EXCLUSIVE! Mahindra Thar Petrol Engine Confirmed

The Mahindra Thar is expected to be a vehicle that would launch as soon as things start to come back to normal after the Covid-19 lockdown in India. There is a  fair amount of idea about the exterior features but now we have some news about the engines that we could see on the car.  In our recent conversation with Mahindra Auto CEO, Mr Veejay Nakra he confirmed that the upcoming Thar and Mahindra XUV 500 will have petrol power units from the new stable of engines shown at the Auto Expo earlier this year. With that confirmation in mind, we will give you an idea of the Mahindra Thar Petrol.

Mahindra Thar Petrol Engine

Mahindra had displayed a few petrol engines at the 2020 Auto Expo. Firstly there is the 1.2-litre engine that does duty on the XUV 300. The Mahindra Thar Petrol might not see this engine as it would be a bit underwhelming in its application to the Mahindra Thar is. So to give Mahindra Thar Petrol the punch it needs – the 1.5-litre M-Stallion engine could be the one that will be used. This engine is a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with a 4 cylinder layout. The power output of this engine was told to be 163 bhp along with a torque figure of 280 Nm.

This engine could be further tuned to make lesser power if needed and more torque for the Thar. Twisting power, that is torque will be of more significance in an off-roader like the Thar and Mahindra will keep that in mind. It would anyways be a big step up from the previous generation Thar that only made 105 bhp.

Also to reduce weight this engine is made of aluminium. It makes uses of friction reduction technology to reduce power loss. The 2020 Mahindra Thar could for the first time see an automatic gearbox come as an option with the legendary off-roader. This might be seen on the petrol engine only and will be available with two-wheel drive. It would be a good opportunity to aim the car at more urban users who have until now not considered the Thar. The petrol version of the Thar with its quieter cabin and added convince of an automatic gearbox will be a great choice for city dwellers. But will the petrol engine variant come with an option of four-wheel drive? We don’t think so. That is something Mahindra will reserve for the diesel engine.

Thar Interior

Coming to the interiors of the Mahindra Thar 2020, the car will have a lot of modern touches. It will have a completely redesigned dashboard along with a lot of comfort increasing technology. The infotainment system will have better connectivity with the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Mahindra Thar interior seating has also been changed this time. It gets front-facing seats. This improves safety and also has a higher comfort quotient. The front doors will get power windows. The rear windows won’t have any type of mechanism to open. Also, the Mahindra Thar Petrol will have low NVH levels.

Also read: Suzuki Jimny vs Mahindra Scorpio – Upcoming Affordable 4X4

Mahindra Thar 4×4

If we talk about the Mahindra Thar 4×4 system. We do not expect locking differentials at this price range but if Mahindra launches a higher-priced Thar with fully focused on offroading like the Jeep Trailhawk. That would be a car to look out for! Having a Mahindra Thar 2020 automatic transmission version will be a good choice for people who are looking for a stylish lifestyle vehicle which they can also use for the daily city commuting.

Petrol Price

The current generation of the Mahindra Thar has been availble with only diesel engines. This will be the first time the Mahindra Thar gets a petrol variant.

The car will have better accessibility in terms of price as well as maintenance. The current diesel Mahindra Thar starts at Rs 9.6 lakhs (ex-showroom). With BS6 norms coming in the price of the diesel engine will increase. This means that a Mahindra Thar petrol introduced at a lower price could attract a new set of customers. We are expecting a base price of Rs 8 lakhs for the petrol engines and the diesel to models which will be fully feature-packed might be priced at Rs 13 lakhs.