Label it niche or singular in focus, the Gurkha stands as an unyielding entity that thrives in the most extreme and rugged landscapes. Force Motors has unleashed the 2024 version of this 4×4 powerhouse, now available, for the first time in both a three-door and a five-door variant. With Force Motors targeting the broader market, particularly with the five-door Gurkha, we take the SUV outside its comfort zone and see how it handles the rigours of the urban jungle.
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Nip and Tuck
The Gurkha has a distinguished, no-nonsense design that showcases its rugged and brawny DNA. Force Motors has made some minor tweaks to the composition, including a new honeycomb nose grille to replace the flat plastic panel. The front bumper remains stocky and features an air intake vent along with fog lamps that double up as cornering lights. The 2024 Gurkha retains its LED headlights and circular dotted LED DRLs.
The side profile remains unchanged and comes standard with a snorkel and footboard. The latter is essential as the Gurkha boasts class-leading ground clearance of 233mm. The SUV also features intimidating side cladding and stubby square wheel arches. Both the 3-door and 5-door versions have new 18-inch alloy wheels, and the rear remains unchanged, but now includes a rear parking camera and sensors for added convenience. The Gurkha is available in four colours: red, black, white and green.
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Dimensions and capabilities
Force Motors is aiming to expand its presence in the passenger vehicle sector with the launch of the 5-door Gurkha. The new model is longer than the 3-door variant, with a wheelbase of 2,825mm. It measures 4,390mm in overall length, 2,296mm in height (26mm taller than the 3-door Gurkha), and 1,865mm in width. Force Motors has also improved the turning radius of the 3-door model from 5.6 metres to 5.5 metres, while the new 5-door variant has a turning radius of 6.3 metres.
The Gurkha is a class-leading 4×4 SUV because of its best-in-segment features, including a 37-degree departure angle, 28-degree ramp over angle, 35-degree gradeability angle, and a 700mm water wading capacity.
| Force Gurkha | Wheelbase | Length | Width | Height | Ground Clearance |
| 3-door | 2400 mm | 3965 mm | 1865 mm | 2270 mm | 233 mm |
| 5-door | 2825 mm | 4390 mm | 1865 mm | 2296 mm | 233 mm |
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Interiors
The quality of the cabin in the Gurkha continues to be its Achilles heel. It still looks quite basic and appears to be something from a commercial vehicle. Although square-shaped, the dashboard adds some character to the Gurkha, but the plastic panels make it look and feel outdated. However, moving beyond the hard plastics, the Gurkha now has a 9-inch touchscreen from Nippon. It does offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but it feels like an aftermarket device.
The new 7-inch instrument cluster is entirely digital, with an inbuilt tyre pressure monitoring system. For better convenience, the SUV now comes with electrically adjustable ORVMs. The air conditioning controls are quite basic, but according to Force Motors, they have improved the AC’s effectiveness.
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Space and seating configuration
There are a few things that leave a lasting impression on the Gurkha, such as the commanding driving position. While the seats may have basic fabric upholstery, they are extremely comfortable. However, when you enter the Gurkha’s cabin, the oversized steering wheel hits your knee, and the lower part brushes against your legs. In this day and age, this is a serious ergonomic mistake, especially considering that the Gurkha has a rake and reach adjustable steering column. Force Motors needs to recalibrate it to ensure better ergonomics. To make matters worse, the driver’s seat doesn’t have height adjustment.
The 3-door version remains unchanged and offers a two-row seating configuration, while the 5-door trim is a seven-seater, a first in this segment. Force Motors has taken a different approach by moving the two captain seats to the last row. The idea behind this was to provide an unfoldable second-row bench so that passengers in the third row enter and exit from the rear door. We have to give credit to Force Motors for taking a bold step, but we think there are some drawbacks, as the wheel arches inside the cabin take up space that could have improved the captain seats’ legroom, and the second-row passengers have limited knee room. Perhaps the automobile manufacturer could offer customers multiple seat configurations, as better space management would have been possible.
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Driving experience
Let’s start with the advantages and new features. This vehicle is a powerhouse when it comes to off-roading. It has a shift-on-the-fly 4WD setup that allows the driver to conveniently change the settings using a knob instead of a lever. When switched to 4L, the Gurkha can easily climb steep inclines and navigate through slush or muddy terrain.
The SUV can even drive on autopilot mode in 4L, without requiring any input from the accelerator pedal. The Gurkha is the ultimate off-roader because it comes with independent differential locks for both the front and rear axles, ensuring that it always has enough grip to overcome any challenging driving conditions like snow, sand, mud and mountain trails.
The Gurkha, an SUV, has undergone significant modifications, resulting in an updated 2.6-litre diesel engine that now delivers 138 bhp and 320 Nm, up from the previous 90bhp and 250Nm. The vehicle continues to have plenty of low-end torque, offering a smooth and linear acceleration. However, the SUV’s power tends to wane around 3,000 rpm, and although Force Motors has made efforts to refine the diesel engine, it can become somewhat noisy when the accelerator is pressed hard.
In the city, the SUV navigates through slow-moving traffic with ease, courtesy of its light clutch and the new auto start-stop system, making it more efficient than its predecessor. The Gurkha lacking an automatic transmission is notable, especially as the demand for it increases.
The Gurkha provides a comfortable ride, as its coil spring suspension easily absorbs the impact of rough road conditions and potholes. However, it tends to wallow when driven on a flat tarmac.
2024 Force Gurkha Review: Should you buy it?
Force Motors has made significant updates and added comfort features to make the Gurkha a more versatile vehicle. While their effort is commendable, the interior quality still falls below expectations. The brakes need to be sharper and the drum brakes could have been replaced with disc brakes. The 5-speed manual gear shift also lacks precision. On the brighter side, the Gurkha comes with new convenient features such as electrically adjustable ORVMs, rear parking sensors, a camera, a new infotainment system, and a driver’s console.
The 2.6 diesel engine now gets improved power but lacks a petrol option. In August, the 5-door version of the Mahindra Thar will be launched. We suggest holding off on purchasing Gurkha as the Thar will have better interiors, and more safety and convenient features. The previous Gurkha model was priced around Rs 15.10 lakh (ex-shoroom), and the 5-door version is expected to cost around Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh more.
