Mahindra has been testing the upcoming 5-door Thar for nearly a year and a half now, and while we have already reported to you with several spy images, a new sighting of the interior shows some additional features that the 5-door SUV will get over its 3-door sibling. The 5-door is expected to go on sale by the middle of next year.
- 5-door Thar to get larger touchscreen, sunroof
- Will also get front seat armrest and rear AC vents
- Likely to carry forward petrol and diesel engines from 3-door Thar
Mahindra Thar 5-door interior spied
As we have already reported, the biggest update to the 5-door Thar’s interior will be a larger touchscreen in a new housing, possibly a 10-inch unit with improved interface and graphics. This will necessitate a slight redesigned of the dashboard, but the AC vents, HVAC controls and band of toggle switches at the bottom, as seen in these images, will be carried forward unchanged. The band of physical buttons and a rotary dial below the screen have also been retained from the regular Thar.
The newer revelation is that there will be individual armrests for the front seats as well second-row AC vents, both of which are missing from the 3-door Thar. And while this test mule comes fitted with dummy seats at the rear, it remains to be seen if Mahindra offers a regular bench seat or two individual seats as in the regular Thar.
Other additions of note over the regular Thar could be an improved instrument cluster with a larger MID (possibly from the Scorpio N), a dashboard camera as well as a single-pane sunroof that’s clearly visible in these images. The 5-door Thar will only be offered in a hardtop guise with a fixed roof.
The 7-inch screen on the Thar 3-door has been criticised for its mediocre interface and display, and also for its relatively smaller size – 8-inch units are pretty much the norm on almost every other mainstream car or SUV. We expect the larger touchsreen infotainment to be added to the Thar 3-door as well at some point in the future.
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With the Thar 5-door, Mahindra will be targetting SUV buyers who want a practical vehicle that can be used for daily commutes as well as for off-road use. Therefore, a longer features list and more creature comforts will be crucial to set it sufficiently apart from its 3-door sibling that’s a focused off-roader. Camouflaged test mules have also hinted at a slightly altered design to set it apart from its 3-door sibling.
Mahindra Thar 5-door powertrain options
Under the hood, the 5-door Thar is likely to retain the current 2.2-litre diesel and 2.0-litre petrol engines, mated to the same 6-speed manual and auto gearboxes. The off-road hardware will also be carried forward, but owning to the longer wheelbase and additional weight, there will be changes to the suspension setup.
The 5-door Thar is expected to debut sometime around mid-2024, and is expected to be priced considerably higher than the regular Thar, likely in the Rs 16 lakh-20 lakh (ex-showroom) range.
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