Off-Road Olympics: Thar vs. Jimny – Who Will Win Gold Shenanigans?
Lifestyle offroaders are currently in a popular position in India thanks to Mahindra, re-inventing this space in 2020. Before 2020, lifestyle off-roaders weren’t a mainstream offering despite desirability factor.
With Thar, this segment has grown. Segment rivals come forth in the form of Force Gurkha and Maruti Suzuki Jimny. Jimny and Thar are often the talking point in this space, and have the ability to create quite the commotion. But who will win a tug of war? Let’s take a look.
Thar vs. Jimny: Clash of the Mud Titans
Kamlesh Barala Youtube channel has uploaded a video where they put a brand new Jimny and a Thar to test. What test, you might ask. They subject both vehicles to a tug-of-war. On one hand, Thar has the weight advantage and boasts a larger engine and greater power and torque figures.
So, it must be a cakewalk for the Mahindra, isn’t it? It was, only in the first round. Kamlesh Barala arranges three rounds of tug of war to decide a winner. In Round 1, both Maruti Suzuki Jimny and Mahindra Thar are in 4X2 and 4X4 transfer case is not active. In this round, Thar easily pulled the Jimny.
But in second round, both Maruti and Mahindra SUVs were supposed to be in 4X4 high. But Thar owner had a lot of confidence in his larger, heavier, more powerful and torquier machine. So, he kept it in 4X2 while Jimny went with 4X4. This round saw Thar struggle to pull the Jimny in 4X4.
And at the end, Jimny pulled Thar slightly. This resulted in a W to Jimny. In third round, things got interesting as both Jimny and Thar are now in 4X4 and at their highest capabilities. Here, Jimny showed the upper hand.
How the Off-Road Shenanigans played out
In the third round, Thar stalled as it was a manual and Jimny pulled ahead with its automatic transmission. This signifies how important user inputs are. In Round Three, third Thar owner may have dumped the throttle with half of the clutch engaged.
This resulted in Thar burning its clutch. This can’t be a win for Jimny as it isn’t very scientific. User inputs, skill and various other parameters play a part.
Because Jimny has 4 gears in its automatic gearbox and Thar has 6, torque spread per gear seems to be higher in the former. Also, Maruti Suzuki might have engineered taller gear ratios for its transfer case to compensate for the power and torque deficit of its 1.5L NA petrol engine.
