As a relatively small car, pickup truck is not common in our daily life, and its visibility on the street is far less than that of sedan and SUV. In fact, I think that friends who buy pickup trucks have a clear demand for cars, which can not only solve daily travel, but also get good loading space. From this perspective, the market strength of pickup trucks seems to be quite strong.
According to relevant data, the pickup trucks of the Great Wall brand have been ranked first in domestic sales for 21 consecutive years, with a total of 1.6 million vehicles sold. Even though the data is very exaggerated, the pickup trucks of the Great Wall brand are still not close to the public’s vision. In the past, pickup trucks were often used as "trucks", and the demand for carrying goods was greater than that for carrying people. However, the appearance of a pickup truck in the Great Wall has brought about subtle changes in this solidified thinking, that is, the Great Wall Cannon, which has been on the market for a short time.
From the product category, the Great Wall Gun series can be divided into three sub-categories, namely, passenger version, commercial version and off-road version. As the name implies, the commercial version of the pickup truck focuses on business purposes, so the appearance and interior are quite different from the passenger version, paying attention to practicality. The off-road version emphasizes improving the passability under complex road conditions, and is equipped with a set of off-road exclusive kits. Generally speaking, the passenger version of the Great Wall Gun seems to be more suitable for the needs of mass consumers, so we focus on experiencing the passenger version of the next gun.
Let’s take a brief look at the basic information of this car. In 2019, the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition launched four models with a guide price range of 126,800-159,800 yuan. The power is equipped with a 2.0T gasoline engine, which meets the national six emission standards. Non-loaded body structure is adopted, which is also a common body of many pickup trucks.
Appearance: the design is very strong, and it looks more like an SUV from the front.
In the past, most pickup trucks in the market ignored the design level in order to pursue practicality and cost performance excessively, and always felt "cheap". But now, the main group of automobile consumption is a group of young people who are mainly born after 1980s and 1990s, so automobile companies begin to pay attention to the appearance of new cars. When I first saw the real car of the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition, it left a deep impression on my senses, and the elements of "fashion" and "sports" were very rich. Among them, the exclusive version of the top match also adopts a two-color body design, which can show the designer’s good intentions. However, the model actually shot in this shop is sports, that is, the second top version, and it is a pity that there is no two-color body.
There are different comments on the front of the Great Wall cannon on the Internet. Some people think that the Great Wall is too hard and the shape is too exaggerated. But in fact, the feeling after seeing the real car is really different. The whole car has a good sense of design and good coordination. Obviously, it can be seen that the Great Wall Gun adopts the latest family design language, and this brand-new front face can bring a lot of freshness. The wide air intake grille and the unique brand LOGO further enhance the recognition of the new Great Wall gun head.
The shape of the headlight group is basically the same as that of the old models. The whole system comes standard with LED far and near lights, automatic headlights and steering auxiliary lights, which can provide excellent lighting effects for drivers. The structure inside the lamp cavity is relatively simple, but it doesn’t look monotonous. The light sources arranged in matrix enhance the sense of grade of the front face.
The passenger version of the Great Wall Gun has a tyre size of 265/60 R18, which is a little small for this "big guy" car, but it should not be too big for daily use. As can be seen from the picture, its tire sidewall is thicker and deeper than ordinary family cars, mainly to ensure the passability under complex road conditions. The wheel hub is petal-shaped and looks very beautiful.
For the design of the rear of the car, I think it is more ornamental than the front face. The long and narrow taillight group, combined with the sharp light belt, reveals a sense of advanced. There is an exclusive decoupling under the rear of the car, which looks like a hard-core off-road vehicle.
Interior: The interior materials are advanced, emphasizing the texture.
I believe that many people’s first impression of pickup trucks is "cheap". For a long time in the past, mainstream pickup trucks in the market ignored the creation of interior texture in order to take into account the cost of making cars. However, with the change of automobile consumption concept in recent years, many car owners attach great importance to the atmosphere inside the car, so many pickup trucks newly listed have begun to pay attention to the design inside the car. Although the interior of the passenger version of the Great Wall Gun is dominated by hard-core rough style, the polishing of details has indeed made obvious progress.
The panel of the center console is decorated with a large area of wood grain, and the air outlet of the air conditioner and the central control area are decorated with many silver chrome trim strips. This contrast design of brown and silver gray has improved the grade and texture of the car, at least visually. It doesn’t look monotonous. In addition, the door handles on both sides also use leather stitching to form dense diamond-shaped lines, which makes people feel comfortable to touch.
The layout of the functional area in the whole car is relatively conservative, showing a symmetrical structure. I think this design can make the car look more regular. The central control is equipped with a large-size touch LCD screen and built-in GPS navigation function, which is still very practical.
In addition to the obvious upgrade in materials and workmanship, the passenger version of the Great Wall Gun is also very sincere in configuration. The whole system comes standard with a leather steering wheel and supports the steering wheel shift function. Rear seat air outlet, automatic air conditioner, induction wiper and other commonly used functions are well equipped. In addition, the configuration of intelligent network connection also has a good performance, such as supporting voice control system, which is more convenient for young consumers to use cars.
Space: The seat is wide and soft, but the rear space is average.
Compared with the off-road version and the commercial version of the pickup truck, the passenger version of the pickup truck seems to be more suitable for ordinary consumers’ car scenes, for example, it can meet the needs of home travel and has an ideal loading space. Therefore, the passenger pickup truck has certain requirements for ride comfort. The seats in the front and rear rows of the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition are relatively soft, and the internal fillers are sufficient, even worse than the ride experience of ordinary city SUVs. However, the depth of the rear seat cushion of this car is a little short, which leads to the general support effect on the thigh.
There must be many friends who are concerned about the rear space of this car. Considering the depth and length of the tail box, the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition has not reserved a large rear space. Taking the 179cm height experiencer as a reference, there is about a punch between the leg and the front seat, which is slightly inferior to the general SUV model.
It is worth mentioning that the rear seats of the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition can be folded up, which can also create a lot of storage space. To sum up, the passenger version of the Great Wall Gun has far exceeded the expected performance in storage, but the second row is not comfortable to ride. From the point of view of home use, the properties of this car still need to be improved.
Power: 2.0T+8AT "golden" power combination.
In fact, the powertrain of the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition is almost the same as that of Haval H9, which is a combination of 2.0T engine and ZF 8-speed automatic gearbox. However, in terms of parameters, there are subtle differences between them. The power and torque of the passenger version of the Great Wall Gun are slightly inferior to those of H9. Even so, the Great Wall Gun is still one of the most powerful players in its class. A 2.0T gasoline engine can produce a maximum power of 140kW and a peak torque of 360 N m.. Judging from the engine parameters, the Great Wall’s power adjustment of this pickup truck is not so violent, but it can basically cope with a variety of car scenes.
In the automobile circle, people often hear people say "golden" power combination. In fact, this set of power of the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition can also be called "gold". In addition to the 2.0T engine, the most important thing is the ZF8 speed gearbox. Friends who have driven Haval H9 must know that the smoothness of this transmission system is really high, and the shifting is particularly active, which gives people a smooth feeling when driving.
Editor’s summary: pickup truck seems to be getting closer and closer to entering the "homes of ordinary people". Taking the Great Wall Gun Passenger Edition as an example, its comfort and practicality will really give people a bright feeling. In addition, the Great Wall Gun has greatly changed the "rough" impression of pickup trucks in the past by using excellent design concepts. The more fashionable design elements and rich configuration functions make it more acceptable to consumers in the market. However, there is a saying that unless there is a clear demand for cars, pickup trucks still cannot become the mainstream choice for most people, which has a great connection with the current situation of the domestic automobile industry. In other words, today’s pickup trucks are still relatively niche models, but the Great Wall cannon has brought people a different feeling.