It is said that Toyota and Volkswagen are divided into north and south, but as everyone knows, in the joint venture car brands settled in China, in fact, there are many manufacturing companies that have been divided into different brands according to the different joint venture partners, and they are not like Honda, which produce and develop passenger cars, but have different emphases. The Ford Roadbreaker to be seen here is born in Jiangling Ford, which has focused on the development of commercial vehicles, and in the process of Jiangling Ford opening the transformation of passenger cars, the Roadbreaker has also become Ford's first hardcore off-road vehicle in China, and today we will take the 2020 2.3L GTDi four-wheel drive gasoline elite version of the 5-seat model as an example, that is, the sub-low model, to see how its product power is.
Exterior design
In terms of front design, on the one hand, the road shakers maintain the metal frame commonly used in Ford's hard SUV in the grille decoration, on the other hand, this frame becomes the polygon structure with curvature used by Ford city SUVs, and in addition to interspersed with cutout horizontal trim, it also carries a three-dimensional lattice that improves the hardness. In the front bumper, we can see the stout sports guardrail, which extends and strengthens the front bump bar to improve the passability of off-road driving.
In the design of the headlights, the polygonal style of the halogen proximity lamp is more traditional, the different lighting function areas inside are all wide open and closed designs, and the halogen fog lamps are placed in the extension area of the collision barrier.
Coming to the side of the body, the 4892/1862/1837mm body and the wheelbase of 2850mm can still be felt, the entire cabin is relatively wide, independent fixed pedals, small rim large rim design and gridded fender heat sink design all emphasize the hardcore off-road identity of the vehicle. At the same time, the roof structure with luggage rack is shaped to be relatively straight, while the transparent side windows behind the C-pillar are larger in size.
In the rear design, the rear windshield and the entire tailgate are made relatively flat, which is naturally to optimize the storage space of the vehicle, while the thick chrome trim strip is engraved with the Everest product English logo, and the rear bumper adopts a high-impact motion guard structure similar to the front of the car.
In the taillight design, the marker light and the brake light will form a C-shaped encirclement around the periphery, while the brake light and the rear fog lamp will form a fusion connection with the thick chrome decorative strip, and the overall practicality is the mainstay.
Interior design
In terms of central control design, whether it is the functional areas of air outlet, door handle, gear shift mechanism, or the control area of touch screen, steering wheel, and air conditioning panel, all layout methods are hard horse and hard bridge, and there is little innovation in layout and style. But what can be seen is that all the controllable buttons explain the function more clearly, and the large knob design of air conditioning, multimedia and driving mode is easier to operate.
On the decorative material, the extension area of the entire center console and the gear shift mechanism is dominated by hard texture materials, and a small number of soft bags are used in addition to the necessary frequent contact areas such as seats and armrests, but also cover part of the area of the central control lower baffle with a soft texture slugging process. However, in view of the vehicle's hardcore off-road vehicle identity, the cockpit based on durability still does not have too many high-grade decorative materials.
On the vehicle system, the 8.0-inch LCD touch screen looks a bit like the resistance screen of the past because of the embedded design, and the UI of the car-machine system it is equipped with is relatively traditional; however, it still provides functions including the Internet of Vehicles, voice interaction, carLife mobile phone interconnection, etc., and the basic operation can still be guaranteed.
In the on-board configuration, the rider's assisted driving covers driving mode selection, steep descent and uphill assist system, while in terms of functional accessories, it provides a 12V power supply, rear cup holder, 8-speaker speakers, front multi-layer soundproof glass and dual-zone independent air conditioning.
In terms of cabin space, this model with a double-row 5-seat layout can provide 1 punch of head space for experiencers with a height of 180cm, and the leg allowance in the rear row has reached more than 2 fists, but the floor bulge is relatively high, which will have a slight impact on the central seat passengers.
In terms of trunks, the road shakers also have a 1100mm base depth, the width and height are 1110mm/770mm, the longitudinal placement of 4 trolley boxes is still larger, and there is additional tool storage space under the flat floor.
Mechanical structure
In the powertrain, the road shaker is equipped with a 2.0T turbocharged engine with a maximum power of 202 kW and a peak torque of 455N·m, and the transmission has obtained a 10AT transmission jointly developed by Ford and GM; and in order to enhance the off-road driving ability, the road shaker is equipped with a full-time four-wheel drive system, but also equipped with a transfer case with low-speed torque amplification, and the complex road condition off-road ability is excellent enough with the support of limited-slip differentials and open differentials.
On the chassis suspension, the road shakers developed on the non-load-bearing body structure matched the double wishbone independent suspension and the multi-link integral bridge suspension in the front and rear axles, and in the rear axle, not only with the watt linkage and stabilizer structure, but also with a rear axle differential lock, in the field driving can also complete the independent escape.
Write at the end
Jiangling Ford has been showing the image of a commercial brand in the long-term car manufacturing process, but after the launch of a variety of SUV passenger cars such as The Collar, its determination to turn to a broader passenger market has become quite obvious. And the road shaker as Ford's first domestic joint venture in the domestic completion of the hardcore off-road model, but also the American manufacturer's strengths to carry forward, although the off-road vehicle is not a Volkswagen product, from this sub-low with the hardware specifications of the road shaker, we can feel how obvious its advantages in the market segment, which is enough to win a name in the hardcore market.