2024 Force Gurkha SUV More desirable than Thar and Jimny

Options in the authentic 4 by 4 SUV under the Rupees 20,00,000 price bracket in the Indian car market has been quite limited. The Mahindra car has been quite a hit and there has also been the Force Gurkha. The Force motors now is determined to have a bigger share of the pie and therefore the 2024 Gurkha is here. Now, apart from the three door version, you also get this beast of an SUV in A5 door version with three rows of seating. Apart from this, there are a whole lot of promises in terms of exterior editions, feature editions on the inside and a fair bit of mechanical changes as well. What does the 2024 force Gurkha bring to the table? You’re watching HD Auto, I’m Shubhadeep and we are in hot humid but exciting Goa to find the answers to just that. So stay tuned for what promises to be a very exciting show in terms of overall proportions. From the outside there is obviously a difference between the Three Door and the Five Door version. The five door version is obviously longer, has a slight edge in terms of height and of course has a better wheelbase. The width of both the vehicles though are identical and even the styling for most parts is identical. The updates on the Gurkha include the first in segment LED headlight units. You get the turn indicators on the hood. There is the Gurkha lettering here on the face. In fact, the face has received a significant part of the styling updates on the side. Again, regardless of which model you choose, which version you get. 18 inch wheels, the alloy designed to have been updated but are similar between both these cars. You get the sidestep here, essential for you to get in and out of such a large vehicle you get the iconic air intake here, quite a trademark for Force Gurkha. So that’s there. To further accentuate the masculine appeal, you also get large wheel arches over these very large tires. You get the 4 by 4 by 4 lettering here, and the ORVMS are in a contrasting shade of black on this car. Same with that. Now of course this is the three row version, so the driver seat the front passenger accesses it through here. But if you want to get into the 2nd row, you’ll have to use the rear door here. Well, so 5 door version obviously. So the 2nd row passengers can also make use of these doors. But of course if you want to access the last rows then you will have to make use of the door. Here at the rear you get force lettering, you get nice big tail lights, reflectors and a spare wheel which is mounted on the back door. So overall, the proportions even on the three door version is quite large, quite big. The Gurkha is one of the bigger cars that you can get in the Indian market, at least in its segment. But how much of that translates to space and comfort on the inside? Come, let me tell you now I’m inside the five door, three row version. But before we get into the 2nd and the 3rd row, let me just tell you about the feature additions on the inside. Regardless of whether you choose the three door or the five door version. Now taking Limelight is this infotainment screen here which has essentially been plunged onto the dashboard. Previously the Gurkha was coming with a Kenwood system. Now that has been changed to a Nippon system and while it does look like its just been forced upon the dashboard, what’s good is that there is good amount of touch feedback here. There is some glare but its not a deal breaker. On the flip side though, if you want to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto you have to download a third party software and go through some connection related procedures before you can screen your maps onto this 9 inch infotainment screen. Now you get circular air conditioning whence the air conditioning is pretty good. Goa is pretty much burning right now, but as I speak to you I’m pretty comfortable sitting inside this large vehicle. Now on this site you have an all digital large driver display unit, puts out all the drive related information very clearly and frankly that’s a big step up for this vehicle. But while this looks pretty modern and contemporary, the steering wheel continues to look well, very, very plebeian. Steering mounted controls. You can forget about it and even generally the feel is not as premium as perhaps what you would expect in cars of today’s times. The seats too are fairly comfortable. You get armrest for the front passengers, you get armrests at the back captain seats as well and there are plenty of storage spaces here. What has changed on the centre console? Is that why you have the gear shift here? And remember, the Gurkha, regardless of which option you go for, still has only manual transmission. Little bit more on that later, but to actually change from 2 high, 4 high and 24 low, instead of lever, now you have it with an electronic button. So that’s good. The windows are large, you get a sense of space, at least sitting on the front seats. Now getting inside the Gurkha is a bit of a task, so not really recommended still for the elderly, but that’s only expected considering the proportions of this vehicle. What’s not expected is the very limited amount of leg space I have. This is to my driving position and well, somebody who’s sitting behind me when I’m driving the Gurkha will actually complain of claustrophobia because knee room is negligible, leg room is negligible, foot space is just about OK and well, for a change, the person in the middle will actually find more space for him or herself. What’s good though is that you have a central armrest here with cup holders. There is a charging point here, in fact two of them here, and you have second row of air conditioning here, which is great. But again, on the flip side, the refinement is well, frankly missing in fact the quality of plastics. I don’t know if my mic will catch this, but well, it just seems like this car is meant or built rather maybe 10/10/12 Watt years back because well, the quality still leaves much to be desired from control for the air conditioning is on the left side so I’ll have to stretch a little bit. If there is no one here to control the air conditioning, you can of course either switch it off, switch it to low or switch it to high. Now of course that’s only when the days are as hot as they are today, because otherwise you can just roll down these large windows and let the elements play in. Don’t expect sunroof of course, because, well, this car isn’t meant to essentially pamper you. Instead, force is that they have stuck to basic convenience features which they feel owners of this vehicle, this off road vehicle would appreciate. Now, while you cannot actually recline the 2nd row seats or make any adjustments for more space, you don’t actually have to go anywhere in case there are more passengers who need to access the 3rd row of seats. Why is that? Let me show you. The Gurkha 5 door is actually one of those rare cars where you would rather actually be on the 3rd row. And that’s because the 3rd row gets captain seats and getting in and out is actually comparatively easier for me at least than the 2nd row. Now you do not get dedicated 3rd row AC wins, but that is fine because the 2nd row wins actually throw a lot of cold air towards you here in the final seat too. There are no charging points that I can see here. Instead all you get is some space to store bottles and well, a basic light here. But considering the trade off, which is the space and the comfort and the ease with which you can get in and out, the 3rd row is actually probably much better than the 2nd row of seats here. The windows unfortunately are still fixed so well you can’t do much about it. But overall, surprisingly, the 3rd row is definitely going to be a place fought for when you’re travelling, especially on long distances in the Gurkha. Now what does that mean for luggage? Well, you can have a bag here, but then that will obstruct your getting in and out of the vehicle. Luggage space is limited, but remember Force is offering an accessory for a roof carrier that you can attach with this car and store all your luggage there itself. Space is even more premium inside the three door two row Gurkha in this version. The 2nd row seats get captain seats and getting in and out still remains fairly easy, but knee room and leg room remain as compromised as ever inside this version. The trade off though on the positive side for this vehicle is that there is more luggage space inside the Gurkha, but once again I would have rather that the seats were pushed back a little bit even at the cost of luggage space South that the knee room and leg room here would have been better. The Gurkha never really claimed to be a premium, a luxurious or an opulent SUV. What it has always claimed to be is an absolute off road beast. So what does the 2024 force Gurkha bring to the table when being driven on and off the road? The Gurkha continues to have that 2.6 litre very capable diesel motor under its hood, but the tuning has been altered so there is more power that the SUV now has on offer. It is around 138 BHP. The torque also has seen a slight improvement. It is at around 320 Newton meters, so that’s great too. The engine comes made it to a 5 speed manual gearbox, and while this gearbox, relatively speaking, is fairly easy to negotiate, I would have also really liked for the Gurkha to come with an automatic transmission unit. Now for old school enthusiasts of course this gear does a fairly good job, but you know at a time when many off road authentic off road options are coming with automatic transmission. Just having that choice would have appealed to a slightly wider set of car buying audience. The other significant improvement on the Gurkha, and this is quite noticeable, is the change in the suspension setup. So the ride isn’t exactly as wobbly as it was and as wobbly as you would expect on a vehicle like this. But yes, it is in still the most comfortable of SUV’s. You can’t expect it to be, but it does a fairly good job of keeping things planted even on surfaces that are less than ideal. I spoke about the refinement levels of the cabin, let me just speak a little bit about the refinement level of the engine. Now yes, this is a very capable 2.6 litre engine, but there is still quite a lot of engine noise and grunt that seeps into the cabin. Now what continues to benefit the Gurkha of course, is the whole large, larger than life feel that you have when you’re inside, especially on the driver’s seat. Now you know you have a nice commanding view of the road ahead, but the large windows on the side, even a fairly big Orvm actually gives you a nice generous view of everything that surrounds this vehicle. Considering that this is quite a big vehicle, you need to be in control. Everything needs to be within your line of sight, especially in tight congested lanes of Goa here or most Indian cities. So that’s great. Even on nice highway stretches like the one we are on right now, it is doing a fairly decent job. The wobble, as I mentioned, isn’t as bad as you would expect from cars in this segment, so if that’s done, your triple digit speeds won’t come up in a rush. But that’s fine. I sort of miss not having a 6th gear here now, considering that the Gurkha would also be used on Hwy. stretches for long journeys, and especially that the five door version with three rows of seating, I would have wanted the 6th gear to give me an added advantage that’s not there. The Gurkha may be a hit and miss for most parts on conventional roads, but its abilities in the wild are its biggest highlight. Those who already own a Gurkha know its power skills on treacherous terrain and the latest version only builds on it. The 35° gradability plays a big part in allowing it to make testing climbs, as we found out in this test track laid out by the company. And although this track was hardly as challenging as what the Gurkha is accustomed to in the real world, it still gave a glimpse into the SUV’s continuing progress over climbs and descent. A ground clearance of 233 millimetres, which is also best in segment, helps it to tackle Rd. aberrations, while fully locking mechanical differentials on both axles allow it to escape from sticky spots. The new independent front suspension also deserves a path for trying to seek a balance between road and off road conditions. The Gurkha is robust, yes, still is every bit, and that is great. The Gurkha is also rough, especially around the edges, and well, that’s not exactly great. Force has done a good job listening to customers and adding more convenient features. The style updates, subtle as they are, are good too. And that five door, three row version, complete with the unique captain seats at the back is a big leg up, literally as well as metaphorically. But does a missing petrol motor or a missing automatic gearbox leave out a fair chunk of potential buyers? And will the still lacking level of refinement in materials be a turn off? You let us know, but not before checking out our written impressions as well. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more such videos.