Like the Jeeps that came before it, the Mahinda Roxor attracts people from all walks of life. A Roxor is equally at home on the farm, on the trails, or on the open road, and that also means Roxors get exposed to a wide variety of lifestyles and situations.
In addition to the regular Roxor videos, we’ve got something different this week: the 4x4 Podcast. This 40-ish-minute podcast will keep you entertained on your drive to whatever awesome adventures you have planned for this weekend. For us, that’ Shamrock Shakedown in Windrock Park, Tennessee. If you’re here, give us a shout! 😉
This is Roxor Weekly.
Dummy Plots to Steal a 2019 Mahindra Roxor
If you’ve somehow made it this far without seeing a Roxor (hint: there’s one in the cover photo!), prepare to be amazed.
Even if you’ve been in the same room with a 2019 model, with its improved brakes and optional locking differentials, it’s possible you neglected to stick your head inside the wheel wells. Well now’s your chance to have that experience, thanks to this video from Cheyenne Bullard, and it also documents something concerning.
There’s a crash test dummy riding shotgun and something’s a little… off about him. Not only is he fully dressed, he’s buckled in with both hands on the oh-shit handle like he’s ready for liftoff. He’s even attached the safety triangle to the back of this Roxor – whoever this guy is, he’s getting ready to do something drastic. Better keep an eye on him.
Oui Oui, Mahindra Roxor à la Carte
I’ll be honest: I know enough French to order thin pancakes for breakfast and get myself slapped by a pretty girl, and that’s about it. Thankfully, YouTube’s auto-translate feature was made especially for moments like these. Not that you need to speak French to know that everything in this video from Zone VL looks like a ton of fun.
From the subtitles, I’ve gathered that it’s a beautiful day in Quebec, Canada when host Cynthia and guests spend riding jet skis on a lake, touring a fancy RV in a campground, ripping a CFMOTO ZForce 800EX around an off-road park, and doing some trails in a Mahindra Roxor UTV (click here to skip to the off-roading part).
There’s some pretty good stuff to be seen here, though the subtitles are sometimes a wild ride:
“Under the vehicle, we are with axles of anor than any amateurs of jean know it’s really components that have proven themselves. Towing capacity of 3500 bed, really latos besides a sheet of steel that is immersed in pots xi painting, and thereafter so we still have good quality. Our vehicle corrosion very very simple, if you look inside 98 hard and soft throughout the sheet hard and therefore like the only cushioning curci the seats look at the painting.”
We’re still talking about a Roxor, right?
Project Woodrat Gets Better Every Week
Last week we watched Ryan install an RXR Performance straight-pipe exhaust along with the rest of an entire pallet full of parts for his beloved Project Woodrat, including front and rear bumpers and some bright red shackles that took the outside of his Roxor to another level. Only one thing was missing: a set of Pro LED Cube Lights (or the top-notch alternative from Rigid Industries) to add to that macho front bumper from RXR Performance.
That’s what Ryan installed in this week’s video.
He walks us through the wiring and mounting of 4” LED cube lights, pointing out some helpful tips along the way, like how the RXR Performance bumper recesses the lights ever so slightly and the challenge of tidying up the inline fuse, relay, switch, and wiring harness inside the Roxor’s engine bay. When it’s all said and done, these lights are super bright and look great next to Project Woodrat’s HID Halo headlights.
Ryan also picked up a carbon fiber exhaust tip at the suggestion of a commenter.
That’s what’s different about Red, White, & Roxor. There’s a community of enthusiasts in the comments section of every video – some Roxor owners, some not, some from the U.S., others from Canada, many from India – and with over 1500 subs and counting, we’re lucky to be seeing Project Woodrat so early in the game: this beast is taking over the internet one site at a time.
Cold Starting a Roxor, Part II: Why It Isn’t Easy
Last week, Abiez showed us that it’s really difficult to start a Mahindra Roxor when it’s below zero outside. This week he’s back to put your worries at ease – if this happens to you, nothing is wrong with your Roxor.
To set the stage, Abiez describes this Dakota winter day as “pretty warm” with temperatures hanging right around 30° F. He whips out an infrared laser thermometer and finds that despite the sun shining on his Roxor, most of the under-hood components are still well below freezing. The battery is at about 23° and it’s the focus of this video.
The battery in question is an Exide Classic, a lead-acid unit that came stock in Abiez’s Roxor. The advertised CCA (cold-cranking amps) of this battery are 585 at 0° F and 720 at 32° F. That should be enough to crank a 2.5-liter engine even on a cold day, but not only is the Roxor a turbodiesel – meaning it relies on the heat of compression to ignite the fuel and start the engine – but it has no glow plugs. Instead, the Roxor takes the Cummins approach of using a grid heater to warm the incoming air for quicker combustion.
The grid heater takes a lot of power to run, and this smaller battery has trouble keeping up with those demands at extreme temperatures. Nothing to worry about, it just means your Roxor will spend a little extra time cranking to build up the compression necessary for combustion. Of course, a block heater would solve the problem altogether.
Mahindra dealers offer a higher-capacity AGM battery with around 800 CCA at 32° F and 700 at 0° F, so if you live in a particularly frigid climate that’s one optional extra that would be well worth having.
The 4x4 Podcast Talks with ROXOR Offroad
In this episode of The 4x4 Podcast, Eric from Roxor Offroad (aka Mahindra) comes on the show to talk shop about the Roxor’s specs, its humble origins, and what sets it apart from every other UTV on the market today. There are some great topics discussed, including the challenges of off-roading a turbocharged vehicle and what the Roxor has done to address that. It doesn’t hurt that Eric has run numerous off-road events like the Baja 1000 – he knows his stuff, and he really likes the Roxor.
Eric also talks about Mahindra’s plan to leave the Roxor pretty much the same for years to come. That’s in part to improve the current design, but it’s also meant to be an alternative to plastic body parts that change every couple of years. Retooling leads to a higher cost for consumers and demands aftermarket parts manufacturers to keep up with constant changes, and that’s not what the Roxor is all about.
It also means one of the Roxor’s best traits will live on: it’s really hard to break one. Sure, the stock axles and diffs aren’t made for extreme off-roading, but the Roxor can conquer some of the best trails in the country even with those inherent limitations.
This Roxor is being prepped for bunny trail rentals in Moab. #notajeep Courtesy of @travisbunch
New Roxor Videos Every Week
That concludes this week’s edition of Roxor Weekly, brought to you by Dirt Legal.
If you’re itching to drive your Roxor on the road, Dirt Legal can help. We’ll 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 @ryan_stanley45
Frustrated that your Roxor is so awesome and is clearly intended for road use, but isn’t street legal? Well, Dirt Legal can ease your pain and hook you up with a legit tag and street legal registration!