New Force Gurkha 5-door Teaser Reveals Fresh Design Details

It retains much of the 3-door Gurkha’s front fascia, like the grille and round LED headlamps

Update: 29/04/24: The Force Gurkha 5-door has been unveiled. Gets new features and a more powerful diesel engine.

The Force Gurkha rugged off-roader has been long expected to get a longer version and the wait for it is about to end. In its latest teaser, Force has revealed various design details for the soon-to-be-unveiled Gurkha 5-door, some of which will be applied to the updated 3-door Gurkha as well. Let’s take a closer look at what’s been revealed.

Gurkha 5-door Exterior Design Updates

The new Force Gurkha 5-door teaser reveals it will retain its rounded headlight design with LED DRLs forming the outer ring, with LED headlamps. The familiar grille with the Gurkha badging confirms that Force will keep the same name for both the 3-door and 5-door versions of its rugged offering. 

Force has also revealed the new design for the Gurkha’s 16-inch alloy wheels, still wrapped in thick all-terrain tyres. We also get a look at the vertically-stacked taillamps, which seem to have the same basic design as the current Gurkha with a rounded element at the top. The silhouette of the profile confirms the 5-door will still have the spare wheel mounted on the tailgate.

We’re expecting design differences between the front and rear bumpers for the 3-door and 5-door versions of the Force Gurkha. In the teasers, the 5-door Gurkha is also fitted with accessories like a roof-ladder with a jerry can, and the roof-snorkel for enhanced water wading depth.

What About Gurkha 5-door Interiors?

Force has not yet given away any details about the cabin of the stretched Gurkha, but various test mule sightings suggest that it could get the choice of two and three rows of seats. There might even be three seating configurations: 5, 6 and 7. Like the outgoing Gurkha, expect this new one to stay utilitarian, with a fabric upholstery and a lot of hard plastics that would be easy to wash after a muddy outing.

New Gurkha Features

The rugged off-roader is likely to be offered in just a single variant with all the basic comforts you’d expect for the price. This includes a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, front power windows, tyre pressure monitoring system, a 12V power socket and manual AC. In terms of safety, the Gurkha will offer at least dual front airbags, ABS and rear parking sensors, while the new 5-door could get a rearview camera as well.

Based on test mule spy shots, we’re expecting the 5-door Gurkha to feature an electronic shift-on-the-fly system to toggle between 2WD (two-wheel-drive) and 4WD (four-wheel-drive), and 4-low (used for off-roading on low-traction surfaces like sand and mud). The 3-door Gurkha has a physical shifter for this purpose, as well as differential locking controls.

Gurkha 5-door Engine Details

There are no details yet about what lies under the bonnet of the longer Gurkha, but we expect it to be the same 2.6-litre diesel engine as the 3-door model. While this unit makes 90 PS and 215 Nm in the shorter SUV, it might be tuned to a higher state for the 5-door SUV. A 5-speed manual is expected to remain the only transmission option.

Expected Price & Rivals

The Force Gurkha 5-door is expected to attract a premium of more than Rs 1 lakh over the 3-door Gurkha which is currently priced at Rs 15.10 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Expected to launch in a matter of weeks, it will not have direct rivals at launch as it will be bigger and pricier than the Maruti Jimny. However, it will face competition from the upcoming Mahindra Thar 5-door which is due to debut in August 2024 and possibly carrying the name “Armada” to differentiate itself from the current 3-door version.

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