Geely Tugella - features of the Chinese crossover of the Belarusian assembly

Geely Chinese crossovers are well known in Russia. They are assembled in Belarus, but the bulk of the cars are sent to the Russian Federation.
The most stylish model from Geely is Tugella. Only those who understand can suspect it of a "Chinese". The crossover looks from afar no worse than the BMW X6.


This model costs decently - from 2,5 million rubles. For a Chinese car, this is expensive, although there are enough people who want to buy a Geely Tugella in Russia. And what is interesting - they are satisfied with the model from the Middle Kingdom, claiming that it is a complete copy of Volvo in terms of technical characteristics.

Let's try to figure out if the Geely Tugella is worth the money that they ask for it. By the way, they want about 700 thousand cheaper for a brand new Japanese crossover Mitsubishi Outlander III. And if you add half a million to the cost of Geely Tugella, then you can take the legendary Toyota RAV4 V.

Appearance and interior

The design of the Chinese crossover is inspired by popular models from German manufacturers - Mercedes Benz GLE Coupe and BMW X6. It turned out beautiful, stylish, elegant, but far from universal. The volume of the luggage compartment had to be reduced by a couple of tens of liters.


By the way, not everyone likes Geely Tugella, its main clientele is a young audience, women, IT people, beginners. Experienced drivers with experience do not accept such crossovers - they are more interested in traditional frame SUVs.

By the way, the main competitor of Geely Tugella among Chinese models is Haval F7x. This car looks almost the same.
Inside, the Geely Tugella is luxurious, but the design is unforgettable. But the build quality and finishing materials can not find fault. Only the electronic instrument panel stands out in the interior unnaturally.


The luggage compartment is medium in size, but a full-fledged “spare tire” is hidden under the carpet in a special niche where there is an organizer for tools.

Chassis

And this is where things get interesting. Legends have long circulated among Geely crossover fans that the Chinese manufacturer, which bought Volvo's passenger car division, uses Swedish technology. And cars from the Middle Kingdom are the same Volvo under a different brand.


To put aside unnecessary talk, let us explain that Geely Atlas, for example, has nothing to do with Volvo. But Tugella is another matter. The car is really built on a single Swedish CMA platform, which is used to assemble the Volvo XC40. By the way, Polestar electric cars are also made on it.

Geely Tugella's pendants are simple - there is a traditional MacPherson strut in front, a multi-link in the back. There are no pneumatics, let alone hydraulics. On the one hand, this will reduce the level of comfort. On the other hand, it will save you from unnecessary expenses for maintenance and repair of the suspension.


The engine and gearbox were placed compactly on the chassis. The automatic transmission here, by the way, is eight-speed. There will be no more problems with reliability and resource than with German premium models of this class. Japanese-made unit, from Aisin.

Engine and all-wheel drive

The motor for Geely Tugella in Russia is offered only one, however, as in Belarus, where this car is assembled. This is a turbocharged power unit with a displacement of 2,0 liters, issuing 238 liters. With. - just fits into the tax up to 250 liters. With.


Is the engine from Volvo, than the owners of different Geely periodically trump? Yes, the motor is really from the line of the Swedish manufacturer, so you can count on its reliability, at least for the first 5 years, for sure.

In any case, you need to understand that the resource of a turbocharged power unit is lower than that of a simple aspirated engine. The owners of such cars are familiar with this problem firsthand.

Under the hood, almost everything is covered with plastic - everything is as it should be in modern cars, which must be repaired and maintained by specially trained people.

By the way, in China, Geely Tugella is also offered in hybrid versions, both “soft” and PHEV, but there is an engine with a displacement of 1,5 liters. Such cars are not brought to us - maybe this is good.

Initially, it was supposed to supply both mono and all-wheel drive versions of crossovers in Russia. Then such versions were not delivered to Belarusians - accordingly, they are not in Russia.


Four-wheel drive in a sports crossover cannot be “honest” according to the laws of the genre. Therefore, there is an electro-hydraulic clutch that transmits up to 50% of the power to the rear axle. In principle, this should be more than enough, given that such cars are usually operated in cities.

How does it go?

Geely Tugella from the very first minutes can give its owner a sea of ​​emotions. Immediately they will be negative and this is due to the strange performance of the gearbox.

There are two buttons there - one for unlocking the gearshift lever, the second for parking. The last one is big - you just want to click on it. But the unlocking is small - you have to get used to it and you need to activate it before you start moving. You can immediately not budge, thinking with horror that the expensive Japanese automatic transmission has broken down, and it seems that it is not so branded ...

But when you manage to figure out the nuances and move off, the engine only pleases. It accelerates the large crossover to 100 km/h in about 7,5 seconds. Although a different figure is indicated on the website of the Belarusian assembler - 6,8 seconds, but this is clearly taken from Chinese sources and is applicable to a PHEV hybrid with a 1,5-liter engine developing 258 hp. With.


The suspension is soft, due to this it is comfortable to move around in the city and on the highway, despite the lack of pneumatics. The shock absorbers are characterized by large strokes, due to this, the driver and passengers inside are comfortable.

The steering is sharp - the manufacturer decided that the crossover should match the sporty look. Rack with electric booster, so the "steering wheel" is spinning even at high speeds without effort.

While driving, the level of sound insulation is striking. He is not at all Chinese here - the engine is almost inaudible in the cabin.

How about off-road?

Geely Tugella looks like an urban crossover, so there is no desire to drive this car into the mud. Yes, and he behaves there, to put it mildly, not very. There is little sense from all-wheel drive in the mud - even in off-road mode, the crossover demonstrates the stupidity of the ESP system, which is unable to cope with even the simplest obstacles.

It turns out that it is not recommended to drive Geely Tugella especially in the mud. You can go to the forest for mushrooms and berries, leaving the car at the edge, or move closer to the river / lake - nothing more.


Analyzing all of the above, we can conclude that the Geely Tugella is a typical urban crossover, stuffed with electronics for the most “do not indulge”. It will suit those who value appearance more than versatility.

For experienced drivers, especially those who are fond of fishing and hunting, this car is not recommended. It is better to take the new Mitsubishi Outlander - it is cheaper and Japanese, after all, and the cross-country ability is higher.

Well, Geely Tugella is more of a toy. The price of this crossover is frankly overpriced. This is not the brand to take it for appearance. Although, since they buy it, it means that everyone is happy with everything.