Two plus One: What has changed in popular Chinese SUVs
The Jetour T1 and T2 SUVs have undergone a minor facelift. The changes are mainly cosmetic in nature, but are based on the feedback and wishes of car owners. The Izvestia correspondent got acquainted with the updated cars in the framework of the Travel Constellation project on the roads and off-road areas of Khakassia.
Be stricter
The most notable improvements affected Jetour's flagship in the Russian market, the T2 model. Against the background of squat crossovers, which have recently occupied the lion's share of new car sales in Russia, this SUV stood out for its deliberately massive and angular design.
New materials have been added to the interior of the Jetour T2
However, the brutal exterior was somewhat at odds with the "acidic" yellow-lemon eyelets in the front bumper. And it would be nice if these were real tow loops, for which you can hook the cable. But it's really just a plastic prop. The whole image of the "car macho" was destroyed by the lining on the rails and wheel hubs of the same frivolous shade. Unsurprisingly, such a mix of styles raised some questions among customers.
As a result of the restyling, textured inserts made of strict black plastic appeared instead of colored overlays. These seemingly insignificant details have made the Jetour T2 look more solid.
Unnecessary operations
But the process of adjusting the exterior mirrors, apparently, did not cause any complaints from car owners. Although the "balancing act" of searching for the right menu item in multimedia, tapping your fingers on the LCD display and then adjusting the mirrors using the "twirlers" on the spokes of the steering wheel is, to put it mildly, inconvenient and requires a lot of completely unnecessary manipulations from the driver. Obviously, it's much easier to do this with a regular mini-joystick.
Perhaps Jetour simply did not dare to abandon the branded "feature". Although, in fairness, it is worth noting that such "problems" have become popular with other Chinese car brands. But the undoubted advantages include the expansion of the functionality of the factory telemetry complex for the updated machines and the integration of multimedia with domestic VK services.
Visiting the kings
One of the attractions of Khakassia is the Valley of the Kings. There are 56 burial mounds of Tagarian culture located here, about 70 km from Abakan. Our goal is the largest of them, Bolshoy Salbyksky. The size of the mound suggests that a prominent military commander or leader was buried in it. The giant stones that formed the basis of the tomb were brought here from different places, according to archaeologists. Apparently, these boulders and slabs were a tribute of respect and honor from different tribes.
The stone slabs of the Salbyk kurgan are much larger than the boulders of the famous Stonehenge
Under the hood of the Jetour T2, a two-liter 245-horsepower gasoline engine, paired with an eight-speed automatic, is barely audible. When this SUV first appeared on our market, there were certain complaints about the transmission. During acceleration, the gearbox "went into suspended animation", and acceleration turned out to be blurred.
The engineers listened to the opinion of consumers and, having "fiddled" with the settings and firmware of the transmission, achieved more adequate operation of this unit. When you press the gas pedal, the "automatic" quickly understands what is wanted from it, "resets" one or two gears and provides a heavy SUV with good acceleration.
Jetour T2 ground clearance is 22 centimeters
To get to Salbyk, it is necessary to move from relatively flat asphalt onto a broken rocky primer laid in the steppe. With each passing hundred meters, the road gets worse, the stones get bigger, and the track gets deeper. But the 22-centimeter ground clearance, coupled with the steel engine protection, adds confidence, and the energy-intensive suspension allows you to overcome obstacles in front of which you would have to slow down on an average crossover. In addition, the T2 has seven driving modes in its arsenal, four of which are off-road, and an axle differential lock.
The Queen of Hydropower
The famous Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP became another point of the test drive route. We are going to this giant on the "younger" model, the T1 SUV.
On asphalt, the Jetour T1 seems more composed.
This car has the same 245-horsepower engine and an eight-speed automatic. However, this tandem works differently here. The transmission is slightly less efficient, and in some driving modes there are sometimes "kicks", as if the car is "stumbling". In addition, the SUV began to roll back a couple of times when starting from a place on the hill. Apparently, the unit does not have enough oil pressure in the torque converter. But the "one" behaves better on asphalt. Despite the fact that the suspension design is the same, the T1 feels more "assembled": the body rolls less in turns, the car almost does not sway on gentle waves of asphalt. Apparently, it's a matter of different chassis settings. The Jetour T1 will delight you with the same set of off-road "assistants" as the "two", including seven driving modes, depending on the type of off-road and locking the center differential. The 242-meter block of concrete more than a kilometer wide that appeared around the bend of the road, blocking the mighty Yenisei River and holding back the pressure of more than 30 cubic kilometers of water, is fascinating. The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is the largest in Russia, with a capacity of 6.4 thousand MW.
The height of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP dam is 242 meters
A few years ago, it was possible to get to the hydroelectric power plant as part of an organized excursion group. However, the station is currently closed to the public. But admission to the Museum of hydropower located in the village of Cheryomushki is free. By the way, it can be reached from the hydroelectric power station by a working tram, which carries station employees from the village. Anyone can get on it, but you will have to get off at the observation deck — the way is open only to staff further to the station.
The Jetour T1 has seven driving modes and an axle differential in its arsenal.
In the initial configuration, the Jetour T2 will cost 4,079 million rubles. The price of the "junior" Jetour T1 SUV starts at 3.775 million.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
