GWM UTE VS Foton Tunland

If you’re not expecting a dynamic, sporty driving experience from the Cannon XSR, then you won’t be disappointed.

I’m enjoying the fact that off-road vehicles from China and India are improving all the time but there are significant trade-offs when opting for a much cheaper version of the ute you actually want.

The XSR is not an insubstantial ute, but that doesn’t excuse its less-than-ideal steering (which feels too loose) or its stiff ride on upgraded suspension which, even though it increases wheel travel (for 4WDing – more about that later), seemingly hasn’t been tuned to suit the XSR’s bigger tyres, wider wheel track and greater bulk than its lower-spec stablemates.

Also, this ute has an unwieldy turning circle of 13.7m, which makes it an interesting vehicle to manoeuvre along busy urban streets or through a bustling car park.

This is a well priced ute if compared to similarly equipped, much more expensive utes, but that doesn’t excuse its touchy throttle and thrashy transmission.

However, its engine, which can feel underdone when challenged, has a relaxed feel about it when open-road cruising and if you aren’t putting too much pressure on it you likely won’t think it’s much of a let-down.

Overall, the XSR does okay on sealed surfaces, without ever getting anywhere near great – it’s simply not as refined or compliant as it could – or should – be.

On the dirt track leading to our 4WD test track, the XSR was very skippy over corrugations and tended to thump through potholes.

This ute does go well off-road though when it comes time for low-range 4WDing but, equipped with front and rear diff locks, that’s to be expected.

Off-road traction control and other systems including hill descent control, are adequate without being as seamlessly smooth as the equivalent systems in more expensive vehicles.

It also has 'Crawl Mode' (allows for no-pedal, low-speed driving) and 'Turn Assist' (which brakes the XSR’s inside rear wheel to reduce the ute’s turning circle on traction-compromised surfaces).

The over-sensitive throttle is far from ideal during low-speed low-range 4WDing when you need absolute control for safe driving, but I did become used to it – or at least I put up with it.

As mentioned earlier, the upgraded suspension has boosted wheel travel, which means you’re more than likely able in the XSR to stretch a tyre to the dirt for better traction and controlled forward progress.

The XSR’s Cooper Discoverer AT3 all-terrain tyres help, especially when the dirt becomes sticky mud that would gum up a lesser tyre, and we had no strife getting up and over one of our more severe set-piece hill climbs on that rubber.

All in all, the XSR is a capable twin-locked 4WD without ever being exceptional – and that’s fine.

The Cannon XSR has towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked) and 3000kg (braked).

It’s a tight build free of rattles and squeaks, but the ride is too firm when empty or lightly loaded, particularly in the leaf-spring rear suspension which feels every small bump and delivers a sharp kick in your back over larger ones.

Otherwise, the chassis performance is more than adequate with its four-wheel disc brakes and steering that’s responsive and nicely weighted. Engine refinement and noise insulation are not best in class, but at highway speeds the combined engine, tyre and wind noise is certainly low enough to allow conversations without raised voices. The Cummins fairly lopes along here, with only 1800rpm at 100km/h and 2000rpm at 110km/h.

It’s also quite an agile and energetic performer around town, particularly in Sport mode. Maximum torque of 385Nm from the Cummins diesel is far from the strongest in this category, but the Tunland’s relatively low kerb weight helps to compensate for it with brisk getaways from standing starts and good throttle response in city and suburban driving. 

To test its GVM rating we strapped 770kg into the load tub, which with driver was only about 50kg short of its 925kg payload limit. The rear springs compressed 50mm while the nose rose 18mm. This resulted in a near-level ride height and noticeably improved ride quality, with no major decline in steering or braking response.  

With this load it was a competent performer on a variety of sealed and unsealed surfaces, including some bush tracks on which we engaged in both high and low range 4x4. Back on the bitumen, it also coped well with our two kilometre, 13 per cent gradient set climb, maintaining the 60km/h speed limit in third gear at 2250rpm all the way to the top. 

Engine braking on the way down, though, was compromised by the auto transmission’s unusual shift protocols. With second gear manually selected (in sequential shift mode) it over-rode that selection and shifted up to third when the engine reached 3250rpm on over-run. We tried it again several times and got the same result.

Not sure if it’s an engine protection measure on Foton’s part (redline is 4000rpm) but it’s not a nice surprise when you’re heavily loaded on a steep descent and relying on engine braking to help restrain your speed.

Our only other gripes were poor radio reception on the AM band (too bad if you like talkback) and the cruise control, which stopped working during our test and would not switch back on.