General

Haval Dargo test. Brutal Chinese. Part 1.

The Haval Dargo crossover is one of the few and probably the most interesting novelty of this year on the Russian market.

The model, built on the same platform as the Jolion crossover, has already entered the assembly line at the Haval plant near Tula, and the first cars arrived at the brand's dealerships at the end of August.

The appearance of the Dargo is very unusual by modern standards and gravitates more towards the American cars of the Jeep brand, and the front end is very similar to that of the Jeep Renegade.

The manufacturer tried to make a novelty ascan be more brutal and, despite the fact that it is still more of an urban crossover, it added elements from real SUVs to it. So, a skirt made of unpainted plastic was launched along the bottom of the body, which smoothly flows into the protruding and also unpainted bumpers in the front and rear parts. The body itself is a bit angular, but this is not such a box as a "gelik", the Haval designers smoothed the corners as much as possible, so the Dargo looks modern and very attractive. Models and large steps were added, apparently, in this way the manufacturer wanted to visually make the car larger, but they are absolutely useless, even a child will not use them due to the small height of the body, and in bad weather they only interfere, because when exiting you have to jump over them so as not to get dirty.

In the front are roundLED headlights with rings of daytime running lights, they are very good for the model and allow you to move comfortably at night thanks to a concentrated beam of light. LED rings are also used for turn signals, which looks very interesting and, most importantly, is clearly visible to oncoming traffic. The grille is new, with its own design, but clearly with a reference to Jeep cars. The rear optics are also fully LED; Yes, the designers turned out to be heavy at the back of the car, but at the same time it does not stand out from the general concept and looks very harmonious and neat.

Even though I liked the exteriorHaval Dargo, I am sure that he will have many opponents. The design turned out to be too bold and niche, more gravitating towards American cars, especially the Jeep brand. Yes, our compatriots like brutal SUVs, but here the brutality is hidden under the make-up of the off-road properties of the car, so those who choose a crossover for the city can simply pass by, evaluating the Dargo only visually and without going into details.

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By the way, the Chinese from Haval turned out to be guys with humor, look at the logo of the model, which is placed on the back of the car, it looks like a banter over the Land Rover brand.

Salon at Dargo is brand new, with its owninteresting design, in which the manufacturer beats the theme of SUVs. So, on the front panel in front of the passenger there is a large handrail with open bolt fastenings, and on the front pillars there are additional handles. The very architecture of the front panel and the central tunnel, it seemed to me, is a reference (or outright copying) to the new Land Rover Defender, and even the color accents and plastic texture are chosen in a similar vein.

The front panel is straight but with moretricky details that you never get tired of looking at. Here, on the upper part of the panel, closer to the windshield, the manufacturer made decorative stampings, and placed an open shelf above the glove compartment in front of the passenger. The digital instrument panel is shifted into its own recess, and a small visor hangs over it, on which information about the gear is taken out to make it clearer, since the automatic transmission washer does not have a clear move. The large widescreen touch screen of the media system looks somewhere forward, but at the same time slightly protrudes from the console so that you do not have to reach for it, and is set on its own pedestal, beaten with a semicircle on the right side. Rectangular vertically placed air ducts also attract attention, in some interior options they are underlined by bright color accents, it’s a pity that the central deflectors are located low and blow either in the leg or in the arm. The central tunnel is shifted down, plus the classic automatic transmission lever was removed from it, replacing it with a washer, which visually adds space to the cabin. The steering wheel is relatively small and slightly plump, trimmed with pleasant-to-touch leather and has contrasting stitching. On the steering wheel, the key blocks have changed, they have become larger, and with their design they again refer us to the new Defender.

Based on the materials, Dargo was pleasantly surprised.The bulk of the panels are made of hard, but very high-quality plastic, and the one that is in plain sight also has a pleasant volumetric texture. The panels below the view also did not let us down, at least I was not able to detect very flimsy details. A little disappointing is the abundance of black glossy plastic on the central tunnel, in which the latter is, in fact, wrapped. Yes, in a car dealership and on a fresh car, it will delight you, but over time it will begin to become covered with small scratches and scuffs. I did not find any obvious jambs in the assembly, but there are shortcomings. For example, in our car, the bar on the front panel framing the dashboard was loose, and on a bad road, somewhere in the back of the cabin, the panoramic roof creaked a little.

It is surprising that Haval transferred to Dargo and someideology of Simply Clever from Skoda cars. For example, there are bottle holders on the doors, which are located above the pockets and are located at an angle to the passengers, they are equipped with a fabric belt with a spring mechanism, which allows you to securely fix containers of various sizes in them. Regular illuminated pockets, they are large, and you can also put bottles in them. Plus, on the central tunnel there is a niche with two cup holders and a compartment for small items, which you can pull out if you wish, and you will get a large box. USB connectors, like in other models of the manufacturer, are located on the lower tier of the center console, but in Dargo they are deployed to the driver and front passenger, so it is much easier to connect a wire to them. There is also a car socket on the passenger side, and it also has a hook on the side for fixing packages / bags. In the luggage compartment, everything is also done correctly, snap-off hooks are located on both side panels, and in the niches along the edges there is a car socket and, which is super, a standard 220V socket.

If Haval Jolion I scolded for being too softseats in which it is difficult to stay for a long time, then in Dargo the front seats can be praised. They became moderately rigid, got, in general, a good profile, the driver got a lumbar support adjustable in two planes, and even a massage. In addition, the chairs are upholstered in a combination of genuine leather and Alcantara (available in the highest trim levels), of very good quality. And the automatic driver's seat lift has learned how to raise the front and rear of the cushion separately, so it's easier to adjust the seat to suit you. Of the minuses, there was a short pillow, which will be noticed by tall drivers, as well as seats that lack pronounced lateral support. But despite the shortcomings, in comparison with the Jolion, this is already a tangible step forward, you don’t get so tired in the Dargo chairs, and long trips will not be a burden to you.

According to visibility from the driver's seat, special questions tothere is no crossover, the racks are not wide, vertically set, and the mirrors are quite large and, moreover, are supplemented by a blind spot monitoring system with a bright indication in the corner of the mirrors.

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By myself with a height of 187 cm I sit in Haval Dargowith comfort. There is enough legroom, in addition, the floor is even, with a tiny mound of the central tunnel, my knees do not rest against the back of the front seat, and I do not cling to the ceiling with the top of my head, even despite the presence of a huge panoramic roof. And the glass roof here is really big, it brings a lot of light into the cabin, so even in cloudy weather you will have light inside. To be honest, I was happy to ride with the panorama blind open, as Dargo made black upholstery of the ceiling and pillars that visually put pressure on you. At the front of the roof is an automatic sunroof that visually looks large, but actually opens only half its size, which may upset some. Isofix mounts, which are located along the edges of the rear sofa, the manufacturer traditionally removed between the pillows, so you will have to tinker with installing a child seat. Yes, I saw praise from some colleagues in the workshop in the materials on Dargo towards the manufacturer that he supposedly made handles in the form of recesses on the central rack for a comfortable self-fitting of children. So, there really are pens there, but it’s inconvenient for a child to take them, unless it’s just a toddler. But how often do you let your little one get into the car on his own?

On boarding / disembarking in Dargo, not everything is going smoothly.If in front there are questions only to an absolutely unnecessary footrest, then in the back there is also a sofa as far as possible shifted back without the possibility of longitudinal adjustment, which also recedes slightly from the door, so that when getting in and out of the car, you are forced to literally roll over body. It's good that at least the rear doors open wide and you can somehow contrive to get out or get into the car.

The layout in the cabin Dargo is similar to that inJolion, the manufacturer gave space to passengers as much as possible, thereby reducing the volume of the trunk, which for such a visually large crossover is not very impressive 333 liters. Yes, part of the usable space in the luggage compartment is eaten up by a full-size spare tire in the underground, but most of it is occupied by the sofa most shifted back. From the cabin, you can separately fold the backs of the rear sofa, which form an almost flat floor, thereby increasing the usable space to 1342 liters. The loading height at the trunk is large, the compartment itself is of the correct shape, and there are niches along the edges in which the same washer fits perfectly. Power tailgate, it rises high, but without the ability to close it and immediately block the car.

In terms of comfort, the car is very good, in the cabinquiet for the most part, only in bad weather there is noise from the wheel arches and there are slight aerodynamic noises on the track. The suspension copes well with most irregularities, swallowing almost all small and medium roughness of the roadway, and large potholes and protrusions pass elastically, preventing breakdowns.

In Russia, Haval Daro is available with only one192 hp 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a 7-speed wet dual-clutch automatic transmission with all-wheel drive (default front). Engine power is more than enough for most modes, even on the track you can easily overtake. The box is a little blunt, I would like to hope that this will be corrected by the firmware, often it thinks out of the blue, not immediately switching to the desired gear, this is especially noticeable when it is cold and when changing the speed limit, for example, when you pull off the highway and get stuck in a traffic jam. In order to somehow cope with the unnecessary thoughtfulness of the automatic transmission, you can turn on the “Sport” mode, which completely changes the character of the car, and the box in it is already working faster. But, true, “Sport” is not particularly suitable for sluggish traffic jams, since the car will be jerky, on the other hand, in this case you don’t really notice the thoughtfulness of the machine. The Dargo is pleasant to drive, and even in normal mode it steers quite well, precisely rising into an arc in corners and avoiding strong rolls. The only thing is that the turning radius, like the Jolion, is quite large.

As for the off-road qualities of the car,the manufacturer gives us the following data: ramp angle - 22 °, entrance - 24 °, exit - 30 °. Its ground clearance is 200 mm, and the front and rear overhangs are small. Of the off-road assistants, there is a help system for descending and starting off on an ascent. But I still would not write Dargo into full-fledged SUVs, since the manufacturer does not give the driver any tools for driving in difficult conditions, leaving everything at the mercy of electronics, and you are only offered a choice from an extended list of preset modes: “Snow”, “Mud ”, “Sand”, “Grass/Gravel” and “Bumps”. It turns out that Dargo is still more of an urban crossover with the ability to move in difficult conditions. That is, you can easily get to the same river for fishing, you calmly drove to the Istra coast along a rather difficult section, but the car is no longer suitable for serious off-road rides.

Fuel consumption Haval Dargo me a littledisappointed, but perhaps this is due to the low mileage of the car. So, on the highway, my consumption did not fall below 10 liters per 100 km, and in the city it went over 15 liters per hundred, and this is with the 9.2 liters declared by the manufacturer for mixed driving. It is allowed to fill the car with 92nd gasoline, but I would still recommend pouring the 95th.

Prices for the new Haval Dargo start in Russia from 3,199,000 rubles, and the maximum configuration, as in our test, will cost 3,749,000 rubles.

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