The professor himself is a Camry owner and is very satisfied with the reliability and smoothness of the Toyota Hybrid system. Therefore, the professor also believes that the Toyota THS hybrid system will be one of the most reliable hybrid systems for cash. But also because of the strong patent barriers of THS, other manufacturers can only bypass their patents to re-develop hybrid systems.
But now, with the expiration of patent protection, Toyota has finally exported its THS assembly to other car companies in its entirety, and the second-generation GAC Trumpchi GS8 to be tested today is the first example of THS exporting cars outside the Toyota system. As an iron fan of THS, I'm looking forward to how it performs on the test bench.
The interior decoration of the car is quite luxurious, most of the accessible places are covered with leather, and the touch of leather is quite delicate and smooth, or very high-grade. The piano lacquer panel of the center console is also a representative of the sense of luxury, and the crystal gear and the noble and domineering front face shape are more matched. But the same material used in the physical buttons on the center console is a bit less practical, easy to leave fingerprints, and the steering wheel buttons feel slightly cheaper.
As a 7-seatER SUV, space is naturally the most important. Under the square shape of the Trumpchi GS8, the interior space of the car will naturally not disappoint. The front and second rows are satisfactory for both head, legroom and seat comfort. The seat itself is very soft, but it does not lack support. The fly in the ointment is that the front seats are not well ventilated, and it is still a bit uncomfortable when you first get on the bus in the summer.
The three rows of seats are very uncomfortable because of the presence of floor batteries, sitting like benches. It is recommended that buyers who have long used 6/7 seats pay more attention to the fuel version of the model, or wait for the second generation trumpchi M8 to be unveiled in the second half of this year.
In addition, the old and difficult problems that have occurred in the recent models of GAC Trumpchi and GAC Aean - the lack of cabin insulation performance have also appeared on the GS8 dual engine. Even if the two or three rows of side windows use dark UV-proof glass, the openable panoramic sunroof is too absorbent, and the heat can be clearly felt through the sunshade. Fortunately, the refrigeration performance of the automatic air conditioner in the three zones is still quite powerful, which makes up for the lack of heat insulation performance of the carriage.
The configuration is naturally the killer of independent brands facing the joint venture models at the same price, and the GS8 dual-engine model is naturally no exception. Whether it's a full range of L2 driver assistance systems, a wealth of machine features, or a comfortable interior, the GS8 has it all. My favorite is the three-zone automatic air conditioner, the rear independent air conditioner is simple and convenient to operate, and the cooling effect has made great progress compared with the previous Guangzhou car model, so that the passengers in the second and third rows can fully feel the distinguished treatment.
If you have to pick a bone in the egg, I think the top of the Alpine 10 speaker sound is a, although it is a brand-name audio, but the cloudy sound quality in the Bluetooth state is really sorry for its signage. It is recommended that GAC Trumpchi have the condition to upgrade a better Bluetooth audio decoder, otherwise such a good Alpine audio will be wasted.
Turbocharged engines generally do not fully exert their best power performance at high temperatures, but the test day was sunny and the temperature reached 25 °C. For the GS8 2.0TM engine, this is the best condition to play. And the engine it is not a machine in the battle, THS dual motor + E-Four rear axle motor makes it have a strong power response and initial power output.
Michelin PS4 SUV tires efficiently press power to the ground. So it's no surprise that the GS8 achieved a 0-100km/h acceleration of 7.9s and a brake performance of 100km/h-0 of 37.9m. This result is placed in 7 SUVs, which is really the only one. (Highlander Dual Engine Edition 0-100km/h acceleration time 9.1s, 100km/h-0 braking distance 41.4m)
Driving smoothness also comes with huge surprises. THS because the engine and wheels can not be completely decoupled, in some working conditions when the engine starts to accelerate will have a slight intrusion, the professor as the Camry dual engine owner has the most say. At the same time, the operation quality of the A25-FXS series engines equipped with Toyota Dual Engine is not very satisfactory, and the sound and vibration are more obvious.
But the GS8's 2.0TM engine gave me a big surprise, not only the operation is extremely smooth, but also the slight break when the engine starts is also well resolved, especially the most prone to the light throttle acceleration conditions, the professor sits in the car and basically does not feel the presence of the engine. The only thing that can feel the engine jitter and noise is the vehicle's stationary engine charging condition.
Unlike highlander, the GS8 provides an engine speed display. I carefully observed the law of engine operation while driving, and found that the GS8 generator operation will be more active than Highlander, and it is this more active operation that well resolves the movement of the engine when starting, and I have to say that GAC Trumpchi still has a hand in learning and re-innovating.
I had thought that a more aggressive engine would lead to an increase in fuel consumption, but in the end the GS8 delivered a very impressive fuel consumption figure of 5.9L/100km. This shows that whether it is power, running quality or efficiency, the GS8's 2.0TM engine is ahead of its peers.
In addition to the excellent running quality of the engine itself, the GS8 dual engine is also quite costly for the isolation of ambient noise. Double-layer acoustic glass is used in the front row, which is also excellent for the isolation of tire noise and ambient noise.
When the speed reaches 120km/h, the noise value is only 67.2, and the subjective noise is not obvious, at most, the square shape when driving at high speed will bring a lot of wind noise. The rest of the noise is hardly felt.
I don't think the main buyers of the GS8 care too much about its handling performance, so the GS8's flaws in handling are not a hard injury. Let me briefly mention it here: the body reaction is slower when turning, the shock absorption is softer, but the body is still quite stable on the straight road, and the steering wheel is not small. But for users who use it as a grandfather's car, it is not a disadvantage.
Driving on the flat road, as long as it is not a frequent emergency change of the line is not too much of a problem, even if it encounters danger, the strong grip of the Michelin PS4 SUV tires is enough to resolve the crisis.
In general, the GS8 Dual Engine Edition is the only one in the 7-seat medium and large SUV, and at less than 250,000 yuan, it can have an extremely luxurious appearance and interior, as well as a sufficient variety of configurations. Of course, the biggest surprise is the powertrain of the 2.0TM+THS II, which is better than its own teachers in all aspects.
As a bombshell for 7 medium and large SUVs, if the GS8 dual engine can solve the problem of production capacity, then it can kill in the medium and large SUV market. Of course, it also depends on whether Toyota is willing to give face and raise such a competitive "father" for GAC.