Chinese SUV's Tianmen PR stunt ends in chaos

Chery has drawn global attention after its Fulwin X3L range-extender SUV failed during an attempt to scale Tianmen Mountain’s infamous 999-step ‘Stairway to Heaven’, echoing a feat first completed by the Range Rover Sport. The attempt went horribly wrong and damaged part of the trail that leads to ‘Heaven’s Gate’.

Tianmen Mountain’s brutal staircase in China – averaging gradients beyond 40 degrees – is a traction control and torque management nightmare.

Land Rover’s successful 2018 ascent relied on precisely calibrated torque vectoring, aggressive driveline cooling, and real-time pitch-angle monitoring to prevent power cut-outs.

Chery’s Fulwin X3L, a dual-motor range-extender SUV with a claimed output of around 315kW, aimed to repeat the stunt and it started confidently enough.

Early footage shows the control unit shuffling torque cleanly across the first sets of steps as surface grip changed. But as the incline steepened, the system began struggling to maintain consistent traction.

The critical moment is captured clearly: a loud crack, a loose component bouncing down the stone steps, and the SUV abruptly losing momentum.

Chery later attributed the failure to a ‘safety rope anchoring fault’ where the tether’s shackle detached and became entangled around the left-rear wheel, locking the driveline.

While that explanation aligns with the physical evidence, the footage also suggests the control logic may have hit a torque-limiting protection threshold as pitch angle peaked.

With the motors momentarily ceasing forward drive, the Fulwin X3L began rolling backwards. Regenerative braking was insufficient to stabilise the descent, leading to an unavoidable impact with a guardrail.

Chery said engineering teams have already begun reworking key systems. Planned updates reportedly include a higher-tolerance motor-control map for steep-angle torque delivery, a redesigned tether system, tyres with compounds better suited to polished stone, a higher-resolution inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a load-based suspension model to prevent ride-height drift under heavy compression.

After repairing the damaged guardrail, Chery intends to make another attempt at the climb. Despite the setback, the attempt has already attracted global headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Whether the next run delivers redemption or another viral moment will depend on the updated control systems – and the mountain’s unforgiving physics.

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