Once upon a time, with its stronger comfort and higher quality, the B-class car was almost an absolute main force for car companies to compete.
However, today, as the quality of A-class models rises, the market share of some B-class sedans is no longer as good as that of A-class SUVs in the price point, or even lower than the lower-priced A-class cars.
And such a difficult market environment has put forward a lot of tests for B-class cars.
On the one hand, it is necessary to retain the advantages of high quality and high comfort; on the other hand, it is necessary to give more innovation to create unique value. In the current B-segment segment, who can juggle both? Nissan Tianlai from the Japanese and Volkswagen Magotan from the Ashkenazi system gave different answers.
From space to ride, the comfort of being able to relax is really comfortable
In the traditional view, the more space the B-Class, the higher the comfort. But in fact, the comfort of a B-Class car is judged by much more than space. More importantly, it depends on whether the seats of the vehicle are comfortable enough. Next, let's start with the dimensions of the base.
In terms of the size and spatial performance of the vehicle, Nissan Tianlai and Volkswagen Magotan are in the mainstream range of B-class cars. Of course, there are differences between the two. For example, the length and width of the body are better; the wheelbase of the Magotan is more advantageous.
Through our actual experience, there are also some differences in the actual spatial experience inside the two.
After adjusting the sitting position in the front row of the tianlai, the experiencer of one meter seven or five heights sat in the back seat, and its space was enough, which was also in line with the positioning of the B-class car; and the same sitting posture, sitting in the back row of the Magotan, the leg space was obviously more than a punch or so, compared to the natural sound is indeed larger.
However, a large space is not everything that determines the comfort of the interior. For B-class cars, from the comfort of the seats to the environment inside the cabin, etc., are also more important.
Nissan, known as the "sofa factory", has not disappointed in the interior of this generation of natural sounds.
Specifically, Tianlai uses Nissan's new generation multi-Layer ergonomic seat with three layers of cushioning material. From our actual experience, this set of "mobile sofas" is also worthy of the name, after sitting on it, the first feeling given to people is soft, followed by the corresponding support of all parts of the body. Adjust the posture of the seat, even if it is a long drive, it is not easy to feel tired.
In addition, in the NVH quality of the interior of the tianlai car, the 2.0T car series is equipped with laminated sound insulation glass covering the whole car, and is equipped with ANC active noise reduction technology. In our actual experience, whether it is an idle scene or a medium-high speed scene, Tianlai's control of noise is excellent overall, and it has almost reached the cutting-edge level of the same level.
Let's take a look at the comfort inside the Magotan.
This B-class car from Volkswagen exudes a strong European atmosphere from the seat pattern. After sitting on it, we obviously found that its seat softness was not as good as nature, and there would be a more blunt feeling. However, all parts of the body can be well supported, and it belongs to the type of "feels average at first sight, but it will be very relaxed to get along for a long time".
As for the sound insulation inside the carriage, here is also to give Magotan a good review. Although this car does not have multi-layer sound insulation glass and active noise reduction equipment, the overall wind noise and road noise control are very good, not worse than the natural sound. However, when the engine is running at high speed, there will be a slight engine "buzzing" sound, which may have a little impact on the noise inside the car.
From the quality to the intelligent connection, such a space can be satisfactory
In fact, in our view, a good B-class sedan not only brings macro level comfort, but also needs to provide pleasing or more convenient performance at the design level and configuration level. And this quality is largely reflected in the interior atmosphere and related configuration level...
First of all, in the atmosphere of the direct experience of the interior, Tianlai and Magotan give us different feelings. But it is worth affirming that to a certain extent, both cars can bring the high-end sense that a B-class car should have.
For example, in the cockpit of this generation of models, we believe that its interior has finally lost the "greasy feeling" of the Japanese B-class car. V-MOTION design elements are integrated into the center console, with a variety of lines, showing a certain sense of layering and fashion temperament, and, in the coverage of large areas of soft materials, to a certain extent, it also brings the high-level atmosphere that this level of models should have.
The Magotan continues to use Volkswagen's classic T-shaped center console design, but the car is optimized for many details. For example, the car's through-air conditioning outlet design, combined with a quartz clock in the middle, better presents a delicate and delicate atmosphere, even if there is not much soft leather, but it can also highlight the high-end taste of the German car.
In addition to the atmosphere is very important, the configuration of the vehicle is also related to our car experience, the special equipment is the intelligent network system and the intelligent auxiliary driving system, which has a high position in the current B-segment segment.
In terms of intelligent configuration, this generation of tianlai is also changing our stereotype of "low configuration of Japanese cars". The car is equipped with Nissan Super Intelligent Connection System, equipped with online navigation, online music and OTA upgrade functions, under the coverage of these functions, Tianlai can basically meet the needs of daily travel for network functions.
More importantly, Tianlai is also equipped with the ProPILOT super intelligent driving system, which not only covers functions such as active braking, lane keeping, and adaptive cruise, but also realizes one-click opening. For example, on highways and expressways, the driver can use this function to liberate his feet and ensure the safety of the vehicle during driving, which reduces the driver's operating intensity to a certain extent.
The same level of Maiteng, in the intelligent configuration function is also a more prominent existence. Magotan's network system also covers online navigation, online music APP and other functions, which can basically meet the diverse needs of the driving process. However, in our opinion, there is still something to be improved in this system, for example, it is not equipped with OTA upgrades, and the subsequent experience may be discounted.
At the level of intelligent driver assistance system, in addition to active safety functions such as active braking and blind spot monitoring, Maitan is also equipped with adaptive cruise, lane keeping and other functions. In contrast, Magotan can not do a key to open, so it will be more cumbersome to operate in the actual driving process, requiring the driver to be more familiar with the various keys of the vehicle.
Dynamic high quality is the real high quality
Unlike houses, cars spend most of their time on the road. At this time, we need not only static comfort and convenience, but also high quality at the dynamic level. The dynamic high quality depends on the quality of the three major pieces.
From the perspective of power performance, the Tianlai 2.0T model and the Magotan 380TSI model are also two orientations.
Among them, the 2.0T+CVT powertrain equipped with Tianlai is more inclined to low fuel consumption and high comfort.
On the one hand, thanks to Nissan's unique VC-TURBO technology, coupled with the CVT transmission, the engine can always be kept in the efficient range, the CAR's NEDC fuel consumption can be controlled at about 6.7L/100Km, which is a relatively fuel-efficient existence in the car market.
On the other hand, the characteristics of the CVT transmission are to avoid gear shifting setbacks, which can bring better driving quality to a certain extent.
Seeing this, everyone may ask: will the B-class sedan with CVT transmission be more "meat"?
In fact, in our opinion, we do not need to worry about this problem, after all, Tianlai's 2.0T engine is more powerful, even if the CVT transmission efficiency is not as high as AT and DCT, but it can also make up for this problem with stronger power; moreover, Tianlai's CVT gearbox also has a low-speed starting gear, when the vehicle starts, it is still driven with physical gears, and it can be as agile and easy as the AT transmission at the start.
In our actual tests, the 0-100Km/h acceleration of the Tianlai 2.0T model can also run into 7 seconds, which is a relatively good existence in the same level.
The Maitan 380TSI is equipped with a 2.0T+ 7DSG dual-clutch powertrain, don't look at its power reserve is not as high as the natural 2.0T, but the transmission efficiency of the 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission is very high, in our actual experience, its power response and acceleration capabilities are considered to be the leading existence of the same level.
Moreover, in terms of fuel consumption, the NEDC fuel consumption of the Magotan 380TSI model is 6.6L/100Km, which is even lower than the natural sound, which also brings a relatively efficient advantage. However, the driving experience of The Magotan is relatively sporty, and in terms of comfort, due to the characteristics of the dual-clutch transmission, there will still be a slight setback in the case of the big foot throttle...
Finally, to determine the quality of driving, it is not only to look at the performance of the power system, but also to look at the performance of the chassis.
The front suspension of tianlai is a traditional McPherson structure, and the rear suspension is a rare trapezoidal control arm multi-link suspension of the same level, and the rear suspension of this car is equipped with ATR active torque rod system option, which is characterized by higher cost, but better chassis vibration filtering ability. In our actual experience, this B-class car can indeed bring a relatively good sense of heaviness after starting up, but in the process of steering, there will be a slight lateral tilt. It can be seen that the chassis adjustment of Tianlai is more inclined to the comfortable sexual orientation.
In contrast, Maiteng from Germany is a "driver-controlled B-class car" that prefers flexible driving.
During the steering process, the front McPherson suspension and rear multi-link suspension can effectively resist the roll of the body, bringing full confidence to the driver, and the posture is also relatively stable during emergency lane changes. Of course, such a texture also sacrifices the thickness and comfort of some chassis, and when passing through bumpy roads, the tough suspension system will indeed transmit a clear sense of road to the car, thereby reducing the comfort of riding.
Conclusion:
As two popular models in the B-class sedan market, Nissan Tianlai and Volkswagen Magotan have shown good strength. Among them, Tianlai gave us a more satisfactory answer, from the zero gravity seat to the ATR active torque rod system, this car from the macro to the details, are serving to improve the quality of comfort. In contrast, In all aspects, Magotan can only be said to be balanced. If the core of the B-Class is still comfort, then in the comfort of the car, the natural sound is the better choice.