evo India – July 2019

48 http://www.evoIndia.com | July 2019

Driven

ground clearance doesn’t just help off the

road but will come in handy on your everyday

commute too, especially with the imminent

arrival of the monsoons. And everything on the

Trailhawk is there for a reason, including that

black strip on the bonnet — while being the

biggest visual differentiator it also prevents

glare when you’re off roading.

The best part is that all the off-road ability

does not compromise any of the on-road

skills. If anything the Compass Trailhawk is

now much, much better on road thanks to the

automatic gearbox making commutes and

mile-munching a breeze.

Of course the old sticky points remain. The

back seat isn’t as spacious as its rivals and it is

too claustrophobic to be chauffeured around

in. In town, at low speed, the ride is very firm.

And it has a healthy appetite for fuel. But if

you’re looking for a 4x4 that can be your daily

driver and weekend mud-plugger, there really

is nothing at this price — the Toyota Fortuner

4x4 will set you back a fair bit more, a Mahindra

XUV500 AWD or Tata Hexa AWD doesn’t have

half the off-road ability and while you will save

a tonne of cash with a Mahindra Thar (and go

further off the road, no question) there’s no

way you can commute in that daily, neither will

your wife and friends ever ride in it.

The Compass Trailhawk then occupies a

neat little niche for itself. It won’t be cheap

— the current Limited Plus is `23 lakh (ex-

showroom) so expect the Trailhawk to be at

least `25, if not `26 lakh. But if Jeep are smart

they will also offer the Trailhawk on the Limited

variant which will bring its price to around

`23.5 lakh, a price that the 250 or so off-road

enthusiasts who’ve already pre-booked the

Trailhawk will find appealing enough to fork

up the rest of the cash and drive off into the

trails. L

Sirish Chandran (@SirishChandran)

To p : Only 17s on the Trailhawk with more off-road

oriented Falken tyres. Above: Serious off-roading

involves lending a helping hand to other

• Already best-in-class off-roading prowess enhanced, even better ride, desirable - Slow gearbox, back seat evo rating (^) ;;;;d
  Engine
  1956cc, 4-cyl, turbo-diesel
  Power
  170.5bhp @ 3750rpm
  Torque
  350Nm @ 1750rpm
  0-100kmph
  NA
  Top speed
  NA
  Transmission
  9-speed auto
  Price
  `25 lakh (expected)
  Specification