The Mahindra Thar PreRunner Concept Is The Ultimate V8 Off-roader

With an engine this large, there’s only space for two (plus two spare tyres)

To you, the Mahindra Thar might seem like a good-looking and uniquely styled SUV that’s tough enough to not break if you ever have to go on a mucky farm track. But to an artist, modifier or well-heeled petrolhead, it’s an affordable off-roader that makes for a pretty sophisticated base for an interesting project. This Mahindra Thar PreRunner is a concept from Vishnu Suresh, the artist behind the Instagram page Zephyr Designs. It’s not practical and it’s probably going to be very, very expensive to build in real life, but we absolutely love it! 

Looking at the concept from the front, it’s probably easier to list the parts that seem stock than to list the mods -- the blacked-out grille and front fenders with blanks in place of the stock indicators. This Thar comes with a custom off-road body lift kit that adds new suspension components and axles which give this SUV a wide stance and better ground clearance than the stock Thar. It even has an off-roading front bumper and bull bar that houses a pair of LED auxiliary lamps. At the top of the windshield, there’s a row of 8 auxiliary lamps from KC -- seeing in the dark will not be an issue. 

The rear three-quarters shot is where this concept gets you -- twin spare wheels are stacked here, each seemingly full-sized. Just this modification would require a substantial research and development budget to realise. But to add to the complexity, there’s even a huge radiator mounted behind the front seats, fed by two electric fans. And that brings us to what’s under the bonnet. 

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Now, from the factory, you can get the Thar with either a 2-litre petrol engine that’s good for 150PS of power or a 130PS 2.2-litre diesel, paired with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic gearbox. But neither of these two engines were zany enough for this concept, so this Thar draws power from a V8 instead! And that’s precisely why we believe the gigantic rear radiator is an auxiliary cooling system for this Thar PreRunner. 

Although the big engine will probably be happy with its cooling system, the two passengers have no roof nor heat insulation behind the rear seats. You might have guessed by now that the engine, suspension and wheel mods themselves will add up to several lakhs in real life. The bodyshell modifications will be more exorbitant, still. But looking at these pictures and sketching your own Thar out is free, so go ahead and tell us in the comments how you like this concept. 

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