The last time I test-drove Toyota Sena was in Hawaii, USA, in 2014. That summer, Air China organized some Platinum card members to start a self-driving tour of Phoenix Companion Hawaii. I had the privilege of being one of the 12 people who participated in this event among the many applicants.
After arriving in Hawaii on a national flight, Xiao Wu of Beijing Youth Daily and Mr. Wu and Mr. Wu grabbed a seven-seat version of the Sai Na as the car for our trip. Driving this Sai Na, I traveled through the scenery of Hawaii. The car is spacious and comfortable, whether it's driving or riding.
The Sai na that was test-driven at that time was a fuel version of Toyota's car produced in the United States. More than 7 years later, in the beautiful scenery of Dali, Yunnan, we test-drove the domestic hybrid (HEV) Xena produced by GAC Toyota. Compared to the one test-driven in Hawaii, it has a prettier appearance, more power, more configuration, more space, and more comfortable driving.
Dali, located in Colorful Yunnan, is a famous scenic tourist area. Here there are not only the beautiful natural landscapes of Cangshan And erhai, but also the cultural landscapes such as Dali Ancient City and Dali Three Pagodas. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dali reached a record high of 60 million visitors a year, approaching Paris. Affected by the new crown epidemic, Dali tourists have dropped sharply in the past two years. Some shops in the ancient city of Dali have been closed. There are not many tourists, which does not affect our test driving experience and reduces the cost. It is said that the No. 1 Courtyard Inn in the ancient city where we stayed was one of the best conditions in the ancient city of Dali. Accommodation costs more than half as much as it gets in high season.
In mid-December, the GAC Toyota Sena Media Test Drive Experience Event was held in Dali, with the theme of "Senna Time, Everyone Enjoys the Mobile Home". The family-style scene experience activity opened by Guangfeng Sena will drive the "mobile residence" into the ancient city of Dali. Different from the previous test drive activities, Sena brings a more comfortable and warm family travel scene experience. Wandering between the Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Sea, driving the spacious and comfortable "mobile house" seven seats of Sena, it can be said that the famous car and the beautiful scenery complement each other.
The north has entered a harsh winter, belonging to the subtropical alpine climate of Dali, the day is still warm as spring, the temperature is as high as 20 degrees Celsius. As soon as the sun sets, you will feel a chill, and the minimum temperature is only four or five degrees.
Our test drive route is around the Erhai Sea. Erhai is the second largest freshwater lake in Yunnan Province, with a length of about 42.58 kilometers, a maximum width of 9 kilometers from east to west, and a circumference of about 100 kilometers around the sea. In addition to enjoying the scenery of Cangshan Erhai Sea, there are Three Pagodas of Dali, Xizhou Ancient Town, Shuanglang Ancient Town and other scenic spots along the way. Along the way, I was in a lot of fun, and I got out of the car from time to time to take photos. Lunch on a tour of Shuanglang Ancient Town at noon.
We were driving a white high-end version of the Sena MPV. The same MPV, Sena is not like the boxy "van" shape of other models, but a very sporty streamlined shape, not like an MPV, more like a plus-size coupe.
The biggest feature of this car is the atmosphere. Not only is the appearance atmospheric, but the size and space are also atmospheric. The Sena has a body size of 5165 × 1995 × 1785mm and a wheelbase of 3060mm. The car is 5165mm long, which is 73 mm shorter than the GL8, but it feels that the interior space is not bad at all. With a width of 1995mm, it is already close to two meters, which is definitely the first in its class MPV models. The car is 1785mm taller, slightly taller than the Midsize and Large SUV Highlander. With a wheelbase of more than 3 meters, it is guaranteed that the three rows of seats are not cramped. Sunken trunk, which can hold several large boxes. Whether it is driving or riding, the sense of space in the domestic race absolutely crushes the MPV of the same level.
The scenery of Cangshan Erhai is beautiful
The Xena series is equipped with a new enhanced 2.5L HEV hybrid system, which has a quiet that is comparable to pure electric vehicles, and excellent fuel economy, which is very powerful. The car is easy to handle and picks up quickly when driving at high speeds on the highway. Tried the sport mode, the power is even more surging and the acceleration is very sharp.
As a new MPV model that is super fashionable to drive, super comfortable to sit on, super stable to drive, and super worry-free to use, The domestic production of Senna coincides with the sharp increase in demand for high-end MPV in China, and the demand is expanding rapidly. Sena won a round of applause before it was even on the market, and the products were in serious short supply after the listing.
As Toyota's best-selling strategic model overseas for many years, Xena has a comprehensive leading and exceeding expectations of product strength, and is endorsed by the system strength of GAC Toyota's TNGA architecture. Domestic Xena not only meets the increasingly diversified car needs of domestic consumers, but also becomes a group of dark horses in the domestic high-end high-MPV market, which will reshape the market segment pattern and thus promote the healthy development of the entire domestic MPV market. (End)
(This article was published simultaneously to China Automotive Trend Network)