Autocar India SUV Off-road Day 2024

At last year’s Off-road Day, we heard your requests and brought your favourite soft roaders in to join the slush-filled fun, just so long as they had some form of 4WD. And fun it was! But there’s no doubt we had to go a little easy on them, and as a result, the two actual off-roaders – the Jimny and Hilux – were basically given a park to walk through. So this year, to make amends, we’ve brought Off-road Day back to its roots with tougher challenges and a roster of purpose-built off-roaders only. 

Leading proceedings is, of course, the Thar Roxx, a new Mahindra SUV created by throwing a Thar, a Scorpio-N and an XUV700 into a blender. It holds immense promise, so to keep it honest, we’ve brought along its only true competitor, the titanic Force Gurkha 5 Door, which, apart from its increased size, has benefited from more power and higher ground clearance. We brought the Jimny back, too, not only to complete the 5-door trio but to throw a bit more challenge at it than last year.

 The Thar Roxx is created by throwing a Thar, a Scorpio-N and an XUV700 into a blender.

Higher up the pecking order is the holy trinity of off-roaders, descended from iconic warhorse 4x4s, and each evolved in its unique way: the Wrangler, here in no less than its toughest Rubicon guise, is fresh from a mild facelift; the Defender is with us in longer 110 rather than 90 specification this time, and the G Wagen returns to our Off-road Day after seven years and a generation change.

Off-road day: Obstacles

1. Articulation II

We’ve done articulation tests before, but this year’s is decidedly more challenging. The ruts are deeper, the angles of attack are sharper, and the exit is a whole lot trickier. Success in previous tests is no guarantee of winning here.

2. The ‘V’

The ultimate test of hill descent and ascent control. A slushy, gripless down slope with a tricky rut for good measure, then a sharp angle to test approach and departure, followed by a skyward climb up a mossy rock surface.

3. Slush pull

Innocuous to the untrained eye, this seemingly shallow pit is filled with treacle-thick mud that will drag down even the torquiest of SUVs. Only momentum will see you through, but just for fun, there’s a further half-storey climb out at the end.

It may be underpinned by a brand-new ladder frame, but the simple fact is the Roxx is also a longer Thar. It’s 400mm longer in the wheelbase than the 3-Door Thar, and that has resulted in a smaller ramp breakover angle of 23.9 degrees. This rarely seemed to prove an issue, however, as approach and departure remain top-notch, allowing the Roxx to enter and exit obstacles with ease. Its underbelly made contact with the articulation obstacle more easily than the 3-Door Thar (which we brought along for reference), but it was nothing the tough Gen 4 chassis couldn’t take. Particularly in low-grip conditions like the Slush Pull, however, it was the Roxx’s new electronically actuated rear diff lock that felt like the big upgrade. Unlike the smaller car’s MLD, which would often snap into action violently, requiring corrections from the driver, this was ready to go at the touch of a button. A huge upgrade whose benefit was welcome off-road as it is on-road was the new electronic power steering (EPS), which allowed for fine steering corrections with little effort and less risk of snapping back ferociously as the wheels exited the obstacles.

The electronic power steering allowed for fine steering corrections with little effort and less risk of snapping back.

As with the Roxx, there’s way more to the Gurkha 5 Door than just a wheelbase extension (albeit a mammoth 425mm one), but then these changes have been applied to the 3 Door as well (which, again, we brought along for reference). Larger wheels and updated suspension mean the ground clearance is up from 205 to 233mm, and the front control arms have been repositioned for a better approach angle. Oh, and the 2.6-litre diesel engine has had its power and torque bumped up from 91hp and 250Nm to 140hp and 320Nm!

The Gurkha’s basic, no-nonsense nature remains intact.

But the Gurkha’s basic, no-nonsense nature remains, including having to manhandle the front and rear diff locks into position (low range is via a shift-on-the-fly knob, though). It’s the tallest SUV here, towering over even its forefather, the G-Wagen, and it feels top-heavy from behind the wheel. But like the Roxx, the longer wheelbase aids stability and confidence. Plus, the view out from up there is great. It simply pummels the Slush Pull and Articulation obstacles into submission. On the V, however, it did show its weight on the descent, though it’s impressive how effective a good low-range 1st gear is in the absence of hill-descent control.

Completing the 5-door trio of everyday off-roaders, the Jimny did seem a little out of place at first. It’s tiny, for one, and the only one not to feature a turbocharged engine, hence the meek power output from its 1.5-litre engine of 105hp, but it counters that by being the lightest by far. It’s also the simplest mechanical setup for off-roading here, with only low range, no locking differentials or electronic aids, and a manual gearbox. Suffice it to say it had the hardest time of the lot.

It almost felt too small for the large divots of Articulation II and needed a lot of momentum to force itself out. It was also prone to stalling, which was not helped by the engine stop/start system that kept re-engaging. That said, articulation, approach and departure were not an issue, and its light weight was actually a boon in both the Slush Pull and the V. Though it needed some momentum to scrabble up the base of the rocky slope, once it found its line, there wasn’t a lot of mass to move, and it did it in a controlled manner. All things considered, for tougher obstacles like these, a few simple mods wouldn’t go amiss on the Jimny.

The Defender feels like an SUV that you wouldn’t take off-roading by choice, but instead, one you know would get you out of a pickle in a pinch. Put that down to its classy exterior design or luxurious interior, but it feels like it belongs on the road. However, it doesn’t take long to prove that here in the wild is where it belongs. It’s almost anticlimactic to set it up with a few button presses; just select a mode (Mud and Ruts in this case), and it locks up diffs, raises air suspension, and adjusts traction control all for you. Even the way it deals with the obstacles is all too calm and refined, whirrs filtering into the otherwise silent cabin as the electronics do their thing.

While it aced all the obstacles, it wasn’t as effortless as its contemporaries, as often the electronics took a second or two to react. This was particularly true of the Slush Pull, where it nearly stopped before the exit before making a last-ditch correction and finding grip. Its articulation wasn’t as good as the Merc or Jeep, displaying the most movement – a consequence of its monocoque chassis.

But where its electronically governed abilities really shone was on the V, displaying a zen-like control for both hill descent and ascent.

Has the G Wagen forgotten its roots and become too much of a poser for its own good? At its price of over Rs 2.5 crore, that’s a fair question to ask. But no; it simply now has the presence to match its unreal off-road ability. It’s probably for the best we have the G 400d Adventure Edition and not an AMG G 63, as it uses more sensible 19-inch wheels, doesn’t have protruding side exhausts to hurt the breakover angle, and still pumps out a hefty 700Nm from its straight-six diesel – the most in this test.

Just watching it tackle Articulation II should tell you all you need to know. The body remains almost flat while the axles do all the work. It steamrolled through the Slush Pull like it was standing water, and with all three diffs locked via the iconic three buttons on the dash, there’s little that can hinder its progress. In fact, in the interest of comparison, we tried the obstacles again with just the centre diff locked, and it felt almost no different. The tank-like, almost calculated dominance with which the G Wagen crushes off-road obstacles is not just an eye-opening experience from behind the wheel but also a sight to behold from the outside.

Little has changed on the Rubicon since we brought it here last, most of which – bigger screen, ADAS, front camera, powered seats, new audio system – make it more liveable on the road. But just for fun, they improved its approach, departure and ramp breakover angles and ground clearance, too.

Not that it needed it. The Rubicon has the most comprehensive off-roading kit here – front and rear diff locks, detachable sway bars, electronic aids – the works! For instance, you can choose your speed for hill-descent control, which was handy on the V.

Despite the updates, it’s still the most focused off-roader of the luxurious trio, with few concessions to comfort; its standard mud-terrain tyres are great in the jungle but terrible on the road. But the almost comical ease with which it tackles even these harder obstacles has to be seen to be believed. It walked the Slush Pull rather than use momentum like the rest; the tyres alone would have sailed it up the mossy rock, and here, too, we disengaged all its off-road aids, and it still sailed through. Truly the vehicle to buy if your only intention for it is off-roading, because when it comes to sheer capability, it is ahead by a long shot.

Off-road day: Tough of legends

Winners? Losers? Of course not; just observations. There are roughly two classes of cars here, but within them, things couldn’t be more different. The Thar Roxx is, as Mahindra intended, a phenomenal all-rounder. They’ve not sacrificed its off-road ability in the quest to make it upmarket and, in fact, have only enhanced it. The Gurkha, meanwhile, is as crude as ever, and that’s what we love about it. Ignore the aftermarket touchscreen, the lack of an auto gearbox and the basic interior; slam those diff lock levers into place and have the time of your life. It was a little disappointing to see the Jimny struggle a little, but it proves everything has limits, and this still remains the most accessible off-roader on sale today.

The Defender and Wrangler are two opposite approaches to the luxury off-roading challenge. On one hand, there’s luxury and electronic aids, and on the other, there’s bare bones and pure hardware. The G Wagen, pricey as it is, manages to not just walk the line between those two ideals, it smashes it. Without diminishing the capabilities of the other two, it proves itself as the SUV that does it all, and it also happens to be the most desirable one. With these six, I think we’ve achieved peak Off-road Day. Not sure what our next theme will be, but one thing’s for sure. As long as they keep making SUVs with 4WD that can tackle more than just a mucky country road, we’ll keep coming back for more. 

Off-road Day powered by Idemitsu Lube India

Also see:

AMG Experience 2024: Star Track