Hino XZU302L

The cabin of the Hino XZU302L carries forward the impression of the exterior design, but in a slightly toned-down appeal. While it looks big and practical with its overall layout, the overall finish levels of the cabin in a pale grey theme make it look dull by modern standards.

The Hino XZU302L comes with a simple-looking driver’s cockpit, which comprises a two-spoke steering wheel and a part digital instrument console. The instrument console here has analog dials for the speedometer and tachometer, while the slim digital screen reads out data for fuel gauge, temperature gauge, and other trip-related data.

The center console of the Hino XZU302L’s interior cabin looks broad and purposeful, with two rounded AC vents on its corners and two rectangular panels placed in between them, adjacent to each other. These rectangular panels house a music system and control panel for AC on the right side and layered rectangular storage spaces on the left side.

The passenger side of the cabin of the Hino XZU302L gets two glove boxes on the dashboard – one is covered, while the other is open. The corners of the dashboard get rounded AC vents too, with bottle holders placed ahead of them carved in the dashboard itself.

The Hino XZU302L might be sitting on small footprints with compact dimensions. However, the overall styling has been executed in such a way that it looks big enough to make it look like a proper truck.

The Hino XZU302L has been given curved treatments in many of the bits in its overall design, especially at the front. The front windshield comes with rounded edges on all of its corners, with the lower edges of the windscreen having the assistance of mounts for the rearview mirrors.

There is a broad curved character line, which runs across the width of the front apron and blends in with the lower window line on the side profile. This curved character line actually separates the front profile into two parts. The lower portion of the front profile looks wide and big, thanks to the broad front grille, which is finished in black plastic and comes with three horizontal slats across it.

The headlamps are placed just adjacent to either side of the grille. These headlamps do come with rounded edges and have got nice-looking silver garnish above them. The headlamp units also come integrated with turn indicators in their outward housings. The front bumper of the Hino XZU302L too gets black plastic treatment, and houses tinted fog lamps on its corners.

The side profile of the Hino XZU302L too looks a bit curvaceous, thanks to the rounded rear pillars, curved lower window shoulder line, and a nice smooth curved character line flowing above the rounded wheel arches. There is a single step at the bottom that can come in handy for certain drivers to climb into the cabin.

The Hino XZU302L comes with a simply laid out mechanical construction under its skin, with its body on frame chassis having a suspension setup of semi-elliptical leaf springs with double-action shock absorbers on either end.

In terms of brakes, while the Hino XZU302L gets a hydraulic system, dual circuit, vacuum-assisted service brakes with brake shoes for both front and rear wheels, the parking brake is an internal expanding mechanical type that acts on the transmission output shaft.

The Hino XZU302L has a 4.0-litre, inline-four, water-cooled, diesel engine, which gets overhead valves and comes coupled to a simple 5-speed manual gearbox. The engine pumps put maximum power and torque outputs of 136 PS and 390 Nm respectively, while the top speed ranks at 134 kmph.

Being an entry-level truck belonging to the compact light-duty segment, the Hino XZU302L misses out on all the modern safety features and doesn’t get even the ABS to keep costs in check.

For its price, the Hino XZU302L has a praiseworthy big size and torquey diesel engine to make it a durable workhorse. However, it is a tad too basic in terms of features, especially the safety ones.