Looking at the entire Chinese market, the vast majority of consumers are inseparable from one word when buying a car: cost performance. We all want a car to be on budget to get good value for money, or even great value for money. But what is the price-performance ratio? My personal understanding is that in as many ways as possible, exceed expectations. In fact, there are very few such models, in such a supply chain of automobiles is extremely mature, the cost has been compressed to the extreme of the industry, there are not many cars that can really achieve excellent cost performance, but the Chevrolet Explorer light mix 550T RS 9AT four-wheel drive intelligent boundary version we are test driving today is definitely one of the best.
Part 1 Sharp sport exterior design
The 2022 Explorer was launched in October this year, and as an annual revamp, the appearance of the model has not changed much, but this does not mean that the appearance of this car is outdated. In fact, this new design language did not come out for a long time, and the whole vehicle also adopted a large number of blackening elements that are very popular at the moment, creating a good sense of sport. At the same time, the overall shape maintains the momentum of the medium-sized SUV, in fact, the Chevrolet brand itself is quite a national car flavor, in the Chinese auto market Chevrolet will not be too extreme in design.
The most conspicuous front face is of course the central through-type chrome decorative pieces, from the two sides of the split headlights have been connected to the middle network, greatly expanding the visual width, the shape of the split headlights is very sharp, in fact, due to pedestrian protection regulations, now many vehicles have higher hoods, which is also the reason why the split headlights are popular, the upper part is the daytime running lights, the lower part is the far and near light group, the full LED light source is the standard for the explorers, and it is not common in the joint venture brand models at this price.
The inside of the shield-shaped central mesh adopts wavy grille stripes, with the red RS logo on the right side, while the front bumper and grille are blackened to further increase the sense of movement. The muscular lines of the hood are very clear, and the central ridge extends all the way to the front of the face, which is full of impact.
The model we actually shot this time is the Chevrolet Explorer Light Hybrid 550T RS 9AT four-wheel drive intelligent boundary version, and the non-RS version of the Frontier Explorer has a certain difference in body size, mainly the difference in front and rear bracketing shapes. Chevrolet Explorer Light Mix 550T RS 9AT Four-Wheel Drive Intelligent Boundary Edition has a three-dimensional size of 4646*1843*1695mm, with a wheelbase of 2725mm, in addition to the body height, the rest of the parameters are not large in the medium-sized SUV, which also confirms what we said earlier, Chevrolet in the Chinese automotive market will not be too extreme in design, relatively burly figure and higher height in the shape to give people a thick feeling, closer to the people.
The side of the body can actually be seen that the Explorer is a more standard American medium-sized SUV figure, and many of today's medium-sized SUVs like to do slender and sharp different, the Body Side Line of the Explorer is softer, including the roof line is not showing any signs of decline, and there is no such sporty design as the through-line waistline, and even the R19-inch wheel rim is not conspicuous on the side of this car. This may mean that the head space inside this car will have a lot of advantages.
Like the front face, the side of this car is also filled with a lot of blackened elements: black rearview mirrors, black B-pillar D-pillars, black wheels, and even black roof racks... Of course, if the doorknobs and taillight sides were also blackened, perhaps the black samurai style would be more obvious. The tire is made of Goodyear's EFFICIENTGRIP SUV 235/50 R19 tire, which is mainly silent and handled, and it is also a tire that is more suitable for the positioning of this car.
The design of the rear of the vehicle is more concise, in fact, in addition to the LOGO and some logos, you can not find more design elements, the shield-shaped license plate frame and the front face grille shape echo, the taillights also use LED light sources, the lighting effect is good, and the exhaust settings of the bilateral four out are still very domineering.
Overall, the Explorer is a standard American SUV vehicle shape, tall and domineering at the same time, there are obvious improvements in the detail processing, a number of black elements, red logos and silver chrome parts to match more harmoniously.
Part 2 Comfortable and easy-to-use interior configuration
Chevrolet's models in recent years for the wrap-around center console has a preference, the Explorer also adopted the family's interior design, although nowadays more popular and concise interior design, it seems that the Explorer is slightly more cumbersome, but still that sentence, for the main consumers of the Explorer is actually not so pursuit of the extreme - they do not care much about whether the border of the central control screen is one or two centimeters wider, they are more concerned about whether this interior can meet their daily needs. The same is true of the physical buttons that include the explorer's central control area, and practicality is best for them.
However, in the material and touch is convenient, the explorer is still remarkable, a large area of black leather wrapped center console with red double stitching, the workmanship is very good, the interior texture is excellent. The interior of this model we actually shot is black/bright red, but the main color is still black, decorated with red stitching, logos and gauge hands.
The explorer is not equipped with a full LCD instrument, which is a bit of a pity, but the size of the central control screen is not small, the standard 10-inch central control screen, and the use of a suspension design with a directional upward tilt angle, without looking down can be more natural operation, the overall display effect is excellent, the font and circular icons are relatively large, convenient for the owner to operate.
Explorer this set of car engine system named MyLink+ supports Carplay and Carlife expansion, while like the general OnStar, Chevrolet's MyChevy has not fallen, functionally, in fact, there is no need to say more, our commonly used navigation, online music, and infrequently used such as smart home functions are available.
In addition, in the process of experience, I found that the Explorer is also equipped with a very good voice system, we all know that the joint venture brand will often lag behind in this regard, but the overall reaction speed of the Explorer voice system, including the recognition of semantics is still relatively fast and accurate, conventional navigation, listening to songs, such as schedule reminders, alarm clocks and other functions that are relatively niche in the car can also be realized.
For many young people, there may be no feeling for the interior of the Explorer, but for a considerable number of consumers who are not young, this interior with traditional delicate leather, blind operation when driving, and easy to use the voice system may be more favorable to them.
Part 3 Absolutely outstanding level of space
For a medium-sized SUV, how the space performance is one of the main factors affecting the purchase of a car, most of the consumers in this segment have family or multi-person travel needs, whether they can drive comfortably in the front row at the same time, to ensure that the rear row has enough comfortable space. At the same time, in this section, we will also show the storage space and trunk space of the Explorer to see if it can meet the needs of daily cars.
The first is the crew space, which we actually experienced with the editors who are 175cm tall, and after adjusting the front driver's seat to the right height and front and rear spacing, the front row can reserve about one punch head space, which is not bad for the mid-size SUV.
Keeping the front seats unchanged, let's look at the space in the rear. The same editor enters the back row and rides in a standard sitting position, and we can see that the back row of the Explorer can still flow out more than 2 punches of leg space and the head space of one punch. In fact, the Explorer's 2725mm wheelbase is shorter in a mid-size SUV, but the actual space performance will be much stronger than we expected, especially legroom. Moreover, the floor of the rear cockpit is also made fully flat, which makes its rear seat more comfortable.
Secondly, the storage space, the explorer set up 26 storage compartments in the whole car, including the door plate cup slot, the central handrail box, the cup holder, the mobile phone storage compartment, etc., comparing the two eyes is the depth of the central armrest box is very deep and square, the size of the mobile phone's storage slot is just right, take it more smoothly, unfortunately, because it does not use the electronic gear handle, so the explorer did not empty the file below.
The trunk space performance is also relatively outstanding, because the explorer is a five-seat model, coupled with its own positioning in a medium-sized SUV, the wheelbase does not encroach on the trunk space, so if it is compared with the conventional CR-V, it is certainly larger, the rear seats support 4/6 down, and the trunk is also relatively flat, the storage layer is also provided under the cover, plus the hooks on both sides are also designed, so the trunk space is not impeccable.
Part 4 Excellent dynamic sensations
If the biggest change in the 2022 Explorer is the addition of the 48V light mix system. The 2022 Explorer is powered by a 2.0T variable cylinder turbocharged engine codenamed LXH + a 48V light hybrid system with a maximum power of 237 hp/174 kW and a peak torque of 350 N·m, matching a HYDAMATIC 9-speed manual transmission and a timely four-wheel drive system.
Chevrolet Explorer Light Mix 550T RS 9AT Four-Wheel Drive Intelligent Frontier Edition opened up the first feeling is the situation, 2.0T in the current more and more stringent emission regulations has been considered a large displacement, and 174kW of power is not low, 350N · m torque can come at 1500 rpm, coupled with the help of the motor, you can clearly appreciate that this car lightly taps the throttle on the forward creep, a little deeper push back feeling will come.
2022 Explorer Light Mix 550T RS Four-Wheel Drive Intelligent Frontier Edition the first feeling is the situation, 2.0T in the current more and more stringent emission regulations have been considered a large displacement, and 174kW of power is not low, 350N · m torque can come at 1500 rpm, coupled with the help of the motor, you can clearly appreciate that this car light throttle on the forward creep, a little deeper push back feeling will come.
You know, the car's official 100-kilometer acceleration is 7.9 seconds, which is not slow to put on a medium-sized SUV, and due to inertia, your sensitivity to power will be higher, and your senses will be faster than 7.9 seconds.
At full throttle, the Explorer Light Mix 550T RS four-wheel drive intelligent boundary version will not feel the obvious turbo intervention point like other 2.0T models, which is also due to the low torque of the engine itself is more abundant, with the increase in speed, the overall power output is linearly enhanced, which is quite easy to get started, which I give praise.
9AT logic setting is also more reasonable, in a variety of models of experience optimization, this gearbox power connection is close, downshift although not as crisp as DCT, but the downshift is still more decisive, to the oil, three gears in a row, the power is rapid, in the rapid acceleration of the gearbox will not drag the legs at all, I think there may be an auxiliary role of the motor in the middle, but I have to admit that this set of powertrains gives people a very calm feeling.
Full text summary: The Explorer is not a car with a strong personality, but for the Chinese market it is indeed a model that is more suitable for most people. In the past, when I test-drove the 2021 Explorer, I felt the balanced strength of this car, and with the addition of the 48V light hybrid system, more technical equipment, and the blessing of a set of easy-to-use practical car and machine systems, the Explorer has evolved to be more all-round, and more importantly, it is not expensive, isn't it.