Mahindra has quietly introduced a few updates to the Thar to improve some of the niggles that customers complained about. The first and most important update is a new cross bar between the A- and B-pillar that improves body rigidity. The old Mahindra Thar’s B-pillars used to flex and hit the doors over bumpy bits and this updated is aimed at curing this.
Another important improvement is the deletion of the front axle’s auto locking hubs. The new Mahindra Thar gets a more reliable fixed flange setup instead (the front driveshafts are now always engaged).
Then there’s the minor updates to the interiors – the air-con switches are now from the Bolero VLX, the rear seats have been lowered by approximately 6-7mm to improve rear headroom and there is a simpler way to take the roof off over the driver’s section. The old Mahindra Thar had its canopy attached via pins that used to break when you took them off – this new one uses four screws that make it much easier to re-attach the canopy once you take it off. Oh and the easy-to-break inner door handles have been replaced with stronger items.
The good news is that most of these updates can be incorporated on to the existing Mahindra Thar. The cross bar for example can be welded on and it is quite simple to replace the auto locking hubs with the fixed flange.
It’s also good that all these changes come without a price hike.