The Mahindra Thar Roxx is more than just a 5-door Thar!

The Mahindra Thar Roxx is a 5-door, 5-seater SUV that’s been built to offer family-friendliness with off-road capability. While it’s priced on par with compact SUVs, like the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos, its most direct rivals are the Maruti Suzuki Jimny and the Force Gurkha five door. 

Exterior  

There is a lot more to the Mahindra Thar Roxx’ design than just its greater dimensions vs the Thar 3-door. The front grille sports a design that, in keeping with the Thar’s muscular theme, has a “six-pack” grille as opposed to the slats that we see in the Thar 3-door. There are more premium touches too like LED projector headlights and a new LED daytime running light signature. While it’s hard to tell at first, the Thar Roxx is also 50mm wider, adding to the SUV’s broad stance.

The side profile shows off the big difference in size! The Roxx is over 4.4 metres long; 443mm longer than the Thar. The wheelbase alone is larger by 400mm. The tall roofline, sharply angled C-pillar and 19-inch alloy wheels make the Thar Roxx’s side profile very distinctive. It also gets body coloured rear handles that have been integrated into the doors. That being said, the body colour panel above and behind the rear doors can come across as slightly awkward to some.

At the rear, the Mahindra Thar Roxx looks very similar to the Mahindra Thar with one way to tell it apart being the different LED tail light signature. Interestingly, the approach, departure and rampover angles are still quite close to the three door Thar’s. 

 It goes without saying, the Thar Roxx is big on size and old school design character making it quite the attention-grabber. Battleship Grey and Deep Forest are two colours that make it stand out in the most subtle manner while Everest White amplifies its size. 

Interior

 Distinctive as the exterior is, it’s inside the cabin of the Mahindra Thar Roxx where we see the most drastic changes. While most had expected the Thar 5-door to be a more spacious and practical version of the standard Thar, Mahindra has decided to also make it a much more premium off-roader, taking inspiration from the XUV700. 

To add a healthy dose of luxury, the cabin sports a black and beige colour theme, coupled with better quality plastics than we have seen in the Thar so far. In fact, Mahindra has made the generous use of soft padding on the dashboard, as well as the door pads with the end result being a cabin that looks and feels more premium than even that of the Scorpio N!

That being said, in-cabin practicality could have been better. The glove box is just about deep enough to hold your documents and a few cans of beverages (it is cooled). There are two bottle holders in between the front passengers, a storage area underneath the AC console that houses the wireless phone charger and a small tray for keys or coins next to the gear lever if you get the Thar Roxx rear wheel drive. If you get the Thar Roxx 4x4, this slot is where the 4x4 transmission lever is located. The front door pockets can hold a 1 litre bottle and nothing else while the rear doors can barely hold a wallet!

When it comes to cabin space, the Thar Roxx put its large size to good use. Even people who are exceptionally tall have oodles of headroom to spare in either seat row. A six footer can easily sit behind their own driving position and the seat comfort is strong even for those of a slightly hefty build; something we tested over a 1500km drive. What also helps is the recline-adjustable rear backrest that lets you set a very laid-back seating position.

Getting into the cabin does involve climbing into the car as the floor is quite high. Even with the side step, getting into the rear row can prove tricky for elderly passengers. What could’ve been better is the floor space available up front. It’s a little bit narrow and while this is more manageable in the automatic variants, it can get cramped with manual models. 

Additionally, while the steering is tilt-adjustable, it doesn’t adjust for reach. Tall drivers (over 6ft tall) of a large build will find the combination of these factors creating an awkward driving position where their right leg is getting squeezed in between the steering and the door grab handle. 

Boot Space

The Thar Roxx offers 447 litres of boot space (measured up to the back rest) which is enough to hold 2 full-sized suitcases or multiple small to medium-sized bags. We managed to fit 2 large boxes (24x34cm), 2 medium sized suitcases, two-trolley bags and some small bags for a 4 person road trip from Kochi to Pune. 

Features 

 Other Features:

• 6-way power-adjustable driver seat

• Front seat ventilation

• 65W USB type-C charger (+15W USB Type A & C chargers)

• Frameless auto-dimming IRVM

• Leatherette upholstery

• Electronic parking brake

Safety 

Performance 

The Thar Roxx is offered with a 2-litre petrol engine and a 2.2-litre diesel offered with 6-speed manual and automatic transmission options. However, while the petrol is offered only with rear-wheel drive, the diesel gets the option of 4x4 as well.

 Thar Roxx Petrol

 Thar Roxx Diesel

• These engines are shared with the Thar, XUV700 & Scorpio-N. 

• Both engines are tuned for punch and help even an SUV as big and heavy as the Thar Roxx feel quick!

• The engines deliver enough power to manage long distance drives with a full passenger load and make both overtaking and cruising feel effortless.

• The petrol engine is the quicker of the two and while it is a little smoother than the diesel too, Mahindra’s done a great job with noise insulation and vibration control with both engines

• The engine auto start/stop function is not smooth to operate and you’re better off switching it off. Unfortunately, this has to be done everytime the car is started.

• Zip drive mode works for most conditions. While Zoom does make the throttle response sharper it also makes the car a little jerky to drive at low speeds.

• Official fuel-efficiency figures are yet to be revealed. While the diesel will be reasonably fuel-efficient (13-15kmpl in most conditions), the petrol is likely to give you fuel-efficiency in the single digits.

Ride & Handling 

The Thar Roxx makes notable improvements vs the Thar three-door in this department but is still similar in many regards. Noise insulation is better, the electronic power steering feels more connected to use and it feels a little more comfortable over bad roads. 

 However, it is still set up on the stiffer side, meaning expansion joints on bridges, speed breakers, and potholes make their presence felt inside their cabin quite easily, especially in the rear seat. Body roll is apparent even on smooth roads and while the interior is more like the XUV700, the same should not be expected from the Thar Roxx’s ride and handling mannerisms. The XUV700, being a road-biased SUV, is easily the more comfortable car for everyday city use.

On our drive from Kochi to Pune, we found the experience to be acceptable over smooth roads even though there is some body roll. However, over bad roads such as under construction patches of the highway, the Thar Roxx is best driven quickly (if it’s safe to do so) as it dives into every road imperfection tossing the occupants around otherwise. 

Verdict

The Mahindra Thar Roxx is much more than a 5-door Thar. It’s a rugged SUV with a large and comfortable cabin that’s complemented by a long features list and a design that most will find charming. While it’s not without compromise, the Thar Roxx is a highly awaited blend of an off-road capable and premium family SUV. If you’re considering this over other road-biased compact SUVs though, we would urge you to take an extensive test drive over the roads you frequently use to see if the ride quality is acceptable to you.