Mahindra Thar Roxx, Toyota Fortuner, Hilux And Maruti Jimny In An Off Road Battle [Video]
Off-roading videos often get massive viewership on various social media platforms. A recent video shared on YouTube shows a Mahindra Thar ROXX, a few Maruti Jimnys, a Toyota Hilux and an older-generation Fortuner taking a deep-mud off-road course. This action takes place at the Yansh Adventure park in Gurugram's Baliyawas.
The video starts by showing the obstacle. It consists of a ditch that's over seven feet deep. On one end of it is the entry point. The other end has a steep climb. Once the SUV enters the ditch, it will have to climb the steep incline to get out of it. The ditch further has water and slush in it.
Before talking about how they performed on the course, let's get you familiar with the mechanicals of these vehicles. The Fortuner here, is a previous-generation model. It has a 3.0L turbocharged diesel engine that delivers 169 bhp and 360 Nm. The Hilux has 204 hp and 500 Nm, courtesy of its mighty 2.8L diesel engine. The ROXX houses the 2.2L MHawk diesel engine, capable of producing 150 bhp and 360 Nm. The Jimny has the smallest engine- a 1.5L naturally aspirated petrol that delivers 104hp and 135 Nm of torque.
The Action
The Suzuki Jimny goes first. It wades through the slush effortlessly and climbs out without much strain. It seems to have benefited from the relatively low vehicle weight. The Fortuner tackles the obstacle next. On the exit, it can be seen slightly struggling to take the incline. The Four Wheel Drive (4WD) system takes its sweet time to get it out.
Next, it is the ROXX's turn. It does the water wading with ease, but loses momentum while climbing up and gets stuck mid-way. It, however, clears the obstacle in the next turn. The first was likely a case of miscalculation by the driver.
Later in the video, we also see the Hilux taking the trail. The team even uses it to scrape and damage the trail, to make things more interesting for the participating vehicles. With more slush and loose mud, the obstacle soon gets tougher and trickier.
Later in the video, we see the Jimny taking the modified obstacle. It makes it out safely. The ROXX goes next, but struggles to climb out. It gets stuck mid-way. It clears the obstacle in the second attempt. The track gets tougher with each attempt.
When the traction levels worsened, the Jimnys started getting stuck mid-way. The Hilux, however, tackled the track like a boss. Then we see the ROXX getting stuck, and being winched out after several failed attempts of reversing. The SUV's signature 'Wheel hop' issue can be seen in this video as well. When the driver tries to reverse it out of the obstacle, the wheels fail to grip and start to 'hop'.
It is common for the live axles of SUVs to wobble at high RPMs. This is due to the weight distribution and high torque on offer. It happens especially in the reverse gear, in which the full torque is accessed. Since the engine is mounted at the front end, the rear is relatively lighter than the front. When you release the clutch aggressively and attempt to climb back, it might tend to lift off, due to the vehicle's low weight.
It is interesting to watch all these SUVs tackling this obstacle. Due to the differences in their hardware, powertrains, kerb weight, and 4WD tech, each vehicle performs uniquely on trails such as this.