This Mahindra is Thar-rific

Yochanaan Coetzee - The Mahindra Thar caught my attention the moment I saw it.

Yes, it does fleetingly fill your heart with feelings of nostalgia when you swagger up to it, feeling like Indiana Jones about to go off and feed your adventure addiction.

The iconic shape, which helped Mahindra onto the world stage when they attained the rights to build the vehicle in India in 1947, has since been slowly perfected to reach its current incarnation – the Mahindra Thar.

Ariving at N$230 000 for the base model, it is definitely one of the most affordable SUVs on the local market, and while you can't knock it in terms of capability, it could get costly kitting it.



Spirit of a warrior

With hardy built quality and a comfortable cockpit complete with air conditioning, a sculpted dash and Landyesque driving position, you feel both confident and comfortable enough to tackle even the toughest tracks.

The 2,5-litre turbodiesel, which I was told to “go try and break”, developed 78 kW and 247 Nm, which it channels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

Getting to the 'bos' usually means having to fight your way through the urban jungle. This is no issue as the little ­Ma­hindra, would pick up steam with surprising ease and moved through its gears enthusiastically.

Even though the fully-­kitted demo model I drove came with wider off-road tyres, its ­handling and turning on tarmac was not as hectic as I ­imagined. The sight of a beautiful young Thar-­owning female driver zipping around town without breaking a sweat suddenly made sense.

Up in the hills to the east of Windhoek, we found a hill where many young lovers had lingered in the past and just as many Vrydag-vasbyters had run afoul and gotten into some expensive trouble.



Testing conditions

Before we tackled it, I wanted to take the safe route and switch it to 4L and then crawl up the ascent on torque and a deft touch, but our ever-friendly sales assistant, Brandon, laughed off my ignorance and advised me to stay in 2H or 4H.

The Thar benefits from a limited-slip rear differential, which is electrically activated the moment a 100 r/min difference in momentum between the rear wheels is sensed. This, coupled with its impressive ground clearance and short wheel base, made the climb easy and comfortable, at least for those upfront as the two back benches weren't specked with the optional lap belts.

The hard-top version I drove came with a two-part removable top and a range of off-road accessories, including front and back “bosbreekers”, running boards, headlight and grille covers, which were so appealing it even managed to divert the attention of two teen necking nature lovers, before losing them again after filling them in that it all comes at nearly an additional N$100 K.

Needless to say, I was greatly impressed with the Thar. It does what it says on the tin and a whole lot more, pretty well.

Off the beaten track, it is in its element. It is basic, that's undeniable, but well thought out and manufactured with exactly a “don't be extra, be exceptional” ethos in mind. During city driving, you won't show up everywhere looking like you just did a Dakar, which is a huge plus.

Those looking for a hardy, well-built bundu, beach and boulevard buggy, won't go wrong with the Thar.

Give Spes Bona Mahindra a call at 061 27 9700 to find out more, or visit their showroom on Independence Avenue, Windhoek, to see if you and this animal share a craving to create epic adventure stories together.