You Can’t Buy A Barebones Mahindra Thar Petrol

• Mahindra Thar petrol will be offered in two variants only: AX Opt and LX.
• The petrol-powered Thar AX Opt will be offered with a convertible soft top only.
• It utilises a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that develops 150PS and 320Nm.
• The second-gen Thar will be launched in India on October 2.

Mahindra is gearing up to launch the second-gen Thar on October 2. It will be offered in three variants: AX, AX Opt and LX. However, the petrol-powered Thar will come in the top two AX Opt and LX variants only. The petrol-powered Thar AX Opt will be offered with a convertible soft top only, unlike the diesel, which can also be had with a fixed hard top on the same variant. 

The second-gen Thar utilises a brand-new 2.0-litre mStallion turbo-petrol engine that develops 150PS of power and 300Nm (320Nm with automatic) of torque. While the AX Opt variant is offered with a 6-speed manual only, the top-spec LX variant can be had with a 6-speed torque converter automatic only. So if you want a petrol-powered Thar automatic, you need to stretch all the way to the LX variant. Both variants drive all four wheels and come with a low-range transfer case as well. 

Recently, we managed to get our hands on some pictures of the Thar AX Opt. You can click here to see how the mid-spec variant looks like in the flesh. 

The Thar diesel, on the other hand, is offered on all three variants. It utilises a 2.2-litre diesel engine that belts out 130PS of power and 300Nm of torque. This engine is also offered with a 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic transmission and drives all four wheels. 

The new-gen Thar will come loaded with all the bells and whistles to make it more appealing to a wider audience. We recently drove the Thar and came away quite impressed. You can click here to read our detailed first drive review. Prices for the new-gen Thar are likely to start from Rs 9.75 lakh (ex-showroom). It will rival the upcoming Maruti Suzuki Jimny and the Force Gurkha.