YES, it is more powerful than the Ford Ranger and Hilux.
Plus, it is less expensive and its Chinese.
Who knows? Every once in a while, my stories have an impact on new vehicles that hit the market. Eventually, I would want to see the Leyland DAF Vehicle (LDV) sold via a local dealership.
At long last, a Chinese automaker has released a 4-cylinder turbodiesel bakkie engine that can compete with the likes of Ford and Toyota. That is a major issue.
Though the world is moving away from diesel, the local bakkie market doesnot care about petrol engines. For that reason, turbodiesel engines are standard on almost all new bakkies sold in Zimbabwe.
You have the Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton and the P Series. Most of these are in diesel.
Lack of power and torque has been an Achilles on the heels (or should we say on the wheels) of many bakkies with smaller engines. Buyers was firepower from their bakkies hence Hilux and Ranger have been winners in this category
Toyota, the most popular bakkie brand in the country, produces the Hilux and Land Cruiser 79 with petrol engines. A 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine is the only option for the Jeep Gladiator; a 222-kW turbopetrol Amarok is on the way to Volkswagen later this year; and Ineos provides a petrol version of the Grenadier Quartermaster, which is powered by BMW. Nonetheless, double-cabs with petrol engines remain a rare product.
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You may be wondering, "So what if all Zimbabweans drive diesel bakkies?" Well, it is important because it affects the likelihood that competitive, reasonably priced double cabs will come here. Just how? Why? China is the only country producing affordable bakkies equipped with the newest technological features. In China, diesel is meaningless.
Chinese companies
The LDV T60 has a cabin that is characteristically Chinese, with loads of electronics and extensive digitisation.
The interior architecture of Chinese cars in the late 2000s was much worse than their terrible outside designs. Nowadays, however, Chinese crossovers and SUVs get all the praise they deserve. Inside, you will find plenty of space to stretch out on lengthy road trips, and you could even find some that are more comfortable than European vehicles.
The majority of powertrain research and development spending by Chinese manufacturers goes into electric vehicles (EVs), with just a minor percentage going into turbo petrols and a negligible amount into turbodiesels. But such businesses have shown that they pick up new tricks fast.
Even if diesel bakkies donot matter in China's new-vehicle market, the product strategists at Chinese firms know how valuable they are in most export markets. Thanks to the feedback loop in Africa and Australia, a new crop of Chinese turbodiesel bakkies has emerged, and they are ready to take on the double cabs made in the United States and Japan.
China's focus on developing powertrains for electric vehicles and hybrids, which always use petrol instead of diesel, meant that this new generation of Chinese turbodiesel engines would never materialise. That kind of thinking is completely out of date, according to LDV, which made its debut in Southern Africa A with the T60.
Price and performance
Traditional bakkie companies justify their pricing advantages over Chinese double cabs by claiming their powertrains are superior.
Most Chinese double cabs lack the power and performance offered by turbodiesel engines, which is a big selling point for bakkies like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
Why? Despite the fact that zipping through traffic and cruising at high speeds may not be common in China, bakkies sold in Zimbabwe must have reliable passing and cruising capabilities. On the highway, have you ever seen a Hilux driver pass another vehicle?
However, the power difference between turbodiesel engines and bakkies has shrunk, and LDV has levelled the playing field. GWM's P-Series, which hit the local market in 2022, boasts notable interior quality, infotainment technology, and, most significantly, a level of turbodiesel engine performance never witnessed in a Chinese bakkie.
Sales of the P-Series have shown that competitive pricing is more important to Zimbabwean bakkie purchasers than positive brand perception.
The 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine in the P-Series, despite boasting 120 kW and 400 Nm of torque, has never been able to compete numerically with the 2.0-litre bi-turbo Ranger from Ford. When comparing 120 kW P-Series performance with 154 kW Ranger performance, there is a noticeable disparity.
One Chinese double-cab bakkie, the LDV T60, has a turbodiesel engine that outperforms its American and Japanese competitors.
Chinese becoming experts
The massive Chinese automaker SAIC, of which LDV is a sub-brand, sold well over 5 million cars in 2017. Plus, the LDV T60 double-cab bakkie's powerful turbodiesel engine will disprove a lot of local market assumptions. Over the last 15 years, Chinese automakers have made tremendous strides in many areas, including design, construction quality, infotainment, and seat comfort.
However, the engines still are not up to snuff, since electric vehicle manufacturers have a lot to gain by focusing on EVs rather than petrol or diesel engines.
A great deal of time, effort, and expertise goes into designing a powertrain. Maximising efficiency is the key. The efficiency with which your engine extracts power from gasoline and releases it into the atmosphere is directly proportional to the amount of fuel it consumes. Compared to their American, European, Korean, or Japanese counterparts, Chinese engines typically use more gasoline and have less power. With the T60's engines, however, LDV has taken a novel approach.
The LDV T60
The 2.0-litre Ford engine produces 154 kW, while the 2.8-litre Toyota yields 150 kW. The T60 has between 10 and 6 kW more power.
A 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine producing 160 kW and 500 Nm is the powertrain choice for the Max Pro and Max Luxe T60s from LDV. You will understand the significance of those figures if you are familiar with your bakkie specifications.
The result is that the LDV T60 has more power than the 2.0-litre bi-turbodiesel Ranger from Ford. The T60 outperforms the legendary 2.8-litre Hilux engine from Toyota in terms of power, regardless of the difference in engine size. Despite not being a popular Hilux model, the most recent GR-Sport boasts a power output of 165 kW.
Makes: Isuzu, Nissan, Mitchell. The LDV T60 has more power than any of their double-cab bakkies. Only the 3.0-litre V6 twins from Volkswagen and Ford (the Amarok and Ranger) provide greater power than this Chinese entrant in Zimbabwe's new-vehicle market for turbodiesel double cabs.
For the first time, a Chinese double-cab bakkie has eclipsed the peak power of industry heavyweights Ford and Toyota. Buyers comparing bakkies online (while scanning those crucial engine specs) will find this to be an intriguing situation. This scenario doesnot even consider the issue of cost.
The LDV T60 has a high-quality engine and gearbox. This is the 2.0-litre turbodiesel from China, which many people believed would never exist.
Even affluent Zimbabwean consumers are price-conscious, as seen by the fast expansion of the Haval brand.
Proof of this is the brand's dominance in the mid-sized crossover segment, where it outsells more established brands from Japan, Korea, and Europe. What will happen, however, given that LDV's turbodiesel bakkie can outperform any product from a conventional double-cab brand?
You may expect a discount and great value. But the T60 from LDV has taken away the horsepower that was the key selling point of Japanese and American double cabs, which allowed heritage brand salesmen to persuade customers that their products were superior and worth the hefty premium.
I donot believe LDV messed up by designing a strong turbodiesel engine and then pairing it with a mediocre transmission. Rolls-Royce, BMW, and Jaguar Land Rover pair the high-output vehicles with ZF's extraordinary 8-speed automatic transmission, widely regarded as one of the greatest transmissions ever produced, which is what LDV uses.
The LDV T60's robust power output more than compensates for its less-than-stellar design.
My decision
The LDV T60 is a popular pickup truck known for its rugged design, comfortable interior, and impressive capabilities. It offers a spacious cabin with modern features, making it a good choice for both work and leisure activities.
The T60 comes equipped with a powerful engine, providing ample performance for towing and hauling tasks. Its off-road capabilities are also noteworthy, with a sturdy suspension system that can handle rough terrain with ease.
Overall, the LDV T60 is a reliable and versatile pickup truck that has garnered positive reviews for its value and practicality. If launched and marketed vigorously locally, it will do well
Specifications
Engine detail: 2.0 turbo diesel
Engine capacity (litre): 2L
Cylinder layout and quantity: i4
Fuel type: Diesel
Fuel capacity: 73
Fuel consumption (average): 9,2 /100km
Fuel range (average): 794 km
Power maximum (detail): 160 kW
Torque maximum: 500 Nm
CO2 emissions (average): 243 g/km
- andrew@muzamhindo.com
