2025 Mahindra Thar Facelift vs Mahindra Thar Roxx: Exterior And Interior Design Differences Compared

Although the Mahindra Thar 3-door has been on sale since the last five years, it has received plenty of minor updates throughout its journey till recently. Mahindra has now given it a significant update (although still not a proper facelift per se) that has given it a few design and feature upgrades inside and out. Many updates seem inspired by the bigger 5-door Thar (known as the Thar Roxx). So, in this story, let’s quickly go compare the exterior and interior design of both the Thar models:

Exterior

Front

While both have the typical Thar DNA in their design language, there are plenty of differences to give the two their unique identities. Firstly, the updated Thar 3-door carries on with the same seven-slat grille, but now finished in body colour. On the other hand, the Thar Roxx is offered with a six-slat grille with a split design that looks more imposing.

Both the Thar 3-door and Thar Roxx come with circular headlights, with halogen lighting on the former and all-LED projector units with C-shaped LED DRLs on the 5-door model. The two SUVs get turn indicators placed on the front fenders and fog lamps in the bumper. Mahindra also offers both the Thar models with a silver-finished portion in the centre of the front bumper that also has the ‘Thar’ insignia on the 3-door version.

Side

It’s from the sides that the new Thar 3-door is identical to the previous version and thus carries on with the same rear glass panel, 18-inch alloy wheels, and even the same ‘RWD’ (rear-wheel-drive) or ‘4X4’ (4-wheel-drive) badge on the rear fender.

On the other hand, the most significant giveaway for the Thar Roxx is its longer wheelbase and the extra doors. It also gets 19-inch alloy wheels, a triangular-ish rear quarter glass panel and the rear door handles on the bigger Thar are mounted on the C-pillar.

Rear

Both the Thar and Thar Roxx have a similar rear profile that get a similar layout with rectangular-shaped LED tail lights (with C-shaped internal lighting elements on the Thar Roxx) and a tailgate-mounted spare wheel. Mahindra has given a silver insert on the bumper of both the Thar 3-door and Thar Roxx, a sideway-opening tailgate, and a rear view camera placed in the spare wheel hub.

Interior

The 2025 Thar 3-door gets an all-black interior theme along with black fabric seat upholstery. The dashboard now gets the same 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system as the Thar Roxx as well as the same steering wheel. It even has the power windows switches placed on the doors as seen on the larger 5-door Thar.

In comparison, the Thar Roxx features a dual-tone black and white dashboard with white leatherette seat upholstery. If you opt for the four-wheel drive version, customers can also get it in a black / brown colour scheme. It also gets soft touch materials on the top portion of the dashboard for a more upmarket appearance. Both also feature a front centre armrest and rear AC vents along with charging ports for the rear occupants.

While the Thar 3-door comes in a 4-seater layout with two separate seats in the second row, the Thar Roxx is offered with a bench seat for rear occupants and is positioned as a 5-seater lifestyle off-roader.

Features

Apart from the same 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment unit, other common features across both the models include steering mounted audio controls, keyless entry, a rear wiper and washer, and electronic stability program (ESP). That said, the Thar Roxx is clearly the winner here when it comes to amenities as it gets some premium touches, including a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, panoramic sunroof, ventilated front seats, a 9-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and even Level-2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

While the Thar 3-door gets only dual airbags and a rear parking camera, the Thar Roxx comes with six airbags (as standard) and has a 360-degree camera setup on board. We have also covered the Thar 3-door’s exact variant-wise features to help you pick the best variant as per your needs.

Powertrain Options

Both the Mahindra Thar and Thar Roxx come with 2-litre turbo-petrol and 2.2-litre diesel engines, albeit in different states of tune. But the smaller Thar goes one step further and gets a smaller 1.5-litre diesel engine (with rear-wheel drive only). Detailed specifications are as follows:

*AT - Torque converter automatic transmission

Following the launch of the updated Thar 3-door, we have detailed the variant-wise powertrain options on offer.

Price Range And Rivals

The updated Mahindra Thar 3-door is priced in the range of Rs 9.99 lakh to Rs 16.99 lakh. If you want to know the exact variant-wise prices of the refreshed SUV, you can check out the updated Thar’s launch story. On the other hand, Mahindra had recently slashed the prices of all its models, including the Thar Roxx whose prices now fall between Rs 12.25 lakh and Rs 22.06 lakh. We have also separately covered the updated variant-wise prices of the Thar Roxx in detail.

Their common rivals include the Force Gurkha, Force Gurkha 5-door, and Maruti Jimny. If you’re interested in knowing how the Thar and Thar Roxx’s competitors are like to drive, check out our in-depth first drive reviews by tapping on the links below: 

• Maruti Jimny Review: Can It Double Up As A City Car?

• Force Gurkha Review: Kukri, And Not A Swiss Knife

All prices, ex-showroom pan-India