24 Hours Speed Endurance Challenge: Breaking national records with the XUV700!

We drive the Mahindra XUV700 in a high speed test of endurance, and break a national record in the process!

The 24 Hours Speed Endurance Challenge would be an extreme test of the Mahindra XUV700 and its reliabilityTeam evo India

Published on:

20 Oct 2021, 07:31

2 min read

Team evo India has always been ambitious. Despite the barrage of cars and SUVs we get to test, we’re constantly on the hunt for fresh creative ideas. And then came a brainwave. We had been very impressed by the XUV700 when we first drove it at the Mahindra SUV Proving Track outside Chennai. But a first drive is one thing, to truly put it to the test we needed something bigger. How does 24 hours of constant driving at (almost) full pelt sound? Well, that's where the idea for the 24 Hour Speed Endurance Challenge came from.

Drive any car or SUV to a shoot 50 km from the office and nothing will squeak or rattle. But hammering around a track at high speeds for 24 hours non-stop? That is a true acid test for a vehicle’s quality. And given the XUV700’s popularity (with over 50,000 bookings!) It was only logical that we picked it for a test of reliability, robustness and speed. We would be driving four Mahindra XUV700s – the petrol manual, petrol automatic, diesel manual and the diesel automatic. These SUVs would be driven at average speeds of 170 to 180kmph at the Mahindra SUV Proving Track. Driving the XUV700s for the record run were friends of evo India from the motorsport fraternity, people from the incredible team that has engineered and developed the XUV700 as well as a few like minded enthusiasts – drivers whom we could rely on to pilot the XUVs at some serious speeds.

The event itself would be conducted under the observation of the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India (FMSCI), with the record being validated by adjudicators from the India Book of Records. To break the earlier record which stood at 3161 km, the SUVs would be driven non-stop for 24 hours straight, stopping only for refuelling, tyre changes and driver swaps. Apart from breaking a national record, the 24 Hours Speed Endurance Challenge would also showcase the XUV700’s reliability and performance in such gruelling conditions. How did the XUV fare? Stay tuned to find out more.

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