Confused Between The Mahindra Thar's Soft And Hard Top Variants? This Hybrid Top Offers The Best Of Both Worlds

Modified On Mar 03, 2022 06:14 PM By CarDekho for Mahindra Thar

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You can equip any variant of the new Thar with this hybrid roof for around Rs 1.3 lakh

The Mahindra Thar is one of the few SUVs that can take you on an off-road adventure straight off the showroom floor. But if you’re planning to go far into the wilderness, the supplies and equipment you need might not fit into the Thar’s relatively tiny boot. That’s when you need a custom hardtop roof, such as this metal hardtop built by Bengaluru-based Vin 4x4. Check out its folding canopy in the video below:

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Mahindra offers the Thar as a soft-top convertible SUV or a hard-top, but the new roof built by Vin 4x4 is a semi-hardtop (hybrid) metal roof. It has a structural metal hardtop above the rear seats with a ladder and roof rack mounted on top. At the front, a soft-top canopy roof sits over the custom-made frame that extends from the metal hardtop. It opens up a much wider space than a regular sunroof, and it can be manually operated from inside the SUV. Vin 4x4 tests it for water leakage to ensure a good seal when the top is closed.

You’ll have to shell out around Rs 1.3 lakh to get the hybrid roof installed on your Mahindra Thar. The roof rack and ladder will set you back by over Rs 30,000 more, and the roof-mounted LED lights and other components you see in the pictures are available as accessories at an additional cost. It takes the workshop around 8-10 days to fabricate and install the roof, which comes with a one-year warranty.

The custom-made hybrid roof is only available for the new Mahindra Thar, but Vin 4x4 also works on a wide range of SUVs such as Ford Endeavours, Toyota Fortuners and older Thar models. Primarily, the workshop performs off-roading and overlanding modifications and custom-builds off-roading equipment such as rock sliders, off-road bumpers and roof storage systems. It has been in the business for over seven years, with several hardcore off-roading projects under its belt.

“Now, people are exploring like anything,” says Mr Balaji from Vin 4x4, indicating a rising trend in India. He’s an avid motorcyclist who has raced in the Raid de Himalaya, but he is disappointed by the lack of government support for the overlanding culture.

“In India people are ready to spend on RV concepts, they are ready to buy a caravan, but at the end of the day, the problem is the RTO,” he adds. Owners who modify their cars need to get their vehicle inspected and re-approved by their local road transport office (RTO), but the process may not be streamlined or as straightforward as you might expect. In India, car modifications can be a grey area, and some mods could be treated with skepticism by government authorities.

He also points out the lack of recreational vehicle (RV) parks and campsites where you can park your overlanding SUV or RV securely. We hope that with the rising popularity of outdoor recreational activities and overlanding vehicles, more parks and campsites will eventually open up for such vehicles.