Chery Group has had many independent sub-brands a long time ago, but after the strategy of "returning to a Chery", these sub-brands seem to disappear from the public's vision at once, but in recent years, Chery Group has actively sought vertical development, so it has successively launched two sub-brands, Jietu and Xingtu, of which Jietu is positioned lower than the Chery brand, focusing on the sinking market, while Xingtu is positioned higher than the Chery brand and strives for upward development. Today we got the flagship model of Xingtu , the 400T, and see how it performs.
First of all, we must like the naming of the Xingtu model - the moon, the clouds, the wind, in this popular era of English + digital starting names, Xingtu uses "wind", "cloud", "moon", "light" to name, elegant but not lose the Chinese style, praise.
The interior and exterior design is mature
The appearance of the large and medium-sized SUV, the appearance design style is square and stable, and there are not too many fancy lines - straight front and tail, 20-inch dense multi-spoke wheels, giving people the feeling of "rules". It is worth mentioning that the tail end adopts a penetrating taillight shape, and the rear bar also has a "dark gold" color chrome trim to echo it, and the sense of layering is there.
The interior continues the mature style of the exterior, in order to set off the luxurious atmosphere, the interior also uses a lot of dark wood grain panels and piano paint pieces, and the details are added with a lot of "dark gold" elements, such as steering wheel, double screen UI color matching, door panels, center console and co-pilot front position, but the overall look is a bit old-fashioned. Fortunately, the existence of the dual screen adds a sense of technology to the car.
The configuration of this car is very high, the driving assistance system, 360 ° panoramic image, steep slope mitigation, panoramic sunroof, electric trunk, keyless start + entry, leather steering wheel, dual 12.3-inch LCD instrument, HUD head display, car recorder, leather power seat, LED headlight group + automatic headlight + adaptive near and far light, automatic air conditioning and so on, basically you have it.
I like its wireless CarPlay feature the most, which directly takes the car machine system up a notch. The native car system response speed is OK, that is, it is slightly slower when switching UI themes.
Although many of the air conditioning controls are touch-controlled, it also has two eye-catching large knobs, which is still very easy to use. However, after a long time of use, it is difficult to avoid becoming a "fingerprint collector" after a long time.
In addition, this car supports wireless charging, interestingly, the moment the wireless charging starts there is sound feedback, similar to the sound of turning on the air conditioner with a remote control, in fact, I think this sound effect can be canceled.
The seat riding experience of this car can be praised, the ergonomic mechanics of the seat are better designed, the fit to the human body is higher, and the second and third rows of seats support backrest adjustment, it can be seen that the care of the rear passengers is in place, and the second row of seats also has aviation headrests, which can better support the passenger's head.
In fact, everyone knows that the third row of the 7-seat SUV is more of an "emergency" role, and the comfort should not be too much, but the moon is still trying to meet the third row of passengers as much as possible, which is worth affirming.
At the same time, due to the large size and the use of a boxy line design, the car is very spacious, whether it is the seating space or the loading capacity of the trunk, it is very large.
However, the seat also has a clear problem, that is, the padding is too hard. This has advantages and disadvantages, the advantage is that the support of the human body is better when driving for a long time, the body is not easy to feel tired, it is in line with the original user portrait of Xingtu's target of the moon (there is a demand for suburban travel), the disadvantage is that if you drive for a short distance, you may feel that the seat is not soft and comfortable enough. However, according to the official feedback, the new model will optimize the cushion and replace it with a softer padding.
Officials believe that the target consumer group of this car is mainly male, 30 to 45 years old, they have a small career, a family, and a certain outdoor travel needs, so the design of the moon is obviously inclined to mature. But the aesthetic is up to date, so the design may be a little greasy at the moment, especially those "dark gold" elements and a large number of wood grain panels, if replaced by carbon fiber trim (even if it is stickers) or bright silver decoration and the like, the overall effect may be better. But aesthetic well, each flower into each eye.
There is still a lot of room for improvement in mechanical quality
Although the steering wheel has a four-way adjustment, the range of adjustment is a little narrower, and the driver with a larger range can have a better driving sitting posture. The steering wheel feels heavy, the subjective sense of stability is very strong, but the positive torque is also large, and there is a feeling of "grabbing the steering wheel" when driving at high speed, which is where optimization is needed.
The engine is Chery's strength, starting with 390T power, but soon upgraded to today's 400T, the car is equipped with a 2.0T high-power engine book data is very eye-catching - the maximum power of 192kW / 5500rpm, the maximum torque of 400N· m / 1750-4000rpm, a proper first echelon level. The actual power performance of this car is in line with expectations, surging and strong, driving this 1.9-ton car is effortless and confident when overtaking.
Matching the engine is a 7-stop wet double clutch, which performs well in smoothness and does not have obvious frustration when stopping and going on congested roads in the city. However, the responsiveness is relatively average, and when the big power is requested, the gearbox will be slightly slower and not open enough.
The initial stage of power performed well, but when the middle section accelerated, there would be a torque black hole, and the acceleration was not as timely as in the initial section, and the latter section could be used again. It can be said that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the adjustment of the gearbox. However, the car's official 100-kilometer fuel consumption is 7.9L (two-wheel drive) / 8.5L (four-wheel drive), which is a surprise for a medium and large SUV.
The brake foot feeling will be soft in the initial stage, at this time the braking force is more linear, but when the pedal stroke comes to a certain point, the braking force of the vehicle will increase significantly, then the vehicle is prone to the phenomenon of "nodding", if you want to drive smoothly, the car should be slightly adapted.
The chassis part of the suspension is soft, the vibration filtration is not bad, and the comfort is in place. However, the vibration filter is not crisp enough, there is a certain aftershock in the car, and the roll will be larger when cornering, but considering the weight and size of the body, the chassis performance of the moon is still OK.
The editor said: The StarWay Moon car has a lot of remarkable places, such as its engine, configuration, seats, etc., and has many advantages in the same level. At the same time, there are also many places that can be improved, such as the gearbox, brake foot feeling, steering wheel return torque and suspension flexibility.
However, I think these are secondary, the main thing is that the interior and exterior design should be renewed, and the new model is coming, and its internal and external design has changed. In fact, from the perspective of the official attitude to the moon, they are very sincere about this car, but the competition in the Chinese car market is too fierce, and the level of the moon is even more masterful, and Xingtu wants to go further, or needs to continue to work hard.