The Formula Leopard flagship model, the Leopard 8, was finally unveiled at the brand's spring launch event.
However, the rhythm of this car is pre-sale at the Beijing Auto Show, and it will be officially launched in the second half of the year. It is known that the Formula Leopard Leopard 8 is positioned as a large SUV, which will also be built using the BYD DMO super hybrid off-road platform, and will use a non-load-bearing body, with three rows of seats inside, and will also be equipped with a Yunnan-P chassis. Then, there is a 2.0T longitudinal engine + CTC battery + off-road rear-wheel drive assembly, as well as electronic differential lock and other parts will also be on the car, and the fuel consumption is 7.8L/100km (Prado is about 14L), which is an advantage for hard-core off-road vehicles.
Judging by these hardware, this car has a certain off-road ability. The competing models of such a car will include some large hard-core off-road vehicles, such as Toyota Land Cruiser and some domestic brand models. Then what can be seen at the intelligent level,There are three lidars on the roof,This layout scheme is the same as looking upU8,Speculation from the function implementation,The difference between the two is not big。
For Formula Leopard Leopard 8, the question that potential consumers are more concerned about is how good is the off-road ability of this car, and what kind of people are more suitable for driving?
Change to 2.0T to share the pressure on the motor?
The hybrid architecture has not changed, and it is still a product built by DM-o's plug-in hybrid power platform. If the DM-o platform is still used, there should be no obvious change in the series-parallel structure of the two motors, and a separate motor is arranged on the rear axle to form a four-wheel drive function. Then, there will also be a layout form of a longitudinal engine.
In this paragraph, the most important thing is to talk about DM-o technology.
From a structural point of view, the longitudinal electric hybrid system of the longitudinal engine is used, and it is also the most reasonable power layout form in the configuration of the non-load-bearing body, so there is no problem with this. The first is because the space of the two longitudinal beams of the non-load-bearing body does not allow the layout of the transverse engine and double wishbones; the second is that the transfer case and gearbox of the off-road vehicle are generally larger; and the third is that the longitudinal layout can also improve the approach angle of the off-road vehicle to a limited extent.
Therefore, the power layout of the Formula Leopard Leopard 8 is still in line with the typical hard-core off-road vehicle structure.
However, compared to the traditional fuel-hard off-road vehicle, the Leopard 8's powertrain route is somewhat different. There is no propeller shaft and no gearbox in the traditional sense. The power of the rear axle is completely solved by a two-speed final drive motor, so there is no need for a propeller shaft to link, and then the longitudinal EHS electric hybrid system replaces the existence of the traditional gearbox, and can also realize the coupling of the power of the front axle.
The underlying logic is the power obtained by the Leopard 8 on the front axle, and the power obtained by the power coupling of the engine + motor by the planetary gears. By using the gear ratio of the planetary gears, the front axle can be torque-amplified or reduced. The key point is the advantage of planetary gear coupling, which can make the remaining power of the engine more efficient and ensure the working of the generator and the output of the engine.
Now it is known that it will be replaced with a 2.0T engine, which is about 51 horsepower higher than the Leopard 5. Even if the two motors of the Leopard 8 still follow the design of oil cooling and heat dissipation, if you encounter a long slope with continuous high power output, or get out of trouble after being trapped, etc., at this time, you can use the engine to share part of the power pressure to avoid the heat dissipation pressure when the motor has high power output, and at the same time, the high temperature will demagnetize the permanent magnet and reduce the performance of the motor.
In fact, from this point of view, after improving the engine performance, it is to improve the off-road ability under certain working conditions, such as getting out of trouble, continuous climbing, etc., as for the power setting of the motor, although there is no public information at present.
Will there be an improvement in off-road performance?
Then the technologies unveiled at the press conference, such as CTC batteries, over 500kW maximum power, and Yunnan-P. If the comprehensive power is really only more than 500kW, then it can be preliminarily judged that this car has not changed much in the motor, the current comprehensive power of the Leopard 5 is also more than 500kW, and the Leopard 8 does not change the motor after replacing the 2.0T, and the comprehensive power is not bad within 550kW.
Another information point worth looking at is the Yunnan-P technology.
The chassis is the same as the Leopard 5, and a set of Yunlin-P system will be given, and after all kinds of Yunlin are put on the car, we will understand the Yunlin-P as the most suitable chassis system for off-road vehicles. According to the model positioning, it can be speculated that the Yunlin-P of the Leopard 8 is closer to the configuration of the Yangwang U8, and will perform better than the Yunlin-P system of the Leopard 5, and may completely copy the system on the Yangwang U8.
There is a high probability that this set of Yunnan-P system will also have a three-level stiffness adjustable configuration, the first level is suitable for normal urban commuting, the second-level stiffness is suitable for sports driving to improve support, and the third-level stiffness is suitable for use in extreme off-road situations;
Then, it may also go to the combination of LiDAR + Yunlin-P. After all, the roof of the Leopard 8 is equipped with lidar, and this set of perception equipment will cooperate with Yunlin-P to achieve a more comprehensive perception of the road surface and the surrounding environment, and can better adjust the suspension and chassis.
Will this help with off-road performance?
Although there is a more intelligent chassis system, if there is a significant improvement in off-road performance, it is better to say that this system will make the vehicle more comfortable in off-road conditions, and can achieve the most suitable attitude for the current working conditions. Of course, there will also be a certain amount of energy to improve off-road performance.
However, looking at the whole system, the changes in the powertrain may be the most able to improve off-road performance. As mentioned above, the increase in horsepower after changing the 2.0T engine is helpful to help the two motors share the pressure under off-road conditions, and it is for the durability of the motor and overheating, which allows the vehicle to have a more sustainable power output under more extreme working conditions, compared to the Leopard 5, the upper limit of this car under extreme off-road conditions is higher, and if you make a positioning comparison, the Leopard 5 is equivalent to the Prado, and the Leopard 8 is equivalent to the positioning of the Land Cruiser.
Again, there are some points worth following up.
Relatively speaking, the positioning of the Leopard 8 is more inclined to deep off-road, and the demand for reliability is further increased, but the combination of electronic devices + battery pack + motor can provide good reliability in the subsequent off-road conditions, it still needs to be observed. Secondly, the specifications of the battery pack have not been disclosed, but it is likely to be a small battery solution, which may mean that the pure electric battery life will be discounted under the premise that the body is larger and heavier.
Then there is the reverse side of the frame material, referring to the Leopard 5 frame body with a thickness of 3.0mm, a yield strength of 750MPA, and a tensile strength of 800MPA, while the chassis swingarm steel thickness is 3.2-2.5mm, more than 500MPA yield strength and 550MPA tensile strength, the Leopard 8 material must be better than the above materials, in order to cope with more difficult off-road conditions.
At last
Some people will compare the Leopard 8 with the Prado, or even the Land Cruiser, but at the moment, the positioning of these cars is not the same. Although Prado's positioning has changed in recent years, and it has begun to consider taking into account the comfort of urban commuting, its off-road attributes have not been weakened, and after the adjustment of a new generation of models, it is more suitable for off-road products, such as no air suspension in the whole system, and the addition of SDM structure control anti-roll bar status.
The positioning of the Leopard 8 wants to achieve a better experience at multiple levels such as intelligence, off-road, and urban comfort, which is very much in line with the consumption habits of current consumers. From a technical point of view, it is indeed more advanced, and the powertrain part also creates a new route for a one-day plug-in hybrid to make a hard-core off-road vehicle.
However, at the level of details, it still takes some time to verify the reliability or necessity to choose whether to carry or not to carry certain configurations.