Mahindra Super Thar
We’ve just got it and we’ve already clocked 4000km
I ALWAYS THOUGHT it would be cool to drive a rally car to work every day and it looks like I’ve got what I’ve asked for. Meet Super Thar – it isn’t your conventional rally car, but it was built at Raj Kapoor’s Performance workshop for one purpose – to compete in the Desert Storm rally. In 2013, with Sunny Sidhu behind the wheel, it finished second overall – so it does have credentials.
It is now mine for a year and to be honest, I really didn’t know what I was getting into. Like a proper rally car, there’s no air-conditioning, it’s got a firm ride thanks to the set-up of the Fox rally dampers and we measured cruising speed noise levels at 100 decibels. Just getting in and out will ensure I get fit because the doors are half the size of the regular Thar and I have to climb over the door sill and the roll cage to get into the low Sparco racing buckets. The plexiglass windows don’t open and instead I have these Ferrari F40-style sliding open windows and roof vents to cool the cabin when the Thar is on the move. In traffic, it’s like sitting in an oven on slow burn. I love it!
By Thar standards, it is quick – under the hood is the standard 2.5-litre CRDe engine with a conical free flow filter, Race Dynamics tuning box and a bigger intercooler from the XUV500 sitting right under that hood scoop. Thanks to the free flow exhaust, it sounds like someone stepped on King Kong’s foot every time I floor it and I absolutely love its matte orange paint and white wheels.
In Desert Storm spec, it had all-terrain tyres (for desert racing) but I’ve put Maxxis Bighorn 764 mud-terrains on it because I plan to go slushing. There’s a bit of an antisocial air about it and that’s what attracts me to it the most.
I’ve really grown fond of this raw slice of beef. On the Mana Pass run, it took us through seven states in as many days with altitudes ranging from sea level to 18,000 feet and temperatures from 3 to 40 degrees Celsius.
We drove it over boulders, through rivers and landslides, winced at the stiff ride on bad roads and howled at its uncanny ability to go around corners on good roads (thanks to the dual bypass suspension, competition leaf springs, polyurethane bushes , stronger lower and upper arms and
Like a proper rally car, there’s no airconditioning, it’s got a firm ride and we measured noise levels at 100 decibels
altered suspension mounts).
It was like a road trip of old with lots of adventure, no air-conditioning and getting wet every time it rained (yes, even this hard top Thar leaks). That such a purpose built car could do so much with just a tyre swap has impressed me.
We even drove it 865km in 13 hours to get it back to Pune after the trip to the Mana Pass. We arrived tired, but even Abhay will agree, it was a whole load of fun. I have lots of plans for it – I’ll keep you updated through all the mud and guts. I promise.