2018 Landwind X5

Photos: Farhan Ahmed

What is it?

Front wheel drive, city oriented SUV with enough space for five chubby biriyani loving adults. It's a mid-size 'jeep-gari' on a budget.

How does it look?

Landwind started out in 2005. Chinese manufacturers either evolve fast or disappear. Their most in-the-news product was the recent X7, a complete Evoque copy. Cool to look at, but still a copy. Somewhere in between, they came up with their own design elements.

The X5, despite the familiar name, looks neatly original with cohesive styling cues flowing throughout. Like a car ready to carve through the air. Thankfully, chrome is kept to a minimum. Modern cars really should not dazzle with eyeball burning chrome. We unfortunately got the plainest colour for a test unit (white, ugh) but there are brilliant green, blue, brown and red to make it look the part.   

Inside

In terms of size, its rivals are the Hyundai Tucson and the Honda CRV. So interior size matters a lot. It is quite massive with the trunk offering 855 litres of space. That space will swallow up plenty of shopping or, unfortunately in most cases, a large CNG tank.

Interior has a lot of plastic surfaces but it all looks well put together and not taken from mismatched parts bin accessories. Control layout is neat and simple with large dials for all your air-conditioning and entertainment needs. It's a no fuss arrangement.

While the seats are firm and comfortable, the front (powered) seats could have benefited from having height adjustment.

Under the hood

Good news here for those worried about Chinese mechanical reliability and parts availability. The engine is a2.0L turbo-charged 4G63-S4T unit from Mitsubishi. This engine has been in service for about 30 years now, with constant refinements. It has provided service in various guises for Mitsubishi Galants, Triton pickups and a beefed up unit for the rally dominating Lancer Evolution. In other brands the engine has seen service in Proton Perdana, 4th gen Hyundai Sonata and the Haval H3.

It is a robust motor powered by an 8-speed automatic transmission in the X5.

How does it drive?

Power output is about 177 HP at 5500 RPM and 184 lb-ft of torque. While on paper it has quite a lot of juice, flooring the accelerator initially makes the X5 feel lazy. Watch the needle climb past 3000 RPM and beyond 40 km/h and the car starts to pull up and away. It's comfortable and planted rush beyond the 120 km/h mark, although engine noise seeps into the cabin.

The soft suspension setup means there is plenty of nosedive on harder braking, where people and bikers often jump in front while the occasional stray goats wait on the side. Considering the broken roads we navigate, the softer setup allows to soak it up.

SPECS:

Engine: 2.0L turbocharged 4G63S4T (177 HP and 184 lb-ft of torque).

Transmission: 8-speed automatic with sport mode.

Suspension: Macpherson independent suspension at front, double wishbone torsion bar independent suspension at rear.

Features: Multimedia player with built-in GPS Navigation, powered doors, windows, mirrors, front seats and sunroof, rear parking sensors and display, leather seats.

Safety: ABS, EBD, 4 SRS Airbags.

Warranty: 1 lakh KM or 3 years whichever comes first.

Price: within 32 lakh Taka.

Contact RANCON Automobiles for details.