Brother Nian’s test drive, is it the icing on the cake to return to basics？ Haval’s second-generation big dog

Recently, I believe that the flour who is ready to buy a car has been attracted by the "huge discounts" of various car brands. But I hope that the shrewd people will not be disturbed by the price of their original car demand. For example, SUVs that have always maintained a hot topic in China have always had two groups of loyal fans.

The first group was naturally those who often commuted in the city and occasionally went out to drive. The second group was those who often challenged various difficulty off-road scenarios and often went camping in the wild. But between the two groups, would there be some consumers who needed to commute in the city and go camping on holidays?

I believe the answer is yes.

Of course, it is the second-generation big dog of Haval, the protagonist of our test drive.

I believe that those who are concerned about the Haval brand know that the first generation of Haval Big Dog (Parameters) is launched for young consumers, and its strength is also remarkable. The second generation of Big Dog, based on the advantages of the first generation, increased the length, wheelbase and front wheelbase, allowing the second generation of Big Dog to transform from a compact SUV into a medium-sized SUV.

In terms of power that everyone cares about the most, the maximum horsepower and torque of its 2.0T engine have been improved by 27 horsepower and 50 Nm compared with the previous generation, and the gearbox has also been upgraded from the previous generation’s 7DCT to 9DCT. Whether it is for city driving or off-road scenarios, its acceleration performance, escape ability and fuel economy can be greatly improved. As for other aspects of the second-generation big dog, let’s find out in this test drive.

When I first saw the actual car of the second generation of the big dog, I felt that it was more wild than the first generation. The slender middle net extended directly to the headlights on both sides, making it a tougher look from the newer shape of the previous generation. On the side of the car, the lines clearly engraved on the front and rear fenders give it a sense of muscular power.

In addition, the rivets on the anti-scratch wheel arch will be more obvious than the first generation, making its wild characteristics more prominent. As for why the taillights do not use the most popular through-type taillights, this can only be said to be a matter of opinion. But the headlights and taillights are hidden in the dog bone shape of the turn signal, this small detail is quite interesting.

Sitting in the car of the second-generation big dog, you will first be attracted by its two huge display screens. Its LCD meter is 12.3 inches, and there is a large 14.6-inch central control screen. It can be said that you are directly putting the screen of a mainstream laptop on the center console. And we tested the top model, so there is also a Hud head-up display.

It is worth mentioning that the brightness of this central control screen is as high as 1000 nits, and the hardness has reached the Mohs 7H level, which is not afraid of scratching by daily objects. And it also has three coatings, which can achieve the effects of anti-glare, anti-reflection and anti-fingerprint. It can be seen that in addition to urban use, it also takes into account the use of your off-road scene.

You must know that the most famous national highways such as 318 and 219 are on the plateau, because the daytime sun will be very dazzling. If the brightness of the central control screen is not enough, or there is no anti-reflection function, then when driving in these places, you cannot clearly see the navigation or vehicle status.

Then, in terms of the gear handle, the knob shift of the previous generation has been replaced by the electronic gear shift lever of the tank 300. Next to the gear lever, there are control buttons such as differential lock, handbrake, and knobs for driving mode. There are also physical buttons such as air conditioning and multimedia listed at the bottom of the central control screen. This is to facilitate drivers to perform blind operations in the city or off-road to avoid affecting driving safety.

Of course, the second-generation big dog’s car is equipped with the 8155 chip, and when there is a signal, you can control it by voice to execute various commands. For example, switch on and off the sunroof or windows, adjust the air conditioner, choose songs, check the weather or navigation, etc. Its response is very fast. And you can also speak commands continuously to make it execute, without calling it frequently. Ultimately, its performance is in the same level.

However, what surprised me the most was the comfort of the second-generation big dog seats, both in the front and rear seats, which were excellent. Let me sigh again, what people used to say about the Nissan sofa is really not an advantage now. Look at 100,000 cars like the big dog, it can present a comfortable feeling like the Nissan sofa, and its comfort is that the surface cushion is soft. When you sink in to a certain extent, it will have a support to support you. You wouldn’t say that the whole person is sinking in.

So in this test drive, whether it is on a city road, a country road, or a bumpy mountain road, the big dog gave me a good sense of comfort. Coupled with the longer wheelbase, the legroom in the rear row is also very good. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention that the angle of the rear seat backrest of the first generation of big dogs cannot be adjusted. Now the second-row seat backrest of the second-generation big dog is already adjustable. When you go to Shihe Distance again, the rear passengers can have a more comfortable sitting position and sleep peacefully.

Finally, in terms of some details, the second generation of big dogs has a magnetic camping mosquito repellent lamp, which can also be used as a flashlight or a signal light. There is also a table board in the trunk (to be used with camping carts, etc.), which can be used for 5 people to eat around while camping. The rear window has a rare sunshade of the same class, and the front row has a 50-watt wireless charging. The new cup holder also adopts a shape similar to the fixed seat belt, which is convenient for you to stuff water glasses or drinks of different sizes.

This design, in the process of driving on the mountain road, let me get a real experience. Because when running on the mountain road, the car body shakes because of the bumps in the road, and then my knee directly hits the plastic bottle in the cup holder, which helps me cushion the force. Think about it, if it was a traditional plastic cup holder, it would definitely hurt to hit my knee.

Coming to the driving part, we have to go back to the big dog’s car and talk about its help for off-road driving. I believe those who have played off-road know that off-road depends on the performance of the car and four-wheel drive performance, but also requires the driver’s own excellent driving skills. The second-generation big dog is equipped with a 360-degree panoramic image, plus a 180-degree transparent chassis, and has different visual mode switching, allowing you to clearly see the position of the four wheels on the road, as well as the steering angle.

In addition to the vehicle angle, power output of the four wheels, altitude and other data. It can be said that this is the biggest difference between the second-generation big dog and other city SUVs. I believe that if an off-road white, with the help of this system, he can already challenge some light and moderate off-road sections. If it is an off-road expert, he can even challenge some medium and high-difficulty off-road sections.

Finally, in terms of power, its 2.0T plus 9Dc offers a significant improvement in both power and fuel economy compared to the previous generation of Big Dog. Coupled with its intelligent electronically controlled four-wheel drive, two locks, and nine driving modes, it can really easily respond to urban roads and some off-road road conditions.

In this test drive, we drove on city roads and found that the 9DCT does allow the engine to rotate at a lower speed than the 7DCT at the same speed to increase fuel efficiency. If you don’t drive on city roads like a hardcore SUV, you have to transform into a grease monster/gold swallowing beast. Then on the test drive on the mountain road, there are just one or two hairpin bends, and there will be cross-axles. But we only use the AUTO mode, and the big dog can easily pass these cross axles without the need for locks or other off-road modes at all.

In addition, the big dog is equipped with a tooth-embedded differential lock, which allows you to actively lock, while most of the differential locks of other city SUVs are Eaton’s, which are passive differential locks. It will allow the vehicle to slip for a period of time before intervening, so in terms of escape efficiency, I think the second-generation big dog’s ability to get out of trouble will indeed be stronger. However, the feeling that the second-generation big dog gives me is that its throttle travel will be longer. When you step down, you will find that the depth of the throttle will be a little different from the power you want. You may have to step deeper to achieve the power effect you want. This will take some time to get used to.

After a whole day of test driving, the second-generation big dog gave me the feeling that its power is definitely enough. Whether it is driving on city roads or highways, it is completely fine, and it is easy for beginners to get started. And in the off-road area, if you have a certain off-road foundation, plus the various off-road auxiliary features of the big dog, I think you can also become a bit of a strong off-road expert. Of course, this is only for some intermediate and advanced off-road environments. If you want to challenge some very high shell craters or very steep slopes, then I think you should use a hard-core SUV to go wild.

But if you spend 50% or 60% of your time in the city, as I said at the beginning of this article, and the rest of the time you go out and go wild, then this second-generation big dog is fully capable. And it has been upgraded in technology configuration and all aspects. It is much better than the previous generation, and it is thousands of dollars cheaper. So I think for prospective owners who want to get it all in one step and hope to have both. The second-generation big dog is really an excellent SUV that can balance both urban and off-road environments.