This is really quite interesting—Jetour is absolutely determined to take the "Black Warrior" name all the way this time.
When this car first came out, I told the friends around me that the exterior is truly aggressive—boxy styling, tough off-road vibes—but deep down it's still an urban SUV.
Now this is great—the Traveler and the Freedom both got a Black Warrior edition, pretty exciting. In reality, it's just the factory doing a full blackout for you.
In the past you had to wrap it yourself and go through registration filing; now the manufacturer does it all for you straight from the factory, saving you the hassle of running to the vehicle management office. Credit where it's due—it really is convenient for the lazy folks who don't want the hassle.
First, let's talk about the Traveler Black Warrior, which everyone cares about most. Priced from over 150,000 to over 170,000—this price range is actually quite tricky.
Brothers, you need to see clearly—where's the biggest pain point of this car? It's not the power, it's the width. The car is over 2 meters wide—2006mm!
On the power front, I have to complain a bit. A 2.0T engine paired with a 7-speed wet dual-clutch.
I'm really puzzled—Chery Group clearly has such a good 8AT gearbox in hand, used in the Exeed VX and the Tiggo 9. So how come on this Traveler—which is positioned for light off-roading with such a tough-looking exterior—they have to stubbornly stick with this dual-clutch?
The dual-clutch in city stop-and-go traffic, especially when crawling in traffic jams, that jolt after jolt of shuddering, plus the risk of clutch overheating—not everyone can put up with that.
Since it's called Black Warrior, since it's selling for 170,000, how much would it really cost to give it an 8AT? On this point, I think the manufacturer is still a bit lacking—not generous enough.
Now let's look at the Freedom Black Warrior. This car's positioning is a bit awkward—like the Traveler's younger brother, but the size isn't much smaller, and the wheelbase is even 10mm longer. The price is 20,000 to 30,000 cheaper, starting from over 120,000.
But this car only has a 1.5T across the entire lineup. For such a big block of a car, still under the huge wind resistance from the boxy shape, with a 1.5T engine—whether it feels sluggish off the line, just go stomp the throttle to the floor during a test drive and you'll know.
When overtaking on the highway, the engine roaring is definitely unavoidable. And the name "Freedom"—it just doesn't sound as impressive as "Traveler." It feels like a product hastily squeezed in to fill a price gap.
The launch of this Black Warrior edition, plainly put, is just to boost sales. Look at the December numbers—the Traveler sold over 3,000 units, the Freedom only over 1,000. Compared to the Traveler's peak of over 10,000 monthly sales, that's more than a halving.
Why? Because everyone's buying plug-in hybrids! The neighboring Jetour Shanhai T2—which is the plug-in hybrid version of the Traveler—doesn't require purchase tax, has lower fuel consumption, and faster power response. It has completely eaten up the gasoline version's market share.
People still buying the pure gasoline Traveler now are either in extremely cold northern regions where batteries can't handle it, or brothers who have a stubborn devotion to pure mechanical structures.
On the competitor side, the Haval Big Dog PLUS has been watching closely—its starting price is lower, and its ownership base isn't small either.
The Beijing Off-Road BJ40 is a real off-roader with a ladder frame. Sure, it burns more fuel and rides rougher, but it can actually go bash around off-road.
These two Jetour models have unibody construction—they're basically just for looks. Fine for rough roads and construction sites, but if you really want to play in the sand or climb rocks, you'd better think twice about whether your suspension can take it.
As for that dual-clutch and that headache-inducing car width, before buying, you'd better borrow a friend's car for a couple of days first and see if you can accept it before pulling the trigger.
Don't wait until you've bought the car and then spend forever every day fumbling around at the community entrance unable to get into a parking spot—by then it'll be too late to regret it.
One last thing—with oil prices the way they are now, buying a boxy pure gasoline car, fuel consumption definitely won't be low. If you're stuck in city traffic every day, seeing 11 or 12 on the trip computer is totally normal.
The manufacturer certainly won't emphasize this in their marketing, but as a car owner, this is real money out of your pocket every single month.
Think this through clearly before deciding whether to buy this Black Warrior, or go check out the neighboring Shanhai T2, or the Haval Big Dog. The car is a good car, but you need to see whether it suits your driving environment.
