M&M inaugurates proving track to test its SUVs in Tamil Nadu

PTI, Aug 15, 2021, 9:46 AM IST

Mumbai: Auto major M&M Limited on Saturday inaugurated a proving track ”Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT)” for sports utility vehicles in the temple town of Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) at an investment of Rs 510 crore.

The proving track will help its engineers to test the SUV products in a variety of terrains and simulations.

Situated just 55 km away from the Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) where the company’s all SUVs are developed, the track is being built over 454 acres of land at Cheyyar SIPCOT Industrial Area. The track offers MRV engineers to extensively test the product and also ready them for homologation (Government Certification) in this custom-made facility, M&M Ltd said in a release.

Mahindra claims the Spanish institution IDIADA designed facility, which took three years for completion, to be one of the biggest and comprehensive automotive proving grounds owned by an automobile OEM in India.

“The brand-new 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,” said Veluswamy R, Chief of Global Product Development.

As the company builds a strong authentic SUV brand with adventure capability, MSPT will house the very strategic 4X4 Center of Excellence where the Mahindra team will innovate on creating breakthrough solutions, it said, adding, in 2022 the track will be opened for auto passionate customers to have a world-class off-roading experience in a specially curated track.

The MSPT has 20 purpose-built tracks which are fully operational. These include a zero per cent slope high-speed test track with a 43.7-degree parabolic banking for higher neutral speed testing. In the straight high-speed road, vehicles can reach over 200 kph, the company said.

Besides, a circular dynamic platform that spans 250 metres in diameter is meant for vehicle dynamics development and evaluation while a braking pad with six different surfaces, dry and wet tracks, have been built to test various braking systems.

A general highway durability track and a simulated city track are built for simulating public road durability. An accelerated test track which has all imaginable bad road surfaces including potholes, undulations, Belgian pavement, cobblestone, rumblers and various kinds of washboard and speed breakers are factored into it, among others, the company said.