I don't know if you have ever imagined such a question: if traditional brands start to take the route of rejuvenation, what kind of painting style should it be?
In August 2014, Volkswagen's first sports coupe Lingdu officially ushered in the listing, and since then, with the cooperation with "Running Man", it has successfully won the favor and recognition of a large number of young fans. In that era when domestic brands had not yet risen, the emergence of the first generation of Lingdu was like a fresh stream of blood, stimulating the originally flat A-class family car market at that time.
The time came to 2022, after 8 years of development, Volkswagen Lingdu finally ushered in a replacement. And in order to revitalize the influence of the young market, SAIC Volkswagen also opened a unique name campaign through official Weibo and other channels, and finally "Spicy Steamed Buns" became the Chinese of the new generation of Lingdu L with a support rate of 68%.
Recently, when the new Lingdu L opened pre-sale, the author was also invited to the SAIC Volkswagen factory to participate in a real car shooting activity to unveil the "mystery" of Lingdu L for everyone.
Former Lamborghini designers themselves
Shanghai in early March still reveals a hint of coolness, so that people can inadvertently feel a strong sense of spring. Different from the cool weather, the new Lingdu L that was invited to shoot this time is a bit "hot", and the red body theme and design background reflect SAIC Volkswagen's determination to challenge the young market once again.
At the product analysis meeting, Mr. Michel Tinazzo, a former Lamborghini designer and head of the new Lingdu L design, shared with us the design inspiration and collision behind the Lingdu L. "Lingdu L is using a new, unique design, and we use this transformative approach to design and have an impact on the next generation and even other products of SAIC Volkswagen in the future," he said. ”
It is also under the influence of this research and development concept that the new Lingdu L presents a very bold and even exaggerated design method in appearance. In Mr. Microhlel Tinazzo's view, this is also a reference to the successful styling experience of the ID family, providing an avant-garde design benchmark for the next fuel vehicle.
First of all, in the front layout, compared with the traditional design methods of SAIC Volkswagen, the shape of Lingdu L is the most "alternative" in the family. The front face's visual center of gravity extends sharply downwards, the hood is integrated with the headlights like a supercar, and the dot-matrix grille is moved to the position of the lower bumper, if you do not look carefully, I believe it is easy to mistake the Lingdu L for a new energy vehicle.
Surprisingly, the set of IQ.LIGHT headlights on the Volkswagen ID family also appeared on the Lingdu L. After lighting up at night, it can not only bring the luminous effect through the front of the car, but also achieve high beam avoidance, that is, when the group is converging at night, the object is identified by the sensor to come to the car, and the 3 to 4 LED light sources in the light cavity are turned off, so that the light illumination range avoids the line of sight of the other driver and improves driving safety.
The lines on the side of the body are equally simple and smooth, and the positioning of the coupe makes the body height of the Lingdu L only 1425mm, but the length reaches 4615mm, and the slender lines create just the right proportion of the body.
At the same time, in order to break into the world of young users, the new Lingdu L provides up to 7 body colors to choose from, such as hot red and LingJian white, and the test drive filmed this time uses a rock tea gray matte body. In addition, SAIC Volkswagen has also launched 5 official color change services for the new Lingdu L, and manufacturers will further meet the customized needs of users through post-filming and other methods.
The moment the window is lowered and the door is pushed, you can feel the unique sense of ceremony of Lingdu L as a sports coupe. The frameless car door that is standard in the whole series seems to be a "small Easter egg" given by the designer to consumers, especially when eating or dating, this inadvertent surprise can also earn a certain return rate.
Compared with the radical front of the car, the rear part of the car is much more convergent, but it can still see the shadow of many ID families, and the through-line taillights are still conspicuous even during the day. However, it is a little regrettable that the exhaust pipe below is hidden under the car by the designers of SAIC Volkswagen, while the lower surround is combined with plastic and chrome plating, which looks slightly cheaper.
The oversized hatchback tailbox is one of the author's most satisfactory designs, with a volume of up to 480L when opened, and is also equipped with a motorized switch function. Compared with the traditional tail compartment, the large-angle hatchback design can greatly improve the utilization of space, and it is also easier to stuff the folding bicycle and the larger items in the check-in box.
The integrator under the MQB-EVO architecture
The degree of intelligence of the cockpit is the embodiment of the research and development strength of a car company, and in today's era of "getting the platform is the world", the new Lingdu L also relies on a more advanced MQB-EVO architecture to achieve self-innovation. Although in the eyes of many people, Volkswagen's fuel vehicles are conservative, the digital cockpit unique to Lingdu L still shocked the author.
If you don't say, I believe that many people will still feel that this is a new energy vehicle, because in addition to the appearance, the layout of Lingdu L in the interior also refers to the successful design experience of the ID family to a certain extent. The central control layout is more concise, and the traces of de-keying are also very obvious.
It is worth mentioning that the design of the dual screen is the first time to appear in SAIC Volkswagen's products, and the angle is also slightly inclined to the driver's side to further meet the application needs of ergonomics. However, according to the relevant development person in charge of Lingdu L, saicid Volkswagen's products in the future are likely not to use dual screens, so Lingdu may be one of the few models that adopts this technology.
In addition, the three-frame steering wheel adopts Volkswagen's latest family design, which has a strong grip and gives people the feeling of driving an SUV. At the same time, at the three and nine points, it is also equipped with the same touch switch as the ID family, which will trigger the vibration feedback after pressing it. However, in terms of practicality, the author prefers traditional physical buttons, because it is easier to operate blindly when driving.
The 12-inch LCD screen integrates most of the function control, built-in MOS 3.2 intelligent car connection system, can achieve intelligent voice, smart entertainment, intelligent connected car control and many other advanced functions. And in terms of sensitivity and resolution, it is still ahead of Toyota Asia lions and other joint venture competitors of the same level, even in the strong sunlight of noon, there is no serious reflection phenomenon.
But some of the fly in the ointment is that the UI interface of the central control screen is still cumbersome, and various secondary dishes make people a little dizzy, even a very simple function will let you study for half a day, and the first operation is not so easy to get started.
In the high-end model, Lingdu L is also equipped with the famous Beats audio system, the whole car is equipped with 8 speakers, support 10 channel soundstage setting, for young users to bring more shocking 3D stereo surround sound. And for the loyal "headphone party", this is undoubtedly a blessing.
With the blessing of the MQB-EVO platform, the new Lingdu L is also equipped with a W-HUD head-up display. Although this function does not achieve 3D stereoscopic projection like ID.4 X, it can adjust the display angle according to parameters such as the driver's sitting posture and eye height, so that users can always pay attention to important information such as speed and road conditions.
Finally, in terms of power, the Lingdu L is equipped with a 1.4T turbocharged engine with a maximum output of 150 hp, a maximum power of 110 kW, and a peak torque of 250 Nm, which is matched by a 7-speed dry dual-clutch transmission. From the horsepower output and other data, the performance of Lingdu L is still more biased towards home use, as to whether the future will launch a higher displacement version, I am afraid it will be up to the market to decide.
Auto Network Review: This is a successful attempt
In 2014, the listing of the original Lingdu can be said to have attracted a lot of attention, and the low body and bright red appearance made many people remember this product specially designed for the young market at a glance. Of course, as a continuation of this sports gene, the new Lingdu L still did not disappoint the author, and a series of competitive configurations such as frameless doors, hatchback tail boxes, and intelligent cockpits were enough to please many young consumers.
Finally, if you look at it from a market perspective, although Lingdu L is still in the pre-sale state, the starting price of 159,900 pre-sale is believed to be enough to form a lot of pressure on honda Lingpai, Toyota Asia Lion and other joint venture competitors of the same level. As a sports coupe with both home and power, will the new Lingdu L become the next blockbuster? Welcome to leave a message with the author in the comment area below.