First test of BAIC BJ40. Outside Wrangler, inside Gelandewagen

Just last week I saw the BAIC BJ40 frame SUV for the first time at the “New Products of the Year” award from auto.ru, and then I was lucky, I managed to get this car for a short, but still full-fledged test drive.

As for the appearance of the BAIC BJ40, the Chinese simply shamelessly copied the design of the Jeep Wrangler, the only thing being that the original car was slightly lower and more elongated, while the copy turned out to be more voluminous and tall. Moreover, BAIC also stole the idea with a removable roof; in winter, it did not check how it was removed, but it is worth remembering that such an option exists. By the way, the removable roof of the BJ40 affected the temperature in the cabin; of course, there is no blowing from the cracks, but the interior cools down much faster than in other cars, and it also takes a long time to warm up. And in general, for some reason the BAIC BJ40 takes a long time to warm up, so before starting the trip you will have to set aside 10 minutes to warm up the SUV in winter or set the autostart, since in cold weather it barely drives, and the gearbox starts to kick.

The climate control here is dual-zone with comfortable control knobs, which, however, have too free movement; you can also change its settings from the touch screen of the media system. The climate system becomes active only when the engine warms up at least a little, but it does not work perfectly, after a while it switches to a gentle airflow mode, which leads to cooling in the upper part of the cabin. In the latter case, you have to independently regulate the intensity of the blowing and its direction, since the automation does not understand that it is time to make it hotter. Yes, for some reason, the three-level heated front seats, which warms up both the cushion and the backrest, as well as the heated steering wheel, also does not work immediately in a cold car, but starts working only after it has warmed up.

But let’s return to the appearance of the BAIC BJ40, despite the fact that the main part of the body is similar to the Jeep Wrangler, even the open door hinges hint at this, its front part is made more sleek, and the Chinese stole the radiator grille from another Jeep model – Cherokee. Additionally, the manufacturer supplied its own rather visually attractive and, most importantly, well-functioning all-LED optics, which somehow distinguishes the Chinese from the original. And in general, the BJ40 looks good, it is clear that the company’s designers were inspired by cars of the American brand, but they managed to create not some kind of monster or an exact copy, but a quite pleasant and self-sufficient SUV in appearance.

Since the car is quite tall, it has an integrated footrest for comfortable entry. The latter turned out to be a little narrow, and also a little short at the back, so it would not be very comfortable for an adult, especially when getting out of the car. But it is very comfortable for children to climb into the cabin with its help. I would also like to note that the Chinese door handles with a lower grip turned out to be not the most comfortable, especially taking into account the fact that the doors need to be slammed hard so that they close the first time. We have the same handle on the trunk, so here it comes in handy. The tailgate door consists of two halves, the first with a spare wheel on it, opens to the side, you can already use the compartment. But if you need to put something large, then you can lift up the second part of the door with glass. The luggage compartment volume in the BAIC BJ40 is quite decent and amounts to 532 liters. And if we fold the rear seat backs separately from the interior and lift them, we will already get 965 liters of usable space.

If when creating the exterior of the car, the designers were inspired by Jeep products, then in the design of the interior someone’s love for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is clearly visible. Here we are greeted by a narrow, straight front panel with a large handle on the passenger side, with round air vents, a diamond-shaped pattern on the decorative panels and inserts on the doors, as well as, albeit modest, but interesting atmospheric lighting. Moreover, the interior is available both in a dark version and with red accents, as in our case, the latter looks very good. In the center we have a wide tunnel with a low and comfortable automatic transmission lever, as well as a double-leaf armrest cover that opens access to a spacious niche in which there is a single pair of USB-A connectors. Traditionally, already for Chinese cars, we see high-quality materials, including soft plastic and eco-leather linings in the field of view, while below the level of sight there are already hard plastic panels.

The front seats in the BAIC BJ40 are my compliments, they are the best I have seen in Chinese cars. The pillow here is simply huge in length, and as we know, the Chinese usually make them very short, with pronounced lateral support, the correct back profile and good rigidity. Moreover, the driver still has access to a full package of electric seat adjustment, including two-level adjustment of the lumbar support. At the same time, the front passenger was completely deprived, leaving only mechanical adjustments for him. The steering wheel is adjustable only in height, but reach is not needed here, since the seating position in the BJ40 is as vertical as possible, but comfortable, so even tall drivers do not need to reach for the steering wheel.

There are no questions regarding visibility from the driver’s seat in dry weather, even despite the almost vertically placed flat small windshield. But in bad weather, you immediately pay attention to short windshield wipers, like on an UAZ, weak windshield airflow, which leads to the formation of ice in winter, as well as windshield washers shifted to the right, which do not allow the brushes to capture enough liquid to clean the far left area. The view through the large vertically oriented side mirrors is good, and through the interior mirror it is free due to the use of a camera behind the rear window, which projects the image into the interior. Yes, the interior mirror can be switched to normal mode, but then it becomes more difficult to navigate, since part of the rear window is blocked by the spare tire. But the camera in the BAIC BJ40 and the virtual mirror are what you need, although I’m not a fan of such things. The lens is located high, the washer and rear window wiper accurately hit it, plus it is possible to adjust its height for an optimal picture.

In terms of other electronic driver assistants, the BJ40 doesn’t have much to brag about. So, it only has rear parking sensors and a rear view camera with low resolution, but at least with active markings. There is also regular cruise control with convenient control keys on the steering wheel itself. Plus there is a light and rain sensor. Among the more interesting options, it is worth noting the built-in video recorder, which records a picture from a camera installed in the cabin in front of the mirror.

Passengers in the back, in general, are also comfortable, especially considering that they are given the ability to adjust the tilt of the back of the sofa, plus they have a large folding armrest. It’s just a pity that the BJ40 doesn’t have heated rear seats, which obviously wouldn’t hurt, but at least they installed separate air deflectors in the center.

The car’s media system with a 10-inch touch screen is absolutely not localized; in the settings you can only select Chinese or English. Plus, there is no optimization at all for our market. So, it has Chinese navigation and WeChat, which are useless for us, but no Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the latter replacing crutches in the form of a Carbitlink smartphone screen duplication system. The system itself has a simple and understandable menu with quick access icons on the left side; it doesn’t work very quickly, but there are no special brakes. The interior of the SUV has 7 speakers and a subwoofer, which allows you to get very decent sound.

The 12.3-inch digital instrument panel is located under the visor, and the data on it is easy to read at any time of the day. The screen displays all the necessary information, including even compass data and the angle of the car.

In terms of driving characteristics, the BAIC BJ40 frame SUV is very interesting. It has a two-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a power of 218 hp. which comes mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF. The front has an independent spring double-wishbone suspension, the rear has a dependent spring suspension. The approach angle is 37 degrees, the departure angle is 31 degrees, and the ramp angle is 23 degrees. The SUV’s ground clearance is 210 mm, and the maximum fording depth is 750 mm. By default, the drive is rear-wheel drive, but you can enable all-wheel drive mode and also lock the differential.

Honestly, when I first sat in the BAIC BJ40, I was sure that it was a clumsy, uncomfortable “tank” that would take a long time to get used to. But in reality, the car turned out to be very pleasant to drive, comparable in this parameter to some modern crossover. The car has enough dynamics, it accelerates to 100 km/h in 10.85 seconds, there is also enough power, plus the full-fledged automatic works very quickly and softly, instantly responding to pushing the gas. Despite the fact that this is a frame SUV, the car also turned out to be very comfortable, with a soft suspension that absorbs all medium and small irregularities in the road surface, and it only dislikes hitting large ledges and potholes with sharp edges at speed, transferring them harshly into salon. By the way, the BJ40 is also distinguished by decent sound insulation, which has a positive effect on the use of an SUV for daily trips. That is, as a result, we get not only a car for difficult road conditions, but also a good option for universal use within the city and on the highway.

In terms of fuel consumption, the BAIC BJ40 cannot be said to be economical; according to its passport in the city, it consumes 13.8 liters per 100 km in the city and 10.4 liters in the combined cycle. I got about 11-12 liters in mixed mode and around 14 in the city. The fuel tank capacity is 75 liters.

The declared price of BAIC BJ40 on the manufacturer’s website is 4,350,000 rubles for a single very rich package. But at the same time, I saw this car at the dealer for 4,750,000 rubles. The SUV is assembled at Avtotor’s facilities; as I understand it, we are talking about large-unit assembly.