When I mention the word "off-road", the first image that comes to my mind is Dwayne Johnson's car in "Fast and Furious" - Gurkhalapv. In particular, the chase battles of several protagonists on the ice left an indelible impression on me.
Since then, American + tough guy = off-road, this impression is deeply in my mind.
In fact, I was a little surprised when I learned that the Great Wall was going to hold the "Ice and Snow Heroes Meeting" in Hulunbuir, where it was minus 40 degrees. But when I saw the few cars it brought, I realized that the original "off-road kingdom" of the Great Wall had quietly taken shape.
The "off-road kingdom" of the Great Wall is divided into two major systems: Hi4 and Hi4-T. The Haval Raptors and Haval Thunder MAX belong to the Hi4 system;The Tank 400 Hi4-T, Tank 500 Hi4-T, Tank 700 Hi4-T, etc., which we tested this time, all belong to the Hi4-T system and pay more attention to off-road.
This time, we focused on experiencing the Tank 400 Hi4-T, which has been the talk of the road recently, through four subjects.
Subject 1: Hot Snow Loop.
The main purpose of this project is to experience the control of torque in the vehicle. On the tank 400 Hi4-T there is a technology called torque vectoring. In fact, it is to monitor the lateral and longitudinal acceleration and yaw angular speed of the vehicle during the cornering process, and the four-wheel drive system to accurately distribute the torque between the front and rear axles.
Since it was my first time driving in the snow, I was not "sensitive" to snow slipping. On the first lap, I was so focused on the road ahead that I neglected the discomfort of a slippage on the rear wheel. However, it is obvious that the vehicle's VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Stability Control) and TCS (Traction Control System) have intervened in time to try to correct the vehicle's attitude.
Unfortunately, my reaction didn't keep up. Even if the coach reminded in time and VDC and TCS intervened in time, it was too late, and the rear of the car had already been thrown out too much, so it could only slow down and stop to readjust. After getting acquainted with the first.
The second and third rounds are very handy. As long as you control the direction in time when you slide, the car will give you a very solid drifting experience.
Module 2: Snow climbing.
For off-road players, snow climbing is a classic subject. The adhesion of ice and snow roads is low, and if the starting torque is too high, it is easy to slip, and if the torque is too low, it may lead to the failure of climbing. So, what you need for snow climbing is more torque and torque control from the tires.
The snow mode of the Tank 400 Hi4-T uses 2nd gear to start, reducing the gear ratio, so that the output torque of the tires becomes lower to limit tire slippage. The power and torque of 300kW and 750Nm also make the climb very easy, and every car in the team can reach the top at one time, even if I am a novice in snow off-roading.
However, perhaps due to concerns about the level of the people involved in the test drive, the visual inspection of the slope this time was only in the early 30s, and the challenge was not very difficult, and it was obvious that this was not the real limit of the tank 400 Hi4-T, and it was necessary to go to the site with a steeper slope to show its real strength.
Subject 3: Bumpy road sections.
Bumpy sections are tested for the vehicle's support and comfort. The Tank 400 Hi4-T has a front double wishbone and rear multi-link suspension, plus a non-load-bearing body, which provides very good support when crossing washboard roads. The best thing about me is that the suspension travel is on the long side, which can absorb the height difference on the road surface very well. Although it will feel a little bumpy when sitting in the car because of the ups and downs of the road, this bump is very neat, there will be no unnecessary bounce, and the overall body is also very stable.
As a first-time driver on a bumpy section of ice and snow, the Tank 400 Hi4-T gives me a sense of security.
Subject 4: Cross Axis.
Cross axles are the most difficult of these subjects and test the vehicle's ability to go off-road in extreme conditions. Before entering the experience section, we turned on the low-speed 4WD mode. The first half of the stage was very easy, and as long as you got your bearings, you could get through almost without idling alone. But there is a shell crater in the back section, and you still need to take a foot of the throttle to get through.
After the experience, I got out of the car to see how the other vehicles in the convoy were passing through this section. It is evident that the right front wheel of the vehicle, as well as the left rear wheel, are completely suspended in the case of an excessively large crater. The Hi4-T uses TOD and transmission shafts between the front and rear axles to connect, and the torque can be seamlessly switched from 0 to 100%, coupled with the traditional mechanical three locks, the vehicle power can be transmitted to the adhesion wheels, helping the vehicle to get out of trouble smoothly.
In this process, the driver and occupants in the car are not aware of the difficulty, and by pressing the accelerator lightly, the engine and motor can take the car out by the way.
Perhaps it is not enough to understand the entire Hi4-T system by experiencing these 4 subjects, so let's combine the Tank 400 Hi4-T to have a more detailed understanding of the Hi4-T.
The Tank 400 is a heavy off-road vehicle, that is, an off-road vehicle capable of adapting to almost all off-road conditions. The meaning of Hi4-T is actually H (hybrid), I (intelligent (4WD), and T (tank platform). It adopts the structure of P2, the idea is that the "motor" and "engine" are coordinated, and the hybrid hybrid of oil and electricity is used - the engine can be driven separately, and the motor can also form a dual power output, and the power is given to the gearbox and then the gearbox is transferred - in this way, it works more like a fuel car.
Of course, this is also its advantage, especially in the cold weather in the north, it will be more reliable to use oil than electricity. When the vehicle is first started, it is powered on, and when the sensor detects that the transmission oil temperature is too low, the internal combustion engine is activated to ensure that the interior of the vehicle is heated.
This calibration is for us at minus 40 degrees, not to mention how comfortable it is, and it will be warm up after a while when we get in the car.
It was also felt during the test drive that the engine intervention was very positive. At the same time, when there is a strong demand for power, such as climbing, getting out of trouble, etc., the motor can be used as a booster to drive together with the engine to improve the power performance.
The Tank 400 Hi4-T is a hardcore off-road vehicle, and in order to ensure excellent passability, it has a ground clearance of 224mm. Even so, it gives the battery a safer treatment – the battery is mounted on the inside of the frame rail, on the upper floor, through multi-point mounting. In this way, the battery can be avoided as much as possible during off-road collisions.
Oil-based, non-load-bearing body, mechanical four-wheel drive, traditional three-lock ......So it's a collection of everything you need for pure off-roading. At the same time, it can achieve pure electric driving, as far as possible to reduce the cost of fuel consumption in urban driving.
Proven and reliable, I think that's the beauty of Hi4-T.
Text: Li Jiaxin.
Figure Network.