Maruti Jimny vs Mahindra Thar: Your Everyday Offroader

Does the Maruti offroader have what it takes to go head-to-head with the Mahindra Thar?

An off road-capable SUV isn’t always an ideal choice for a family car, and yet, the Mahindra Thar takes pride of place in many homes. For a family SUV, space, practicality, features, and comfort hold more importance than performance and road presence, and that’s where the Maruti Jimny enters. This SUV is trying to offer what the Thar doesn’t, but can it take on the well-established Mahindra Thar to become your family’s everyday offroader? Let’s find out.

Looks & Road Presence

Both, the Jimny and the Thar, have a rugged design which distinguishes them from any conventional SUV. The flat profiles, chunky wheel arches, high ground clearance, big front and rear bumpers and intimidating fascias, gives both of them a muscular look. However, owing to its size, the Thar is the one with the dominating road presence while the Jimny looks like a miniature model or a larger SUV. 

The Jimny has a major difference in design, and it's an obvious one. Maruti’s SUV in India comes in a 5-door version, which not only makes it easier for the rear passengers to get in, but also gives it a more traditional design.

Talking about the wheels, both the Jimny and Thar get stylish alloy wheels, but the Jimny gets smaller 15-inch alloys, compared to the Thar’s 18-inch ones. The Thar also gets all-terrain tyres as stock.

Rugged Cabins

A rugged cabin is a given for any mass-market off-roading SUV, and that’s what you get in both the Jimny and the Thar. But one of them is better in terms of design. Both get an all-black cabin, with a conventional dashboard design, but the Jimny’s dashboard looks more modern thanks to the bigger touchscreen, sleeker AC vents and modern centre console.

However, the Thar gets hints of chrome elements in the cabin, around the centre console, on the dashboard and on the doors, which adds a premium feel to its interiors.

The front seats on both offer ample amount of space and good underthigh support, and have big contours which keep you in place. But the cushioning on the Jimny’s seats are on the softer side compared to that of the Thar. Also, due to the higher seat position of the Thar, getting in and out of the seats is not easy.

Features & Safety

Here as well, the Jimny is ahead of the Thar. It gets a bigger 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, automatic climate control, cruise control, automatic headlights, electrically adjustable and foldable ORVMs, and a headlight washer.

In terms of safety, Maruti offers it with 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability program (ESP), hill hold and descent control, ISOFIX child seat anchors, and a rear parking camera as standard safety features.

The Thar, on the other hand, gets a smaller 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, manual climate control, cruise control and washable interior floors. In terms of safety, while it does offer a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), it still comes with dual front airbags, and does not offer a rear view camera. However, it is the Thar which has been tested by GNCAP and was rated a respectable 4 stars. 

Rear Seat Experience

Here is where the Thar takes the lead. While the Jimny’s seats are slightly more comfortable, the Thar offers more space for the rear passengers. Both off-roaders are 4-seaters, and only have space for 2 passengers in the back. While you do get good amount of headroom and knee room in both the SUVs, the Thar’s rear seats don’t offer good underthigh support. 

However, being a 5-door model, the Jimny offers the convenience of rear doors, which makes getting in and out easier for the rear passengers. In the Thar, while the rear seats are more spacious, getting in and out of those seats requires passengers to fold the front seats, which takes a toll on the convenience factor.

Practicality

In the practicality section, the lead is taken by the Mahindra Thar. Both front doors have 1-litre bottle holders and space on the sides for some small items. In the front, it gets some space in the centre console for your phone or wallet, there is storage in the armrest and it gets a small glove box.

In the Jimny, while there are 4 doors, none have space for a bottle holder, and only offer space to keep small items like paperwork. Just like the Thar, it gets a small glove box and tray in the centre console. But there are no armrests at the front or back, and only the front passengers get cupholders.

Boot Space

While there is a shortage of storage options in the Maruti Jimny, there is no shortage of space in its boot. It gets a boot loading capacity of 219 litres, where you can easily store 2 suitcases and 2 soft bags, with space left for smaller items.

On the other hand, the Thar gets a smaller boot, the exact figures of which haven’t been revealed by Mahindra, and only allows you to store 2 to 3 small bags. That too, when the rear seats are not reclined. 

Engine & Performance

The Maruti Jimny only comes with a naturally aspirated petrol engine in a 4-wheel-drive system, with a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic transmission. On the other hand, the Thar offers 3 different engine options, both petrol and diesel, and gives the option of both 4-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive setups.

We drove the manual variant of the Jimny, and this engine, while not as powerful as the Thar’s engines, still delivers enough power both for everyday use and for off-roading. The engine is quite refined, and while you do feel some vibration inside the cabin, the driving experience makes up for this. Accelerations are acceptable and you can go cruising with ease.

However, the Thar takes its driving experience even further. We drove the turbo-petrol Thar with the 6-speed automatic, and the difference in power was clearly seen. While with the Jimny, you can easily execute overtakes, with the Thar, they become effortless. The acceleration is quicker, and so are the gearshifts. You will not feel the lack of power on any terrain. We tested the performance of the Thar with the turbo-petrol automatic powertrain, and it did the 0-100 kmph run in just 10.21 seconds.

Ride Comfort

In ride comfort, the SUV to take the lead is the Maruti Jimny. Its suspension setup is balanced and absorbs bumps very well. Even on bad roads, you do not feel those jerks inside the cabin a lot, and the soft cushioning of the seats makes the ride comfortable. On highways at high speeds, it remains stable, and there is a noticeable body roll when changing lanes quickly or taking sharp turns, but that’s a given with such an offroader.

The Thar’s suspension is on the stiffer side, and that makes driving on bad roads uncomfortable. While it does have all the capabilities to go off the road, when doing so, you will feel those jerks inside the cabin. At high speeds, it does the same as the Jimny, it remains stable, and has a reasonable amount of body roll. 

Verdict

Finally, which one of these has what it takes to be an everyday car? The answer is the Maruti Jimny. While the Mahindra Thar offers good road presence and better performance, it is not as convenient as it should be to become a daily driver. The Jimny offers essentials like rear doors, modern features, a usable boot and a comfortable ride quality, which makes it better for city use. Yes, there is a compromise in practicality and road presence, but if you can make this compromise, then the Maruti Jimny can easily become the car you use everyday.

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