Appearance power upgrade／continuation of light off-road strength, test drive 2024 Haval big dog

Since its launch in 2020, Haval Big Dog has won the trust of more than 300,000 customers with its 3/4 scale product concept and light off-road attributes. What is 3/4 scale, in fact, it is more scale wild fun than city SUVs and more scale comfort than hardcore off-road vehicles. It does not blindly challenge high-difficulty off-road, but it can reach poetry and distance beyond the reach of ordinary people with good passability.

In February this year, Haval’s second-generation big dog was officially launched, and many people (including the author) may have thought that the first-generation big dog was ready to withdraw from the stage of history. But in fact, the two generations of big dogs are still sold in the same market, and the positioning, price, and power form of the two are also different. Perhaps because of the good market response, Haval Big Dog said that it can still fight again, and the 2024 model came into being.

The 2024 Haval Big Dog (hereinafter referred to as the new Big Dog) has been upgraded mainly for appearance, power and some details, and continues its outstanding off-road strength. According to the news obtained so far, the new car will be listed in the near future. Before the listing, we also came to the Ulanqab Prairie to test drive this new car first. Interested friends may wish to follow me through the test drive to understand.

Hardcore design and then upgrade

The new big dog is designed with Heart Tide Power Aesthetics 3.0, and the front face has been greatly adjusted. Compared with the old model, it has a stronger sense of strength and looks more domineering.

The front air intake grille is officially named "Rock Shield". The inside of the shield-shaped middle net is two thick horizontal spokes, and the English logo of the "HAVAL" brand on the spokes looks very eye-catching. In addition, there is a three-hole silver guard at the bottom of the front to enhance the off-road attributes.

The headlights on both sides are integrated with the front air intake grille to form a through design, which also stretches the visual width of the front of the car. The retro-shaped round headlights can be said to be the classic design elements of off-road SUVs. This time, the new car has also been retained, and the inside of the light group is an LED ring light strip and LED light source, which is also very delicate.

The new big dog still uses a more square design, with black eyebrows and luggage racks, the overall effect is also somewhat hard off-road SUV feeling. In addition, the new model also absorbs customer opinions and eliminates the fixed side pedals on the old model, which is also to prevent rubbing dirty legs.

The two-tone five-spoke aluminum alloy rims have a very good sense of style and power, and the tires are selected from the Giti Comfort F50 series, with a specification of 235/65 R18.

The tail of the new big dog may feel no different from the old one at first glance, but if you look closely, you will find that the taillights of the old model are actually a pseudo-through design, while the new model uses a genuine LED through taillight. In addition, the taillights on both sides also use five vertical LED light sources, and the recognition is also very good.

Careful friends may have also noticed that the font of the "HAVAL" brand English logo in the center of the taillights has actually been adjusted. In addition, a three-hole silver guard has also been added to the bottom of the rear to further strengthen the off-road attributes.

The body size is consistent with the old model, with a length, width and height of 4620/1890/1780mm, and a wheelbase of 2738mm, making it a compact SUV.

The interior is upgraded with attention to detail

The interior design of the new big dog has not been significantly adjusted. The standard "T" font layout looks very regular, and the handles equipped in the sub-dashboard and other places also bring a good off-road atmosphere. The new car is mainly upgraded for details, such as the material of the central control sub-dashboard is upgraded to non-fingerprint, and more soft materials are added to the door panels and other positions to improve a certain interior texture.

The four-frame multi-function steering wheel still follows the old style, the package material is moderately soft and hard, and the grip is relatively solid. There are also paddle shifters behind the steering wheel to improve the driving feeling. The multi-function control area on the left side of the steering wheel can control multimedia and wake up the automatic speech recognition control system, and the right side mainly controls the driving computer on the dashboard.

The new car is equipped with a 10.25-inch full LCD dashboard and a W-HUD head-up display, which is relatively intelligent. The head-up display system can display driving information such as speed, navigation, and speed limit, which can be viewed without looking down, which is also very helpful for driving safety.

The new big dog is equipped with a 12.3-inch central control screen, which can display off-road information such as direction, slope, altitude, and air pressure, as well as vehicle status such as differential lock and front and rear axle torque.

The new car also supports Apple CarPlay mobile phone interconnection, mobile APP remote control, automatic speech recognition control and other functions, and also has built-in applications such as Tencent Aiqu Listen, Autonavi Map, iQIYI, Douyin Short Video, etc. Entertainment functions are also very rich.

At the bottom of the central control screen is the driving mode knob, which provides a total of 8 driving modes including economy, standard, sports, mud, sand, snow, grass/gravel, and convex road. At the same time, you can also control functions such as air conditioning, panoramic imaging, and rear axle differential lock.

Exceptional ride space and abundant storage space

The new car adopts ergonomic seats with soft filling, excellent wrapping and support of the seats, and the front seats provide seat heating function. The author is 183cm tall, enter the front row to adjust the seat, and the head space can reach more than one punch.

Keep the front seats unchanged, and when the experiencer comes to the back row, the head space can still reach one punch, and the knee space can reach two punches, which is still relatively good in terms of riding space. In addition, the rear floor is in a flat state, which is also worthy of praise.

The trunk is flat and provides separate storage compartments on both sides. The trunk space performance is also ideal. When you need to place large items, you can also recline the rear seats in a 4/6 ratio.

In terms of storage space, the new car is also very rich. There are 37 storage spaces in the car, and mobile phones, water glasses, and documents can be placed at will. In addition, the new car also provides wireless charging function for mobile phones, and a separate storage slot is also added to the passenger glove box.

Adopted new 2.0T + 9DCT power system

The new Big Dog offers two power combinations of 1.5T + 7DCT and 2.0T + 9DCT. We are testing the 2.0T four-wheel drive version this time. In terms of power, the 2.0T engine codenamed GW4N20A has a maximum power of 175kW and a maximum torque of 385N · m. Compared with the old 2.0T engine, both parameters have been improved to a certain extent.

Matching the engine is the Great Wall self-developed transverse 9DCT wet dual-clutch transmission, and the knob shift mechanism looks more advanced.

Our test drive included high-speed, national highways, rural roads and non-paved sections. Due to the use of a new high-power 2.0T engine, the power performance of the new car has also improved to a certain extent. In the initial stage, the performance of the new big dog is stable and powerful, and the power can be said to be easy to step on.

Due to the newly optimized low inertia supercharger, the sense of power lag is reduced. If you step on the accelerator deeply, the speed increase will not be draggy, and the acceleration and overtaking will be very leisurely. Entering the middle and rear stages, the new big dog’s re-acceleration ability also surprises the author, and the power reserve is sufficient to deal with a certain degree of intense driving.

If you drive steadily, the engine speed is basically maintained at about 1000-1500rpm, and the lower speed also brings good fuel economy. The daily driving mode can be used as standard. If you want to drive more passionately, you can also switch to the sports mode. At this time, the engine speed will increase by about 1000rpm, and the transmission will also be reduced by several gears.

The new transverse 9DCT gearbox is very active, with about 80km/h being able to rise to 8th gear, and 100km/h being able to rise to 9th gear. The smoothness of the gearbox is definitely commendable, and the whole test drive is almost imperceptible of obvious shift setbacks, which is also due to the tight speed ratio of the 9DCT and the effect of two sets of clutches without gap shifting.

In the suspension part, the new car is composed of a front McPherson + rear multi-link independent suspension structure. Chassis adjustment can be said to be the best of the Great Wall, and the suspension has also been well balanced in terms of comfort and support. The suspension can be filtered cleanly through small bumps, and when dealing with speed bumps or ditches, the suspension is also very tight, and can resolve the impact of ups and downs to a certain extent.

We did not have a difficult off-road experience this time, but drove on non-paved roads such as grasslands and mountain roads. In fact, this is also in line with the light off-road attributes of the new Big Dog. The new Big Dog 2.0T model is equipped with an intelligent and timely four-wheel drive system, which can intelligently distribute four-wheel drive torque according to road conditions. At the same time, the system is also equipped with a rear axle electronically controlled mechanical tooth-embedded differential lock, which can achieve 100% torque output between the wheels on both sides of the rear axle, bringing good escape ability. In addition, when the speed exceeds 38km/h, the differential lock will also be automatically lifted.

When entering a non-paved road section, you can switch the driving mode to grass/gravel. If you feel that the road conditions are not good, there are many muddy and rough roads, you can also switch to concave and convex roads. At this time, the all-terrain control system will control the vehicle’s skid volume through the vehicle stability system Control Unit and differential lock to improve the vehicle’s passability. The new big dog has excellent passability. Its approach angle is 24 °, departure angle is 30 °, passing angle is 22 °, and ground clearance is 200mm. It is absolutely easy to deal with general non-paved roads.

The test drive of the 2024 Haval Big Dog continues the retro hard style design and outstanding light off-road attributes, and at the same time, the appearance and power performance have been significantly improved. If the city SUV represents the family, the hard off-road SUV represents the dream, the new Haval Big Dog is a good balance between the two. The 3/4 scale and the light off-road concept are also very much in line with the life attitude of many families who love outdoor travel and camping. If you also like the attitude of light off-road, then I think the new big dog may be a good choice.