After the highlander was listed last year, it caused an uproar in the market, after all, this car has made many friends wait for a long time. A little regret, the rising price of the ship has also made many consumers play a "retreat", the price increase of new cars has been Toyota's usual thinking in recent years, and the premium even exceeds many luxury brands. So is there a second option on the market besides Highlander? You don't have to say, there are really, such as this second-generation Trumpchi GS8 dual engine version, it is not only a lot cheaper than the Highlander, but its hybrid system is derived from Toyota's THS, which makes things interesting at once.
Talking about GS8, I believe that most friends are not strangers, the first model won the hearts of consumers with its tough appearance and good space performance, and it was one of the few independent brand SUVs that could sell well at a price of 200,000 at that time. You know, this is in 2017, when Lynk & Co 01 was still a fledgling novice, and now IND, which is in the 200,000-300,000, is still constantly groping for fuel vehicles and new energy track switching. From this, we can see the influence of GS8 at that time. When you come to the second generation of models, all you have to do is keep up with the market troops and make some different selling points.
Appearance: Classic heritage, details improved
In fact, the second generation of GS8 not only did it, but even in my opinion, its performance can be said to be exceptionally good. The new car doesn't change much at first glance, and it's recognizable at a glance that this is the successor to the GS8, and this god-like and shapeless design is especially important for a model with a history. At the same time, great strides have been made in the details. Our hybrid version has an exclusive large-mouth grille, which makes the front of the car that is already thick enough to become taller, a bit of a master M8 master version, which will feel a little abrupt at first glance, but after watching more, this feeling will gradually disappear. The headlights on both sides are close to the outlines of the previous generation, but the area is narrowed, and the lines become vertical and sharp. The light source inside is the focus of this time, adding matrix LED headlights, and there is also an adaptive function, which can fill the light in a low-light environment, especially in the face of some road signs hanging at heights on the road, which can also be "lit up" one by one. The most "forced" function is that every time the ignition is ignited, the LED light source in the upper part will slowly open, the sense of ceremony is very strong, and the whole car becomes "spiritual".
The horizontal and vertical lines are matched with the contour shape that is close to the square, which is perfectly in line with the retro style pursued by the current consumer market. It's also easily reminiscent of Cadillac's SUVs. The front and rear arches have a certain expansion, and the bottom skid plate is folded, and the sense of layering will be stronger. The size of the car has increased significantly, reaching 5015mm in length, 1950mm in width and 1780mm in height, respectively, and the actual car looks full of weight.
The rear of the car is upright and tough, the rear windshield is integrated with the black D-pillar, and the vertically arranged taillights can also present a flowing dynamic effect when unlocked.
Interior: Modern design with impressive materials
The interior design has become more concise than the previous generation, and the previously complex buttons have been integrated into the central control screen. The overall design idea is mainly straight, which is also in line with the appearance, and can further stretch the visual width of the interior of the carriage. At the material level, it also conforms to its corresponding price range, and the upper part is mainly soft-lined plastic, and it is embellished with stitches. In the door panel area, you can see that there are many materials spliced together, and even the fur has appeared, which can feel the sincerity of the manufacturer.
The car machine is a less satisfying place, the first thing is to cancel my favorite Carplay, which can be seen when test driving Trumpchi models in the past. Of course, when I thought that the reason for the manufacturer's cancellation of Carplay was to be confident in its own car system, I found that I thought too much. First of all, the interface still has not changed much, and secondly, the fluency comparison GS4 PLUS and M8 has also regressed, often clicking on an application to wait 2-3 seconds to react. The number of apps that can be downloaded in the built-in app store is also a handful, even the most used by young people QQ Music and NetEase Cloud, so if you want to listen to native high-quality music in the car, you can only buy memberships again. Hopefully, Trumpchi can make an annual makeover or upgrade to bring the lost Carplay back.
The LCD dashboard is 12.3 inches in size and offers a variety of themed display styles, and I prefer the global navigation mode to look more intuitive and clear. At the same time, the meter and can automatically switch the black and white backlight according to day or night to protect vision. In addition, the car also comes with an AR-HUD, which can display the current information of the vehicle and virtual arrow navigation, which is very feature-rich and has many gameplay combinations.
The operation platform area adopts a crystal electronic gear, the surface has a diamond-shaped texture, the left side is the start button, the rear is the driving mode selection, the operation about driving is concentrated in one area, the first time to drive this car can also do light driving familiar road.
Space: The seats are extremely comfortable and the third row is not a decoration
The storage space of this car is arranged very reasonably, and there is an empty storage slot under the air conditioner outlet, which can accommodate 2-3 mobile phones, and is equipped with anti-slip rubber pads to avoid the situation of mobile phones "taking off" when starting. The cup holder on the right side of the gear handle is very large, and the middle-aged man's thermos cup can put two. The bottom is also cutout to make it easy to hold a backpack or a lady's handbag. In addition, the USB interface and cigarette lighter are hidden here, maintaining the sense of unity in the car.
Entering the driver's seat, the wide, soft seat will immediately make you realize that it is a comfortable setting, with soft and supportive padding, and also supports heating and ventilation. In addition, there is no discomfort in the sitting position, although the front of the car is very high in longitudinal height, but the driver's seat has a very good view, and there is not much pressure when walking in the underground parking lot.
The test drive is a six-seater version, with two separate seats in the second row, a theater-like design, and the second row can even see the road ahead through the front driver's seat. Secondly, in terms of comfort, it is also in line with the front row, and the legroom performance is in line with the level of this size, and the competitor Highlander imitates the upper and lower imitations. However, this set of cup holders in the middle aisle has some chicken ribs, which makes the middle aisle very narrow, and it is difficult for passengers in the third row to enter and exit directly.
Of course, getting into the third row doesn't have to go through the middle. There is a button near the headrest on the right side of the seat, which can be pushed forward by pressing it. Due to the moderate height of the platform, the upper and lower third rows did not feel difficult. In terms of riding performance, there is room for legroom and headroom in the third row, and the seats are thick enough. In addition, the third row of windows is very large, you can also enjoy the scenery along the road during the trip, and the seat back supports electric adjustment, which is rare for this price to work so hard in the third row area.
In the state of three rows of fully open, the volume of the tail box is not large, even the textbooks of my previous college entrance examination can not be put in, and the seat back supports electric folding, elegant and convenient. The spare tire is stored under the car, which will have more steps to disassemble than in the car, and it is also dirty. Of course, this is understandable, after all, this car has been stuffed to the brim.
Dynamic: The hybrid system is smooth and linear, and the vehicle has an excellent sense of premium
It is not clear how Trumpchi got the patent authorization of Toyota's set of THS hybrids, but as a consumer, it does not need to consider so much, but it uses Toyota hybrids, which also makes the GS8 have an additional selling point. Instead of using Toyota's 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine, the GS8 Hybrid uses its own 2.0T, which has a combined maximum horsepower of 237 hp and a peak torque of 391 Nm. Both front-drive and four-wheel drive versions are available, where the four-wheel drive structure is close to Toyota's E-FOUR electronically controlled four-wheel drive, and a set of motors is added to the rear axle, mainly responsible for providing some driving force when accelerating sharply.
Before driving this GS8 hybrid, I also tried the new hybrid cars launched by Toyota in China last year, including the Highlander and Lexus NX350h. Of these models that use a hybrid system, the most impressive thing is not the smoothness, but the noise performance of the engine at full power output, and even makes me wonder if Toyota deliberately did it to ensure optimal work efficiency. However, after experiencing the GS8 hybrid, you will find that this is simply Toyota's lack of attention.
With the help of the front and rear motors, the car responds quite quickly at low speeds, and if the throttle is not well controlled, there is even a feeling of jumping. In the electric drive section, the response of this car is similar to that of the RAV4 dual-engine four-wheel drive version.
In addition to the stop idle, it is difficult to detect the time point of the engine intervention during the driving process, and it can even be described as a silent moisturizer, and the jitter that appears on the Highlander acceleration pedal is also gone.
Compared to the Lexus NX's spring-loaded brake pedals, the GS8 Hybrid explains what it means to pedal as much as you want, and even if you drive this car for the first time, you can behave like an old driver. In addition, this car also has kinetic energy recovery, up to -45kW, but whether it is the driver or passenger, can not feel the drag caused by kinetic energy recovery, and ordinary fuel vehicles.
I have to say that after changing the engine, the performance of this car is much stronger than that of Toyota, which uses self-priming, and you can feel the obvious feeling of pushing back when overtaking. At the same time, the acceleration of the rear section of the 2.0T engine is good, even if it is 120km/h, it can still be done to give oil.
Of course, as an SUV for home travel, the noise performance can not be less. The front row uses soundproof glass, and the sense of isolation is still relatively strong; the rear row will have a slight gap, but it is still remarkable in the same level. Tire noise was an unexpected surprise, the 255-width Michelin PS4 did not have much noise, perhaps because it had been raining for several days in test drives, and the slippery road surface also provided some help.
The first impression of the chassis is that it is tough and does not deviate too much towards softness for comfort like the ideal ONE. When passing through potholes on the road, the suspension rebound speed is crisp and clean, and the body does not have excess shaking. The sense of premium or the sense of wholeness of the chassis is remarkable.
The handling is satisfactory for its size and is more flexible to open. Whether it is floor oil acceleration or full braking, the control of the body attitude is quite stable, which shows the tuning skills of its chassis.
There is a small section of vacancy in the initial stage of the steering, which is in line with one of the tones of the whole vehicle. However, the damping of the steering is more general, does not make people feel the effect of gaining with speed, although there are three options of lightness, comfort and sports, but there are still some gaps from an excellent steering.
Finally, there is the fuel consumption performance, because the borrowing time is too tight, we have not been able to run a standard endurance test. However, this car drove nearly 300 kilometers, replaced by 4-5 drivers, some aggressive, some moderate, and the overall fuel consumption is about 7.5L, which is quite OK for such a medium-sized SUV.
summary
Although the experience time is not long, this GS8 hybrid version still brings me quite a surprise. There have been significant improvements in appearance, interior, and space usability, and the blessing of Toyota Hybrid has also solved the last concern of consumers. What's more, the starting price of the hybrid is only 228,800 yuan, which is much cheaper than highlander. To paraphrase a phrase from Weilai Li Bin, "I really can't understand why anyone still buys Highlander now?" Is it for that illusory brand premium? ”