Less Sport, More Utility: Geely Haoyue (Okavango)

hello and welcome dear viewers when it comes to suv i would say that i have mixed feelings the ones that i tend to prefer are the ones with either 600 horsepower or the ones that are very capable off-road generally speaking your middle of the road daily use suvs don't particularly excite me today however we're going to review just such an suv the geely how you et and i'm going to see if i can find something to love about an suv that's really just all about practicality the hao ue is a seven-seat suv and the largest one offered by chinese manufacturer gili yes it's pronounced jeely not gili jili has been making waves in the automotive world for almost a decade with the purchase of volvo proton and lotus and the creation of the lincoln co brand [Music] the exterior styling on the hyoid is pretty traditional suv that means broad shoulders and beefy presence here on the front end we have the latest version of geely's signature cosmic recall grille design and i think it's the most handsome version yet it looks as though the jeely badge was dropped into a pool of water and these pieces here represent the ripples that ensued i also like the little led here it's a kind of l shape the headlights themselves also do a neat little party trick whenever you unlock the car the sheer size of the howu white becomes apparent when it is viewed in profile it might not stack up to the size of suvs like america's chevy suburban but it's plenty big for most roads the proportions of a body are good and it avoids the pouring slab sides of many suvs but i must say that i wish the 18 inch wheels were a bit larger i understand the benefits of these wheels in terms of ride comfort and price but i think the overall look would benefit from 19 or even 20 inch alloys maybe a set of beefy off-road tires would balance the look a bit the rear design of the how you a is simple but not simplistic the rear taillight design is distinctive especially when lit and i like this aluminum look piece that connects the two now chile is pretty lucky and that their english name doesn't sound quite so strange to non-chinese speakers ears especially compared to some other chinese brands this is a not insignificant benefit when it comes time for export if we open up the electric tailgate on the highway you begin to see its real forte and that is space lots and lots of space if you lay down the second and third rows you get 2050 liters of space plus under floor storage compartments julie will even give you a custom air mattress that fits snuggly inside you can always put your cargo on the roof rails while you sleep soundly indoors here inside touches like the big grab handles front and rear are intended to give you a sense of rugged capability and i think that overall it succeeds uh one of the things i really like about glee models is the material quality and the fit and finish now this applies to the jeely jioji that we drove earlier this year and it also applies to the haui now don't get me wrong this is a car that goes for between 15 and 21 thousand dollars so all the materials are not real aluminum and reclaimed wood but it's pretty hard to find anything that's genuinely unpleasant to touch for example the materials here on the dashboard are soft touch and the kind of thing you would expect to see in much more expensive cars now the only thing that reminds you of the more affordable price point is perhaps the silver elements here on the dashboard we are in the top of the line trim which means that we have two 12.3 inch lcd screens these screens are well integrated with a very functional ui and quick responses the other thing i want to highlight about the interior is the 360 degree camera on the holy now this is becoming more and more of a standard feature as cars get larger and harder to see out of so what i judge them based on is how much they distort your surroundings when you use them in this respect the hallyu is actually pretty good as opposed to some other systems especially older ones that make everything around you look like a picasso painting it makes driving an suv this large in a city like shanghai a much more manageable prospect as a nature lover i'm very excited by this giant 1.5 meter sunroof now most sunroofs this large don't actually open but the one in the house does that means even backseat passengers can enjoy a little bit of sun speaking of backseat passengers they have it pretty good seems like the julie how you was designed with families in mind from the very start space back here is copious and while it may look like a traditional bench seat each of these three seats is independently adjustable second and third row passengers also have their own climate zone and second road passengers have their own climate controls now as a grown adult i don't relish the idea of sitting in the third row of really any vehicle but as someone that grew up in the back seat of a minivan i have to say that i think you can do worse in the third row of the hau yue it helps that it has its own separate air vents and adjustable backrests these are both things i desperately could have used during those long road trips of my youth the houy's powertrain diverges from the american tradition of v8s with a more practical 1.8 liter turbo fork connected to a 7-speed dct that engine puts out 184 horsepower and an impressive 300 newton meters of torque the heliue is front wheel drive only and despite its hilt scent control it makes no pretense about its off-roading skills jeely also doesn't offer an official zero to 100 kilometer per hour time either which well it makes sense this is an affordable family suv so zero to 100 times aren't really the point [Music] despite my addiction to v8 engines sitting in the driver's seat of the how ua i have to say it doesn't really feel like it wants for power that 300 newton meters of torque comes on quick and you can actually chirp the tires from a full stop with a full throttle launch even with esp on now most suv buyers aren't going to be doing full throttle launches but thankfully the how ua can also offer smooth power delivery in fact the engine and transmission both seem to be tuned more for comfort with smooth shifts and easy throttle modulation chile is widely considered to offer some of the best dct transmissions of any chinese manufacturer so that's not particularly surprising the haui rides on what is essentially the same platform as the jiaji mpv including the mcpherson struts up front and the torsion beam in the rear yeah non-independent rear suspension is a bit old school but my gut tells me they chose it for its tidy dimensions an independent rear suspension would have taken up more space and hence eaten more space inside the cabin [Music] i love the idea of clamoring down an off-road trail in a highly capable suv just as much as the next enthusiast but the reality is that for most suv buyers an suv should be practical above all else that means being able to carry a lot of stuff and people in comfort the julie how you a is a pretty impressive feat of engineering when it comes to space per dollar spent so if you're not somebody that gets hung up on the idea of imaginary off-road adventures i think it'll suit your needs just fine

Channel: Wheelsboy

Views: 80,702

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Id: 06w67tlsIw0

Length: 7min 44sec (464 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 14 2020