When I saw the SAIC Maxus Interstellar Pickup family, the first thing that came to my mind was the sentence - having more children is good for fighting. I remember that in the early years, car ** people liked to say this sentence, but now I don't mention it much. My personal understanding of this sentence does not actually have any derogatory meaning, but it just means that multi-category models cover more scenarios and can occupy more market segments. Objectively speaking, this is just a brand's product layout strategy, nothing more.
However, it was a bit surprising to me that I was able to subdivide the pickup, which is one of the reasons why the SAIC Maxus Interstellar pickup family intrigued me. Its Interstellar H pickup is more performance-oriented and is the preferred choice for off-road enthusiasts;The Interstellar L pickup truck is cost-effective and practical, which is more suitable for commercial scenarios and the role of a good partner for entrepreneurshipThe Interstellar R pickup truck is a more versatile type, between the first two, my understanding of it is IKEA IKEA, which meets the needs of multiple scenarios.
The ** of these three models starts from 9280,000 covered to 20The ** span of 180,000 yuan, nearly 110,000 yuan, also means that different consumers can find a pickup truck they can afford according to their own situation. 1. Off-road and on-road test drive Speaking of SAIC Maxus's pickup, I have a few data here. In fact, this brand has not been in the pickup market for a long time, and it has only been 7 years since it was full, but now it is the fastest growing brand in the domestic pickup market. In addition, SAIC Maxus has been exporting pickup trucks, with a cumulative global sales volume of 120,000 units, and 90% of overseas sales are sold in developed countries.
Many people may not know about SAIC Maxus's pickup, but it can be seen from this set of data that its pickup truck is already a global model, and has received positive feedback from many markets, such as Chile and other markets in South America, SAIC Maxus has beaten the Japanese pickup that has been dominating the list.
Of course, the above is mainly about the previous T60, T90 and other models, and the three models of the Interstellar pickup family that were tested this time will naturally have better performance than the former.
The off-road experience is the Interstellar L model. The two cars of the Star L and Star R are similar as a whole, and they are also equipped with BorgWarner's time-sharing four-wheel drive system, which can be equipped with an optional Eaton rear axle differential lock, but none of the models in this test drive are equipped with a rear axle differential lock. 
The Interstellar L pickup truck has the basic high passability requirements of a pickup truck, and it is very easy to pass through sleepers, wading and continuous small shell craters during off-roading. It can be seen that the suspension stroke of the Star L is not short, and the regular small crater does not make it have a wheel overhang. Thanks to its high passability, these road conditions can be easily navigated without the need for a four-wheel drive system. 
The test drive of the Star L is equipped with 2The 0T variable geometry turbo diesel engine has a maximum horsepower of 143 PS and a peak torque of 360 Nm, and is equipped with a 6-speed automatic transmission. The follow-up Star L will also launch the 163PS horsepower engine equipped with the Star R. The existing powertrain can feel a little struggling in terms of power when dealing with steep climbs and deeper craters, if you use 2The 4L naturally aspirated engine model has a torque of 230N·m, and it will be more difficult for a pickup truck to go off-road. 
But the deep crater did not stump the interstellar l. Although there is no rear axle differential lock, after a brief idling of the rear wheels off the ground, the ESP will apply braking force to the idling wheels, and the vehicle will be freed from the trap after a brief idling time. This process does not need to rely on low-speed four-wheel drive.
The experience of venue props is mainly based on interstellar H. Compared with Interstellar L and Interstellar R, Interstellar H will be positioned higher, and the difference in performance is obvious. First of all, it is equipped with 2The 0TT twin-supercharged diesel engine has a horsepower of 218PS and a peak torque of 500Nm, and the power performance is significantly higher. In addition, it is equipped with an intelligent four-wheel drive system with 12 driving modes, but the difficulty of the whole project is still less than 4L mode, and Auto mode can be successfully completed.
When dealing with the crossover shaft, the Star H showed great off-road qualities. In Auto mode, the system also intervenes to get the vehicle out of trouble through electronic limited slip intervention, which is similar to the experience of Interstellar L. However, if you switch the mode to 4L, the whole process will be smoother. At the same time, it can be seen that the pickup truck of the interstellar family has a strong torsional steel body. 
If the arch bridge project is replaced by Interstellar L or Interstellar R, it may take a certain initial velocity to go up in the face of steep slopes, but the advantages of Interstellar H's dual-supercharged engine are revealed, and the low torque is also very powerful, even if the vehicle is parked on the ramp, it can start easily, and the throttle does not need to be stepped very deep, and the engine can provide abundant power.
The road test drive experience is the Star R. It is equipped with 2The 0-liter variable geometry turbocharged engine has 163 PS of horsepower and 410 Nm of torque. In addition, unlike the Star L, it is equipped with a ZF 8AT gearbox, which gives it an advantage in terms of power smoothness and fuel consumption. The highway cruises at 80kmh and it revs at 1400rpm.
On paper, the engine should have decent power, and usually diesel engines are more powerful during starting and acceleration. However, the power of the Interstellar R does not feel strong at the initial stage, perhaps because the gearbox tuning is too conservative, or it may be that this engine is not good at low torsional power. In short, it doesn't give you a strong sense of acceleration and is not suitable for intense driving.
Its leaf spring rear suspension has exceeded expectations. In the face of undulations and trivial road conditions, the rear suspension does not give a particularly stiff feeling, but absorbs a lot of shocks. Its leaf springs seem to be flatter than other pickups, and the concavity is not large, probably because of some structural design, so that this set of plate suspensions presents a better driving texture.
It would be better if the Interstellar R could use electric power steering, which is a bit heavy and has a certain void when dealing with everyday city roads as well as the mountain roads we test drive. Coupled with its relatively high sitting position and the vibration and noise of the diesel engine, the Interstellar R will give you a more obvious texture of a commercial vehicle at first. However, because it is well tuned as a whole, after driving for a while, you will feel that the whole car runs very smoothly and is easy to drive.
If it's Interstellar H, the road experience should be much better. On the one hand, the dual-supercharged engine of the Star H is very powerful in terms of low torque, and there will be no feeling of sluggish power, in addition, its rear suspension uses a five-link link, and the driving quality will be better. In addition, the interstellar H will show different driving qualities in NVH, electronic steering, etc.
2. The static experience of Interstellar R Since this test drive experience activity, I was assigned to Interstellar R, so in the static experience part, we will focus on the performance of Interstellar R. At the same time, I will try to bring out the differences between the other two cars and talk to you.
The appearance of Interstellar R and Interstellar L is basically the same, both of which use a large number of chrome plating, octagonal dot matrix grille, I distinguish them from each other through the wheel shape, Interstellar R uses two-color aluminum alloy wheels. The shape of the interstellar H is obviously different, with a large number of black elements replacing the chrome decoration, which looks sportier and more wild, while the shape of the middle grille is more exaggerated, and the split LED headlights also make the front face appear fuller and more imposing.
The Star R we experienced is a standard box version with a body size of 5365 1960 1855mm and a wheelbase of 3165mm. In the case of the long box version, the body length reaches 5680mm, and the wheelbase will reach 3480mm. Viewed from the side, the proportions of the body of the Star R are harmonious. However, the rear bucket is too clean, if Interstellar R wants to take into account multiple scenarios of household and commercial use, you can add a 220V power supply to the rear bucket, so that it will be more convenient for families to travel in the field, and it can better reflect the difference between it and Interstellar L.
In terms of interior design, the three cars present a different sense of class. Starr is at the middle level, equipped with 1025-inch gauge +123-inch floating large screen, the two screens are designed into a continuous screen shape, and the central control screen is also tilted to the side of the driver's seat, which looks like it has a certain sense of science and technology. Interstellar L is the traditional central control screen, and the dashboard is mechanical, which looks more basic. Interstellar H is more high-grade, and the pocket block design is used on the pickup, and the effect of the dual screen is also better. In addition, compared with Interstellar R, the leather materials of the seats and instrument panel of Interstellar H are also more delicate, and the seats are softer, compared to Interstellar and Interstellar L, which are slightly rougher, but compared with many other pickups, Interstellar R's interior upholstery covers a large area.
The performance of the Interstellar R in the experience of the center control screen exceeded my expectations. This system is equipped with a spider intelligent entertainment system, which supports many applications and supports a variety of interconnection methods such as carplay. Its voice recognition function is also good, the response speed is quite fast, and even if the words are slightly unclear, it can be relatively accurate. In addition, it can be linked to the navigation system, for example, when you are about to enter a tunnel, the voice assistant will automatically ask if you need to turn on the air conditioning purification function.
Overall, the Interstellar R and Interstellar R do not have a particularly over-the-top configuration, and considering their selling price, they are actually in line with expectations. The cockpit space of the Interstellar R is an advantage, with a rear space of 965mm, which is the largest in its class. This also allows for more flexibility, such as the front seats can be flattened 150° and the rear seats can be flipped up and down.
The configuration of Interstellar H has more to offer. On the one hand, its car machine system adopts a card-based UI design, which is more concise to use, and is equipped with Tencent Tai 40 system, with Tencent ecology, online FOTA and other functions, the voice recognition system can also support up to one language. In addition, its high-end model is also equipped with L2+ level automatic driving assistance system, which makes the entire configuration of the Interstellar H more high-end.
Test drive summary:
Every time I test drive a model in the pickup truck category, I am attracted by its high passability. In fact, even if it is equipped with a very basic four-wheel drive system, even without a differential lock, the pickup truck can cope with many outdoor non-paved roads. What's more, BorgWarner's four-wheel drive system equipped with the Interstellar Pickup family is highly reliable and easy to use, and it can also be equipped with an optional Eaton rear axle differential lock, and the Interstellar L and Interstellar R can also have good off-road performance. Pickup trucks are being accepted by Chinese consumers, and the user population and the maturity of the aftermarket are also improving.
Photo by Huang Keyu of Pacific Motors).