Mahindra SUV Proving Track is located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu and has fully operational 20 purpose-built tracks for testing
Ahead of the global debut of the much-awaited XUV700, M&M has today announced the Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT), located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Officially opened today for Mahindra engineers to test the SUVs in a range of terrains and simulations, MSPT was inaugurated by Anish Shah, MD & CEO, M&M in the presence of Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto & Farm Sector, Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division and Velusamy R, Chief of Global Product Development, Automotive Division.
The facility will act as a proving ground for the upcoming Mahindra vehicles and is certainly one of the biggest and well rounded from a mainstream automaker. It will boast of a 4X4 Center of Excellence where Mahindra’s team is said to innovate on “creating breakthrough solutions”. Next year, the track will be opened for “auto passionate” customers to have off-roading experience in a specially curated track.
The MSPT facility is just 55 km away from the MRV (Mahindra Research Valley) where all the developmental duties of the Mahindra SUVs will unfold. Courtesy of the new track, the MRV engineers can now extensively test the new products and also ready them for homologation according to the brand. Speaking on the announcement, Veluswamy R., Chief of Global Product Development said,
“The brand-new Proving Track compliments and completes MRV where our products are conceived. It is a dream come true for everyone involved in the product development process within Mahindra. It’s a driver’s paradise designed to shape powerful and desirable machines.”
The Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT) has been developed with an investment of Rs. 510 crore and it spans over 454 acres of land at the Cheyyar SIPCOT Industrial Area. It is designed by IDIADA, the Spanish institution with half a century of experience in building proving grounds and it took three years to complete this track.
The MSPT has fully operational 20 purpose-built tracks including a zero per cent slope High Speed test track with 43.7-degree parabolic banking for higher neutral speed testing. On the straight high-speed road, vehicles can reach over 200 kmph. An arrow-straight 2 km, 11m wide road with zero per cent longitudinal slope is built for performance and coast down measurements.
The circular dynamic platform that spans 250 meters in diameter is meant for Vehicle dynamics development and evaluation while a Braking pad with 6 different surfaces, dry and wet tracks are built to test braking, ABS, ESP and TCS. A General Highway Durability track and a Simulated City track are for simulating public road durability.
Other highlights are an Accelerated test track with bad road surfaces including potholes, undulations and Belgian pavement; simulation of rain, water wading, dust storm in a chamber and water splash Full Vehicle corrosion test facility with humidity chamber; a 4X4 Adventure track with over 25 obstacles for testing 4X4 and AWD vehicles; prototype workshops, health centre and an administration tower to house over 200 engineers; and a dedicated fuel station.
The 4×4 specific off-road track, open for customers from H2 2022, has multiple setups like up and down hills (slopes 7, 11, 18, and 35 degrees), drive-thru forest/woods, riverbeds (0.9m and 1.2m deep), mud, slush, sand, rock beds, sea saw, wooden bridge over river pass, hard and soft articulation, wood logs, railway sleepers, a dead drop etc.