In a bid to enhance its rugged charm, Force Motors has introduced another variant of the Gurkha. Dubbed as the Xtreme, it is priced at Rs 12.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Unlike the Xplorer and Xpedition variants, both of which are available in a 3- or 5-door configuration, the Gurkha Xtreme is only available with a 3-door setup.
Don’t go straining your eyes to try and find any design differences between the Xtreme and the other two variants. In fact, put all 3-door versions of the Gurkha together, and they will look the same, apart from their name tags, different alloy wheels and a few other bits and pieces. Inside, the Gurkha comes with 5 seats as standard but can be had with an optional 7-seat layout. The real change is hidden under the bonnet.
Here the Xplorer and Xpedition variants feature a 2.6-litre diesel engine which produces 85PS/230Nm. The Gurkha Xtreme gets a Mercedes-Benz-sourced 2.2-litre diesel mill. It is tuned to generate 140PS of power and 321Nm of torque. That’s much more like it! The engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive (also sourced from Mercedes-Benz) and a 4×4 drive system with a low-range gearbox.
The Force Gurkha has always been about conquering terrains where pseudo SUVs don’t work. And the Xtreme, with its snorkel high up, has a water wading capacity up to 550mm. That is just as impressive as 210mm of ground clearance, 44-degree approach angle and 40-degree departure angle. The short wheelbase of just 2,400mm further helps the Gurkha Xtreme to achieve an over angle of 30 degrees.
The Gurkha has always been a bit underwhelming in terms of oomph. The Xtreme variant, however, tries to address that. In fact, it is now considerably more powerful than its direct competitor – the Mahindra Thar. But is it enough to justify the steep price tag? What do you guys think?