The Mahindra Roxor is a fantastic machine. It’s versatile, customizable, and there’s a supportive group of enthusiasts who have been wrenching on Roxors since day one. What’s more, the Roxor is the first piece in an international automotive puzzle that will soon see an entirely new brand of automobiles hitting North American soil.
That’s exciting stuff from a company that’s best known in the States for selling tractors, but I bet Mahindra didn’t foresee people getting as crazy with their Roxors as they do. And wouldn’t you know, it’s all immortalized online for the world to see.
This is Roxor Weekly.
This Alaskan Roxor is Ready to Plow
From a weekend adventure rig to a trail-slaying badass beast, a Mahindra Roxor can be whatever you want it to be.
It can also be your plowing buddy.
This video was uploaded by Compeau’s, a powersports dealership in Fairbanks, Alaska with a fantastic sense of humor. It’s filed under Comedy, and I can only imagine that’s due in no small part to the sheer number of cheap jokes you can make when talking about snow plowing. But since I’ve already offended the snowplowing community on numerous occasions, I’ll just tell you that the plow in question is a SnowEx UTV V-Plow that’s really good at plowing V making quick work of deep snow thanks to its V-shaped frontal surface. It’s also remotely adjustable, allowing the V-Plow to grow and shrink on demand so it’s always the perfect size for the perfect plow.
That’s way more helpful than some little blue pill.
Man Drives into a Frozen Lake and Immediately Gets Stuck
Speaking of machismo, upon approaching a vast frozen lake of indeterminant depth, YouTuber Abiez is given a scare as his trusty Mahindra Roxor breaks through the ice with one of its front wheels. Realizing what has happened, he turns around like a sensible person keeps right on going like a complete badass.
Moments later his senses kick in, but by then it’s too late – when even 4-Low fails to help, this frozen lake starts looking like a Roxor-sized grave.
Admittedly, this would be a lot more epic if it happened half a mile into the lake. It would also be more epic if there were eagles soaring and guns mounted to the Roxor’s roof. But hey, even getting stuck with two wheels safely on the sandy shore can present a tough situation. When you get stuck in the middle of nowhere, you immediately become aware of just how secluded you really are.
Locking differentials would’ve stopped this from ever happening, but Abiez has the next best thing: Warn locking front hubs. After he hops out and disengages the front wheels, the Roxor pulls itself out using its back wheels only. Abiez tempts fate a few more times, dipping all four wheels into the icy stuff at one point later in the video, but it’s nothing those locking hubs can’t get him out of.
Crisis averted.
Here’s How to Test Your Spartan Differential Locker
Speaking of locking differentials, our favorite Canadian snowplower TlcBister has fitted a Spartan Rear Differential Locker to help with those nasty Canadian winters. It replaces the spider gears in the Roxor’s stock differential, leading to improved traction in situations where lock-up is preferred. It most likely would have helped Abiez escape the icy peril of that frozen lake without ever having to exit the cab, and it’s a must-have for anyone looking to do any serious off-roading in a Roxor.
If you’re installing a Spartan Locker yourself, you will eventually need to test everything to ensure you’ve put it together correctly. Do that by following these steps laid out by TlcBister:
With the axle off the ground and the transmission in gear, turn both wheels forward and they should lock in place. At this point, keep forward pressure on one wheel and turn the opposite wheel backward. It should release and you will hear the locker ratcheting. Turn the wheel forward again to lock it back into place. Now rotate the opposite wheel and it should do the same. At this point, turn both wheels backwards and they should again lock into place. Turn one wheel forward while maintaining reverse pressure on the opposite side. It should again release, and once more turn the wheel backward to lock and test the opposite wheel in the same manner. If both wheels lock and release, forwards and reverse, your lockers should be working properly.
Congrats, your lockers work great! Now go find yourself some trouble.
Project Woodrat Gets Muddier Than Ever
With mud on his face and arms, a five-burner gas grill in the bed, and Crocs and Socks on his feet, Ryan of Red, White, & Roxor is knocking on the door of 3,000 subscribers. He’s built one of the most badass Roxors anywhere, Project Woodrat. Last week he got Woodrat stuck in a muddy field along with every other vehicle he owns (and some he doesn’t). And he does it all in the name of a good time.
One thing Ryan hasn’t done much of is off-roading. That’s not because Louisiana has a shortage of off-road trails and parks, but because he wants Woodrat to be as prepared as possible before he subjects it to anything too dangerous. And we can’t blame him: Woodrat’s recent ECU tune took the build sheet into mile-long territory:
18x9” Fuel Sledge wheels, 5x5.5 bolt pattern, -12 offset, 110mm bore
Hattiesburg Cycles 4” lift kit with custom mounts
I’m sure we’re forgetting a few things, and that doesn’t count all the custom work like routing axle vents and other little things here and there. So while Ryan isn’t too eager to throw the Woodrat down a rocky escarpment, he’s done the next best thing by thrashing it on a muddy dirt road.
Looks like it took the abuse pretty well, open diffs and all 😉
Watch a Roxor Out-Pull a Can Am Maverick X3 MAX
We first covered this video back in 2018, but it’s recently made the rounds of the interwebs again and it hasn’t gotten any less awesome with time. It was posted on Instagram in August 2018 by zx636.peewee who included the following backstory:
Battle of the beasts at work when a customer asks "How much torque does that little Roxor thing have"
And our answer to the question was
"You know what, give us a minute" 🤣🤣🤣
X3 XRS Maxx had no chance
While a Can-Am Maverick X3 MAX might outdo a Roxor in suspension travel and outright price (though a fully-spec’d $30,000 Mahindra Roxor would give it a run for its money), the Roxor’s firm stance and macho torque are too much for the MAX to handle. And that’s all on the factory open diffs and 3.73 gearing; imagine what would happen if it had a full front and rear limited slip differential kit or even a set of tank tracks at its disposal.
That would just be unfair.
An Interview with Mahindra Automotive North America CEO Rick Haas
If you’ve ever wondered where Mahindra came from, how they got so powerful, and what their plans are for the future, this is the perfect video for you.
Welcome to Autoline After Hours, a podcast about cars by Autoline.tv. This is Episode 418 featuring Rick Haas, the President and CEO of Mahindra Automotive North America. Why is an automotive podcast interviewing a tractor and UTV manufacturer, you ask?
Well, not only does MANA produce the Mahindra Roxor, they have prospective plans to bring an entire line of Indian-built Mahindra automobiles to American roads within the next few years. That’s a tall order for any company to fill, even a behemoth like Mahindra which is already well-versed in navigating tricky international requirements. In fact, as the podcast explains, the need to pass government emissions regulations heavily factored into their decision to build the Roxor’s production plant just outside of Detroit, near the EPA testing facilities and a stone’s throw from Chrysler’s own production facility. You know, the people who make actual Jeeps.
With a storied background in Ford and Tesla (he’s the former director of engineering for the Tesla Model S), Rick Haas begins the interview by explaining how Mahindra’s experience assembling vehicles for Ford will lend itself to smoothing the process of introducing the Mahindra brand to the North American automotive scene.
Rick also discusses how Mahindra got its start in North America: by selling tractors.
Mahindra’s North American arm was established in 1994 in Tomball, Texas; by 2003 they had not only sold over 1,000,000 tractors globally, but they had also earned the Deming Prize, an uber-prestigious Japanese award recognizing excellence in quality. Mahindra was the world’s first tractor company to win the Prize, and thanks in part to a subsequent award for outstanding quality in 2007, the Mahindra name quickly became synonymous with incredible durability on farms all across America. On top of that, Mahindra had become one of the fastest-growing brands of any kind in the United States.
A tractor company.
That means they were doing something very right – and they still are. Of course, Mahindra has been building passenger cars for decades back in India. That’s all covered in this interview, and there’s a lot more great information that I won’t spoil for you. You’ll just have to watch (or listen) for yourself.
Oh, Canada. Courtesy of @tlcbister
New Roxor Videos Every Week
That concludes this edition of Roxor Weekly.
You’d be hard-pressed to listen to that podcast in your Roxor, but you could drive your Roxor around town if you wanted. Just let Dirt Legal get you a title, license plate, and registration to help make your Mahindra Roxor street legal anywhere in the United States. You’ll receive a title in your name, registered to your home address, all in a matter of weeks. No inspections and no trips to the DMV. Click the button below to learn more.
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Cover image courtesy of @mahindra_of_delaware
Let’s explore the philosophical implications of calling the Mahindra Roxor a Jeep.