HOWO 6x4

The Howo 6x4 has an attractive exterior design for a commercial truck, but from the inside, it shows clear signs of cost-cutting and basic-ness. The curved and wraparound theme for the dashboard is very unique and interesting in its layout, but the use of cheap and hard plastics make it not so reliable and high-quality place to be in.

While the basic instrument console and large four-spoke steering wheel look archaic, the wraparound theme for the center console, which is faced completely towards the driver, manages to catch your fancy. It has all the controls and switches in easy rich of the driver, which make it not only fancy in appearance but also very ergonomically well designed. There are a couple of storage spaces in the cabin of the Howo 6x4 on the passenger side of the dashboard, therefore enhancing its practicality even more.

From the outside, the Howo 6x4 impresses with its bold exterior design, which among the range of trucks, looks quite sharp and modern. There are a number of mixed design elements that make the Howo 6x4 look not so pale and basic.

The slanted front windscreen of the Howo 6x4 has curved lower edges and gets a long horizontal bar above it which acts as an upper shield for it. The mounts for the windscreen wipers are placed on a sleek horizontal black garnish running across the width of the windscreen’s lower surface.

It is the lower portion of the front fascia of the Howo 6x4 which looks eye-catching and definitely grabs one’s attention. There is a large trapezoidal grille in the middle of the bonnet, which has three horizontally laid thick trapezoidal bars running one over the other. This grille is flanked with trapezoidal bits on its sides, which further makes the front profile of the Howo 6x4 look sharp-edged. Below the front fascia, the Howo 6x4 has got a wide front bumper, the corner edges of which get trapezoidal headlamps with tapering upper edge and fog lamps with outer rounded edges.

On the sides too, the Howo 6x4 has got a couple of sharp lines, especially below the window panels, which make the door panels of the truck look slightly protruding out. There is an additional sleek vertically laid window panel behind the main side windows, below which there is a squared off-panel. Both the sides of the truck get a pair of rearview mirrors mounted on the A-pillars.

The Howo 6x4 has a very sturdy chassis under its skin, with a front and rear suspension setup of 10 semi-elliptic leaf springs, hydraulic telescopic double-action shock absorbers and stabilizer and 12 leaf semi-elliptic springs, bogie spring and stabilizer respectively. Built on a U-profile parallel ladder frame, the Howo 6x4 has a double universal joint propeller shaft with a gear-shaped coupling flange.

The Howo 6x4 has been equipped with a 9.7-litre inline-six diesel engine, which has both turbo-charging and intercooling on offer. Coupled to a 10-speed gearbox which has two-speeds for reverse as well, this engine pumps out 420 PS of maximum power output.

The Howo 6x4 is one of the most affordable trucks, but it misses out on many modern safety features that help in keeping the costs in check. A safety horn and lockable passenger cabin are the only two prominent safety features on offer here.

The fresh exterior design, the wraparound theme for the dashboard on the inside, and very sturdy chassis surely are the main highlights of the Howo 6x4. However, the hard plastics and the noisy engine do create an impression that it is slightly on the cruder side, and needs to have slightly more enhanced quality levels.