Making the full-size (truck) efficient and affordable

Foton Tunland V7 4x4 Diesel Hybrid

- By ERIC TIPAN

So many Filipinos picked up an F-150 in the 90s for various reasons. Some liked its looks, while most bought one for its functionality and capability as a full-size pickup truck.

But it wasn’t long before many were in the secondhand marketplace for one reason: it had terrible fuel consumption - averaged around 5-7 km/l - back when gas was over P40/liter.

That’s where the Tunland V7 shines. Modern automotive tech gives Foton's full-size pickup a small-displacement engine instead of the gas-guzzling V6s and V8s of the tenth-gen F-150. Plus, it has a 48-volt Boost Recuperation System, which translates to a 'mild hybrid system' in layman's terms. The result? It returned almost 13 km/l in mixed driving conditions. But that's not the only thing to like about it.

I don't know if I'm getting desensitized by the supersizing trend in the industry, but the Tunland V7 didn't feel all that big. Ironically, it looked hefty only when I was staring at the massively attractive front fascia. It has an eye-catching thick chrome trim up top, unusually wide grille slats (making the radiator highly visible), and a gorgeous LED matrix headlight on either side.