In the southwestern part of the mainland, there are many fairy legends. Some of these legends are very interesting, and some are very frightening.
The funniest goblin I've ever heard of is a pile of cow that grows taller. When you meet this goblin, you have to take off your shoes and throw them out immediately, as long as the shoes are thrown higher than this lump of cow, it will revert to ordinary cow.
In addition, there is a kind of goblin that makes you get lost, always wandering from place to place, and it is said that my great-uncle once encountered: he cut a bundle of firewood in the deep mountains, but he could not carry it, and kept circling in the mountains until he climbed the highest treetops, and then he recognized the way home, and it was already dusk outside the mountain.
I also met goblins in Yangshuo in the southwest region this time, and let me circle around the Ten Mile Gallery at the confluence of the Li River and the Yulong River.
The difference is that this leprechaun is a luxury SUV from Northern Europe – the Volvo XC40.
01
Flexible and easy to open elf
First of all, let's talk about how the Volvo XC40 charmed me and made me circle around the "Ten Mile Gallery" on the banks of the Yulong River – this car is so good to drive, every corner can be accurately entered with your steering, and then turned on the oil and then exited the bend without delay. In this process, thanks to the anti-roll bar at the rear, the suspension is almost non-rolling, giving you confidence when driving this car around.
On the road of Yangshuo, which is known as the "Ten Mile Gallery", how can driving a car that is as obedient as a fairy in a fairy tale make people suppress the desire to drive?
On the workshop before getting the test drive, Volvo said that the XC40 has a ground clearance of 211mm, which is comparable to a medium-sized SUV like the BMW X3, which can ignore most potholes on the road and have a wider field of view, emphasizing that the XC40 is very suitable for female consumers to drive.
My first reaction when I heard this sentence was: Will the XC40 lose the excellent control of Volvo in the past? When driving the test drive at low speed, the light and fluttering feel deepened my worries.
But as the speed of the car rises, the steering torque increases with the speed of the car, especially the speed bumps and some potholes that press over the road surface, the suspension compresses quickly, simply rebounds, and there is no superfluous action, I find that I am wrong: the XC40 is first a Volvo, and then a small car suitable for female driving.
As we mentioned when we test-drove the S60 before: all kinds of good designs on the car are the same destination, and they will eventually make this car an excellent product.
In fact, good opening is a subjective feeling generated by intuition, and all manipulation is intuitive. For example, the XC40's steering is light but precise, and the suspension system can provide sufficient support in the bend, so that the front of the car can always go in the direction the driver expects. In the same way, the linear throttle and brake are also in line with the intuition that "as much as you step on, there is as much acceleration and braking as possible".
On the other hand, in addition to the lowest T3 model equipped with a 1.5T engine, the Volvo XC40 is equipped with a 2.0T engine with a maximum power of 140kW (190Ps, 4700rpm) as standard, and the peak torque of 300 Nm lasts from 1400 rpm to 4000 rpm. The compact SUV of other luxury brands has its main driving force of 1.4T and 1.5T, and the Mercedes-Benz GLA even has only 1.3T.
A compact SUV with 190 horsepower is absolutely enough, with an output of 300 Nm at 1400 rpm, which also ensures that the power is always on the pedal. In Sport mode, the 8AT transmission will delay shifting and use up the peak torque range, but the engine will sound a little too loud.
The XC40 also comes standard (except for the T3 model) haldex's fifth-generation full-time all-wheel drive system from BorgWarner, while in other luxury brand SUV of the same class, only the top model will be equipped with a four-wheel drive system. The four-wheel drive system can sense the road conditions according to the sensor, and in 0.08 seconds, the power distribution of the front and rear axles, in the ultimate state, 50% of the power is transferred to the rear axle.
In order to appreciate this XC40, I drove it to the Li River beach under the Yangshuo Bridge, whether it is a steep unpaved road or an undulating cobblestone road, this four-wheel drive system can easily cope.
02
Good looking is called a goblin
The reason why I call XC40 "goblin" instead of "yokai" is because although the goblin and the yokai are only one word apart, the goblin must be good-looking, and the yokai is not necessarily.
In addition to the excellent driving experience, it is also important to have a "beautiful car" that does not fall behind the beautiful scenery outside the windshield. Just like when I was in college, I was asked how to learn photography? What equipment should I buy? My answer is to find a beautiful girlfriend and take the initiative to photograph the subjective initiative of beautiful things, far more important than expensive equipment.
Looking at my favorite side lines first, you can see that the front and rear overhangs of the XC40 are very short, and the wheels are close to the front and rear of the car, similar to a pure tram. This is also the reason why the XC40 still looks so small although the wheelbase reaches 2702mm, just like the elf is often not very tall, but it contains infinite power. Among fuel vehicles, only MINI's COUNTRYMAN uses this design language.
Coming to the front, the most eye-catching is the LED light source of the "Quake" headlights, XC40 this set of headlights are equipped with adaptive high beams as standard.
In addition, the width display light at the rear of the car is also very recognizable, whether it is the rear view or the side view, you can easily identify the shape of the "Viking Tomahawk".
In addition, the XC40 provides two kinds of "Deluxe Edition" and "Sport Edition" two kinds of appearance kits, and the model I test drove this time is a fashion version, which is consistent with the Deluxe Edition in terms of appearance. The Sport version differs in the bright black transverse front grille, as well as the two-tone bodywork.
(Sport Version)
It should be noted that the crystal gear rod of Orrefors, a Swedish national treasure crystal art brand, is only available in the Luxury Edition model.
(Image from Volvo's official website)
When Volvo's specially designed roof light shines on this Orrefors crystal, which appearance kit to choose, I believe I don't need to say more.
03
Goblins must be sophisticated
As mentioned earlier, the XC40's lines are somewhat like trams, because it was developed based on the CMA platform, which is itself compatible with pure electric models, which requires Volvo engineers to use space rationally with exquisite design, just like the various elaborate mechanisms in the genie world.
First of all, the design of the trunk, XC40 cleverly designed a flat platform, which is undoubtedly very convenient for moving items, and the hooks are set on both sides of the trunk.
However, the most praised is the design that can put the trunk cover under the platform, which solves the problem of where the cover should be placed when carrying a large number of items that has plagued the owner of the SUV for many years.
Inside the car, Volvo used Air Woofer technology for the first time in the car, moving the woofer in the front door to the front of the center console under the front windshield, a design that not only brought a full-range soundstage, but also made the storage space of the door panel large enough to hold a 16-inch laptop, which was very popular for people like me who did not leave the notebook.
However, the editor needs to point out that due to the passive safety design, the width of the XC40 door panel storage bar is average, if you come to the back row, you will find that the door panel storage bar can only put a pack of paper towels on the side.
However, the Swedes cleverly designed storage compartments on both sides of the rear cushions, enough to hold a large drink.
04
Of course, goblins want to be "fairy-like"
Volvo's application of environmentally friendly materials in the car is already a cliché, the metal parts of the XC40 interior meet the EU jewelry testing standards, and the same weaving materials in the car also meet the A standard of domestic clothing fabrics, that is, to meet the standard of intimate clothing that babies can directly contact.
However, in the environment where a large number of exhaust gases are concentrated in the congested sections of the city, it is not enough to protect the materials, and there must be a stronger air purification system.
The XC40's "Clean Zone Clean Cockpit" system uses sensors to monitor air quality. When the vehicle is in an environment such as a tunnel or a construction site, the system automatically cuts off the air circulation with the outside of the vehicle, and automatically opens the external circulation when leaving. In addition to intelligent switching, the system filters 95% of PM2.5 particles and 99% of PM10 particles at the intake end.
In addition, the system also supports remote start-up of air purification, which takes only 7 minutes to completely purify the air. In fact, the interior of Volvo models must undergo volatile testing for 3,000 hours of sunlight at 65 °C. Even so, its volatile release is only 1/1500 of the national standard. (The above information is from volvo's official website)
In fact, I also noticed the system when I noticed that the internal circulation was automatically closed when I was passing through the tunnel. This is the same as the XC40, a variety of excellent designs do not show it bluntly, but silently provide a good experience for the driver in daily use. Like a person who lives on the top of a mountain, he can't see the fog that haunts him.
The XC40 is such a car, through a non-ostentatious design, to meet your good-looking, easy to drive, easy to use needs.