The popularity of the original ten generations of Honda Civic made the sports car market begin to become a unique emerging segment. Subsequently, many sports cars for young consumer groups began to emerge, from the beginning of the Lynk & Co 03 to last year's GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, all of which are products with a strong sports style. Fast forward to 2022, and another new product has joined this market segment, which is Changan UNI-V.
However, there is a very tangled problem in the sports car market, that is, the original sense of sport is destined to sacrifice comfort and practicality, and it will also lose a lot of market; if you only get a sporty shell, it is a bit futile. If you want to be popular and popular, you have to find the best balance between sports and home use. As a latecomer, can Chang'an UNI-V have some differences with its predecessors? We may wish to compare it with Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, which is close to the price and similar positioning.
Appearance and performance are indispensable
What exactly attracts consumers to a sports car? Or who is more important in appearance and performance? Obviously, in the level of compact cars, the appearance value is the primary factor attracting traffic.
GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard is a good example, I believe that we must have seen a variety of reseller versions of the Shadow Leopard on various social media, there are Mercedes-Benz AMG, there is Audi RS, from this point is enough to see the shadow leopard in the design to bring us a sense of sport. Whether it is the two versions of the appearance kit, or the attacking detail design, it makes the Shadow Leopard full of topicality.
At the same time, the usual sneakback design of sports-style cars also appeared on the shadow leopard. Coupled with the split taillights at the rear of the car, sharp lines, and a total of four exhausts on both sides, the sports atmosphere is created well enough against the background of the diffuser. It is worth mentioning that the Shadow Leopard is also equipped with a set of exhaust valves, which can be manually controlled or automatically adjusted according to the driving mode, although the displacement is not large, but the sound wave is still very sporty.
Looking at Changan UNI-V, the shape of the UNI series has always been known for its sense of technology and sharpness, especially the unique borderless network, which complements each other in this compact car. At the same time, Changan UNI-V is not only copied from the design of UNI-T and UNI-K unchanged, but optimized according to the attributes of the sports car. This targeted design seems to be more extreme than the shadow leopard in terms of sports and car running.
However, Changan UNI-V and Shadow Leopard have one thing in common, that is, they have a bolder design in terms of body posture and size. For example, the Trumpchi Shadow Leopard has a body size of 4700/1850/1432 mm and a wheelbase of 2736 mm. In Chang'an UNI-V, this rejection of the concept of "four levels and eight stability" has become even further.
Although the body length is not as long as the shadow leopard, the wheelbase of the Changan UNI-V has reached a longer 2750mm, and the height is lower, only 1430mm. Coupled with the fact that the outer diameter of the tire of Changan UNI-V is one size larger than that of the Shadow Leopard, the "low lying feeling" brought by Changan UNI-V will be more obvious, and the sports attributes will be more extreme, and at the same time, it can achieve a further lead in the practicality of the interior space.
For sports cars, excellent design can attract more attention from consumers. But to stick to the sport to the end, the test is that manufacturers have a deeper understanding of performance cars. Obviously, Changan UNI-V has this quality.
To exercise, but not to forget the intelligence
Sports car has always been facing young users, in addition to the sense of movement, intelligent technology is also their most concerned part. GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard has made efforts in this regard, the 10.25-inch central control screen and LCD dashboard composed of dual screens, built-in ADiGO intelligent interconnection ecosystem also supports a wealth of in-vehicle applications.
Coupled with intelligent voice assistants and in-car visualization biometric technology, face recognition, fatigue driving monitoring and other functions can be realized. At the same time, the driver assistance system has not fallen, and functions such as adaptive cruise, lane keeping, and lane departure warning are not absent.
But just like the sense of design, Changan UNI-V, as a latecomer, has made the intelligent technology configuration more extreme. For example, in terms of intelligent technology, Changan UNI-V is not only more functional, but also more advanced. For example, at present, the more common intelligent parking function is mostly a "semi-automatic" operation that finds a parking space and then clicks to park, while Changan UNI-V can automatically search for parking spaces within 20 meters at low speed in the parking area where conditions permit (lane line, parking space line is clear), and complete fully automatic parking. In the future, Changan UNI-V is also expected to achieve automatic reversing and returning according to the driving trajectory within 50 meters through OTA, so that even in a narrow road, there is no need to worry about parking the car and not being able to drive out.
In addition, in terms of intelligent driving assistance, in addition to conventional adaptive cruise and lane keeping, Changan UNI-V also supports functions such as automatic line connection and intelligent recommendation lane change, and carries out lane change and other operations according to the suggestions given by road condition detection and navigation information. At the same time, functions such as face recognition account login, gesture control, and front and back gesture interaction are also readily available.
In addition to smart technology, we return to the opening chapter on the balance between sports and home. In addition to the wheelbase advantages mentioned above, the hatchback design of Changan UNI-V can better expand the loading capacity of the trunk and make up for the shortcomings caused by the slipback design. At the same time, the panoramic canopy inside the car also makes the low body not look too depressed. Technology, intelligence, but also to ensure a certain home atmosphere, at present, this should be the most family sports car in the same class.
What does extreme sports car look like?
Of course, for a sports car, power performance is always the most important. But after all, the price of domestic compact cars generally does not exceed 150,000 yuan, so the displacement of the engine is usually not too large.
The 1.5T is the most common option for this class, but how do you squeeze out more power performance with a combination of small displacement + turbocharging? This is a test of the R & D strength of each manufacturer. GAC Trumpchi brought to Shadow Leopard a 1.5T GDI engine from Julang Power, with a maximum horsepower of 177Ps and a maximum torque of 270N·m. For a compact sedan, such a power parameter is small enough to experience a push back feeling. At the same time, the 4+X Super Drive mode offers a variety of driving sensations.
Changan UNI-V is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged engine of the Blue Whale series, with a maximum horsepower of 188Ps and a maximum torque of 300N·m, which is much higher than trumpchi shadow leopard from the book alone, and a variety of driving modes and exhaust valves are not absent.
In addition to stronger power, Changan UNI-V is also equipped with an electric tail, when used daily, the owner can low-key retract the tail, and when it is necessary to "grumpy", this set of tail wings can provide up to 25kg of downforce, so that the car is more stable at high speed. Usually put away, run high-speed up, this is not a balance between home and sports?
Uncle Che summed up
From the perspective of product positioning, Changan UNI-V has a high degree of similarity with sports family cars such as GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, but at the same time, the differentiation is also very obvious. To put it simply, Changan UNI-V strives to achieve the ultimate in both athletic performance and household attributes. In addition to more powerful power parameters and rich driving modes, the addition of electric rear wings and low bodywork makes Changan UNI-V not suspected of being just a "look goods", while the hatchback design and rich intelligent configuration have also achieved the most perfect balance between sports and home use.
The most critical thing is that last year, Uncle Che had tested the Trumpchi Shadow Leopard purchased by his editorial colleagues twice, and the results of the two test results in the formaldehyde and TVOC harmful substances were significantly exceeded, which made people very worried about the physical harm to the driver and passenger. In addition, the guidance price of Changan UNI-V 10.89-13.19 million yuan is very friendly to young users. Of course, if you are still not satisfied with the existing power performance, the Changan UNI-V 2.0T model that is expected to be launched in June this year is even more worth waiting for!