Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Who's The Real Roxx-star?

Mahindra has decided to Roxx the SUV party recently with this beast, the Thar Roxx. Now when that happened, everybody had the same question, how is it really different from the regular Thar which doesn’t have a suffix? Well, that’s what we’re going to tell you today and I can tell you also straight up, it’s not just the fact that one is longer than the other.

Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Design

So, the obvious difference between the two is the length and that aside, there are changes. You get a different grille on the Roxx which Mahindra likes to call the six-pack. The grille is now hooded at the top, with the Mahindra name at an angle on it. It is wider than before and also gets a body-coloured finish. The headlights are new, it finally gets LED lights and those C-shaped DRLs do look distinct and finally not like the Wrangler’s DRLs. And while the Thar only gets 18-inch alloys, the Roxx wears a size larger at the top end. 

The name Thar is just brilliant because it’s so uniquely Indian. It pays tribute to our mighty desert in Rajasthan. But then you have Thar Roxx. When I first heard that name, I had to kind of sit down and wonder, what was the direction Mahindra was going with when it came to this name? You could have gone with Jaisalmer or Jodhpur, evoked images of Rajasthan and its grandeur and its tough terrain. But nope we are going with Thar Roxx, you can’t even say without stopping in the middle. Now the car is definitely longer than that one as I was saying, and it’s to be precise 443 mm longer. Most of that goes back here because of course the idea of stretching it out was to give us a nice five-door. And so let’s talk about that door a little bit. Compared to regular cars which have the four passenger doors, this door is, let’s face it, a little bit narrow. While that does make a difference in terms of the comfort you have getting in and getting out, it’s not terrible. The rear door handle though, is something I have to question. Now a car like this which is about being chunky and sort of brutish, it really should have chunky big grab handles kind of door handles. This doesn’t have it and of course to be fair, nor did the regular Thar. But if you have this black, slightly more functional-looking handle at the front, well why is the rear door handle body coloured? You have to really wonder. And why isn’t it down like how the front door handle is? Again that’s because it would have really emphasised, possibly, the fact that it’s a narrow door but this is what we have. This is what we have to live with. 

The roofline is obviously different as well. You get a sheet metal roof, it’s not the fibre roof and then you have this little design element, let's call it that, sits above the rear door. Have to question why it’s there. The angle of the C-pillar is very very pronounced and you know I really think the idea is not to look like the Wrangler but you have to again question why it’s there. It didn’t need to be there. It actually takes away what would otherwise be a nice squarish design. To sort of justify that you little easter eggs where you have a camel down here and then the Roxx climbing up this steep incline. That’s been baked in. Let’s call that interesting. There are some easter eggs up front as well. And then overall the car still manages to look proportionate, it still manages to look good and it doesn’t look like it’s a stretched weird version of the three-door Thar.

So, like I said, that stretched length doesn’t make it look weird at all and it is a good-looking car overall. But is that the story inside? 

Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Interior & Tech

Inside, the difference is really obvious there’s an effort again a very obvious one to go a little bit more swish, more posh. And you have to question in India why you would have a nearly white interior. Even on the headliner, which kind of becomes difficult to clean but you know what it looks different and it looks more urban. More lifestyle-like and I think that’s what Mahindra was going for. You do have the two-tone on the dash and up here, again, a big difference is the soft touch with faux stitching, trying to look more upmarket. So the layout of the dash is the same, the materials are completely different. The screen’s completely different as well because you have the Adrenox system at the top end which means a 10.25-inch touchscreen and the same sized instrument cluster, a virtual one. So these are huge changes, some of this might show up in the facelift of the high-end or the top-end version of the Thar sometime next year. But the effort, as I was saying, has been made to try and just make this car feel a bit more urban-friendly. And I think you’ve achieved that to a large extent because the seats are comfortable. The layout and the materials, definite improvements, and then you also get  things like the touchscreen and the wireless charger. It works.

And even the base MX1 trim is pretty loaded. You even get a non-HD 10.25-inch touchscreen at the base level. So there’s a lot going on in favour of the Thar Roxx but that does that mean the regular Thar is terrible? 

Ergonomically the two cars are similar and the layout of the dash is similar but of course, glaring differences. And this I feel is something that’s going to get addressed when we see the facelift coming next year on this car. So I’m not sure about the soft touch materials but because really if you look at it, the whole idea is that it’s a little more rugged and that’s pronounced. I think that goes with the image of the car and it should stay. And I don’t expect the palette or the materials to change. But sure you could get the bigger screen and you could get the instrument cluster going virtual. It still has the easter eggs on this one as well and the biggest advantage you get on the regular Thar vs the Thar Roxx, the fact that you can go topless.

So only a hard top on the 5-door. The purists may protest, but I think that’s just fine given who the Roxx is targeted at. The Roxx is obviously better loaded, though the Thar will also get this dual-screen layout with its facelift next year. And while the 3-door does have dual airbags, ABS and ISOFIX child seat mounts as standard, it is likely to also get more safety equipment as standard next year. On the Roxx there’s a tonne of safety equipment – everything from six airbags, three-point seatbelts with reminders for all, ISOFIX, electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, and then some is all standard. The Roxx also gets optional blind spot cameras and 360 views, and level 2 ADAS with 10 features. 

Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Rear Seat

The 3-door Thar’s Achilles heel was always the lack of cabin space behind the front row. That back seat itself, more than the lack of rear doors, was the bigger reason that some folks shunned the car. It can get claustrophobic back here too, because the rear windows don’t roll down or open. And you don’t even have rear AC vents. It’s different in the 5-door Roxx. Very different.

You get your own AC vents, you’ve got a nice high seating position, very SUV-like and great view of the road and the surroundings. These are all the positives besides the one big winner in the pack, which is the seat is one that can recline. Smart move Mahindra, because it gives you a lot more sense of space and comfort. At the end of the day, the legroom is a little compromised but under-thigh support could have been better. You do feel like this was worth the effort of going from the three-door with its really compromised back seat to this one. The panoramic roof only adds to that sense of space and the cabin is roomier overall, than even, dare I say, the Scorpio N.

One great addition to the Roxx, front and back, are the grab handles on the pillars. They may not seem like much but when you’re in let’s say not the smoothest conditions, this kind of helps. Of course, you have the grab handles on the roof as well for when you’re actually sitting in the car on the move. but getting in and getting out, man these come in handy.

The side step makes getting in and out easier. Given the height of the car. Yes, even for elder people. But won’t be easy still. 

Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Performance

Now handling on the car is better than you’d expect for a car that’s built this way but when you compare it to the Scorpio N and the regular Thar, of course there is a lot of roll. You feel more here in the back obviously. But it’s the ride quality that even though the overall sense in the car is bouncy, you still feel comfortable on this seat, you don’t feel like you’re getting thrown around. That is something that people will like because exaggerated SUVness is really the reason why they’d buy this car over say a Hyundai Creta.

The Thar has a better sense of handling with its shorter wheelbase. And of course, is very agile and effective offroad as we have tested before. But really the Roxx is not for the off-roading type anyway, is it?

Mahindra Thar Roxx Specification

Mahindra Thar Specification

While both cars use the same drivetrains, there is more power and more torque on offer with the Roxx, and more options too in terms of state of tune. On the Thar, it is more limited. Both cars do come in rear and 4-wheel drive options, as well as automatic and manual. 

Mahindra Thar Roxx vs Thar: Price & Verdict

*RWD PRICES ONLY

The Thar Roxx is reasonably well-priced too. I won’t call this aggressive, but I guess Mahindra needed to find a sweet spot without killing the prospects of its other models – especially the 3-door. It starts at an affordable ₹12.99 lakh for the base MX1 variant, which isn’t bare bones. And it tops off at a reasonable ₹20.49 lakh for the rear-wheel-drive variants. Mahindra hasn’t as yet announced prices for the 4X4, but then again – does anyone REALLY want one? 

Photography by: Apoorv Chaudhary