"Why are some car companies keen to select extremely cold areas for ice and snow test driving activities in the coldest winter season?" This is the biggest question in my heart before I flew to Chagan Lake in Songyuan, Jilin Province on January 12 to participate in the "FAW-Volkswagen Thousand Miles Extremely Cold Ice and Snow Test Drive". I believe that like most people think, they think that the ice and snow test drive in the closed field is just for fun. However, after two days of ice and snow test drives, my previous thoughts and doubts have completely changed, not only with a new understanding, but also with more experience in driving a medium-sized SUV such as FAW-Volkswagen in an extremely cold environment. At the same time, this event is also the first media intensive test of faw-Volkswagen flagship SUV 2.5T model, so I have a lot of feelings about the comprehensive dynamic performance of this car in a cold climate. Let's take a look at the test drive experience.
Driving on the ice is fun, but it takes skill to drift perfectly
The "FAW-Volkswagen Qianli Extremely Cold Ice and Snow Test Drive" activity site is on the ice surface of Chagan Lake in Songyuan City, Jilin Province, China, where the latitude is as high as 45 degrees north latitude, the minimum temperature is about minus 30 degrees, and the climate is dry and cold. After 7 days of preparation, the manufacturer built a complex challenge subject of 250,000 square meters of ice and snow maze and giant drift loop on the frozen lake surface of Chagan Lake, which also added difficulty and fun to our ice and snow test drive. It is worth noting that this event is the first media intensive test of faw-Volkswagen flagship SUV 2.5T models, and the first time that the "ID.CROZZ family" has conducted a battery life test in an extremely cold environment. Still, we're going to talk about the contexts we've experienced the most.
First of all, let's take a look at the basic information of the vehicle, as the flagship SUV of FAW-Volkswagen, Lanjing has the largest body size ever in the entire Volkswagen SUV family, with a length, width and height of 5152/2002/1795 (1792) mm, and a wheelbase of 2980mm, which is also the leading level in the medium and large SUV of the same class.
In terms of powertrain, we test-drove the top model in the entire range of "530TSI all-wheel drive flagship Shengjing Edition Pro". It is equipped with a Volkswagen EA390 2.5T VR6 engine, and is imported from Germany, the maximum horsepower is 299 horses, the maximum torque is 500 Nm, the main features are the special V-shaped structure is more compact, light weight, good heat dissipation, excellent smoothness; can achieve better torque output at high and low speeds by controlling the air intake channel switching. In terms of gearbox, it is equipped with a DQ501 wet dual-clutch transmission, which can withstand up to 600 Nm of torque, and has higher gear change speed and transmission efficiency. In addition, the 4WD system from BorgWarner-Henderson is also equipped, as well as the DCC electromagnetic suspension, so how can these devices help the vehicle's ice driving?
Preferred in the ice track experience process, FAW-Volkswagen for the whole environment to replace the "nail tire", to a certain extent to improve the grip of the vehicle, but the actual drive still needs special attention, after all, the border is a big guy weighing more than 2 tons, once the speed is not well controlled, it is very easy to get out of control, even if the ESP is turned on.
In the actual experience process, with the help of "nail tire", the vehicle is very prone to side slip when braking and cornering at a faster speed, and the steering wheel angle should not be too large, otherwise the feeling of the vehicle losing control will make you panic, so before familiarizing yourself with this feeling, you need to control the speed as much as possible, control the brakes, and get familiar with this almost "zero" grip feeling as soon as possible.
After adapting for a period of time, after becoming familiar with the feeling of "zero" grip, you can further "test" with your previous driving experience, at this time, in order to achieve the ultimate "snow drift" purpose, adjusting ESP to sport mode will be a better choice. After controlling the speed and finding the angle of the corner, what you need to do is to control the steering wheel, enter the bend and immediately turn, let the vehicle slide sideways, and then immediately reverse the direction. At this point, the vehicle will easily complete a small drift. However, as the vehicle gradually slides sideways and moves closer to the ice wall, you will be a little nervous and will involuntarily step on the brakes, but this also means the end of the "drift".
With the accumulation of experience in ice driving, the control of the landscape is also handy, in order to complete the beautiful drift, I appropriately increased the speed of the corner, the first few actions are still the same as before, let the vehicle cross, and then hit the direction, but this time the excitement exceeds the fear, at the same time, directly big foot throttle, let the wheel break through the grip, and continue to output on the ice surface, under the action of inertia, the wheel slid out of a perfect trajectory, seeing the snowflakes stirred up by the wheel in the rearview mirror, I believe that this time the drift was successful.
-30 degrees to take the road / bad road, the border is very calm
In addition to the ice and snow pavement experience, we also conducted open road test drives and non-paved road interviews for the border. First of all, let's talk about how the road driving experience of the border is, here I summarize it in eight words: smooth output, strong power.
The temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius is actually a great test for all aspects of the vehicle's performance, but the feeling of the environment is very calm. Its light, delicate steering feel, linear brakes and tough suspension do not drive at all like a medium-sized SUV with a car length of more than 5 meters, and it will not feel like driving a boat.
Driving on normal asphalt, turn on the comfortable driving mode, the four-wheel drive mode is adjusted to the road, and the combination of the 2.5T VR6 engine + 7 wet-proof double clutch is very gentle and will not make you difficult to control like the exploding parameters, but very "obedient". By tapping on the accelerator, the vehicle can output smoothly, and the gear change process is very gentle and almost imperceptible. When you need to overtake, you can just step on the accelerator a little deeper, accompanied by a thick engine sound, and the feeling of pushing back will come smoothly. At 60km/h, we carried out several big foot throttle acceleration, at this time the gearbox underwent continuous downshifting, the speed instantly came to 3000 rpm, the push back feeling is very strong, and the power lag is almost nothing, compared to the 2.0T inline four-cylinder engine, the acceleration feeling is to go up a step.
After opening the sport mode, the temperament of the environment has changed greatly, but it is not difficult to control, but the throttle response is more sensitive, and the engine speed is also maintained at about 2500 rpm, as long as you control it well, the power output of the vehicle can also be smooth. But if you are on your head at this time, one foot on the throttle to the end, then the 2.5T VR6 of the range will usher in a full-scale explosion, and the strong push back feeling will continue until you think it is too fast and afraid, and release the throttle, at this time the vehicle's gear change opportunity is postponed to 5000 rpm. It is worth mentioning that the VR6's thick sound wave is really unmatched by all L4 engines.
In the subsequent off-road section, equipped with the BorgWarner-Henderson sixth-generation four-wheel drive system and DCC electromagnetic suspension, we were pleasantly surprised, and even exceeded expectations. After choosing the off-road mode, after a long period of bad road, the chassis performance of the landscape is calm enough, in the face of continuous ups and downs, the suspension is rich enough for each stretch and rebound, and there are few limit situations. It's also a nice feeling to sit in the car, with no special bumps and loose suspension.
When passing through some snowy slopes that are easy to slip, the response of the four-wheel drive system is very timely, although it is only a timely four-wheel drive system, but the front and rear axle power distribution, electronic sliding between the wheels still have a certain role, which also allows us to easily get out of trouble when passing through the shell crater and hump. It is worth mentioning that this BorgWarner-Henderson 6th generation four-wheel drive system can transmit up to 100% power to the rear wheels, so it is easier to climb slopes in the snow. However, because the body is still a little too large, the wheelbase of nearly 3 meters is easy to support in some situations, so when walking at minus 30 degrees, choosing a good route is sometimes more effective than relying on off-road equipment.
summary:
As a medium-sized SUV weighing more than 2 tons, FAW-Volkswagen does not have the slightest sense of bulkiness in the whole world, but is like a compact SUV, driving very calmly. With the help of the 2.5T VR6, even in the extremely cold weather of minus 30 degrees, the power output is still strong, calm and smooth, and it is ahead of the in-line four-cylinder engine in all aspects, which makes people love it. At the same time, a good four-wheel drive system and DCC dynamic suspension and other driving equipment have also given this urban SUV the ability to take a bad road, and it can even be said that in the same level of medium and large SUV products, the performance of the whole environment is outstanding. I believe that with everyone's continuous in-depth understanding of the territory, these advantages will definitely be felt more deeply.