Indians For Guns

Anyone familiar with Tempo Trax Gurkha, I own a 1999 model, its among the few hardcore off roaders around, apart from Land Cruiser and MB G Wagen, German Off Road mag gave it thumbs up in their 89 review and called it best 4x4 of the year, it comes with Mercedes OM616 turbo engine and diff locks on front and rear, whats unique from every other 4x4 is that it comes with super strong tubular chassis and double wishbone independent front suspension. It also has divorced T case and dual tube rear axle, check it out with its awwesome demo video at www.force4x4.com

i agree with you .. it is a cool 4x4..

it is one of the least marketed products. i think event he defence has lesser of these..

i read somewhere that a new one is less than 4 lacs.. is that true??

Hi Django,

I recall seeing the Gurkha at the Auto expo many years back, though I have never had the chance to actually drive one... How does it drive? Is it comfortable? Is there enough "juice" in the 2.4 litre diesel? Personally I prefer petrol engined vehicles... but that's just a personal preference...

I remember being impressed by the lockable differential too - AFAIK no other Indian vehicle has this feature, even today! In my opinion this was designed keeping in mind army contracts, a real pity that the army picked the substantially inferior (at least on paper/ specs) Mahindra in stead

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Hi Abhijeet,

Gurkha was primarily made for the European market as a poor man's G, army was an afterthought when Malaysian and South African army ordered Gurkha and recently the Israeli Defense Forces placed order for around 600 of them. As for ride, believe it or not, it rides better than Land Cruiser, on or off road, the 2.4L engine may not be anything like 6 cyl gassers but its extremely reliable lasting well over 400,000 miles, also the gearing is properly matched and it has gradient rating of 74degrees. Indian army would have never awarded it a contract because the initial cost of Gurkha is very high due to German parts.

I saw a Gurkha 4X4 at the Auto Expo too. By chance the owner of the company Mr. Abhay Firodia was around. We all asked him a lot of questions on his creation.
At that time he did not think this type of a vehicle had much of a civilian market in India. Things have changed meanwhile.
It has a really good ground clearence compared to others in the market. Abhijeet - Lets ask for some IFG trial vehicles from the old boy.
He seemed to be a very sporty type and may loan us a couple of them for a few weeks.
Spacetraveller

Is the Tempo Trax Gurkha available in India? The Force motors website shows the present model as Gama classic DT. Is that basically the same vehicle? It doesnt list differential lock as one of its features.
Regards,
Yaj.

It would be available next year with the engine from C-220MB, currenty its on hold, Force is overwhelmed with MAN project for now.

Thanks for the info Django.The Gurkha is real impressive! How does the Judo compare with the Gurkha?
Regards,
Yaj.

Yaj,

Judo is 10 seater LWB version of the SWB Gurkha, everything else is identical. You can take your family in air conditioned comfort for serious off road.

Very cute dogs by the way, I have four, our family's heart and soul.

Django";p="22574 wrote:Yaj,

Judo is 10 seater LWB version of the SWB Gurkha, everything else is identical. You can take your family in air conditioned comfort for serious off road.

Very cute dogs by the way, I have four, our family's heart and soul.

Thanks Django. The reason I asked ,I found the Tech specs of the Judo on the Navnith motors website which doesnt mention the differential lock whereas it does for the Gurkha.
Four dogs! Great ! Would love to see some doggy pics
Regards,
Yaj.

Yaj,

I will post the pics soon, in case you wish to see Judo in action, check out the vid at www.force4x4.com

Seen it already,hence the interest So the Tempo 290 GTD is the Judo?
Yaj.

No the guy Rama who runs the site has the Judo, its with MB OM616 turbo engine and diff locks front and rear.

it has gradient rating of 74degrees

Hi Django,

74 degrees!!! Could that be a typo? 47 degrees perhaps?

Mack The Knife

Mack The Knife,

Thanks for the correction its 60% which does translate to 45deg.