Although high-end pickup trucks are slowly entering private garages in recent years, many low-end products with commercial vehicle attributes are still flooding the market. Coupled with policy influences, pickup trucks still give more impressions to the Chinese people. It's a cheap tool cart. As the No. 1 player in the domestic pickup truck market, Great Wall seems to want to change this situation. The launch of the "Cannon" gives us hope.

I test-drove the passenger version of the Great Wall Cannon some time ago. The excellent comfort and driving quality broke my impression of cheap pickup trucks at this price. This test drive to Shangri-La is even more worth looking forward to. Because waiting for me is a big toy prepared for off-road players - the off-road version of the Great Wall Cannon. The off-road version of the Great Wall Cannon (hereinafter referred to as the off-road cannon) has been officially launched. There are three models of low, medium and high configurations, priced at 169,800 (advanced version), 179,800 (high-end version) and 199,800 (limited edition). ), the test car we got was the top model: the off-road gun limited edition. As for this "limited edition", it is actually just the name of this model, and it is not limited.

Hard-core off-road equipment added

The reason why it is called a "big toy" dedicated to off-road players is because the off-road gun is equipped with very hard-core off-road equipment from the factory. This is very rare in original cars.

First of all, on the front face, the black grille and steel front bumper look wild. When I test-drove the passenger gun, I also mentioned that the regular version of the bumper makes it look closer. The angle is too small, which affects the passability, but this is not a problem on the off-road gun. The steel bumper makes the approach angle reach 30°. The rear bumper is also made of steel, and the departure angle is also 26°. There is something else going on inside the front bumper. Except for the entry-level version, all other models are equipped with a winch with a towing capacity of 9,500 pounds. This is the first domestic pickup truck with a winch installed by the factory. There are also two tow hooks on the front and rear bumpers for easy rescue use.

The high-position wading hose on the side is the original factory standard, which looks very professional. Players who need to cross the desert can also choose to install a sand cup. The standard cargo bed roll cage and side pedals are made of steel, which is very strong, and the wheel eyebrows are directly made of black resin guards and fixed with rivets, so you don’t have to worry about bumps and bumps when off-road. .

The brake calipers of the top model are painted red, and the shock absorption system has been upgraded. The springs are Eibach, and the shock absorbers are K-MAN nitrogen shock absorbers. The tires of the matching version are BFGoodrich KO2 AT tires with strong sidewalls and thick tread. The low and medium configurations are Cooper AT tires with the same size of 265/65 R18.

It can be said that from the perspective of appearance and hardware, the Great Wall Cannon has been modified to meet the needs of hardcore off-roaders, and these are all provided by the original factory. In addition to saving a lot of modification costs, it also This avoids the trouble of annual review in the future.

In addition to the upgrade in appearance, the off-road gun has also been upgraded a lot internally compared to the passenger gun. For example, the interior adopts a more exciting red and black color scheme, and the center console and seats There is also OFFROAD’s exclusive nameplate and hot stamping. The instrument panel adds slope, altitude and air pressure displays to meet the needs of hardcore players.

In terms of off-road hardware, the three models of the off-road gun are equipped with front and rear axle teeth-embedded mechanical differential locks, and there are as many as 7 four-wheel drive all-terrain modes, and they are also added to the Haval H9 Creep mode and tank U-turn mode. But there is one thing to say, perhaps due to cost considerations, the four-wheel drive system of the off-road gun also uses the same TOD intelligent four-wheel drive system (timely four-wheel drive) as the passenger gun. In my opinion, such a hard-core off-road vehicle It is a pity that the car does not use a part-time four-wheel drive system. After all, the multi-plate clutch type central differential lock will still overheat in high-intensity off-road conditions (such as getting out of trouble on muddy ground).

Highway test drive

The test drive in Shangri-La first started on the road. Out of satisfaction with the passenger cannon, I had high expectations for the off-road cannon, but getting started Later it was discovered that this was not the case.

Since the test drive was a top-equipped off-road gun, the more supportive suspension system and BFGoodrich AT tires made the road driving texture much worse than that of a passenger gun, especially the AT with large tread particles and strong sidewalls. The tires, coupled with the suspension system that is better able to deal with large impacts, make the off-road gun unable to absorb the fine vibrations of the road when paving the road. Especially when driving at medium and low speeds, the comfort is relatively average. The noise inside the car is naturally louder than that of a passenger car. On the one hand, it comes from the tires, and on the other hand, it comes from the rear roll cage. Wind noise is suppressed quite well when driving at high speed, which is the cargo compartment and roll cage. The turbulence will come from the rear.

Another obvious difference is that the power has become weaker. First, the off-road gun is equipped with various hard-core equipment. The mass of the vehicle is increased by more than 200 kilograms compared with the passenger gun. On the other hand, the high-mounted wading hose It will have a certain impact on the air intake. The most important thing is that we are in a plateau area. The average altitude of Shangri-La is more than 3200 meters. Therefore, various factors are added together. Although the power system is the same, the output is really much weaker. I believe that in the plains In this area, the power will be restored to 90% of that of a passenger gun. On the other hand, ZF's 8AT can be rated highly. Its smoothness and overall shifting response are relatively good, and it operates smoothly.

Off-road experience

What I am looking forward to most about this test drive is off-road, because if the off-road gun only drives on the road, it really means nothing.

However, the venue prepared by the organizer this time is not difficult for cross-country running, because it is not a designed venue for various cross-country events, but a mountainous area covering various road conditions. This is actually relatively simple. It fits some scenes of our own journey into the wild. First of all, the off-road gun has an inexplicable sense of security when running on non-paved roads. The most direct source of this sense of security is the four AT tires with extremely strong grip. As the road goes up and down, muddy or rocky roads, the AT tires Thick tread patterns can always provide stable grip. Of course, if you want to play more wildly, you can also lower the tire pressure, which will provide better grip.

In addition, the non-load-bearing body brings excellent body rigidity and passability. When passing through steep slopes or cross-axis roads, the body will not shake excessively, and there will be almost no abnormality inside the car. The vehicle is noisy, and its excellent passability and long enough suspension travel make it almost impossible for the vehicle to lift off the ground when passing through shell craters or continuous bad roads. And in the venue, you only need to adjust the driving mode to "Standard". The intelligent four-wheel drive system will automatically distribute the power output of the front and rear axles according to the tire grip. When it detects slippage, it will lock the center differential through the multi-plate clutch. Lock, the power distribution of the front and rear axles is locked 50:50.

The off-road experience also included a section of filming on a wading road, but due to the certain dangers involved, the manufacturer did not allow us to drive into the river ourselves, but the instructor served as a demonstration. It can be seen that due to the standard high-mounted wading hose, in theory, there is no problem if the wading depth exceeds the hood, and with such equipment, it is not necessary to only use low speed to cross the river.

Low-speed creep and tank U-turn are quite professional functions. They are available on Haval H9, Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX. Low-speed creep is equivalent to turning on low-speed four-wheel drive cruise control, torque It is magnified 2.48 times and moves forward at a low speed. This is also considered an off-road fool mode. The driver only needs to control the direction. The tank U-turn is more suitable in narrow environments such as traveling through the rainforest. To turn on this mode, you need to first turn on the low-speed four-wheel drive and creep mode. Then the system will lock the rear wheel on the same side according to the direction of the steering wheel, and steer with the wheel as the center of the circle. , which can greatly reduce the turning radius, but when we used it, we found that the ABS and differential were relatively rough when they intervened to lock the wheels, often accompanied by some clicking sounds.

After one operation, the off-road gun will not disappoint us. After all, the venue is really a piece of cake for it. The passability, grip, and four-wheel drive system are all very powerful, but there are two I would like to mention a few minor issues separately: First, in terms of power, during the road test drive, it was discovered that the power output of the off-road gun was weak due to the long air intake pipe, the weight of the vehicle, and the plateau. This was even more obvious when going off-road, and when in a stationary state. It seems very weak when climbing a steep slope. The floor oil speed rises slowly when the first gear is engaged, but it is not difficult to solve. It can be easily solved by engaging the low-speed four-wheel drive. I believe I will get a test drive next time in Guangzhou. That won't be the case; another point is that timely four-wheel drive will overheat after high-intensity off-roading. There was a section of muddy road before we entered the venue. The off-road gun I was driving was stuck once, and the wheels spun forward, causing it to gouge. After a while, the instrument panel indicated that the four-wheel drive system was overheating... So it would be more complete if a part-time four-wheel drive off-road gun could be launched in the future.

Summary

This off-road gun is on the same platform as the Haval H9 and has highly similar functions. It has outstanding playability and cost performance. You really can’t buy anything else at this price in the domestic market. Such a well-equipped hardcore off-road vehicle, not to mention a very practical cargo compartment. Of course, if you are a family user who needs to take into account daily comfort and off-roading only accounts for a small part, then buying a passenger gun is also a good solution. You can save money and buy a set of AT tires to be able to handle most off-roading tasks. scene.

First test impression of the Great Wall Cannon off-road limited edition

Outstanding advantages: complete off-road equipment, strong off-road capabilities, and high-quality materials in the car

Main shortcomings: There is no part-time four-wheel drive, and the texture of the paved road is average

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.