Recalling that around 2016 and 2017, when my family was buying a family car, the joint venture brand was standing at the highest point of the domestic auto market, and we walked into the exhibition hall of the major joint venture brands with 150,000 yuan in hand, and we could only wander around the A-class cars with low and medium configurations, and the B-class cars placed in the independent booth were unthinkable.
But in just 6 or 7 years, we were surprised to find that the situation has changed dramatically, and now with 150,000 consumers who want to buy a car, there is no longer a need to regard the so-called joint venture B-class car as "white moonlight", because we already have a large number of better and more comprehensive choices. The Qiyuan A07, which was just launched in September this year, is obviously a new force with the potential to replace joint venture competitors.
As the first work launched by the Changan Qiyuan brand, the A07, which is positioned as a medium and large sedan, naturally comes with full sincerity. In terms of exterior design, the A07 adopts the "Fuguang" design language that we have never seen in other Changan models before, and the closed front grille and through-type LED light strip seem to be loudly declaring their new energy identity.
The flat air vents below and the shape of the hood make the entire front of the car appear particularly low, and at the same time highlight the visual width of the car.
Similarly, the long body + long wheelbase and the fastback roof design also further enhance the slender feeling of the A07, and the longer L113 (front wheel to front door clearance) gives the whole car a touch of luxury rear-wheel drive platform feeling.
In terms of actual size, Qiyuan A07 is indeed "domineering" enough, with a body length, width and height of 4905/1910/1480mm that is larger than many serious B-class cars, and the wheelbase of 2900mm is even more exaggerated.
In order to weaken this feeling, Qiyuan A07 has set up an additional black trim strip in the lower part of the body, which runs from the front to the rear of the car, so as to reduce the "heaviness" of the bottom part of the car.
In addition, unlike many "pseudo-fastback and true sedan" models on the market, the rear of the Kaizen A07 adopts a real large-back design, which can form a large luggage loading entrance after the tail box is opened, and can have a large trunk space of 450L without folding down the rear seats.
When the seat is flattened, the overall depth can be expanded to 1,960 mm, and the capacity is also increased to 1,100 liters, making it easy to meet the needs of various loads.
Of course, for a family car, although the loading capacity is important, the space and ride experience in the car are the first priority. With the blessing of the long wheelbase, the Kaizen A07 can accommodate wider seats in the rear row while ensuring ample legroom.
Although in order to ensure the vertical height of the car, it has to use a glass canopy, but the overall sunshade and heat insulation effect of this canopy is not bad, even if the scorching sun is in the sky, the car will not feel any discomfort.
The interior layout of the front row is still a simple style, and the large-size AR-HUD directly replaces the role of the traditional instrument panel to provide the driver with the display of many information such as vehicle speed, navigation, turn signals, blind spot assistance, etc.
The large screen of the central control is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, the overall smoothness of use is gratifying, the design sense of the suspended central armrest area and the materials are very exquisite, and the lifting cup holder design greatly enhances the sense of luxury. The only thing that can find fault is that the brushed panel limit of the wireless charging area of the mobile phone on the left side is average, and the mobile phone is easy to slide on it, and the angle of this area also causes the mobile phone to be easily exposed to direct sunlight and enter a high temperature state.
In addition, whether it is the leather stitching of the door panels, the texture of the window buttons, or the material of the entire instrument panel, Kaizen A07 has achieved a satisfactory level. In order to further enhance the atmosphere in the car, Kaizen A07 is also equipped with a fragrance system with three flavors: "Yue", "Zhi" and "Zhen", which users can switch between in the car according to their preferences. And the aromatherapy is not the "most excessive", on the top model we test-drived, it actually provides a four-door electric suction for the whole car, which once again refreshes my perception of the configuration of domestic brands.
It can be said that in terms of static experience, Kaizen A07 has given us enough surprises, which also makes everyone have higher expectations for its dynamic performance.
In terms of mechanics, the Kaizen A07 is available in two different versions: range-extender hybrid and pure electric, and the one we got our hands on is the top-of-the-line 200 MAX model of the range-extender hybrid. It is equipped with a maximum power of 95 horsepower 1.5L range extender plus a maximum power of 218 horsepower of the motor to form an increase system, the vehicle adopts a rear-wheel drive layout, and with the help of a 28.4kWh battery, it can achieve 200km of CLTC pure electric range, in the case of full fuel and full charge, the maximum range can reach 1200km.
In terms of chassis, the A07 adopts the structure of MacPherson in the front and H-shaped multi-link in the rear, and the overall layout is basically the same as that of the dark blue SL03, which is also built on the EPA1 platform.
Thanks to the characteristics of pure electric drive, the power response of Qiyuan A07 is naturally better than that of ordinary fuel car rivals, the power of the 218 horsepower drive motor is not fast, but the layout of the rear wheel drive also allows the vehicle to better release power through the tires to the ground when accelerating sharply.
At the same time, the intervention of the range extender is not large, and it is basically difficult to detect whether the 1.5L machine is working in non-idle conditions. The double-spoke leather steering wheel feels more natural in grip and the feedback when it turns is also more natural. It is commendable that in addition to the power, steering feel, and brake feel in the car machine, it can also fine-tune the kinetic energy recovery force from 0-100%, which is definitely a great blessing for those users who have converted from fuel vehicles.
Driving on the highway, the fit of the suspension on the smooth road is good, and the calm and calm attitude is also in line with its executive-level positioning. The only fly in the ointment is that the action of the rear axle going up is still somewhat obvious when over-throwing and jumping, and this is actually noticed when we test drove the dark blue model before.
Having said so much, have you actually noticed that I have been holding back from mentioning the price of this car?
Because in fact, the price is the real "killer" of this car, the official price of the extended range version of the Qiyuan A07 is 155,900-175,900 yuan, and the price of the pure electric version is 166,900-176,900 yuan. What kind of concept is this? Taking the top model we test drive as an example, the price of 175,900 yuan can only buy the lowest power and lowest configuration models of Magotan and Accord and Camry among the joint venture brands, while on the Qiyuan A07, you can get a lot of configurations that 300,000 level luxury brands may not be able to provide, and also have larger size, better power, lower fuel consumption and preferential treatment of new energy policies.
But don't think that this car is only the most cost-effective with the top configuration, because even if it is the most entry-level version of 155,900 yuan, the richness of its configuration is enough to make many joint venture brands staggered, and I even doubt that Kaizen really wants to make money or purely to smash the field when it comes out of this car.
Although I often say to the people around me, "Buying a car can't just look at the configuration", but even a mature person will definitely have a trace of excitement after seeing the configuration table of Qiyuan A07.
We can often see an argument on the Internet, saying that our domestic brands always spend their minds on configuration, but think about it from another angle, if it were not for the existence of domestic cars, as ordinary people, we may never have the opportunity to experience air suspension, high-end assisted driving, and four-second acceleration of 100 kilometers in a car of 200,000 yuan, and it will never be possible to enjoy the sense of dignity brought by the electric suction door, the atmosphere brought by the car aromatherapy and the space experience comparable to that of an executive-class car in a 170,000 car.
What's more, at a time when the quality of independent brands is constantly improving and the brand power is also rising, these configurations are no longer what we can get back by "sacrificing reliability" and "sacrificing face", but a real penny. If this development continues, I am afraid that the follow-up days of the joint venture brand will only become more and more difficult......