Taking advantage of the opportunity to hang out of town on the weekend, I rented a FAW Toyota AsiaSea lion as a means of transportation. This is a model that I am very interested in, according to our previous interpretation, everyone should have understood that the essence of the Asiatic Lion is a Corolla that has been lengthened and replaced with a 2.0L engine, you know, this year in the pan-A car market, if you want to find a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine, in addition to the Asiatic Lion and its twin model GAC Toyota Lingshang, it seems that there is only the most favorite Mazda left. In this way, the Asiatic lion is quite righteous.
▲Since it is a rented car, please ignore the scratches and stains on this car for the time being...
The name Asiatic lion seems to tell everyone that it is the younger brother of the Asian dragon, and it is more closely related to the Asian dragon, and the relationship with Corolla is as close as possible. This also makes the car very curious, will the Asiatic lion really be very different from the Corolla when he drives?
Can't say very different, it's just "exactly the same"
First of all, throw out our intuitive conclusion about the driving experience of this car: the feeling of the Asiatic Lion driving is extremely close to the Corolla, the main difference is the justice of the 2.0L naturally aspirated engine, combined with the above two points, the Asiatic Lion is a super easy to drive car. That's right, super! level! Good! open!
How is this good opening reflected? This has to say that the 2.0L + CVT set of power has been completed.
In fact, this set of powertrains in Toyota other models are equipped, as small as C-HR, Yize, as large as the Asian Dragon, Lexus ES, although on the body of the big car, the parameters of this 2.0L engine will be adjusted accordingly, but overall, it is still equipped in the smaller the car, the better the experience.
▲ The extensive cabin even mistook people for a Honda
In the past, we would say that a 2.0L engine in a compact car is definitely a big horse-drawn car, which belongs to the luxury class, but with the full popularity of turbocharging, the 2.0L naturally aspirated engine has gradually lost to 1.8T, 1.6T, 1.5T, 1.4T and even in some ranges, it may not be able to run 1.3T and 1.2T. Even if the 2.0L Dynamic Force Engine equipped with the Asiatic Lion can reach a maximum horsepower of 171 horses, it is not so dominant in acceleration performance, but in terms of the experience of daily driving, this "large displacement natural inhalation" is still the best.
Asiatic Lion has a very good dynamic response in low and medium speed conditions, how good is it? It was me in a strange city, driving a less skilled car, and having enough confidence to play card slots with the overbearing taxis, and they couldn't successfully add a plug in front of me most of the time. I don't know if you can understand this description...
And this CVT gearbox that can simulate 10 gears, due to time and conditions, I did not fully experience its simulation of 10 gears, but it does not matter, after all, CVT simulation gears are basically rogue behavior.
But it should be said that the Asiatic Lion is active in the dynamic response of the low and medium speed conditions, which is indispensable to the transmission.
Friends familiar with Toyota should know that this CVT adds an additional fixed gear ratio "1 gear", which allows the Asiatic Lion to do a clean and neat start, not as protracted as other CVTs.
However, it should be noted that in low-speed working conditions, the oil is given and oiled at a fast pace, and occasionally there will be a little setback. Below 60km/h, every time you step on the throttle deep or shallow, the CVT can also directly and quickly transmit the engine's power output to the front wheels with almost no delay.
The characteristics of good opening are also reflected in the steering, braking, TNGA Toyota is more rapid than before, the steering action on the steering wheel can soon make the front wheel swing up, there is no electrical signal involved in the mechanical assist brake pedal as much as there are, there is no vague stroke, very good to use.
Coupled with the small size, the Asiatic lion is really good at driving under the driving conditions of daily transportation. If you want us to be more rigorous, it would be nice to describe it as "friendly" and "easy to drive". The Asiatic Lion doesn't even have an annoying start-stop system, wouldn't you think this car is more just?
But it may just be "good to open"
If the friendliness of everyday driving or ease of driving accounts for a 60-point pass score in the overall drivability of the vehicle, The Asiatic Lion can undoubtedly almost complete that 60 points. The other 40 points may be 0.
Or continue to talk about "good to open", you may want to ask, compact 2.0L is Toyota easy to drive or Mazda easy to open? If Toyota is better at driving friendliness; if it is about deeper skills, such as mechanical texture, and the sense of communication between people and vehicles, it is still Mazda.
In terms of the power system of the two, the transmission form is the biggest difference, Mazda's pure fire 6AT will give you a very sophisticated and delicate feeling, power transmission can be done to block clearly, but in the smoothness to achieve a block to win, is simply the industry leader.
In contrast, Toyota's CVT can only maintain a brisk driving experience at low to medium speeds, and cannot maintain excellent directness and gradualness in the full speed range like Mazda. Especially at high speeds, or at low and medium speeds, there is a power request for big foot throttle, and it is inevitable that there will still be a sense of déjà vu that cannot go away.
The steering system is the same, although the Asiatic lion can provide basic steering flexibility, responsiveness, but in the feedback strength, in fact, do not pay much attention to the gradual, you will not perceive the steering of the vehicle through the hands, can only judge the dynamics of the vehicle by the position of the eye to see the movement. Truth be told, for most drivers, that's enough, it's just that people who love driving obviously prefer Mazda, like me.
All of these performances also make me think that Asiatic Lion is a very qualified Toyota, after all, Toyota gives the traditional impression that it is easy to drive and there is no sense of estrangement when driving. Thinking of the Yashiro Camry becoming more like a Mazda in some details, it will make me think that it is not a "serious Toyota".
Well, aside from the comparison with Mazda in terms of drivability, how does the Asiatic Lion perform in terms of driving texture? Yes, this is where the Asiatic Lion is exactly the same as the Corolla, which means that the Asian Lion's driving texture is very poor, probably the worst in its class (if it is strictly in accordance with the positioning of the Asiatic Lion's joint venture brand A+ class sedan, it will definitely be the worst in the same class).
The first is that the overall NVH is not very good, not only is it noisy, it is much noisier than Mazda and Honda (hey, why Mazda again?). And the vibration is also more obvious, and the feeling of the whole car driving is relatively thin. Then there is the performance of chassis filtering, the Asiatic Lion I rented is the next low-end luxury version, equipped with a 205/55 R16 "fat tire", but the filter vibration is not necessarily thick (check the tire pressure monitoring, is the normal value), but after running over the concave or convex road, the body can quickly return to a stable posture. However, in the process of rolling, the sound emitted when the suspension is moved is also more obvious.
So overall, the Asiatic Lion is a very driver-friendly car, but at the same time it does not have any sense of premium, and it is indeed an extended version of the Corolla that has become more complete after being equipped with a 2.0L engine.
If you want to ask if there is a little proximity to the Asian Dragon, I can only say that the TNGA is quite similar, especially the same Toyota brand, but the Asian Dragon is higher after all, so there is some sense of seniority, and the similarity is that the Asian Dragon and the Asiatic Lion are relatively weak when facing their competitors at the same price and level.
To buy An asiatic lion you need to pay attention to...
After reading the above dynamic interpretation, if you still feel that the Asiatic Lion is the car you want, and slowly, you may wish to read this article, there is not much left ha.
If you're attracted to the Asiatic lion on the poster, then look at this sub-low luxury version of the Asiatic lion, will you feel as if they are not the same car? In fact, this sub-low luxury version is the most cost-effective of the asiatic lion series, but at the same time, it looks very plain.
In addition to the 16-inch small rim fat tire just mentioned, the chrome trim on the side skirt is gone, and the tail lights look similar, but the internal light source is also different from the above three configurations, and the visual effect of the light will be significantly different. Also, the front grille on the top of the promotional poster is with a few chrome horizontal strips, but except for the top match, the others are all dark gray.
Look at the car again, as a selling point of publicity of the 12.3-inch full LCD instrument to 174,800 times the top with the premium version, the low and medium use of the traditional mechanical tachometer, speedometer and 4.2-inch small screen, the display of driving information is still very comprehensive, but the visual perception is very cheap.
Of course, there are also the materials and colors of the interior, the second lowest luxury version uses an all-black color, which is as plain as the appearance, and the central control has no stitching decoration, which is not at all like the cabin atmosphere of the A+ class car.
Although in terms of active and passive safety configuration, AsiaTicus continues the tradition of FAW Toyota, all series of standard equipment, but in the appearance, interior details, but the various configurations have been finely distinguished. If you buy the best value deluxe version, it's really easy to get confused with Corolla... (There really isn't much of a difference.
In terms of space, although the Asiatic Lion has a 50mm longer wheelbase than corolla, it does not solve Corolla's fundamental problem in the riding space - head space. I was 175cm tall and tried to sit in the back row, and my hair was still swept to the top. Knee space well, more than two punches, routine operation.
Are Asiatic Lions Worth Buying?
This is the last question to be explored, obviously, the Asiatic Lion is a car with a clear focus, the performance is not balanced, we think that if you have a clearer focus and requirements for the car, it should be easy to judge whether this car is suitable for you. So we might as well narrow the scope of the question a bit: Has the Asiatic lion become more worth buying than the Corolla?
The answer to this question also varies from person to person, first of all, from a more worthwhile point of view, the Asiatic Lion with similar configuration level is about 15,000 to 20,000 yuan more expensive than the Corolla 1.2T and 1.5L three-cylinder versions, and you can exchange it for a better and more powerful 2.0L naturally aspirated engine, as well as a little more space. It may seem unattractive to say, but know how precious the 2.0L compact car is this year.
From the perspective of not being so worth buying, the Asiatic Lion and the Corolla are no different in terms of driving quality, and people who buy this type of car obviously do not have too high a pursuit of driving experience, so it is better to save money to buy the Corolla.
What do you think of this?
Issue 1806
Author: Chen Houze