Video summary

FOTON Tunland V9 Towing Review – Good… or Garbage?

Main summary

Key takeaways

Product Review

Product reviewed

FOTON (Photon) Tunland V9 (Chinese ute) towing a 2-tonne, fully loaded caravan (claims: vehicle 6.8t GCM), at max/legal weight for the setup. The test focuses on real-world highway and hill towing performance and tow-mode behavior.

Key towing features & tech mentioned

  • Trailer/tow mode requires a setup step

    • Before towing, you must go into the car settings and enable “trailer mode” so the vehicle can send power to trailer brakes and lights.

  • Trailer lights/brake power behavior

    • If trailer mode is off, trailer lights/brakes don’t work.
    • In their testing, once trailer mode was turned on, they did not have to re-enable it at every start (it stayed on during their test period).
    • They initially experienced cases where lights wouldn’t activate until trailer mode was turned on.

  • Electronic brake controller

    • The vehicle had an electronic brake controller fitted/handled (set up by Martin).

  • Adaptive cruise control while towing

    • Cruise control still works in tow mode.
    • They initially couldn’t find the set following distance on the dash, but later located it in the dashboard menus and could set a value (they mention setting “3”).

  • 48V hybrid assist / battery monitoring

    • The dashboard shows system info, including battery charge and when power is being routed.

Towing performance (what they observed)

  • Can move the caravan off the spot

    • Early reaction: it did move the van, contradicting expectations it wouldn’t.

  • Power feel

    • Multiple times they state it doesn’t feel underpowered.
    • Driving/merging and hill climbing were described as “cruising” and confident.
    • They report maintaining around 100 km/h on minor hills (with traffic forcing speed changes).
    • Hills behavior was characterized as slower/patient rather than aggressive—yet still capable (including speed recovery/holding with the pedal to the floor).

  • Overtaking

    • Overtakes on inclines were completed without power complaints; the ute kept up well enough.

  • No sway/drama

    • They explicitly report no sway and no towing instability issues.

Driver experience / comfort

  • Normal drive mode only

    • They didn’t use sport mode or manual gear control—just Drive + normal mode, and found it sufficient.

  • Cooling/temps monitored

    • The dash can show engine temperature and transmission oil temperature.
    • They observed no concerning temperature changes during towing.

  • Cabin sound

    • The diesel is audible, but not described as overly loud.

  • Handling

    • Good turning circle and confidence during highway merges and U-turns.

Fuel economy numbers reported (with caravan)

  • After highway cruising at 100 km/h: ~9.8 L/100 km (noted as early/controlled reset).
  • During towing monitoring:
    • ~13.4 L/100 km average over a 33 km section
  • Later overall trip figures:
    • 141 km average: ~15.6 L/100 km (average speed 77 km/h with a 2-ton full-size “worst aerodynamics” boxy caravan)
    • Standout final figure: ~15.7 L/100 km
  • Comparison claim:
    • Their GWM Cannon reportedly uses ~17–18 L/100 km under similar conditions.

Comparisons made

  • Photon V9 vs GWM Cannon (Alpha) (their usual tow vehicle)

    • Cannon felt quicker off the line without a trailer.
    • With a trailer, towing performance was reported as “no different” in power/ability on hills and for overtakes.
    • Fuel economy: Photon towing was reported as lower (about 15.7 vs 17–18 L/100 km).

  • Vs mainstream expectations / other utes

    • They note some other vehicles struggled on hills compared with Photon in certain conditions (mentioning Land Cruiser / Ford Ranger / Hilux), though one slow-vehicle ID was later corrected.

Pros (unique positives mentioned)

  • Stability: no sway; confident control while towing.
  • Real towing capability: maintains momentum and can overtake/merge effectively with a 2-tonne loaded caravan.
  • Fuel efficiency under load: particularly better than their GWM Cannon comparison.
  • Usable drivetrain behavior in normal mode (no special driving required).
  • Adaptive cruise works in tow mode, though finding following-distance needs a learning curve.
  • Cooling monitoring available: engine + transmission temperatures shown; no overheating observed.
  • Dash/tech features: extensive driver information screens and hybrid system monitoring.

Cons / annoyances (unique negatives mentioned)

  • Easy to mess up trailer mode setup
    • If you forget to turn it on, trailer lights/brakes won’t function.
  • Adaptive cruise following-distance display confusion
    • Following-distance visualization wasn’t where expected; required navigating menus (they use setting 3).
  • Not “hot” performance
    • Described as slow/patient/calm—but still not struggling.

Users’ likely takeaway / overall recommendation (verdict)

Strong recommendation for towing up to max/legal around 2 tonnes. Despite a “small” 2.0L engine, the reviewer concludes the Photon V9 tows confidently (hills, overtakes, stable tracking) and even delivers better fuel economy than their GWM Cannon in comparable runs. They state they would absolutely tow their caravan with it.

Unique points mentioned about the product (condensed list)

  1. Trailer mode must be enabled for trailer brakes/lights to work.
  2. Trailer mode behavior: can stay on across starts in their testing; turning it off disables trailer plug functions.
  3. Electronic brake controller integration mentioned.
  4. Cruise control works while towing (including tow mode).
  5. Adaptive cruise following distance requires menu navigation; they use setting 3.
  6. Early confirmation: ute can move the caravan off the spot.
  7. Feels powerful enough; not underpowered while cruising/merging.
  8. No sway or towing instability.
  9. Highway cruising/merging described as confident; acceleration testing noted from 40–100 km/h.
  10. Holds speed on inclines (around ~100 km/h on minor hills; steep hill test maintained ~98–104 with gear changes).
  11. Diesel noise is audible but manageable.
  12. Dashboard includes engine temp + transmission oil temp; no overheating observed.
  13. Multiple fuel economy readings: best early 9.8, then towing averages ~13.4, then ~15.6–15.7.
  14. Claimed fuel economy advantage over the GWM Cannon.
  15. Photon may be slower off-line than Cannon, but towing performance similar.
  16. Additional praise focused on comfort/luxury and presentation, not just towing hardware.

Speaker contributions

  • Jordan (main reviewer, Wheels by the Ocean / WBTO Mechanical context):

    • Towing capability, trailer-mode behavior, cruise/adaptive cruise experience, stability, hills/acceleration tests, cooling/temps, fuel economy, comparisons to GWM Cannon, and the final verdict.

  • Den (spouse/driver interjections):

    • Characterized performance as slow/patient/calm vs “underpowered,” and noted it isn’t struggling.

  • Martin (briefly mentioned):

    • Helped with/assisted the electronic brake controller setup.

Original video