Force Gurkha Xtreme expected to be launched later this month…
Since its launch, Mahindra Thar has had a clear run due to a dearth of good competitors. Though there are Maruti Suzuki Gypsy and Force Gurkha also in the market, they both lack in one or the other areas against the Thar. The Gypsy is a super old design of the 80’s and has not been updated at all, at least for the past 15-20 odd years. On the other hand Gurkha, with its lineage from the old Mercedes G Wagon and some cool features, completely fails in terms of a good powertrain. Now, if we trust recent reports, Force is finally gearing up to take the real fight to Mahindra and is bringing in a more powerful top variant of the Gurkha. This scoop was shared in a story by Autocar recently.
Force Gurkha Xtreme Engine & Other Updates
If you see, the current Gurkha comes powered with an aged 2.6L diesel engine producing just 85BHP. This was way outdated in comparison to Mahindra Thar’s 2.5L CrDE engine which produces 105BHP. Now, Force will be replacing it with the Mercedes-Benz’s OM611 derived 2.2L diesel engine producing a whopping (yeah, whopping in terms of Indian offroaders) 140BHP and 321Nm of torque. This is much more than what Thar has to offer. This engine is the same which was last seen on the, now discontinued, Force One SUV. The new more powerful Gurkha will also get a new 5-speed manual gearbox. Gurkha Xtreme will be based on the 3 door or the Xplorer variant of the current model and will get an option of both hard & soft tops. The car will come in two seating configurations, one with 5+1 seats and the second with 7+1 seats.
The new variant will also get an updated suspension system, with a multilink arrangement at both front and rear. The front track is also made wider by 40mm than the current model. All this has resulted in an improved approach, departure and ramp break over angles. The new numbers are now 44 degrees, 35 degrees and 29 degrees respectively. This will further increase the off-roading capabilities of an already super capable off-roader. The new top end Gurkha will also get a low range transfer case and will feature a rear and front differential locks. The car will have a ground clearance of 205mm and water wading depth of 550mm.
Force Gurkha Xtreme Price & Launch
The story further reveals that the car is expected to be priced at Rs. 14 Lakh on road. There is also a rumour that the car will launch later this month and some dealers have already started accepting bookings as well. It is not clear if Force has done any updates to the interiors of the car but, we expect them to look at it too as the interiors of the current version looks very outdated and nowhere in comparison to the one on current Thar. There will be two benefits of updating the interiors, one, Force will be able to further make the competition tough for Thar and second, it will be able to justify its high price tag. We hope Force would have definitely considered this. In any case, its music to our ears hearing about one more good, fun to drive all-terrain option coming our way.
Spec Sheet Source: Cartoq
