Thanks to the test drive opportunity provided by Garage 42, I had a chance to experience the DENZA X. Let me share my three-day experience.
I picked up the car in the evening and did some research before the departure, including power, size, and space. However, the real car looked much bigger, making me drive more carefully that evening.
Once I got on the highway, I could clearly feel that the power and suspension of the car were well adapted to highway driving. The side tilting resistance was good, and I mostly used the hybrid mode during these days, experiencing both city and highway driving conditions.
Let’s talk about the advantages
- The overall engine noise is very low.
- The power reserve is quite good. Whether starting from a low speed in the city or on a highway, the power is responsive, and I could call it up easily (because I usually drive aggressively, I set the car to sports mode right away).
- The seat comfort is excellent. I didn’t feel any obvious discomfort during the two-hour drive on the highway.
- The driving feel and setup of the entire chassis are really similar to the GLC, with a Mercedes feel throughout.
- The vertical and horizontal switching of the large screen is useful. When you need to take a break, you can switch to vertical screen and enjoy some Douyin videos.
- The stylish design of the exterior is much better than the previous generation of DENZA.
- The space is really big, and I didn’t feel cramped despite being 190 cm tall.
The interior design is comfortable and upscale, with a hint of Mercedes.
Areas for improvement
- The overall quality of the car is very good, and it is comfortable to drive in the city, but at high speeds, the wind and tire noise are still relatively obvious due to the SUV’s wind resistance and large hub size.
- Sound system. I think this is subjective and personally, I have some requirements for music. I almost always listen to music while driving, so I may be somewhat demanding when it comes to sound quality. Overall, the sound quality is a bit thin, and I may not have selected the right mode.
- The design of the gear shift feels uncomfortable when frequently changing gears while turning around (probably because of different habits of each person).
- The damping quality of the door pull handle feels thin and not in line with the overall vehicle quality.
- Lack of windshield washer fluid reminder.
Overall, I could feel that the car has a lot of potential and was a sincere effort during these three days of test-driving.A seven-seater SUV that provides a high-quality driving experience on urban roads is very suitable for people who pursue space and practicality while occasionally wanting to exceed the speed limit.
In my opinion, there are very few cars in this price range that can satisfy these conditions at the same time. Personally, I have driven almost all the new energy vehicles including Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, NIO ES6, LI ONE, and XPeng P7 for a long time. It is obvious that the thinking of traditional manufacturers has been applied to the Tiggo X.
In terms of marketing, it is necessary to further grasp the key selling points and target audience of this car model. Currently, everyone’s attention is basically being snatched away by new energy vehicles.
However, if Tiggo X can flexibly use a hybrid car-making approach that combines the thinking of traditional manufacturers and the Internet, it may be able to transform its disadvantages into more precise advantages to reach a certain group of people who are curious about new things but tend to be relatively conservative (perhaps many of these people are second child groups with space requirements).
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.