Corolla Cross gets tough enough to withstand handgun attack

You drive South Africa’s most popular SUV, the Toyota Corolla Cross, and you love your car to bits. But due to the car’s popularity, there are others who might also love your car.

The difference is they don’t want to pay for theirs in money. They have this nasty little habit of tapping on your window and sticking a 9mm pistol in your face before driving off with your car.

We all know that there is no easy way to prevent this from happening. This is where SVI Engineering, the leading specialist manufacturer of armoured products in South Africa, is stepping in with its newly-developed SVI Lite products for the general motoring public.

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Toughening up the Corolla Cross

Who really has money these days to armour a car to withstand a nuclear attack? 360-degree level B4 and B6 discreet armouring packages are sometimes priced over the R1 million mark. This is not a viable solution for everyday people who desperately just want to feel safer on their daily commute to work or to drop the kids at school.

SVI Lite is an entry-level product into the world of vehicle armouring. But it’s much more than pretty looking smash and grab tint type of stuff. This is level B2 protection that will stop a 124 grain 9mm round from a handgun. This is done by fitting carefully shaped and fully concealed Kevlar panels to the doors, while the standard window glass is replaced with special lightweight armoured glass.

You can choose if you only want the driver’s door on your Toyota Corolla Cross armoured. Or two, or all of them. It depends on how much protection you want from the baddies out there who have very little regard for your life or your family’s.

Minimal weight gain

“In much the same way as a bullet-resistant vest provides protection to vital organs of the human body, our new SVI Lite solution covers critical areas of the vehicle that are typically targeted during a hijacking attempt,” explains SVI business development director Nicol Louw.

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The windows go up and down like normal. And the 15kg weight gain from each door’s B2 armouring is hardly noticeable. Talking of which, the cost to do one door and window (one opening) on a Toyota Corolla Cross comes in at R54 950 (excluding VAT).

The order book is open and fitment will start at the beginning of May with a lead time of two weeks. SVI is confident it will get this down a day or two in the near future so as not have you without a car for too long.

To find out more you can reach out to Nicol Louw at nicol@svi.co.za.