Changan X7 Plus

Offered with standard all-black leather upholstery, the cabin of the Changan X7 Plus is made special with contrast silver and orange accents all around and a faux wood panel across the dashboard. The cabin is a good blend of luxury and practicality, with the Changan X7 Plus equipped with a set of decent must-have features in its cabin.

Much of the Changan X7 Plus's dashboard is occupied by the gloss black trapezoidal full-TFT cockpit, which has tapered edges on either side. It has a 7-inch screen for the instrument console and a 12.3-inch screen for the infotainment system. This curved screen sits behind a leather-wrapped four-spoke steering wheel with a wide centre boss and gloss black finish for the spokes.

The corners of the dashboard also have gloss black highlights around the slim AC vents, while the lower centre console has a wide trapezoidal pane housing the audio and climate control buttons. The cabin of the Changan X7 Plus is decently equipped with basics like a height-adjustable driver’s seat, front and rear centre armrests, electronic parking brake, and more.

Compared to the CS75 Plus, which it replaced, the new Changan X7 Plus has a much more modern and aggressive-looking design on the outside. Changan has introduced a host of contemporary design elements in the X7 Plus, which makes it a striking SUV with a smart, urban road presence.

The Changan X7 Plus has a hexagonal grille in the middle, which is divided into two halves. While the upper half of the grille is a slim portion with a sleek U-shaped chrome garnish, the lower half of the grille is a trapezoidal panel with curved edges and diamond-shaped chrome inserts. The Changan X7 Plus has a split headlamp assembly, with sleek daytime running LEDs in the upper corners, while the front bumper has main housings for the projector headlamps, which have gloss black surrounds and contrast red accents over them.

The Changan X7 Plus has nice proportions and a good stance for a midsize SUV, with the long wheelbase and large 18-inch multi-spoke machined alloy wheels giving a good stance. While the design of the door panels looks smooth, there is a sharp crease flowing from the edge of the headlamp to that of the tail lamp. The Changan X7 Plus also gets chrome garnish over the upper part of the windows, with the SUV having a floating roof effect with a blacked-out extension in the C-pillar.

The rear profile of the Changan X7 Plus has a huge and wide tail lamp cluster, consisting of curved combination lamps on the sides and a thick LED-connected light bar in the middle running between the former. There is a thin strip of chrome running across the width of the boot lid, between the tail lamps and trapezoidal housing for the license plate. Along with the auxiliary lights, the rear bumper of the Changan X7 Plus also has a trapezoidal dual exhaust port on either side.

Changan has improved the ride quality in the X7 Plus over the CS75 Plus it has replaced, with the SUV having independent Macpherson struts with an anti-roll bar at the front and independent multi-link with an anti-roll bar at the rear. Changan is offering three basic drive modes on offer in the X7 Plus – Normal, Eco and Sport.

The Changan X7 Plus shares its 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged ‘Bluecore NE15’ petrol engine with the CS55 Plus, which is one of the most powerful 1.5-litre petrol engines on paper. Paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, this engine produces 180 PS of maximum power and 300 Nm of maximum torque. While the engine looks strong on paper, the power delivery and shift timings of the transmission are not as smooth as one would expect, with the engine having a lack of power at lower RPMs. However, as the speeds rise, the engine performs excellently with adequate power and refinement.

While the Changan X7 Plus misses out on ADAS features, the midsize SUV is decently equipped with basic safety features like six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, tyre pressure monitoring system, hill descent control, hill hold assist and 360-degree parking camera.

For its size and the segment to which it belongs, the Changan X7 Plus misses many crucial comfort, convenience and safety features. However, with affordable pricing, the Changan X7 Plus offers a smart design inside-out, along with the practicality of a three-row cabin with decent performance and space.