Since the beginning of the 2000s, the demand for pickups in Russia has only grown - and more and more manufacturers want to take part in the struggle for our “summer resident”, “builder” and others who are interested in an inexpensive, unpretentious, roomy and hardy car. So HUANGHAI SG Automotive Group (a Chinese automaker) decided to offer its Antelope to the Russians.
It should be noted right away that in the Russian market, for the most part, really inexpensive pickups are mainly Chinese cars. Huanghai Antelope has the first advantage - a very affordable price ...
And then we will try to find out all its other positive and negative features.
Of course, it's no secret that most of those pickups that are produced by "brother nations" are variations around the Isuzu TF-series, which in Japan has long been discontinued and is now produced with equal success in factories in the Philippines, Indonesia and China. The kinship with the "Japanese" immediately gives out the silhouette of the pickup cab.
Otherwise, this is the result of the work of "local" designers and engineers - the former are trying to make the pickup more unique, the latter are trying to make it simpler, but maintain reliability.
One of the methods of increasing the competitiveness of a Chinese product is the use of licensed (and not so much :)) units and assemblies of eminent and reputable companies.
This is exactly what Huanghai engineers did: the Huanghai Antelope pickup (by the way, available in both four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive versions) is almost completely assembled under license from Mitsubishi Motors. Specifically, we are talking about a bundle "engine - box - transfer case - front axle" ... The only exception is the rear axle - because, to increase cross-country ability, Huanghai engineers decided to use a limited slip differential on the Antelope pickup (in this case, the same as on a Ford Ranger).
As a result, a very reliable pickup truck was created - Huanghai Antelope.
Of course, you can't say that Huanghai Antelope is something radically different from other Chinese pickups. But during a short test drive, we did not notice any serious shortcomings in the Huanghai Antelope. In addition, I had to admit that the rear limited-slip differential actually makes this pickup noticeably more passable, even in rear-wheel drive mode.
But the use of an electric drive for switching on the transfer case is a dubious and incomprehensible decision. The fact is that in order to turn on the four-wheel drive, in any case, you need to get out of the car and manually connect the wheel couplings.
In general, the Huanghai Antelope pickup can be called a successful result of the work of Chinese automakers - it is simple, relatively convenient, reliable and inexpensive.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 5145/1725/1690 mm
- Engine:
- type - gasoline
- volume - 2351 cm3
- power - 126 HP / 5200 min-1
- Transmission: mechanical, 5-speed
- Maximum speed: 160 km / h
- Acceleration to 100 km / h - 14.6 seconds
Price: In 2008, the new Huanghai Antelope 4x2 pickup was offered for 379,000 rubles, and its 4x4 all-wheel drive version cost a little more ~ 460,000 rubles. In 2018, this car in Russia can be purchased only on the secondary market - at a price of 200 ~ 250 thousand rubles (depending on the condition of a particular instance).
