Behold! The Foton Tunland E, again. Except, now, it’s the Foton Tunland E+ and it has more to offer. A year ago, we drove the Foton Tunland E and took it on a road trip to Sukute Beach and back.

We put it through its paces on the tarmac, and dirt roads, and waded through river beds to see what it could bring to the pickup market. It ended up surpassing our expectations in many ways, but we still had our gripes about the Tunland E. The interiors felt industrial, and the feature list was primitive. It wasn’t the fastest off the mark and braking was a letdown. As a budget option in the segment, the Foton Tunland E ticked a lot of boxes, but there was room for improvement.

The Foton Tunland E+, then, promises improvement. Not ones to take promises lightly, we put the Foton Tunland E+ to the test.

EXTERIOR

Not a lot has changed with the designs of the Tunland E+ in comparison to the Tunland E, which isn’t a bad thing. The Tunland E was handsome, butch, and didn’t look like a budget pickup. Design-wise, it still has a strong stance with a muscular design language. Design-wise, the Foton Tunland E nails it with a strong stance and muscular design language.

The front houses a large grille with a triple slat chrome lining and the Foton badge in the centre with large bulbous projector headlights with integrated indicators on either side. Now, it gets all-new LED DRLs, in the Tunland E+ Sports. There are spaces for fog lamps, but you’ll have to pay extra for those. Contours to the bonnet add to the muscularity.

Road presence is still its strong point, and the Tunland E+ makes sure it isn’t unseen on the roads. Most of this is thanks to its sheer size, it takes plenty of the tarmac, coming in slightly shorter and narrower and shorter than the Toyota Hilux but edging out the Ford Ranger by a hair in terms of length.

On the profile you get massive, useful, ORVMs that get integrated indicators. These work really well to help you get a good view of your surroundings. The blacked-out wheel arches work well with the white paint job, and the black sports bar on the cargo box also adds to the appeal.

We love the newly designed 17-inch alloy wheels and chrome lining on the windows, they add some additional styling to the otherwise simple profile. The large Tunland E+ sticker on either side is a bit much but you can always pull it off. There is also a sidestep that can be very useful for getting in and out of the cabin.

While it looks like the decent, city-civilized pickup, the Tunland E+ is still utility driven. The cargo box is massive, and you can make good use of its payload capacity of 1000kgs when you need it. You also get tying points to help secure your package if you should ever require it.

The rear remains pretty basic. There’s a vertically stacked rear tail with integrated indicators that wraps around to the sides. On the tailgate is a chrome door handle that stands out.

There aren’t many discernible changes to the exterior of what is essentially an upgraded version of the Tunland E. All you get are new alloy wheel designs, additional LED DRLs, and a bit of chrome lining. Although it still looks decent and there is very little room to complain, a few upgrades would have been very welcome.

INTERIOR

The interiors, unlike the exteriors, have received significant upgrades. While it’s not loaded with revolutionary tech, the interior of the Tunland E+ comes with enough features, like steering wheel mounted buttons which help you navigate the radio, adjust volume, and receive or reject calls.

The other notable upgrade inside of the cabin is the new infotainment screen. This screen, although not bleeding with technology, supports all your radio, USB music and Bluetooth connectivity. Apart from that the only notable changes you will see is the faux wood trim on the dashboard and doors and the new seat upholstery.

The cabin of the Tunland E+ is spacious, the driver seat comes with good adjustment and a wide view out, which means you get a good driving position rather easily and have a commanding view of the road. We would have loved to see a driver’s side height adjustment as some drivers do like to sit up extra high. The rear bench is also spacious and houses 3 full-sized healthy adults with ease even during long journeys, which this truck will be used a lot for.

Apart from a few feature additions the interior of the Tunland E+ remains largely similar and we frankly do not see the need to load it all out with gizmos, the interior is decent, simple and just works… and if it ain’t broke why fix it?

PERFORMANCE

The Tunland we drove a year ago came powered with a heavy 2.8-liter diesel engine that made 113 horses. This Tunland E+ is powered by a smaller 2.0-liter engine that makes 35 horses more rated at 148 BHP. The torque figure has gone up by 40Nm too, coming in at 320 Nm compared to the 280 Nm of the E without the +.

This translates to better pick-up; the Tunland E+ generates speed faster, and the increase in power also makes cruising on the highway much easier. The acceleration is smooth but the gearbox is on the crunchier side, and once you pair that with a rather long travel clutch you will find yourself changing gears less. This amplifies inside the city when you constantly cycle between gears. Mercifully, the Tunland E+, thanks to its plentiful torque, won’t stall even if you place it on third gear and roll out of a junction or a red light, this however depends entirely upon driving skill.

The brakes on the Tunland E were our major subject of concern at the time of its review. You see, a big burly car, you assume it comes with a big burly engine putting out hefty triple-digit figures. It’s a no-brainer. However, a big car must come with big stopping power, and measuring over 5 meters long and weighing in over two tons, the Tunland E+ is a big car. So how does it stop?

Well, better than the Tunland E that’s for sure. But, still not good enough. We think our problem doesn’t lie with the braking hardware but rather with how it works. For instance, if you are driving, and something just jumps out on the road and you absolutely slam the brake, then yeah, the Tunland E+ will come to a safe stop.

But, if you are gently cruising on a typical Nepali highway and a motorcyclist just cuts in front of you and you graze your foot on the brake pad to slow down to give him space, you will realise it’s not working. The brakes on the Tunland E+ will not slow you down if you have pressed the pedal 70% of the way, the remaining 30% is where all the stopping power lies. So, we recommend drivers keep this in mind until they are habituated.

Where the Tunland E+ shines is on the off-road, the 6-speed manual transmission comes with a 4WD system that is operated via buttons on the console. We like the idea of placing 4WD controls on buttons or knobs rather than a lever after one of our reviewer’s own cars was driven from Dhulikhel to Kathmandu by their relatives with the dedicated 4WD lever set on 4L, damages worth a lakh were incurred just because the relatives “didn’t notice the lever was on 4L”.

This is much easier, just put the car in neutral, press and hold the 4L button for a while and voila. The Tunland E+ just grazes over anything, with the 4L you just need to focus on the steering and the Tunland E+ will do the rest. The Tunland E+ was specifically made to tackle these terrains and it becomes evident when you see it marching over every undulation, incline, rock crawls and river crossing in such a relaxed manner. It is here that the stopping power makes a proper comeback.

The gearbox, the brakes, and the accelerator all become sensitive and provide you with a thorough offroad driving experience. It is here that the Tunland E+ gets back any points it lost on the tarmac.

Lastly, Foton has not hit the Tunland E+ with a bucket load of safety features but you do get the industry standards like front airbags for driver and co-driver, ABS, EBD, and central locking with child safety lock.

VERDICT

The Foton Tunland E+ is a truck that prioritizes work over lifestyle. This is for people and companies who have their workplaces, projects, and sites in remote areas and need to go there often and are looking for a do-it-all affordable truck that can drive them there with ease and take all the thrashing that will come in their way.

And thanks to its pricing, it is also one of those trucks that encourages you to take the short, stupid but fun way out. Because after all, how often have you heard people who own trucks worth over a crore say, “Hey… Let’s drive into that ditch”?