Volvo has always focused on safety, since asking Professor Luo Xiang for endorsement, I feel that It has become safer to drive Volvo, after all, "extralegal Zhang San" is not a waste of time.
However, this time, we have to drive the new Volvo S60 in Changbai Mountain, Jilin Province, where the temperature is minus 20 degrees, known as the "Immortal Mountain", to experience the fun of "out of control".
At the Volvo S60 ice and snow test drive, the organizers provided two models of volvo S60 B5 and Volvo S60 T8 E-drive hybrid as experience models. As an editor of Electric Bang, the first thing you must experience is the T8 model with plug-in hybrid system, and as for the test drive experience of the B5 model, we will talk about it later.
Volvo S60 T8 E-drive hybrid adopts a plug-in hybrid system composed of a 2.0T mechanical + turbo twin supercharged engine and electric motor, of which the maximum power of the 2.0T engine is 303 hp and the peak torque is 400 Nm; the maximum power of the motor is 65 kW, the maximum torque is 240 Nm, and the comprehensive power of the system reaches 391 hp and the peak torque of 640 Nm, which matches the 8AT gearbox.
The driving method is front oil and rear electricity, the front wheel is mainly driven by the engine, and the rear wheel is mainly driven by the motor, forming an electric four-wheel drive system; however, in pure electric mode, the Volvo S60 T8 E drive hybrid is mainly driven by the rear axle motor, which is completely a rear-drive car, which also brings a huge difference with the driving experience of the B5 model.
Driving on snow and ice roads, even the best four-wheel drive system may not be as practical as a set of snow tires, and the test drive model is replaced by Nokia's Hakkapeliitta R3 series, which can provide better snow stability and grip.
However, when driving the Volvo S60 T8 model to start, you still need to control the opening of the throttle, after all, the peak torque of 640 Nm can easily break the grip limit of the tire, and deep throttle will not make you faster, but may slip more slowly.
With a slow start on the accelerator, the Volvo S60 T8 is basically not skidding, and even the electric four-wheel drive is still more suitable for driving in the snow than those two-wheel drive vehicles.
Driving the Volvo S60 T8 is a S-bend + U-turn, and the ESC is turned on the first lap. Although the ice and snow road is seriously slippery, too fast will also appear to be out of control, but the Volvo S60 T8 can always pull you back on the edge of "out of control", even if it is easy to appear tail-flicking U-bend, the vehicle is also trying to control the body posture, so that you can smoothly cross the corner.
This is because Volvo's AYC side slip angle monitoring and II.TCS traction control have been monitoring the body attitude, once the vehicle is found to be out of control, it will immediately help the vehicle return to the correct and safe driving route, which is not only of great help for ice and snow road driving, but also greatly improves the safety of daily driving.
On the second lap we turned off the ESC system, the VOLVO S60 set up the ESC system can not be completely turned off, only a level of shutdown, but even then the driving difficulty is much higher than turning on the ESC.
Before entering the bend, you must control the speed, otherwise you may become the "little prince of the pile bucket" sweeping through the thousand troops in the first corner. After arriving at the U-bend, try to walk along the center of the bend, play the left direction to complete the steering, and then after the rear of the car has signs of sliding, quickly reverse the direction, control the amplitude of the throttle, the rear of the car will be very easy to shake up, then your face will definitely be filled with a "cool" smile.
However, once you accidentally step on the throttle, if there is no accident, you should perform a turn in place, although it does not look good enough, but it should feel very happy.
Switched to the fuel version of the Volvo S60 B5, the driving pleasure is not as good as the rear wheel also has a driving force of the T8 model, mainly when cornering, the rear of the car will no longer appear restless sliding, everything is in accordance with the trajectory of the front wheel, the throttle will also appear pusher phenomenon.
However, the stability of the Volvo S60 B5 model is impressive, because the ESP cannot be completely closed, so in the process of winding the pile, the vehicle has been in a relatively controllable state, even if it is too fast to rush out, lightly pressing the brakes and correcting the direction can easily return to the normal driving route.
Moreover, the Volvo S60 is globally unified with a standard wheelbase, a more compact body in the corner, the center of gravity transfer will be smaller, the handling will be more flexible, coupled with the suspension structure of the front double wishbone, the corner support is better, and the driving experience in the snow is still good.
It is worth mentioning that the chassis of volvo S60 uses a large number of aluminum alloys and composite materials, which not only has more advantages in body lightweight, but also more corrosion-resistant than ordinary steel, which is also beneficial in the northeast where snow melting agents are often sprinkled.
■ Bang reviews:
Of course, the most important thing about driving on ice and snow roads is definitely safety, which is also the foundation of Volvo, which originated in Northern Europe. As a car brand from Sweden, Volvo was born in ice and snow and is better at driving ice and snow.
The test drive, whether it is the Volvo S60 T8 E-drive hybrid or the Volvo S60 B5, has shown a high degree of safety and maneuverability on ice and snow roads, even with a high-performance beast with 391 horsepower / 640 Nm, it is not as difficult to control as imagined.
So, driving on snowy roads, which do you think is more important, the four-wheel drive system and the snow tire?