Toyota Hilux vs Maruti Jimny Vs Mahindra Thar vs Force Gurkha: Snow Challenge

Snow is one of the trickiest surfaces to drive on. We have seen several videos lately where many 2WD SUV owners have found themselves in trouble after driving through snow. There are many factors that one must keep in mind while driving through snow, and one of them is the tires. If you don’t have the right set of tires, things might get tricky for you, even if you are driving a 4×4. Here, we have a video that proves just that. In this video, we see a Toyota Hilux, Maruti Jimny, Mahindra Thar, and Force Gurkha trying to climb up a slope covered in snow.

 

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A post shared by DCV Expeditions (@dcvexpeditions)

The video has been shared by DCV Expeditions on their Instagram page. In this video, we see a Maruti Jimny attempting to climb up a slope fully covered in snow. The track is clear but, due to constant snowfall, the surface is slippery. The Maruti Jimny in this video looks stock, and we know that Maruti offers HT tires with the Jimny from the factory.

The Jimny attempted to climb up the slope, but the tires had no traction at all. The next car to attempt the climb was the Mahindra Thar. It was the older generation Thar soft top, and surprisingly, even this SUV looks stock. We are seeing a Mahindra Thar (older generation) in stock form after a very long time. It looks like the Mahindra Thar is running on AT tires.

Even this doesn’t help, and we have no idea about the condition of the tires too. The front wheels lost traction even after the SUV attempted to climb up. After the Mahindra Thar, it was the Force Gurkha’s turn to show its capabilities. The Force Gurkha driver also attempted to climb up the slippery slope.

Unlike the other two SUVs, the Gurkha driver even attempted to gain momentum but couldn’t keep the SUV on track because of the snow on the road. The SUV driver tried several times, but the result remained the same. None of the three SUVs could go up, no matter how hard they tried.

The Toyota Hilux pickup was the last to attempt the climb. Just like the other SUVs, the Toyota Hilux also started climbing up the slope, and to everyone’s surprise, this heavy pickup truck managed to climb up. So, what exactly happened here? We explain.

If you notice, all the three SUVs that attempted the climb initially were in their stock form. They were all running on either HT or AT tires. While AT tires offer a decent amount of grip while off-roading, they are not great on snow. This was the reason why the SUVs lost traction almost immediately after they tried to crawl up.

The Toyota Hilux, on the other hand, is modified for such expeditions. The SUV is running on RT tires which have deeper grooves and offer better grip in such terrains. The wider tire also helped as it increased the surface area of the tire in contact with the surface. This, along with the intelligent traction control system on the Hilux, helped the SUV climb up.

So, the key here is not only weight but also tyres. The right set of tyres are absolutely essential for off-roading. Different conditions need different kinds of tyres. For instance, snow, rocks and mud are best tackled with mud terrain tyres.