The phrase ‘records are made to be broken’ gets a whole new meaning with team evo India’s latest feat – setting a series of national speed records with the Mahindra XUV700 at the 24 Hours Speed Endurance Challenge. Four XUV700s, all with different powertrain variations, were part of the challenge and all four SUVs covered a distance of over 4000km in 24 hours, with the diesel manual variant clocking 4384.73km as it crossed the finish line at the Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT). The XUV700 was also the first SUV to break a national endurance record, obliterating the previous one set in 2016 by over 1200km!
Setting a record of this magnitude required a skilled set of drivers and joining the evo India team were friends from the motorsport fraternity and fellow enthusiasts. The drivers were split into four teams and drove four XUV700s – the petrol manual, petrol automatic, diesel manual and the diesel automatic. The SUVs were driven for 24 hours at a stretch, with quick stopovers only for fuel and driver changes. Despite weather conditions that included a torrential downpour, the Mahindra XUV700s were driven at average speeds ranging from 170 to 180kmph at the Mahindra SUV Proving Track which was inaugurated on August 14 this year. In addition to the national record, the team also broke a total of 80 additional records during the endurance challenge. The records were validated by the FMSCI and also the India Book of Records.
Speaking on the occasion, Velusamy R., Chief of Global Product Development, M&M Ltd said “The XUV700 was conceptualised, developed and built to a very high endurance standard and as expected it fared extremely well in this gruelling challenge. We are proud that the XUV700 has set new benchmarks for endurance and set new national records. It is interesting to note that this achievement came at our very own world-class MSPT.”
The Mahindra XUV700 Endurance Record was one of the most ambitious events that team evo India has been a part of, and it certainly was a magnificent achievement for all those involved with the effort, as well as showcasing Mahindra’s engineering prowess with its extremely capable SUV as well as its world-class testing facility.