Mahindra 5-door Thar spotted testing once again

Mahindra has officially started working on the 5-door version of the Thar. Earlier, the rear profile of the SUV was spotted, this time the front of the 5-door Thar has been spotted. Some of the previous reports suggested that Mahindra might produce 3-door Thar only on special orders once the 5-door Thar is launched. This is because most people will prefer the 5-door Thar. After all, it is more practical and will not sacrifice much on the off-road capabilities of the SUV.

The silhouette of the five-door Thar is very similar to the three-door Thar. It still has the boxy shape of the SUV. There are additional rear doors which would make ingress and egress a lot better for the rear occupants. As of now, the rear occupants need to climb through the front seats.

At the rear, there are LED headlamps and a side-hinged tailgate with a spare wheel mounted on it. There are five-spoke alloy wheels and flared wheel arches. The headlamps are the same circular halogen units. Mahindra might use their new twins-peak logo on the upcoming five-door Thar.

It is expected that the 5-door Thar will be based on Scorpio-N's platform. So, there should be an improvement in ride quality and handling. The wheelbase will also be longer than the three-door Thar, this is what will help in increasing the space on offer.

The engines could also be taken from Scorpio N because the engines of three-door Thar could be underpowered. However, the engines from the Scorpio N would be detuned. So, the engines on offer will be a 2.2-litre diesel engine and a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. Gearbox options on offer will be a 6-speed manual gearbox and a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

Moreover, Mahindra might not offer the five-door Thar with a four-wheel drive system as standard. It would be primarily rear-wheel drive and only the higher-end variants will get four-wheel drive.