Australian tuning could go global for new Chinese PHEV ute

The Australian chassis work carried out on the JAC Hunter PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) could become the benchmark export tune for overseas markets in which the dual-cab ute is sold.

The JAC Hunter PHEV officially went on sale in Australia this week, with order books opening ahead of first arrivals expected in July.

The showroom version will feature a unique chassis tune developed by former Holden engineer Michael Barber, with more than 50,000km of testing completed on local roads and at the recently sold former Holden proving ground at Lang Lang.

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal.

Three weeks of local testing were followed by a week in China, where JAC was shown the final tune and engineering work was carried out with suppliers so it could be prepared for Australia-bound Hunter PHEVs.

“There was discussion [in China] about ‘Are certain changes really necessary?’,” Mr Barber admitted.

“It’s a pain, frankly, having specific components for a specific model, but I was very pleased with the level of reception. All the changes that I had proposed were accepted by JAC [China], and they’re in the vehicle.”

The changes could prove significant for JAC Motors Australia, which hosted local media as the first outside China to drive the Hunter PHEV – with the Australian suspension tune potentially applied to Hunters sold in other export markets.

While there's no official confirmation, JAC Motors Australia told CarExpert the local tune is being considered for exports to other countries.

Dual-cab utes, which carry the weight of customer expectations around towing capacity and payload – 3500kg braked and 915kg in the Hunter PHEV’s case – present serious challenges to get right.

“Different vehicles have different priorities, of course, and we always need to focus on what the main priority is for a particular vehicle – but high-payload vehicles – the bigger the payload compared to the kerb mass of a vehicle, frankly the tougher it gets to tune a vehicle,” Mr Barber said.

“[Bump] isolation is tricky, load management is tricky, and in the bigger vehicles, isolation becomes more challenging … and load management is very tricky … especially with an eye for durability.”

Mr Barber said Australia presents a unique set of circumstances for suspension tuning given it has a small population but a vast road network – with long distances travelled – which is more often repaired than replaced.

Long distances and poor roads increase fatigue on drivers, making vehicle dynamics critical in delivering a safe and successful journey. Cars that are easier to drive are, in essence, safer.

The former Holden engineer, now based in the UK where he is technical director of vehicle dynamics at Multimatic, explained JAC gave him a 'library' of components to create a suitable tune.

This included springs of varying stiffness, dampers – and damper internals – anti-roll bars and bushings, with combinations also including tyre pressure changes and various mounting points.

“I’m always happy to keep trying another damper code [setting or tune] to see if we can do better,” he said.

“We ended up doing roughly 72 damper rebuilds.

“This work improved all aspects of dynamic performance, including vertical dynamics (meaning compliance and control), lateral dynamics (meaning steering and handling), hub and wheel control (this is road adhesion) and comfort.”

JAC isn’t the only brand carrying out local tuning and, while brands such as GWM have local chassis tunes across several models including SUVs, local development appears to be becoming the norm for dual-cab utes.

This includes the latest Nissan Navara, which runs a suspension tune developed by Premcar, the Melbourne-based outfit behind the Nissan Patrol Warrior and Navara Warrior off-road models.

Premcar also developed the steering and suspension tune for the Mitsubishi Triton Raider sold in Australia.

It’s also worth noting the current Ford Ranger – Australia’s best-selling vehicle – was designed and developed by Ford Australia.

The Ranger and its Everest SUV spinoff were developed by the company’s engineering and design teams at Broadmeadows and the You Yangs Proving Ground in Lara, Victoria.

MORE: Explore the JAC Hunter showroom