Mahindra launches off-road academy in Gauteng

Earlier in the year Indian SUV and commercial vehicle brand Mahindra launched a new vehicle and lifestyle display at the Nampo Harvest Day Festival near Bothaville. The Adventure Corners are experiential marketing practices where the brand actively showcases its products, clothing, accessories, outdoor gear and more.

It promised to roll out similar concepts at every Mahindra dealership across the country. The first two dealers to introduce this concept were Mahindra Bloemfontein, the oldest Mahindra dealer in the country, and Mahindra Mbombela, the largest Mahindra dealer in the southern hemisphere.

The Adventure Corners can host test drives at their nearest Mahindra Off Road Academy, situated in Gauteng, Worcester, Durban, Bloemfontein and Mbombela. The plan is to issue an off-road voucher with every off-road Mahindra purchased.

Motor News was recently invited to experience the course held at Leribisi Lodge. A Mahindra partner since 2016, the venue in Tierpoort, east of Pretoria, is a stone’s throw away from the hustle and bustle of suburbs such as Mooikloof and Moreleta. It’s the kind of place for a modest, frills-free but relaxed weekend getaway. 

Amenities include a boma restaurant and other activities and on site is a short but testing off-road track. Recently upgraded with new features, it boasts a mudbath, a sand trap, a rocky section, wooden obstacles and steep gradients for a level 3 grading.

The track is open to Mahindra fans and owners and the head trainer is Derick Crous. Cars on hand to be used to experience the track include Mahindra Pik Up Karoo S11 4X4 DC A/T — the variants kitted out with no-nonsense 4x4 accoutrements such as steel bumpers with recovery hooks, heavy-duty off-road suspension and tyres and powered by a 2.2l turbodiesel engine with 103kW and 320Nm and an automatic transmission. 

But my interest was in the other model on offer — the newly launched Scorpio-N 2.2D Z8L 4Xplor. I recently spent time behind its wheel roving picturesque roads in the Cape Point area, but strictly on tarmac. We had the car for a longer test period and Leribisi Lodge offered the best chance to see what it’s made of.

The car that competes with the likes of Toyota Fortuner but costs a lot less took to the obstacles like a duck to water. It was particularly impressive on the axle-twisting, deep ruts section. 

Mahindra hopes to use these facilities to teach individuals how to operate a 4x4 vehicle safely, using its portfolio of bundu-bashing models. Participants who take up the offer get a certificate of competence.