Consolidating what has been done: how a Chinese pickup truck with a new engine behaves
Despite the general decline in the pickup truck market, the JAC T9 is showing decent sales growth. According to the results of the first half of the year, this pickup truck is seriously ahead of its closest competitors in sales, even though until recently it was introduced in our country only with a gasoline engine. Now a turbodiesel appeared under the hood of the car. The Izvestia correspondent found out what this gave the car and whether the new version will help maintain leadership in its market segment, on the roads and off-road in the North Caucasus.
A rare guest
Against the background of total electrification and "hybridization" of new cars from China, Russians have already begun to gradually wean themselves off models with diesel engines. According to the analytical agency Autostat, at the end of spring, the share of diesel-powered cars was only 1.7% of all cars sold, although a few years ago they occupied about 10% of the market. The fact is that the Chinese automakers dominating the Russian market do not particularly favor this engine on passenger cars.
The abundance of soft plastic and leather in the interior of the JAC T9 is a clear hint of the premium model.
Nevertheless, in China, they still realize that for some types of cars, the presence of a turbodiesel in the model range is not even a "rule of good taste", but a historically established necessity due to the peculiarities of operation. Pickups are the most striking example of this. They are usually bought by people who prefer outdoor activities, off-road trips, and they are often used to tow heavy trailers. For such conditions, a diesel engine is preferable to a gasoline engine. It is not surprising that JAC has decided to launch a new version of its flagship diesel-powered T9 pickup truck on the Russian market.
Get to know me
Usually, modifications of cars with different engines do not differ in appearance from each other. JAC decided to go the other way, dividing the pickups by engine type, even visually. It's easy to recognize: just look at the "muzzle". The gasoline-powered versions sport a chrome grille and bright red logo letters on it. But the diesel T9 is much more modest: both the grille itself and the JAC inscription are black. You can also distinguish the turbodiesel modification by the wheels: off-road 18-inch All-Terrain tires with a "mud" tread are already installed at the factory on such vehicles. And, of course, the "STi" nameplate on the tailboard — where without it.
With a hint of premium
Despite the fact that the pickup itself is a purely utilitarian car, the interior of the JAC T9 is designed with a clear hint of premium. Due to the abundance of soft plastic and eco-leather with contrasting stitching, the car can give odds to other crossovers and SUVs. A special chic feature is the impressive electric sunroof, which is rarely found on pickups. The 10-inch vertically positioned multimedia "tablet" was pleased with its good image quality and the ability to connect a smartphone using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto protocols. According to Chinese tradition, the main functions and settings are controlled through this tablet. However, the control of climate control is still assigned to the physical keys, which are located under the display. Special thanks to the JAC engineers for this — it makes it much easier, faster and safer to set up the microclimate in the cabin.
But it would be worth more work on the driver's seat settings. By itself, the seat with developed lateral support is comfortable. However, it is impossible to find a comfortable landing on the move.: the effect is not the largest set and range of electrical adjustments. For example, it is impossible to change the angle of the pillow. And the steering wheel is adjustable only by the angle of inclination.
The rear row of seats surprised me with a large amount of free space for passengers. A person of average height will not have to prop up the front seats with his knees, and the landing, unlike many other pickups, is "human", without legs up. Among the comfort elements, rear passengers can use a pair of smartphone charging slots (one of them is Type-C) and duct deflectors.
The appearance of a new type of engine did not affect the truck's cargo capabilities: like the gasoline version, the turbodiesel version is designed to carry 980 kg. And the cargo compartment allows you to place both a standard "europallet" and a "Finnish" pallet in it, which is 20 cm wider.
Minus the "herd"
A two-liter turbodiesel with a capacity of 163 liters is installed under the hood. in combination with an eight-speed "classic" automatic. Compared to its gasoline counterpart, it lost 61 "horses" at once. However, in terms of torque, the diesel version is 20 Nm ahead of the gasoline version (410 versus 390).
The difference, at first glance, seems insignificant. But it is already felt from the first kilometers of the journey. A diesel pickup truck pulls much better at the bottom. As soon as the tachometer needle goes over 1.5 thousand rpm, the car begins to accelerate very briskly. On the gasoline version (the organizers offered both versions of the pickup truck for comparison), the "pickup" occurs noticeably later, after about 2.5 thousand rpm. With parallel starts, the diesel engine, even though there are significantly fewer "horses" under the hood, even slightly pulls ahead at first. However, after just a second or two, the gasoline pickup truck is confidently ahead of its diesel-powered counterpart. In addition, the sensations of acceleration in a diesel car are lubricated by the damped accelerator pedal: you step on the gas, and the revs begin to increase with some delay.
However, off-road, such a feature of the turbodiesel turned out to be only in favor: the "sleeping" accelerator pedal made it possible to more accurately dose thrust, as a result, even despite the greater torque, the wheels of a diesel-powered pickup truck were less likely to slip. And the additional traction allowed the diesel car to drive "off-load" where the gasoline version had to drive "running".
The diesel JAC T9 is capable of overcoming fords up to 80 cm deep.
At the same time, both the gasoline and diesel JAC T9 are well prepared for off-road driving. A 23-centimeter ground clearance was enough to overcome deep ruts and slopes, and the ability to overcome a ford up to 80 cm deep made it possible to confidently force mountain rivers.
The transmission of the car with all-wheel drive Part Time also helps. The rigidly connected front axle (which can be connected at speeds up to 60 km/h) provides more confidence off-road than "crossover" multi-disc clutches. Moreover, when slipping, the rear self-locking differential is automatically activated. And when driving through completely "lost" places, the presence of a downshift helped a lot.
Vibrate and slide
Due to its design, any pickup truck is far from being a comfortable means of transportation on broken roads. The reason for this is the spring-loaded rear suspension, designed to work under load, which works like a vibrating stand when the machine is empty. And the JAC T9 is no exception here.
On a bumpy dirt road running through a gorge along a mountain river, the rear of the car visibly "bumps", bouncing on numerous boulders and pits. However, compared to some European and Japanese counterparts, the "Chinaman" still shakes less.
The JAC T9, like any other pickup truck, does not help to boast well-honed handling. All for the same reason — the unloaded rear suspension. There are legends that when powerful Volga catch-up trucks appeared in the arsenal of the Soviet special services (which also had a spring suspension at the back), their drivers put concrete blocks or cast-iron ingots in the trunk. Without them, the car would go anywhere but straight.
The diesel version of the pickup truck will cost 200 thousand rubles more than the gasoline one.
The empty T9 behaved slightly better on the primer. At speed, at every opportunity, the rear unloaded axle kept trying to overtake the front one, which was severely suppressed by the vigilant stabilization system. However, as a colleague wisely said, "for a pickup truck, the best stabilization system is two or three dozen concrete tiles in the back."
Strengthen the position
According to statistics, the JAC T9 is the best—selling pickup truck in Russia - according to Autostat data for the first half of the year, this model sold 2,424 units. Moreover, these were only gasoline versions of the car. The appearance of diesel modifications in the line, aimed primarily at outdoor enthusiasts and fans of off-road trips, apparently, will strengthen the already good position of the car. Moreover, with the cost of the car at 3.76 million rubles, an additional payment of 200 thousand does not seem supernatural.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
