variants?

The Mahindra Thar is available in 2 variants — AX Optional and LX. The prices start at Rs. 13.18 lakh for the Thar AX Optional petrol-manual convertible and go all the way up to Rs 15.54 lakh for the LX diesel-automatic with a hard top.

The base AX Optional is only available with the petrol-manual and diesel-manual powertrains and soft convertible roof top. Only the diesel-manual gets the option of hard top for an additional Rs. 10,225.

The LX petrol-manual gets only a hard top and not a soft convertible top option. It costs Rs. 13.79 lakh. The diesel-manual is available with the convertible as well as hard top for and ex-showroom price of Rs. 14.0 lakh and Rs. 14.10 lakh, respectively. The jump to the LX variant will cost you about Rs. 60,000 more while the LX diesel-manual carries a premium of approximately Rs. 31,000.

The Thar automatic is only available in the top variant and offers both roof options with petrol as well as diesel powertrain. It costs between 15.23 lakh and Rs. 15.54 lakh depending on the roof opinion and engine option you pick. The diesel engine only costs about Rs. 20,500 more than the petrol-automatic but the LX automatic carries a fairly high premium of approximately Rs. 1.50 lakh over the LX manual variants.

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You can use our Fuel Cost Calculator to see how much any petrol, diesel or CNG car will cost to run based on the latest fuel price in your city.

Fuel Cost Calculator in India

Note: Check your Car EMI with our - Car EMI Calculator

Mahindra Thar AX Optional - Base Model Features & Review

The base convertible top AX Optional variant of the Mahindra Thar costs Rs. 13.18 lakh with the petrol-manual and Rs. 13.38 lakh with the diesel-manual powertrain. The diesel-manual also gets the optional hard top for an additional cost of Rs. 10,255 over the convertible. The most notable features of the Thar AX Optional are:

• Mechanically locking differential
• 4-wheel drive as standard
• Manual AC
• Remote central locking
• Roll cage
• 16-inch wheels
• Split rear seatback
• Manual outside mirrors
• Height-adjustable driver seat
• Adjustable rear headrests
• Tilt steering
• day/night inside mirror
• Lockable glovebox
• Tow hooks
• Side foot steps
• Front power windows
• Washable floor

For the price and segment of the Thar, the base variant is missing some must-have features like:

• Music system
• Fog lamps
• Steering-mounted controls
• Power mirrors (must-have for a wide car)
• Front armrest

Considering the missing must-have features, we believe that you should consider the higher LX variant as it doesn’t cost much more. However, if you intend to use it as a second car mostly for off-roading or casual driving, then the simplicity of the interiors is a good thing. If you’re an experienced off-road driver, then the taller sidewall of the base variant’s tyres will also give you better traction on rocky trails. Moreover, the smaller wheel size will result in less rotating mass and more torque at the wheels.

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Mahindra Thar AX Optional Vs LX Variant - Price, Feature Comparison

Depending on the roof and transmission choice, the Thar petrol LX variant costs between Rs. 13.79 lakh and Rs. 15.33 lakh (ex-showroom). Similarly, the Thar LX diesel costs between Rs. 14.0 lakh and Rs. 15.54 lakh. These prices are about Rs. 61,500 higher than the comparable AX Optional variants while the automatic transmission itself carries an additional cost of about Rs. 1.50 lakh. For the Rs. 61,500, it adds the following notable features:

• Front fog lamps
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Steering-mounted controls
• Cruise control
• Brake locking differential
• 18-inch alloy wheels with wider tyres
• Power mirrors
• Lumbar support
• 7-inch touchscreen
• ESC
• Alarm for central locking

The most notable missing features of the Thar LX are front armrest and a rear parking camera. Other than that, this variant offers a good number of features to make it a proper daily-use car. From a value perspective, the LX variant is an easy choice over the AX Optional. With the automatic, this variant will become very easy to drive on-road as well as off road. If you intend to occasionally drive the car off-road but mostly use it on the road, then the LX automatic makes great sense over the AX Optional. Even if you are new to off-roading, not having to change the gears will put you at ease when navigating the terrain while you focus on the steering, accelerator and brake inputs.

Which Variant Of The Mahindra Thar Should You Buy?

For most buyers, the LX variant of the Thar is the most suitable option. It only costs about Rs. 61,000 more than the AX Optional and offers more than enough features to justify the incremental cost. This variant also has slightly better ground clearance with the larger tyre size and the option of automatic transmission. While the automatic itself seems quite expensive, when you factor in the value of the features of the LX variant over the AX Optional, the price of the LX automatic seems fairly reasonable.

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The base AX Optional variant is only suitable for customers who already have another car in the garage and want the Thar primarily for off-roading. Since this variant is not available with an automatic transmission, it will also require more skill when driving off-road and will feel very engaging with a pure mechanical feel. While the AX (O) has slightly lower ground clearance, it makes up for that with a taller sidewall, which will have an easier time going over rocky terrain. The smaller wheel will also result in better torque delivery at the wheel as the engine has less rotating mass (16-inch instead of 18-inch in the LX variant).

What Are The Engine Specifications Of The Mahindra Thar?

The Mahindra Thar has the option of petrol as well as diesel engines and both of them offer a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. 4-wheel drive is standard with the Thar.

Turbo diesel engines generally have better torque output compared to turbo petrol of similar displacement. However, Mahindra’s turbo petrol engine seems to have better torque spread than even their turbo diesel engine. While we don’t see the Thar petrol delivering equally good mileage figures, it’s good to know that it’s just as capable off-road as the Thar diesel.

*Estimated

What Are The Dimensions Of The Mahindra Thar?

The Mahindra Thar is a rare mass-market off-roader. The Force Gurkha is its only real competitor. Compared to the Thar, the Gurkha is quite a bit longer and taller but it has a shorter wheelbase. Off-road, a shorter wheelbase gives a car better breakover angles while crossing obstacles.

The Gurkha offers the off-road-friendly 16-inch wheels as standard and has a slightly better water wading limit. The other details of the Gurkha, such as its ground clearance, approach, departure and breakover angle are not available at the moment. So, we can comment on these aspects.

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Find out how you can get the best mileage or fuel efficiency from your car:

10 Tips To Get Better Mileage From Your Petrol, Diesel Or CNG Car

What Are The Colour Options Of The Mahindra Thar?

The 2022 Thar is available in the following 6 exterior colour options:

• Beige
• Blue
• Maroon
• Read
• Black
• Grey

Note: Here is a quick look at our length-based segmentation of cars to give you an idea of how we classify cars based on their size.