Weekends are a rare time for most urban people to relax, and after a busy week, coming to an outdoor activity is the best way to reduce stress. For car lovers, about three or five friends driving to run the mountain, enjoying the charm of control is undoubtedly the first choice for outdoor activities, in fact, talking about the control to run the mountain is not necessarily exclusive to the rear drive, some high-quality front-drive car control is also excellent, in the current domestic 30-400,000 level luxury car market, Volvo S60 and Audi A4L are very good models in the same level, but on the sense of driving control, who is more popular, more understand the driver's intentions? This time, we found these two cars and drove them all up the mountain road to feel it, judging by experience.
In the choice of models, we found the latest hot models of the two car series, the 2022 Volvo S60 B4 and the 2022 Audi A4L 40TFSI (both front-drive, the internal combustion engine part is the same as 2.0T power), to better judge the level of the vehicle itself with the highest consumer recognition.
At the level of mechanical parameters, the internal combustion engine part of the two vehicles is the same as 2.0T power. Audi A4L 40TFSI, front-facing front drive, engine maximum power 140 kW, peak torque 320N·m, matched with the engine is a 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, suspension form, front and rear independent suspension are multi-link form.
Volvo S60 B4 is a 2.0T engine with a 48V hybrid system, the internal combustion engine part, equipped with the third generation of 2.0T engine maximum power of 145 kW, peak torque 300 N · m, at 1500 rpm can burst full torque, and the engine is matched with the 8-speed manual transmission, suspension form, the rear suspension using a multi-link independent suspension, while the front suspension is a double wishbone independent suspension that can significantly improve the control flexibility.
In contrast, in terms of performance parameters and mechanical hardware, volvo S60 has certain advantages over the Audi A4L, how does it fall to the driving control level?
Running the mountain does not need to brush the results like a running track, the faster the better, but in this process to feel the joy of driving control, the mountain road winding, walking a good line, crossing every bend, and experiencing the fun of the car moving at will is the starting point. First of all, the demand for vehicles is definitely flexibility, in general, the more uniform the proportion of front and rear counterweights, the more compact the body of the model has the higher the flexibility, you must not have heard of driving a large flagship car or SUV running a mountain is very refreshing example.
Driving the Audi A4L on the mountain road, lane change, steering, the flexibility of the body can make people basically satisfied, there is no obvious sense of delay, but do not have too high expectations, elongated body, do a certain into the bend action, the tail of the follow-up action is not as timely as expected, in the heart to have a margin.
Volvo S60 front and rear weight ratio is close to 50:50, is the original standard shaft size, driving on the mountain road can feel a particularly obvious sense of unity, whether it is steering, into the corner, the pace of the front and rear of the car is basically the same, so that the driver has better control over the whole vehicle.
Measured by the standards of family cars, audi A4L flexibility is acceptable, and the line steering is not slow, but what it lacks is a sense of tightness, elongated body is a very important reason, a direction into the bend, can feel the front of the car action is completed, but the middle of the body and the rear of the car did not follow well, so it also led to cutting into the bend after the bend and then out of the bend, involuntarily will collect the oil, more is the body following without too strong confidence;
The volvo S60 of the standard axle is much more flexible, the front and rear weight of nearly 50:50 body has a better sense of the whole, the front of the car changes direction, the rear of the car immediately reacts more with it, the body action is particularly crisp and clean, which also brings a stronger sense of control to the driver. The obvious gap in the body structure also makes the standard axle S60 have significantly higher flexibility than the long-axle A4L, which is easier to drive.
Chassis feedback, is also one of the important factors affecting the driving experience of the mountain road, tuning the excellent chassis can not only ensure riding comfort, driving stability, but also to meet the driver's access to road information and provide excellent lateral support, we compared these aspects to test the Audi A4L and Volvo S60.
Audi A4L chassis tuning is an obvious "popular" style, driving on the mountain road, the overall sense of stability is very good, the front and rear multi-link independent suspension, the road bumps can also do better filtration, is more comfortable orientation. The advantage of this setting is naturally that the people in the car will not feel the obvious sense of road and be more comfortable, but the disadvantage is that it lacks some road communication and the feedback of the information that they want to know, and the fun will be reduced.
In the face of the corners, the performance of audi A4L is still quite calm, with a little speed over the corner, the body posture can still maintain stability, but you can not have too many requirements for it, the support of the suspension is general, the speed is too fast into the corner is easy to occur understeering phenomenon, but also everyone often says "push head", its limit can be clearly perceived.
Compared to the Audi A4L, the Volvo S60 is significantly more advanced in terms of chassis feedback. First of all, the chassis is full of thickness, and it has a very good fit for undulating mountain roads, and the S60 is more stable when driving at high speeds than the A4L. Secondly, the softness and hardness of the S60 suspension damping is moderate, which is a tough adjustment, the driver can perceive the relevant information of the current driving road surface, but the ensuing road vibration can be very simply dissolved, which is actually more comfortable than the flickering soft "boat feeling".
The Volvo S60 series is equipped with the HRS hydraulic shock absorption system unique to the Chinese market as standard, which can effectively control the body undulation and improve the stability of the body by intelligently adjusting the damping change of the rebound stroke of the shock absorbing spring. The actual experience effect is also particularly outstanding, the bridge in the mountain road will have a difference between the bridge deck and the highway, and there will be obvious undulations when the general vehicle passes, and the Performance of the Volvo S60 is good, the body is very stable when passing, there will be no obvious up and down jumping, and there will be no shaking, and the driving is particularly stable.
In the face of curves that are not particularly large, the driver Volvo S60 into the corner after the direction of the slightly cut to the center of the bend, you can directly step on the oil to go, the split is particularly painful, the lateral support is good, the tough suspension can bring the driver full confidence.
You must have heard of the word "which to play", although there are exaggerated components, but it is undeniable that some models can indeed do extra accurate direction, according to the driver's prejudgment, the direction of the operation after the synchronous feedback, which can also make the sense of control of the vehicle and driving pleasure greatly improved. The judgment directivity can be viewed from two aspects: steering feel and direction accuracy.
Audi A4L overall steering force is moderate, very smooth, very interesting point, whether it is low speed or to high speed, the change of steering force does not seem to be large, kept near a midpoint swing, but one thing that can be determined is that there is no pressure to drive, and daily life is very relaxed.
Direction accuracy is also a decent level, the amount is not large, with the rotation of the steering wheel, the front of the car can still provide a more positive response, driving on the winding road is relatively easy, but it is in the face of many corners, into the bend to the bend when the front of the car is not as fast as expected, and the synchronization of the direction of rotation is general.
And audi A4L made a clear distinction, volvo S60 steering feel will have a significant gradual process, low speed light and easy to control, to the high speed after the gradual calm, with the speed gain of the damping change is very uniform, can make the driver feel the sense of speed progression, personally prefer the S60 steering feel.
Volvo S60 direction accuracy to achieve a relatively good level, embodied in the in and out of the corner need to make a greater adjustment of the direction of the moment, lightweight aluminum alloy double wishbone front suspension to improve the dynamic response, when the driver turns the direction, volvo S60 front action follow also maintains a high degree of consistency, fast and timely response, but also to ensure better cornering performance, have stronger fun.
Power is not the only criterion for running mountains to get fun, but it is a crucial one, and a stronger and smoother power output can not only make the driver harvest the pleasure of speed, but also help the vehicle run the mountain line more smoothly.
The Audi A4L 40TFSI is equipped with a 2.0T engine that can output 140kW, 320N·m, and accelerate 8.2 seconds per 100 kilometers, such a power level is enough to drive on such a long straight, winding road with few curves, and the low torque release of this engine is sufficient, and it does not need to be pulled too high to give the driver a fairly good sense of acceleration.
The reaction speed of the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is not bad, when accelerating deep on the throttle, it can be continuously downgraded in time to meet the power support, there is no problem when driving in smooth road conditions, but there will be a certain frustration when it is low-speed and low-gear, and it should be noted that when the in-corner deceleration is accelerated, the foot action is as smooth and gentle as possible, otherwise the frustration will also appear.
Volvo S60 has a 2.0T engine matching 48V hybrid system and high-performance E-drive hybrid two powertrains, the experience of this Volvo S60 B4, the internal combustion engine part of the 2.0T engine maximum power of 145kW, peak torque of 300N·m, can achieve 8 seconds of 100 km acceleration performance, in the book data compared with audi A4L is a certain lead.
Feedback to the actual experience, compared to the Audi A4L, volvo S60 overall power support and acceleration will be better, driving very briskly, especially in the middle of the acceleration, with the deepening of the accelerator pedal, the release of power sequentially, you can feel the power is on call.
The 48V hybrid system is the key to significantly improving the driving quality, and unlike the traditional BSG motor and the 48V hybrid system of the main structure of the ISG motor, the Volvo S60 uses a B-ISG integrated starter generator, in short, it takes into account the advantages of high efficiency transmission and cost.
The addition of the 48V hybrid system makes the volvo S60's instantaneous power response faster, and the frustration when the brake starts again is almost flattened, so when cornering on the mountain road, the brake back direction turns into the bend, and when the corner is accelerated, the basic delay-free power output can make the driver feel a very strong pleasure, and also ensure that the line is faster and more rhythmic.
The 8-speed automatic transmission is a very competent partner, smooth is the biggest feature, the presence of the transmission during the entire driving process is very slight, but with the different pedals on the accelerator or brake pedal under the feet, the gearbox upshift or downshift action is also completed synchronously, it is very easy to read the driver's intentions, and the overall power output is particularly smooth and natural. Of course, the Orrefors crystal shift lever, crafted from a single piece of pure Swiss crystal, is a plus, and every stroke is full of ritual.
In general, in terms of power reserve, both cars can do a good job of driving on the mountain road, but the Volvo S60 has obvious advantages in terms of power response speed and smoothness.
Different from daily commuter driving, the requirements of the mountain road driving control for the seat are not only comfortable, but also need to have a strong sense of wrapping, because the mountain road has a large undulating slope and many curves, and the vehicle needs to swing around frequently, which can fix the driver's body very well, and the seat with high comfort is the most preferred.
The front seat of Audi A4L is relatively wide, the internal padding is soft and hard, and there will be no obvious depression when riding, because the entire chair type is relatively wide, so the backrest and cushion support to the body are good, and the riding comfort is no problem.
Wrapping performance in general, the backrest and the wings on both sides of the middle of the cushion can play a certain role in fixing the body when driving intensely, but the leather covering fabric on the surface of the seat is relatively smooth, and the friction resistance of the seat and the body is not large when driving intensely, and when a certain range of movements, people will have a sense of slippage. Of course, you can also choose a seat with a large friction resistance to the fur splicing fabric, but the optional cost of nearly 10,000 yuan is really not cheap.
Volvo S60 chair surface leather cover fabric is quite delicate, whether it is visual or tactile is very high-grade, the filling inside the seat is particularly full, the feeling of sagging is strong but soft and not collapsed when riding, the elastic feedback that the body can perceive is very sufficient, and this is an ergonomic seat jointly developed with back problem experts, mainly reflected in the overall curve of the chair shape that fits the natural curvature of the human body, the gap between the waist and back parts can be filled when the actual experience is taken, the long-distance ride is not easy to fatigue, and the sense of support and comfort is quite good.
In terms of wrapping, because the feeling of sagging during the ride will be stronger, the body is more like falling into the seat, which can bring a very large friction resistance, the driver's body is not easy to slip, coupled with the backrest and the wings on both sides of the cushion, it can have a good fixing effect on the driver's body when driving intensely. The Volvo S60 is also equipped with an electric adjustment of the leg rest, which can be adjusted to a wide range, and can be adapted to meet the needs of passengers of different heights, so that every driver can find the most suitable sitting position and pay special attention to detail.
There is no doubt that the Volvo S60 seat between the two cars is more elaborately designed and more technical, first of all, how to make passengers more comfortable, long-distance driving is not easy to fatigue, and secondly, in the face of the demand for intense driving, its excellent friction resistance and wrapping feeling can also be satisfactory, which is a significant advantage over the Audi A4L unilaterally considering the daily comfort of the seat.
Running mountain is a good way for urban people to vent their stress and relax, but also the best stage to show the most core mechanical qualities of the vehicle, it is undeniable that Volvo S60 and Audi A4L are luxury medium-sized sedans This segment of the market comprehensive performance is very excellent model, but on the driving control performance, can bring the driver a sense of sports pleasure, through the two cars of the mountain road driving experience, Volvo S60 is indeed more attractive, in the body flexibility, chassis feedback, power output, directivity, Seat wrapping and other aspects are more advantageous than the Audi A4L.
This time just experienced the Volvo S60 B4, its driving performance has brought a lot of surprises, in addition to the S60 also has a more powerful B5 model, as well as equipped with a plug-in system, acceleration pleasure does not lose 3.0T V6 T8 model (100 km acceleration of 4.7 seconds), a glimpse of the whole leopard, power is justice, driving them to run the mountain believe that it is easier to harvest the pleasure of control at will, next time you can put the Volvo S60 T8 and performance car Audi S4 again in the same mountain road, But really on the sense of driving control, at present I stand more Volvo S60 T8, because from the S60 B4 perceived on the chassis, suspension, directivity, flexibility of the bottom is still very good, coupled with the T8 more than 90% of the power performance of street cars, in the mountain road to believe that there is no problem.
Finally, in reality, if your need for the vehicle is just daily commuting, easy to drive, then the Audi A4L can certainly be satisfied; but on the basis of ensuring that daily driving is easy and comfortable, I hope to have better driving performance, about three or five friends on holidays run the mountain, feel flexible and free, and drive with great pleasure, then Volvo S60 is definitely the most suitable choice for you.