The Gurkha is powered by an aging TD 2650 FTI BS-III Turbo Charged Inter-cooled engine, an old school Mercedes derived 2596cc DI engine. This engine is also used in the Force Traveller/Excel versions and Trax series of vehicles. This is derived from the OM 616 series engine which has done enough contributions to growing India in the 80s and 90s. OM 616 engines were found in the Mercedes Benz cars till 1983 beyond which they moved on to OM601. Force motors have been historically utilizing license agreements with Mercedes Benz and even the current crop of Mercedes Benz car engines are assembled by Force Motors at Urse including the S-Class engines! However the surprising aspect is the lack of a BS4 version - surely Force would have received a lot of feedback on it and we hopefully should see a proper BS4 version in near future.
The Gurkha engine produces 60 kW @ 3200 rpm or 82 Ps @ 3200 rpm, but most importantly for an offroader 230 Nm @ 1800-2000 rpm. Its not a high revving engine, that's not its forte - but what it does pretty well is generating oodles of torque from lower rpms - exactly what a doctor recommends for an off roader. While we didn't test the Gurkha on-road for highway mannerisms - it was evident the short gearing will run out of steam sooner than later. We will hopefully test this aspect in detail later. NVH is very acceptable, though there is scope for improvement, if the insulation fit and finish was done better.
Gurkha engine bay looks old school, no fancy plastic covers but an old reliable engine and a lot of plumbing work - not much can go wrong as long as you keep tightening the bolts on the plumbing. On the cabin side there is cloth cladding done to help NVH. A big cylindrical air filter on the left, next to it the turbocharger and the DI (Direct Injection) unit. An EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) unit on the right of the engine largely to help meet BS-III emissions norms , fuel pump behind it on the right and the battery to the extreme right - as simple as it gets. Its this simplicity which helps the engine outlast the owner - these engines are known to do lakhs of kms without overhaul ! There is not much complexity, no fancy electronics and hence nothing much can go wrong, its more the fit and finish and rough usage (which is what you buy a Gurkha for!) which need attention rather - odd nuts and bolts that will come loose inevitably. Especially the plastic and rubber elements, the plumbing joints will need attention in the long haul.
Transmission is G1 18/5B – Overdrive - 5 forward gears and 1 reverse via a hydraulic single plate clutch - its heavy duty and requires pedal effort. The gear lever itself is acutely angled and you have to reach to it. The gear shifts were on the slightly harder side in the test prototypes. We are told with usage and running in they are much better. The layout is dog leg pattern which in our view is an advantage as you would be largely confined to using gears 2-3-4-5 in your practical on road runs.
Force Motors recommends these Oil grades:
Engine oil: HP-FORCE 15 W-40
Gear Box Assembly: Power steering: Front/ Rear Axle/ Transfer Case : HP FORCE 80 W 90 GL-5/4
Gear Ratios :-
First Gear :- 4.695:1
Second Gear :- 2.401:1
Third Gear :- 1.436:1
Fourth Gear :- 1:1
Fifth Gear :- 0.806:1
Transfer Case
4WD High :- 1:1
4WD Low :- 2.04:1
The 4x4 transfer case is operated by the lever depicted in the image below. Surprisingly this is easier to reach than the conventional gear lever, however this was excessively hard to operate in the test mules. 2H for your normal daily run and when the going get tough the 4H mode, 4L mode when war breaks out. 2H and 4H modes can be operated on the fly. The lever was again extremely hard to operate sometimes needing both your shoulder strengths - hope these mannerisms are sorted in the final production versions. The low range setup gives the Gurkha epic crawl abilities.
The differential locks in a Gurkha are worth its weight in gold, it lets you conveniently forget the lack of good articulation possibilities in the Gurkha. Both front and rear lockers can be operated independently by cable held pull handles with small buttons inside which aid a smooth operation.In simple terms what these do is the lock your wheels on each of the axles (whichever is operated) to move in unison irrespective of the traction/resistance they encounter - so both your wheels on the axle spin identically - This is an immense help in offroading conditions like slippery/articulating mud pits, ruts and even steep inclines requiring a lot of traction.
Quite simply put with the differential locks engaged you don't need to be a skilled offroader but a novice driver (with a little bit of common sense) to handle the terrain. However use it with caution and use only when needed, immediately disengage after use, prolonged and unnecessary usage will surely lead to drive-train damage. Both front and rear axle ratios are set at 4.375 - This gives you immense lugging power when needed. In off-road trails the Gurkha will be more than happy pulling out vehicles in dire situations.
The crawl setup in a Gurkha has to be experienced to be believed, in 4 Low it can do 40 degree incline without any driver input - even if use the brake heavily (for steep descends you will need to) you will hardly be able to stall the Gurkha. Engage 4L and both lockers you feel as if you are driving a T-72 - the feeling of "Tank Tread Traction - Go Anywhere" literally. The engine is extremely torquey and generates it from low rpms which is great off-road. While we haven't had a chance to test this on road, we do feel the gearing will be slightly on the shorter side.
The 5th gear is overdrive so our guess is it will still be a comfortable highway cruiser at 100kmph. Hopefully we will be able to cover this part in detail once we test the Gurkha in more real world conditions outside the factory test track. Gurkha has front disc brakes and rear drum set up, in our short off-road test we found them pretty effective. The handbrake is now located in the center space between the front seats and operated with ease as well.
The definition of safety aspects in a Gurkha (offroader) - I will slightly twist, I wont go in to conventional aspects like airbags, abs etc - rather the safety mechanisms inherently built for offroading. The one word that comes with offroading is abuse - an ability to take extreme stress and loads and come out bruised but not beaten. The tubular chassis provides you with that indestructible/invincible load taking abilities.
The front suspension is independent with solid torsion bar & hydraulic telescopic shock absorber with anti roll bar whereas the rear is 2 stage semi elliptical leaf spring with hydraulic telescopic shock absorber & anti roll bar - again old school but immense load handling capability. Keeps both the owner and the vehicle safe from abuse and extreme terrain! Adequate protection exists for the fuel tank, engine, propeller shaft joints. Leaf Springs have plastic inserts with the intention to reduce suspension noise.
The skid plates and the front bumper had taken quite some beating in the test track, the front bumper is what took the maximum scars. The under body and skid plates seemed to have the capability to endure hell. They were battered but not beaten, these skid plates will protect costly under body components and keep you safe while navigating an off-road trail. The exhaust pipe is located in the sides close to the rear tyre and is one more thing you need to consider when encountering steep break-over angles. We are told this change was done from a better packaging angle.
The catalytic converter is a candidate for damage too when extreme off roading. In case of negotiating center humps be cautious not to hit steering rods as they are located close to minimum GC of the vehicle. Gurkha comes stock with Apollo Hawkkz A/T tyres (245 / 70R16) riding on 16 inch alloys. Serious off roaders should be able to up-size to larger hub PCDs to fit bigger tyres if they feel to need to increase the GC from the current 210mm. In terms of maximum tyre size upgrade (Force recommended) one could go for 7.50 R 16 with a change in the hub. Its however good to see A/T tyres as stock - after all you are branding it as a E.O.V. (Extreme Off-Roader Vehicle) With a fuel tank capacity of 63 liters, Gurkha can do long runs all in decent comfort considering its built largely for off-road purposes.
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