GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY

It was a day of being let loose behind the wheel of the facelift Mahindra Thar at the Mahindra Off-road Adventure Training Academy at Igatpuri, Maharashtra

- Gaurav Davare

It has been almost five years since the three-door Mahindra Thar, the rough and tough and iconic off-roading sport utility vehicle, got its latest iteration.

At that time, it became a whole lot bigger and, more importantly, less spartan than before, gaining more lifestyle credentials, while still retaining much of its off-road abilities that many have come to love. Nevertheless, there were still those who felt that the Thar was a little too spartan. What is Mahindra's response? Give the SUV some long-overdue updates.

Are these updates enough to make the Mahindra Thar less spartan? Well, the folk at Mahindra have added a twist to things. We got to sample the updated Thar at the Mahindra Off-road Adventure Training Academy at Igatpuri with many curated challenges; a perfect opportunity to let the Thar appear in its element, as also to test its off-road chops.

Before we get to how our day of getting down and dirty went, let's see what has actually changed in the new Mahindra Thar, because a lot of it is largely for better convenience. We know that the Thar's gigantic presence means getting the traffic to move out of the way, which will arguably be a very easy task. That presence remains intact, and you'll barely be able to notice a difference if you juxtapose the old and new models. The exterior changes are very subtle, with a new dual-tone shade for the front and rear bumpers, besides a rear wiper and washer. There are new Battleship Grey and Tango Red colour options to choose from. Personally, I'd go for the Tango Red as it doesn't look out of place even in the aftermath of off-road thrills.