Four-wheel drive and low range are not the same thing, and the difference shows up on the day you need it.
Four-wheel drive sends power to all four corners. Useful. Low range does something else: it multiplies torque through a second set of gears so the engine can crawl a heavy, loaded vehicle out of soft ground without slipping the clutch or spinning the wheels. A pickup with four-wheel drive but no low range will dig itself in where one with low range walks out.
The Vigus has a BorgWarner transfer case with low range. That is the single specification line worth checking before you buy any working pickup, and a surprising number of buyers never ask.
The engine, and why torque beats horsepower here
A 2.5-litre turbocharged diesel producing 430 newton-metres. For a vehicle that spends its life carrying weight, that torque figure describes the job better than any power number does. Horsepower matters when you want to go fast. Torque matters when you want to move a loaded tray up a wet slope.
Ground clearance is 210mm, which puts it above most of the SUVs people compare it against.
| Specification | Vigus |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.5 turbocharged diesel |
| Torque | 430 N.m |
| Drive | BorgWarner four-wheel drive with low range |
| Ground clearance | 210mm |
| Green tax band | 2%, being above 2,000cc |
| Levy on used vehicles | 5% since 1 July 2026 |
Export specification, which is the point
The Vigus we source is the export version rather than the Chinese domestic one. That distinction matters because export specification is built against a wider set of markets and their requirements, and it typically means better sealing, more robust cooling, and equipment chosen for hot climates rather than for Shanghai winters.
If someone offers you a pickup at a suspiciously good price, one of the questions to ask is whether it is a domestic-market unit.
The green tax, honestly
A 2.5 diesel is above 2,000cc so the 2 per cent band applies. There is no way around that and no smaller engine that does this job. A pickup that could dodge the band would be a pickup that could not carry the load.
What softened the blow is that the same reform on 1 July 2026 cut the used-vehicle levy from 15 per cent to 5 and covered 127 tariff lines. Net of both changes, a working vehicle lands cheaper today than it did last year.
Pickup or SUV
If the vehicle earns money — carrying stock, tools, produce, materials — the pickup is the right shape and the low range is not a luxury. If it carries people and occasionally luggage, an SUV is more comfortable and cheaper to run.
And if the load is bigger than a pickup tray, that is a light truck conversation instead.
Tell us what you carry and how often on WhatsApp and we will tell you which of the three fits.
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