A few years ago, General Motors launched the electric version of the legendary Hummer SUV in the market. One feature that captured the attention of enthusiasts around the world was the crab walk feature. This feature allowed the Hummer...
A few years ago, General Motors launched the electric version of the legendary Hummer SUV in the market. One feature that captured the attention of enthusiasts around the world was the crab walk feature. This feature allowed the Hummer EV to drive sideways, which was quite interesting to look at. Until that date, we had not seen this feature in any production vehicle. Now, we have a video from India where a Maruti Gypsy, modified for off-road purposes, has the same crab walk feature.
The video was shared by Bhuvan Chowdhary on his Instagram page. He starts by directly discussing the SUV. The Maruti Gypsy has been modified specifically for off-road purposes. This SUV was built by Code6 Goa and Mavlankars. As mentioned, it’s an extreme off-road vehicle modified for the same purpose. The SUV has performance upgrades as well as cosmetic changes for better off-road ability.
The stock engine on this SUV has been replaced with a 1.6-litre unit from the Baleno sedan. It also features a stage 2 ACS clutch, DIA BMC air filter, Automech performance exhaust, crawler gear, custom reverse shackles, a custom-built off-road suspension setup, a heavy-duty winch, T-max air compressor, Lambda diff locks with pneumatic controls, a custom-built stainless steel snorkel, rear wheel steering with a hydraulic pump, a seamless 6-point roll cage, and more.
Gypsy crabwalk
The original doors on this SUV have been removed. It now comes with custom-built doors made using a metal sheet, bucket seats, rock sliders, an underbody skid plate for added protection, custom steel rims with 31-inch CST tyres. Many mechanical changes have been made to this SUV. For example, this Gypsy uses differentials from a Mahindra 550 for better load-bearing performance.
With all these changes in place, the chassis of this Gypsy gets a 2-inch lift, and the new set of tyres adds another couple of inches. Coming to the main attraction of this build, the rear wheel steering is something that can be controlled manually using a lever. Using this lever, you can control the angle of the wheels at any time. This can be used during off-road sessions to reduce the turning radius, squeeze through tight spots, or even move the car away or drive around an obstacle using the crab walk feature.
To make this SUV crab walk, the driver has to first turn the front wheels in one particular direction. Then, using the lever, they control the rear wheels and turn them in the same direction. When all the wheels are pointing in the same direction, the SUV would go sideways in that particular direction instead of going around or straight.
It is definitely one of the coolest-looking features in the Gypsy, and this is a cool-looking build as well. The comment section of this video is quite interesting. While many users have appreciated the build, others have pointed out to the presenter that this is not the first time an SUV in India has had this crab walk feature. There are many off-road spec jeeps in Kerala that have had this feature for years now. This is definitely a cool Maruti Gypsy that can go to places where the regular Jimny or Gypsy can’t.
The post This modified Maruti Gyspy can ‘crabwalk’ like Hummer EV: Looks cool [Video] first appeared on Cartoq.