I’ve been driving a Thar for the past three and half years now, most of which has been on highways. I’ve mostly kept away from tough terrain to stay safe and avoid vehicle damage since most of my road trips have been solo drives.
Some tough terrain did come my way during my trip to Ladakh and the Little Rann of Kutch where I’ve had to switch to 4H to get out of a sticky situation.
Getting comfortable with handling slush, river crossings and uneven off-road incline / slope has always been there in the back of mind and therefore signed up for the two day Trail Survivor course with the Mahindra Off-road Academy at Igatpuri, Nashik, MH.
Half a dozen Thar’s were waiting for us as we participants arrived at the site. The 4x4 was set to 4L or 4 Low from the word go. This transfer case setting generates an awesome amount of torque (because of low ratio gears) on all four wheels thereby making the Thar a true off-roader!
The next two days were spent negotiating various obstacles in the 28 acre facility under the watchful eyes of the instructor.
By the end of it I had a good idea of life in 4 Low and came amazed with what a Thar can handle.
 |
| Bless the Thar |
 |
| As long as 3 wheels are on the ground, it'll get out! |
 |
| SUV Challenge - the Thar does it easy! |
While negotiating the slush pit, I (deliberately) went in with 2H (2 wheel drive mode) and got stuck. No amount of acceleration or rocking the vehicle (forward & reverse) helped. Even 4H didn’t work. Switching to 4 Low pulled the vehicle out without much of a struggle!
