While the upcoming Mahindra XUV700 has grabbed all the attention from media and auto enthusiasts alike, the company has had its hand full. Ahead of its official debut, Mahindra also inaugurated its new state-of-the-art SUV testing facility in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
Called the Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT), it will be the place where future SUVs from the Indian automaker will be honed and tested. Each upcoming SUV will be undergoing various kinds of tests before getting the green light for production. We take a look at some key attributes of this new facility.
Huge in size
This new infrastructure has been built by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and designed by IDIADA, (Institutd’ Investigació Aplicada de l’Automòbil – Institute for Applied Automotive Research). The entire facility is spread over 454 acres of land which could roughly cover more than 325 football grounds. It is located just 55km outside the Mahindra Research Valley which is home to every vehicle development carried out by the carmaker in India.
Various Testing Combinations
A testing facility as huge as this required multiple test tracks with various configurations. The MSPT consists of 20 purpose-built tracks which are fully in operation. One of them is a 43.7-degree parabolic banking setup for higher neutral speed testing. Watch the Mahindra XUV700 attempting top speed on the test track – taking on the curve at over 150 kmph. XUV700 has a claimed top speed of over 200 kmph.
There is also a straight 2km, 11m wide road with zero percent longitudinal slope built for performance and coast-down measurements. Other tracks are used for testing specific parameters such as vehicle dynamics, braking and traction.
No Need For Fuel Stop – When a vehicle is slated to undergo testing of this magnitude, it might have to stop for fuel refilling quite often. Hence, Mahindra has installed fuel refilling zones within the campus in order to avoid hassles of waiting in long queues outside a fuel station. This ensures that testing can go ahead smoothly and largely uninterrupted.
Off-roading Is Key
Mahindra wants to ensure that its SUVs remain true to their rugged character hence the automaker has developed a dedicated 4X4 experience centre within the MSPT. This 4×4 experience centre houses the 4X4 Adventure track which consists of 25 different obstacles for testing the pedigree of 4×4 and AWD vehicles. The tests include up and down, drive-thru forest/woods, riverbeds, mud, slush, sand, rock beds, and more.
Weather Simulation – MSPT also has the provision to simulate different weather conditions such as rain, water wading, water splash, and even a dust storm. The centre also gets a dedicated full vehicle corrosion test facility with a humidity chamber to check how future Mahindra SUVs will be able to handle nature’s extremities.