RFC or Rainforest Challenge is one of the toughest off-road competitions that is held in India. Off-roading as well know is still not that popular among people. It is an extreme adventure sport and Rainforest challenge is one of them. Although, we Indians love SUVs, only a small percentage of these owners take their SUVs off-road. There are several groups who are now organising off-road trips so that, they can experience how good or bad their vehicle is off the road. RFC as mentioned above, is a very tough challenge and the participants in this event prepare their vehicles for this competition. Here we have one such RFC prepped custom build Jeep that makes off-roading look like a piece of cake.
The video has been uploaded by Booosted on their YouTube channel. In this video, vlogger who is also an avid off-roader talks about all the modifications that are done to his Jeep. He can be seen driving off-road in this Jeep without any problems. The Jeep shown in the video is called Sloth. The Jeep is actually a Mahindra MM550 and several modifications have been made to the SUV as part of the championship regulations.
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Video starts by talking about the engine of the Sloth. It uses a 3.0 litre turbocharged diesel engine that was used in Fortuner before. The gearbox is also borrowed from Fortuner. This is a custom build vehicle and it uses parts from several other vehicles. The front grille gets metal bar which protects the grille in case of an impact.
There are two winches installed on the Jeep. There is a twin motor winch at front whereas the rear gets a triple motor winch. LED headlamps and auxiliary lamps are also installed as part of competition regulations. Coming to the suspensions, it gets a custom build four link oil overs suspension and bump stops. The metal bonnet has been replaced for a light weight aluminium unit.
Doors, roof and all areas where metal sheets were being used on the body have been replaced with thick light weight aluminium sheets. The front differential is from a pickup truck while the rear is from Mahindra Scorpio. Propeller shaft on this SUV is a customised unit from a Toyota Land Cruiser. It uses 35 inch off-road tyres.
Wheelbase on this Jeep has been shortened and the chassis has been modified too. The roof has been lowered for improving stability. Snorkel, upgraded air intake and exhaust pipes are all installed in this car. As this a competition build, safety has been given importance too. There are roll cages all around the Jeep along with rock sliders and several mounting points. All metal parts and mounts have been reinforced too.
The cabin in this Jeep gets rally spec seats with 4-pointer seat belts and a custom made dashboard. The dashboard gets water proof switches for various purposes. There is an engine kill switch and the steering wheel used in this Jeep is from a JCB. It uses a hydraulic tractor steering which is only useful for such competitions.
At the rear, there are spare wheels, hi-lift jack is also mounted at the rear. Overall, the Jeep looks like a beast and it can be seen doing off-roading without any issue in the video. These cars are specially built for competition and are not meant to be driven on the road.
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