The FAW Toyota R**4 Rongfang is a very popular compact SUV. The car is well-balanced in terms of exterior, interior, power and configuration. As for the cross-country ability of Toyota's new R**4, which the questioner asked, the author will conduct a comprehensive analysis for the questioner in this article.
When we went on the expedition before, our unit equipped our team with a modified R**4. There is some equipment on board, about 100 kilograms, which can accommodate four adults. Ordinary unhardened roads are fine as long as it doesn't rain, but climbing steep slopes is not possible. When I was driving in Hejiang County, the driver was a novice.
When going up a steep hill, he didn't use the manual mode and kept hanging in D gear. All automatic cars were turned off. Then the steering wheel and brake assist disappeared, and the car went straight backwards. Fortunately, the passenger in the passenger seat reacted quickly and pulled the handbrake (mechanical handbrake) to avoid falling off the cliff.
After working here for a few days, I was ready to move on to the next location, but the weather didn't work well and it started raining heavily. The road we came in before was too slippery and muddy. At this time, it can be said that the R**4 has no off-road ability at all, and it is no different from a sedan. The road is muddy and slippery, and the slope is slightly steep.
The three of us had to push down to get up. Halfway through, the attached plastic engine guard was worn off, and it was impossible to climb the steep slope. Even if you unload all the equipment, you can't push it up. Later, an excavator was called to drag it up. We drove this 5km rotten road for almost a day, so the car was just an urban SUV.
It really isn't good at off-roading, and it's not much different from a sedan. The four-wheel drive ability and passability of the R**4 are relatively strong among cars positioned as urban SUVs in the same class. Use some actual road conditions to tell you how good it is. When you turn on the low-speed four-wheel drive mode, you will clearly feel that the four-wheel grip is stronger on paved roads and the feeling of solidity is stronger when cornering.
At this time, although there are some potholes on ordinary rural dirt roads, there is no problem with traffic. (Don't be funny, you can't get through difficult road conditions such as big deep pits). If you go uphill, it is a dirt slope of more than 30 degrees. There are some potholes, rocks, and small bumps on the slope. Step on the accelerator steadily, control the direction, and you can easily go up.
There is mud and water on the muddy sections, and there are ruts in the potholes. It's a country road that looks a little scary. The premise is that the roadbed under muddy water is still hard, and pure mud is not enough. With a little speed, steady the throttle, don't hold the direction too tightly, follow the rut, release the direction, and you can generally pass.
Time-sharing four-wheel drive typically uses a manual or electronically controlled gear differential lock to open and close the transfer case, creating a rigid connection between the front and rear axles to switch between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. After switching to four-wheel drive, the power is evenly distributed to the front and rear axles, and the advantage of time-sharing four-wheel drive is that the power distribution is constant, simple and reliable.
For extreme off-roading, constant power distribution can guarantee continuous power delivery and avoid slippage, overheating, etc. Hardcore off-road vehicles such as the Wrangler, Land Rover Defender, Jimny, and others all use this four-wheel drive mode. However, if the time-sharing four-wheel drive is driven on ordinary paved roads, especially when cornering, there is a difference in speed due to the different turning radius of the front and rear wheels.
The power distribution is always constant, which can easily lead to insufficient grip on a certain wheel. In the event of skidding, once the wheels slip at high speeds, there may be dangers such as rollover and propeller shaft torsion, so the front and rear axles must be disconnected at this time, which has high technical requirements for the vehicle. Driver.
To sum up, the RVA4 lacks off-road ability and can only cope with some simple bad road surfaces. It's really hard to expect it to be able to go off-road. It's already an urban SUV, so why bother?If you want to go off-road, take a look at the joint ventures Mitsubishi Pajero, Jimny, Prado, Big G, as well as the domestically produced Tang DM, Haval H9, etc.
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