The Mahindra Thar Roxx’s best-value variant is the MX5 Diesel MT 2WD, not the base MX1 or the loaded AX7L. It runs ₹17.02 Lakh ex-showroom, works out to about ₹20.36 Lakh on the road in Mumbai, and skips Level 2 ADAS, which only arrives two trims higher. Mahindra’s claimed 15.2 kmpl diesel mileage figure, meanwhile, is not what owners are actually seeing.
Which Thar Roxx Variant Is Actually Worth Buying
The lineup runs 18 variants from ₹12.52 Lakh to ₹23.53 Lakh ex-showroom, on The Spec’d’s own Thar Roxx price page. Over the MX3 Diesel MT 2WD, the MX5 Diesel adds 18-inch alloys, a sunroof, LED headlamps and leatherette seats for just ₹74,000 more, making it the one worth your money.
| Variant | Ex-Showroom | What You Get Over the Trim Below |
| MX1 Petrol MT 2WD (cheapest) | ₹12.52 Lakh | Base trim, steel wheels, no touchscreen |
| MX1 Diesel MT 2WD (cheapest diesel) | ₹14.23 Lakh | +₹1.71 Lakh over MX1 Petrol for the diesel engine |
| MX3 Petrol AT 2WD (cheapest automatic) | ₹15.28 Lakh | 6 airbags, 10.25-inch touchscreen, cruise control |
| MX5 Diesel MT 2WD (best value) | ₹17.02 Lakh | Alloys, sunroof, LED headlamps, leatherette |
| AX5L Diesel AT 2WD (ADAS starts here) | ₹19.28 Lakh | Level 2 ADAS, Adrenox connected tech, Harman Kardon audio |
| AX7L Diesel AT 4WD (range-topper) | ₹23.53 Lakh | 19-inch alloys, panoramic Skyroof, Dolby Atmos, ventilated seats |
That ADAS trade-off matters more than most variant guides admit. The MX5 Diesel MT 2WD comes to about ₹20.36 Lakh on the road in Mumbai on The Spec’d’s Mumbai price page, roughly ₹34,210 a month on a 20% down, 5-year loan at 9.5% interest, and has no adaptive cruise control or autonomous emergency braking. Stepping up to the AX5L Diesel AT 2WD for those features pushes the on-road Mumbai price to ₹23.02 Lakh, about ₹2.66 Lakh more.
Thar Roxx On-Road Price: What Changes by City
Ex-showroom price is only part of the number that hits your wallet. For the base MX1 Petrol MT 2WD, Surat is the cheapest of the 39 cities The Spec’d’s pricing engine tracks at ₹14.04 Lakh on-road, against ₹14.81 Lakh in Mumbai, a ₹76,481 gap driven mostly by Maharashtra’s 12% road tax versus Gujarat’s 6%. BH-series registration swaps that state tax for a flat national rate, worth checking on the same price page before you book.
Claimed vs Real-World Mileage: The 15.2 kmpl Number Nobody Hits
Mahindra’s ARAI-certified figure is 15.2 kmpl for the diesel manual and 12.4 kmpl for the petrol automatic, both run in laboratory conditions. Nobody is seeing that on the road.
| Source | What It Found |
| ARAI, claimed (Mahindra) | 15.2 kmpl diesel, 12.4 kmpl petrol |
| Spinny instrumented test, diesel AT | 10.82 km/l city, 15.44 km/l highway, 11.97 km/l weighted combined |
| Autocar India reader reports, mixed driving | About 11 km/l for both manual and automatic diesel |
No independent test of the Thar Roxx petrol has a verifiable combined figure yet; treat Mahindra’s 12.4 kmpl claim as untested. On the claimed diesel figure, running cost works out to ₹5,920 per 1,000 km at ₹90 a litre, and the 57-litre tank should stretch to about 860 km, both per The Spec’d’s Thar Roxx mileage page. At the roughly 12 km/l owners and testers actually report, expect closer to 680 to 700 km a tank, and a noticeably higher running cost than the claimed number suggests.
Ride Quality and the Flaw Mahindra Hasn’t Fixed
Evo India’s 3,000 km test found the Thar Roxx’s low-speed ride “slightly unsettled” and bouncy on patchy city roads, though it called the setup “much, much better” than the old three-door Thar’s. At speed, the suspension doesn’t crash through bad patches, but you still feel the impacts in the cabin, a direct result of the body-on-frame construction that also gives the Roxx its genuine off-road ability.
The sharper complaint comes from Autocar India’s long-term review, now past 13,000 km. On a 1,200 km Mumbai-Indore-Mumbai run, its reviewer flagged the auto stop-start system as slow to kick back in at traffic lights, then sending a noticeable shudder through the cabin on restart. It’s the kind of flaw that only shows up after weeks of ownership, not a one-day test drive, and nobody at The Spec’d has driven this car to confirm or dispute it independently.
Is the 4×4 Upgrade Worth ₹2.4 Lakh?
Four-wheel drive is diesel-only on the Thar Roxx, and at the same trim it costs ₹2.24 Lakh to ₹2.4 Lakh more than the two-wheel-drive version. Unless you’re regularly off tarmac, that buys little for a daily commute: the RWD diesel already gets the same 5-star Bharat NCAP rating, 6 standard airbags and, from AX5L up, the same Level 2 ADAS. Save the 4×4 premium for buyers who need low-range gearing and the electronic locking differential.
The Thar Roxx is a genuine body-on-frame 4×4 wearing a five-door body, which nothing else in its price band offers. But that construction is also why it rides firm at low speed, and the diesel automatic won’t match its own ARAI number in real traffic.
Thar Roxx vs the Three-Door Thar OG: Which Body Style
If you’re torn between this five-door and the shorter three-door Thar OG, The Spec’d has already run the two head to head in a full Thar OG vs Thar Roxx comparison. Short version: the Roxx trades some of the OG’s go-anywhere compactness for a proper back seat and a 644-litre boot, at a real price premium.
What is the real mileage of the Mahindra Thar Roxx diesel?
Mahindra claims 15.2 kmpl (ARAI). Spinny’s instrumented test of the diesel automatic returned a weighted 11.97 km/l, and Autocar India reader reports cluster around 11 km/l in mixed driving for both the manual and automatic.
Which Thar Roxx variant should I buy?
The MX5 Diesel MT 2WD at ₹17.02 Lakh ex-showroom: it has the alloys, sunroof and leatherette the AX trims charge more for, without paying for ADAS you may not need. Step up to the AX5L Diesel AT 2WD only if Level 2 ADAS and the automatic gearbox matter to you.
Is the Thar Roxx 4×4 worth the extra money?
Only if you actually go off-road. It costs ₹2.24 Lakh to ₹2.4 Lakh more than the equivalent 2WD trim, and the 2WD diesel already has the same 5-star Bharat NCAP rating, 6 airbags and, from AX5L up, the same ADAS.
