About The Madras Mechanic
Hi, I’m Ashwin Durai, an engineer at heart, a rebel by choice, and a mechanic/tuner by destiny.
I’m the founder of ICD Tuning, one of Chennai’s most trusted and busiest performance and maintenance garages. But this wasn’t something handed to me, it was something I built, one car at a time, starting with nothing more than a borrowed parking spot, a ₹1 lakh loan, and a dream I refused to let go of.
Where It All Began
I’ve always been fascinated by machines, not just how they work, but why they work. But college wanted me to mug up formulas instead of applying them. I couldn’t. So I dropped out.
What I lacked on paper, I made up for in grit. I threw myself into everything that demanded more from me. NCC, dancing, building and racing a Formula car, because that’s where I felt alive.
After graduating as a mechanical engineer without a degree to show for it, I took my first job in a fire and safety company. I was good, I climbed from product development to production to building fire engines for government projects. But my heart wasn’t in it.
Cars were my calling, but no company gave me the space to grow. So I quit.
​
The Credit Card That Changed My Life
When I quit, I had no money, no plan, and no idea what was next. My mom was dead set against me becoming “just a mechanic.” My dad, though, quietly handed me his credit card and said:
“This is all I can do for you right now. See what you can make of it.”
So I bought some basic tools, diagnostics gear, and started tinkering, first on my own car, then on my friends’ cars, then on strangers’ cars. I freelanced for garages, learned on the job, and kept going.
When my mom saw that I wasn’t giving up, she finally said:
“Alright. Here’s some money. Start something of your own.”
From Parking Lot to Pit Lane
On September 15, 2016, I opened the first ICD Tuning, a 350 sq ft garage in my sister’s parking lot in Anna Nagar.
We started with simple maintenance. Then upgrades. Then full-on builds. Today, we work out of a 12,000 sq ft space at the heart of the city, Adyar, home to some of the cleanest, fastest builds in the country.
In 2018, we entered the world of racing, and we’ve been pushing boundaries on the track ever since.
Why I Do This
I started ICD Tuning because I couldn’t find anyone who knew what they were talking about when I wanted to modify my car. I wanted someone who would not just do the job, but educate me, explain the logic behind every choice, and treat my car like their own.
So I became that someone.
​
Someone who takes the time to educate customers, explaining what’s really going on with their cars, why proper maintenance matters, and how tuning should be done the right way, not just the flashy way.
Over the years, this passion to educate has grown beyond just customers. Now, I’m committed to teaching the next generation, shaping more skilled, ethical technicians who understand their craft and respect it.
I dream of building a clean car culture in India, where mechanics are seen as professionals, where the heroes of this industry are celebrated, whether they’re working in authorised service centres, independent garages, or carving their path as future entrepreneurs.
Because this field deserves true heroes, and I want to help create them.
​
What Drives Me
This journey isn’t just mine, it belongs to:
- My dad, who backed me when no one else would.
- My mom, who now proudly tells everyone how I built this from scratch.
- My friends, who let me experiment on their cars when all I had was a toolbox and a dream.
- My team, who stood by me and helped me build ICD Tuning into what it is today.
I believe you don’t need perfect circumstances to build something meaningful, you just need to start, stay honest, and never stop learning.
If you’re looking for someone who treats every car like it’s their own, who understands the machine and the person behind it, and who’s willing to go the extra mile, welcome to my world.
Let’s build something incredible together.
Meet the team.