Since its listing in 2014, Buick Encore has won the favor of consumers with its super high appearance, rich configuration, spacious and comfortable riding space and strong power, all the way to the city, single-month sales continue to refresh high, won the champion of medium-sized SUV sales, and won the title of the best-selling SUV of american brands for many years.
In order to consolidate the competitiveness of Uncovi in the market, Buick Automobile launched the Oncovi S based on the upgrade of Oncovey last year, and launched the larger Oncovey PLUS this year, further improving the product matrix of Buick Automobile and enhancing the competitiveness of the Oncovey family in the market. At the same time, in order to meet the sinking demand of the market, Oncovi S will also launch two 1.5T models, priced at 209,900 yuan and 217,900 yuan respectively, in order to reduce the purchase threshold and gain more market share.
Of course, for a medium-sized SUV, the 1.5T engine will more or less give people the illusion of a small horse-drawn car, with the doubts of many people, buy and buy Jun today test drive the 1.5T Oncovey S. The new car is equipped with SAIC-GM's eighth-generation Ecotec 1.5T "Avatar" engine, the maximum power is 155 kilowatts (211 horsepower), the liter power is up to 103 kilowatts, the same displacement power leader, it is no exaggeration to say that the ceiling of the current 1.5T engine, Honda 1.5T Earth Dream engine in front of it must be subservient.
At the same time, the peak torque of 270 N · m, although compared with the independent brand on the data of 300 Nm is not outstanding, but the peak torque of this engine corresponding to the speed range is wider (the maximum torque speed of 1750-4500 rpm), can give the vehicle beyond the same level of acceleration performance and more relaxed high-speed cruise performance, the official 100 km acceleration time is 8.4 seconds, not much slower than the 2.0T model.
In addition, the new car is also equipped with a 48V light mix system, which can realize electrification functions such as brake energy recovery, agile start-stop, electric assist, electric idle, and intelligent charging. In terms of drivetrain, matching the 9-speed Hydro-Matic intelligent transmission is definitely thicker than the CVT transmission or dual-clutch transmission equipped with the same class.
Thanks to the BSG motor assistance in the 48V light mix system, the acceleration of the Oncovi S in the initial stage is still relatively smooth and natural, and it will not feel the lack of power, which also makes up for the lack of low torque. And even when driving at medium and high speed, the power is still very abundant, the professional coach took us to the Guangde test drive field high-speed ring road challenge, the speed accelerated all the way from 120km/h to 200km/h, during the body is unimaginably stable, and usually riding on the train has a similar feeling, refreshing my understanding of the Oncovey S, so I don't have to worry about the lack of power of this 1.5T engine.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that the Oncovi S throttle pedal damping is small, but the pedal stroke is longer, if you want to accelerate sharply, you need to step on the accelerator, at this time the vehicle will show a more grumpy side, and if it is only a slow light pedal, you can more delicately control the output of the power system, for the use of often driving in the city, this adjustment is obviously very friendly.
On the contrary, the Oncovi S brake pedal stroke is shorter, if you are not used to making a car brake too strong, even if you tap the pedal can quickly reduce the speed, the setting is more similar to some sports cars, from which it can also be seen that the Oncovi S is still the innate sense of sport of the American car.
In addition to providing assistance during acceleration, the iBSG motor in the 48V light hybrid system can still maintain uninterrupted acceleration during the gearbox upshift, and the buyer and buyer cannot feel the presence of gear shifting during the test drive, and there is almost no obvious setback. The performance of the 9-speed automatic transmission itself is already excellent, and the combination of the two is nothing less than the icing on the cake, even in the face of frequent low-gear switching in the face of urban congestion, bringing a very comfortable and smooth driving experience.
Although it is an entry-level 1.5T model, the new car still uses a combination of independent suspension of front McPherson + rear five connecting rods, which is a very rare configuration in the same class, which is enough to see that the Oncovey S material is very thick.
At the same time, in the stable road of the proving ground, where the total length of 5 kilometers, up to 19 different road challenges, almost covering a variety of typical characteristics of the road conditions at home and abroad, Oncovi S can calmly cope, the vast majority of fine bumps on the road when driving at low and medium speed can be well filtered out, high-speed through the large undulating road section, the vibration damping system can also tightly hold the body to avoid being thrown off the ground, greatly improving the vehicle's tracking, stability and comfort performance when driving.
At the same time, the new car is also equipped with Buick Quiet Tuning™ technology, which covers the entire cockpit space with large areas of high-performance acoustic materials, and is equipped with ANC active noise reduction technology, which cancels out the noise during driving through the reverse sound wave emitted by the speakers, further improving the riding comfort.
From the perspective of the entire test drive experience, the 1.5T Oncovey S as a whole is still quite satisfactory and unexpected, and it is not as small as everyone imagines, but the power response is rapid, the power reserve is abundant, and the high-speed cruise does not feel weak when it wants to accelerate sharply, and it is also comfortable in the track set by the venue, and the chassis is full of support, which can give the driver good confidence.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that the new car is developed and built based on the latest new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture, supports the online update of vehicle-level OTA, and realizes the comprehensive upgrade of electronic modules such as power system, chassis system, body control system, in-vehicle communication and entertainment system, and the communication processing speed is significantly improved, efficient and convenient.
In addition to the replacement of the 1.5T engine, the overall design of the new car is basically the same as the 2.0T Oncovey S, the iconic flying wing forward grille and the LED running lights on both sides are integrated, which is particularly sporty; the grille and the lower encirclement, fog light modeling area uses black color matching, with bright chrome decoration, more sporty, the front face gives people a very three-dimensional and imposing feeling.
Body side, is still a short front overhang, short rear overhang, long hood, long wheelbase design, to create a low-lying sports SUV young image, wheel shape and size and 2.0T elite version of the same model, front and rear tire specifications of 235/55 R18, tire brand for the horse brand PremiumContact 6, mainly integrated comfort, control, safety and other major features. The rear of the car is well-defined, full and sporty.
The body size is basically the same as that of the current 2.0T model, and the length, width and height of the new car are 4662/1883/1631mm, and the wheelbase is 2779mm, which has obvious advantages over the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 Rongfang at the same price.
In terms of interior, Oncovi S adopts an integrated wrap-around cockpit design, the center console is biased to the driver's side, equipped with a 10-inch embedded central control screen and an 8-inch LCD dashboard, plus a button-type gear shift design, the presentation of the sense of technology is still in place. The material also adheres to the consistent excellent style of the American car, a large area of leather, soft material decoration, exquisite leather workmanship stitching, whether it is visual effects, or tactile, give people a beautiful feeling.
The car adopts Buick's latest eConnect system, has a rich Baidu ecological application built-in, and supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife mobile phone mapping, which can be said to be the most practical function. It is worth mentioning that the new car retains the physical buttons of the daily high-frequency use function, such as air conditioning control, volume adjustment, etc., and does a good job in terms of intelligence and humanization.
In terms of riding experience, the new car seat uses a leather /fabric mix-and-match combination, although the visual is not so luxurious, but the seat filling is relatively thick, the overall wrapping and support are very in place, the function is slightly lacking, the co-pilot is still manual seat adjustment, but considering the positioning and price of the new car, it seems to be very reasonable.
In terms of space, the 1.79-meter-tall buyer adjusted the front seat to the normal position, and there was more than one punch left in the head space. At this time, when I came to the back row, there were three fingers in the head space, more than two punches in the leg space, and the overall performance was also in line with the positioning of the medium-sized SUV. However, the middle seats in the second row are not equipped with headrests, and the central floor has a certain bulge, which is not very friendly to intermediate passengers.
The trunk space is quite satisfactory, the lateral width and depth are outstanding, there is no pressure to stuff a few trunks, and of course, the most praiseworthy second row of seats supports 4/6 ratio reclining, forming an almost flat space, and it is best to lie flat in the wild.
With the launch of the 1.5T Oncovi S, it will further enrich the product matrix and enhance the competitiveness of the Oncovey family in the market, but this also means that the ordinary Oncovi may face discontinuation and no longer be replaced. In this way, the 1.5T version of the Encore S can form a dimensionality reduction blow to compact SUVs such as honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 Rongfang, and in the face of the same level of models such as Tiguan L and Explorer, it can form a greater advantage with a more people-friendly price and strong product strength, and is expected to launch an impact on new sales highs in the future.