Changan UNI-V can be called a product that makes people "surprise one ring after another". The "first ring" is naturally the "design surprise" brought to us when UNI-V debuted in August last year, and it is undeniable that the UNI-V coupe design can be said to subvert our perception of the A+ class.
The "second ring" is the "product surprise" brought to us by UNI-V on top of the first test drive event held in January this year. Honestly, before I test-drove the UNI-V, I still thought it was a family car with a sports sedan skin. However, after the real test drive, it was found that although the chassis and power adjustment of UNI-V are not as "hardcore" as pure sports models, the style orientation of the whole vehicle is quite driving pleasure, dexterous to drive, comfortable to sit on, and will not be blindly "soft" like traditional family cars.
As for the "third ring", of course, it is about the official price of UNI-V - 10.89-13.19 million yuan, there are many models in this price range, but in this price point, if you want to buy a hatchback tailgate, electric tail, coupe model, rich configuration and driving fun car, there is only one option for Changan UNI-V.
This also makes us wonder, why can Changan make such a handsome coupe posture for UNI-V? Why is the UNI-V top match only in its early 130,000s, but the configuration can be so high? Why is the same blue whale powered, but placed on UNI-V gives people a completely different feeling?
In the end, the answer to everything points to four words – the Ark architecture.
What is the "magic" of the Ark architecture?
At the end of 2020, Changan Automobile officially released the Ark architecture, which is a platform architecture that can cover all models from A0 level to C, and is the evolutionary carrier of Changan's new car manufacturing technology. The advanced platform technology means that there is greater expansion in the model, so that designers can boldly realize their own ideas.
For the simplest example, if you look at the UNI-V from the side, you will find that it has a sense of dive, and the pressed front of the car gives people a feeling of being ready to go, but when it comes to design, it is not so simple. Because if the designer gives a plan for the front of the car to press down, the engineer needs to optimize the engine compartment layout. For the car, the entire cabin is "inches of land", just as the so-called lead to move the whole body, a small layout change may have a huge impact on the design of the vehicle.
However, under the high scalability of the Chang'an Ark architecture, the inclination angle of the UNI-V power arrangement was optimized from forward tilt of 7.5° to 10° backward, the center of the engine crankshaft was reduced by 12mm, and the length was reduced by 13.5mm, thus achieving the hood descent, and the hood slope could be designed to be larger, and finally the effect of subduction was presented.
Of course, the benefits brought by the Ark architecture are not only the design level, the emergence of the architecture, but also make the common rate of parts of car companies become higher, for example, the generalization rate of parts of the Ark architecture has reached more than 70%, which has reached the international first-class level.
Some people will ask, "What does this have to do with us users?" Doesn't GM make car companies more economical? ”
Of course, it is to make car companies more "save money", but it is precisely to "save money"!
If you think about it, for car companies, if the generalization rate of parts is higher, it means that the overall cost of parts is reduced, which means that the supply chain management is less difficult and the quality is higher. Then at the same cost, car companies can give more high-value configurations back to users.
So you see, the UNI-V system is equipped with lane departure warning, active braking system, keyless entry/start, full LCD instrumentation, automatic LED headlights, 540 ° panoramic image, electric rearview mirror, etc., which can be said to be "starting to be high", and in the case of such a rich configuration, Changan can also press the price of UNI-V to 10.89-13.19 million yuan, in fact, for our users, it is a reflection of value feedback.
However, for some users who pursue a sense of sports, the most concerned question is of course "whether UNI-V is a veritable sports car" or not.
In fact, for Changan, this point is the most difficult to weigh, because if the UNI-V is completely adjusted according to the orientation of the sports car, then its future potential market is destined to be relatively niche; but if it is completely compromised in the direction of home, then UNI-V's excellent coupe design will more or less make people feel a little pity.
But after the test drive in January, I personally think Changan found a perfect balance for UNI-V - while sitting comfortably, making it quite enjoyable to drive.
The Blue Whale NE 1.5T engine on the UNI-V, although there is no change in some basic parameters, the maximum power rating is still 138 kW, and it can also burst out a peak torque of 300 N·m at 1500 rpm. However, for the first time, transient torque control technology has been added to the gearbox, which can be judged based on driving intent, actively control the transient transmission torque of the clutch, and absorb the impact of the engine on the transmission system during acceleration.
In the driving experience, you can clearly feel that the UNI-V can accurately appreciate the driver's shift intention, and the double-clutch transmission is controlled to the minimum as much as possible, one word - shun.
In addition, Changan also equipped with a black technology for the first time on UNI-V - DTV dynamic torque vector control.
Although this scientific name sounds very professional and awkward, it is not difficult to understand. This technology allows UNI-V to intelligently distribute the driving force of the inner and outer wheels when driving in curves, and after trying it, you will find that the UNI-V's vehicle limit will be higher than you think.
In fact, Changan's DTV dynamic torque vector control is roughly the same as mazda's GVC acceleration vector control system, both of which can improve the accuracy of steering and the stability of driving, while also helping to improve the safety of driving in curves.
1.5T UNI-V is of course "enough", but according to the latest declaration information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology not long ago, the 2.0T version of Changan UNI-V has completed the declaration, which means that this level of market segment is no longer "the world of small displacement", the emergence of UNI-V 2.0T, will definitely accelerate the entire market segment "inner volume".
Not only that, because the Ark architecture is extremely scalable, it can be compatible with 8 engine states in the power structure, with a displacement covering 1.2-2.0L, compatible with 48V low-voltage hybrid, high-voltage hybrid and plug-in hybrid 3 kinds of electrified power, matching 8 kinds of transmission modules, and the power combination is as many as 16 kinds.
Previously, at the UNI-V press conference, Changan also made it clear that UNI-V equipped with the Blue Whale iDD hybrid system will meet with users as soon as the second quarter, which is believed to bring us greater surprises!
Security—The first cornerstone of the platform architecture
Usually, car companies with platform architecture systems are all world-class, whether it is Toyota TNGA, Volkswagen MQB, Volvo SPA... Because having a platform architecture means holding the key to the door to the future.
However, we have no way to "roughly" compare the platform architecture of major car companies, because the models targeted by each platform architecture are not the same, which means that each company actually has its own focus, but the only similarity is that no matter which architecture, the emphasis on safety performance is in the forefront.
In terms of passive safety, of course, the most important thing is the body strength, the body structure is not as simple as it seems on the surface, first of all, it is not to say that the harder the frame is better, if the hardness is simply considered, the force is mutual, then the probability of injury to the people in the car will be greater when the collision occurs.
Of course, too soft is not suitable, the body shape becomes too large, will seriously squeeze the crew compartment, causing great harm to the driver and passengers. So there needs to be a balance in between, using high-strength or ultra-high-strength steel in key parts of the body, and needs to consider tensile resistance, that is, it can't be too brittle.
One of the more typical examples is the Encore PLUS under the GM E2 medium-sized car platform, which adopts a "BFI integrated body", and the use of high-strength steel in the body accounts for up to 75%. It should be known that in the C-NCAP test, Buick Encore PLUS belongs to the main owner who has been scoring high for many years.
As a car with a price of less than half of Oncovi PLUS, Changan UNI-V has accounted for more than 70% of its high-strength steel, and the strength of steel used in the body is up to 1500Mpa. And Changan also uses topology optimization technology to find the optimal transmission path, so that the key structure has been greatly strengthened, and the stiffness indicators of the body have increased by 9%-38%, and Changan has named this body structure "Ark Cage".
It is precisely because of its excellent body structure design and excellent crash safety performance that UNI-V has won the honor of "2021 China's Top Ten Body Bodies" selected by the China Automotive Safety and Body Conference.
In addition, on the basis of the high-strength and high-safety body, the UNI-V is also equipped with 6 airbags as standard. In addition, in a column called "UNI-V Ark Laboratory" carried out by Chang'an a few days ago, the video mentioned that the VOC test of UNI-V (pentaphenyltrial) is far lower than the numerical range that affects human health, and in these "invisible places" of users, Chang'an still has extremely high requirements for its own quality control.
If you really want to talk about it, in fact, these passive safety are difficult for our users to perceive, but for a good product and an excellent enterprise, safety quality is the first and foremost priority.
In addition, Changan UNI-V is also equipped with Continental's new 3rd generation ESC body stability control system, and is equipped with AEB intelligent emergency braking assist, LDW lane departure warning, LKA lane keeping assist, LCDA parallel assist and other active safety technologies. Car safety is like an insurance for us users, we all hope that we will never use it, but when it comes to a critical moment, we will sigh that we are lucky to have it.
Hua series car "dares" to compete with the joint venture...? What a fragrance!
So under the premise that the Ark architecture is known to have the same level as the joint venture platform, we must not raise a question - does UNI-V already have the strength to break the wrist with the joint venture?
Speaking of the joint venture sports car in this price range, Honda Civic must be a hurdle that cannot be bypassed, from the first generation of Civic to the eleventh generation of Civic today, Civic has accumulated a large number of fans around the world in the past few decades, but if UNI-V is allowed to compare Civic, is it really "hitting the stone with a pebble"?
Originally, I wanted to make this comparison more "fair", that is, to compare the UNI-V and The Civic at the same price, but in fact, the price of the top UNI-V (131,900) can only buy the entry-level Civic (129,900), not to mention that the latter's slightly weaker 1.5T low-power engine only has a maximum horsepower of 129Ps and a maximum torque of 180N·m, which cannot be compared with the UNI-V at the same price in terms of configuration.
Therefore, in order to make this duel appear more "evenly matched", we can only choose the top Match Civic (163,900) with a price of more than 30,000 yuan for comparison.
But even with such a large price difference, UNI-V's product power is almost one dimension higher than the Civic!
First of all, in terms of body size, the UNI-V's long, wide and high wheelbase is fully ahead of the Honda Civic, and as a sports car, the UNI-V is electric rear, hatchback tailgate, sneakback body... In terms of perception, it is obviously more in line with the identity of "sports" than the latter, of course, the design of the shape is more subjective, and we do not need to talk too deeply.
Secondly, in terms of power, the Blue Whale NE 1.5T engine on the UNI-V has a maximum horsepower of 188Ps and a maximum torque of 300N·m, even compared to the Civic 1.5T high-power version (182Ps/240N·m), the former is still dominant in book data. Not to mention that the UNI-V engine can burst out maximum torque at 1500 rpm, while the Civic needs to explode at 1700 rpm, and the former is obviously more rapid in terms of power responsiveness.
In terms of configuration, the UNI-V is equipped with a high-value configuration of 540° panoramic image, main seat ventilation/heating, electric tailgate, main co-pilot electric adjustment, gesture control function, 10-speaker Sony audio, 64-color mood light, and rain-sensitive wiper.
At the same time, in terms of driving assistance, although Civic and UNI-V are also L2 level automatic driving assistance, the "high-level intelligent driving assistance system" equipped with UNI-V adds the word "high-order", which proves that its function is not limited to a simple full-speed domain.
The two highlights of this intelligent driver assistance system are the driver trigger lane change (UDLC) and the intelligent recommended lane change (IRLC). The former can automatically detect the adjacent lane space and surrounding road conditions when the driver turns on the turn signal to change lanes, and if the conditions are met, UNI-V will intelligently change lanes.
The latter is that when encountering a congested road section in front, the system will monitor the surrounding environment in real time through sensors, and combine the road condition information provided by the online map to determine whether the adjacent lane is more smooth and fast, and if it meets the conditions, the driver will be given a lane change prompt. And when driving on the highway, if the navigation route shows that it is about to leave the ramp, but the vehicle is still on the left side, the system will actively remind the driver to change lanes to the right in advance.
See now you will find that the configuration of UNI-V is not through the "random stacking" to create a "I configure a lot" illusion, but each configuration can make our users in the car scene more relaxed, safer, more convenient, only from the real user scenario, can really achieve the user's heart.
Kanche said
Whether the product is good or not, in fact, the user's heart is like Spiegel.
Changan UNI-V opened the first-hand booking on January 10, and then announced the pre-sale price on February 21, and in just over a month, the order volume of UNI-V has exceeded 16,000 vehicles. Don't forget, this is still the result of the first-hand booking, only the top with the "smart pilot" has been opened!
On the one hand, we can see that users actually have a very high trust in Changan's product strength, even if UNI-V is a brand new product, but its "from Chang'an, from the Ark architecture" can make consumers willing to pay.
On the other hand, the emergence of UNI-V, let us see more possibilities in the design of the car, 10-15 million range car cars are basically conservative design, more family models, obviously, the UNI-V that sounded the horn of change has opened the first step towards success.