The man responsible for this vehicle is not an Indian and wishes to remain unknown. But it has to be someone with serious amounts of experience in building off-roaders as well as Paris-Dakar racing prototypes.
The Axe uses a space-frame chassis which is typical to race cars and is stiff but light. Most of its engineering was done in India by Mahindra Defence Systems and the project was handled by the engineer responsible for R&D, Commander Narendra Katdare.
Sourced from Mercedes-Benz via SsangYong Motors of Korea, the common-rail diesel motor that powers the Axe is a 173bhp, five-cylinder diesel motor and sends power to the rear or all four wheels via a five-speed automatic box. The Axe also has a low range, as can be expected, but lockable differentials are not required by the Army. Probably, a maintenance-related deletion.
The interiors of the Axe once again remind us that this is a military vehicle owing to the padded gun racks.
In addition, the Axe is so wide; it could easily seat four people in the rear. Even in the front, the passenger next to driver’s seat is at a minimum distance of three feet.
Sprinting ahead
The thrill of driving this massive vehicle is something else! Firstly, owing to its size and road presence, it commands respect. Keeping up with and overtaking traffic calls for a lot of effort from the engine and you have to be flat on the throttle when you want to pass someone. Acceleration isn’t very impressive, except when you drive it flat-out. We actually strapped our V-box onto the Axe as it did the 0-100 kilometres-an-hour sprint; it managed it in under 20 seconds; not bad considering the weight.
Of course, the real prowess of the Axe is when it performs off-road. This vehicle can handle bad roads, deep ruts in the road and any kind of terrain without the slightest hitch.
Gearbox placed in manually-selectable mode and right foot to the floor, we take off down a wide off-road path. Even though one could not do more than 50kph on a path like this without hurting their SUV, the Axe charged ahead at speeds of over 100kph.
The Mahindra Axe is a great off-roader and will redefine the parameters of what an off-roader is capable of doing. It is sure to provide the Indian Army with an advantage. It does however, need more power and the lockable differentials are essential when traction is a real problem.
Still, this vehicle is quite incredible and the best part is that besides the Army, even you might just be able to get one.
2 comments:
Mahindra Axe, the Indian Hummer is a great vehicle. It is specially designed for the army guys and is still on test. Wonder when is going to make its debut. I did not know anything about this vehicle but when I read about it on internet; i felt it as an interesting vehicle.
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