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.