The SouEast DX3 has been launched on the Chinese auto market, and the Pininfarina designed compact SUV has become quite a fine looking car. It comes with a black roof, proper roof rails, mean looking lights, a sculpted bonnet, a small grille, and a racy lower bumper.
The floating roof D-pillar design is ultra fashionable at the moment, almost every Chinese automaker is having it on their own SUVs. Roof rails in silver contrast nicely with black roof. The DX3 is the production version of the SouEast DX Concept. It is positioned below the equally good looking SouEast DX7.
Price for all this pretty starts at 72.900 yuan and ends at 99.900 yuan.
There are two Mitsubishi-sourced engines available: a 1.5 with 120hp and 143nm, and a 1.5 turbo with 150hp and 220nm. The 1.5 is mated to a five-speed manual, the 1.5 turbo to a CVT.
The engines and ‘boxes are made by the Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine-making joint venture, a company that supplies basically every Chinese automaker with 1.5, 1.5 turbo, and 2.0 turbo engines. Earlier today we saw the launch of the Beijing Auto BJ20, which has the exact same 1.5 turbo-CVT unit under the bonnet.
Size: 4354/1840/1654, and wheelbase is 2610.
The interior is not as good as the exterior. SouEast is really trying hard to make it hip, with red bits on the seats and steering wheel and with cool looking vents. But there is just too much cheap looking gray plastic around. The touch screen sits too low and is a bit on the small side for November 2016. And it seems they didn’t even try to put some design in the center tunnel, just a gear lever and a handbrake in gray panels. Nothing pretty there!
Check the plastics. But! The DX3 has one very interesting feature. The start button is located on the left-side of the steering wheel, very close to the door. Not sure whether this is another shot at being hip or an engineering necessity. Special nevertheless.
Clocks has an odd hip shape. Small TFT in between.
Shiny edge around the screen. There is nothing really bad with it, but it just doesn’t look very well fitted and finished. Compare for example with its main competitor the BYD Yuan, its dash has a very busy design but it fits together properly. The infotainment system has Bluetooth connectivity and he usual stuff like GPS, radio, and a reverse-parking camera.
More red in the back and enough space for 2.5.
Small rear lights in line with the trend, otherwise is bit too bland, but the lower bumper looks nice.
Now that is a proper engine cover! Great work here. 220 refers to the torque number of the 1.5 turbo.
Oh no. SouEast didn’t bother to integrate the pipe into the bumper, or to have some fake pipe tips and hide the pipe. This is horrible. Half od the muffler is exposed and the tiny tiny pipe is visible on the right side. They should have done this better, just like the interior.
A good looking compact SUV with a fine engine, let down by its interior.
