In the high-end camp of Chinese brands, Xingtu has high hopes for Chery. Although Chery has always been in a leading positioning in terms of technology accumulation and has a strong ability to autonomously develop research and development, to create a brand, it is more necessary to accurately face a type of user group in the early stage, and it can be unique in their eyes, so as to make the brand's popularity famous. The development process of Xingtu can be described as "crossing the river by feeling the stones", but from the recent renaming of models and the unification of design, it can also be seen that Xingtu is maturing. But at this time, there is still a more important issue to face, that is, how to make a certain difference with Chery's main brand.
The launch of the Star Way Chasing Wind (picture | configuration | inquiry) is based on the previous Star Way lx renamed. As a high-end brand, or a traditional luxury brand, the word texture is always mentioned. The models under the Chery brand actually have more highlights in appearance, especially the shiny Galaxy-style middle net. But for Xingtu, the texture needs to be more reflected in the calm and exquisite details. The combination of the one-piece light strip and the letter logo in front of the star chasing wind, as well as the depth and sportiness brought by the cascading net below, highlight the personality at the same time, but also do not feel too explosive.
Xingtu Chasing Wind is positioned as an entry point in the brand, focusing on the young people's market, and the addition of coupe elements is more in line with their aesthetic needs. The length, width and height are 4533/1848/1699mm, the wheelbase is 2670mm, especially the tilt of the tail window is large, and the visual center of gravity is pressed low, which has a "small steel cannon" attitude.
In terms of interior design, the double conjoined large screen of Xingtu chasing the wind looks stylish and simple, and a large area of leather wrapping and red stitching, adding some black metal brushed panels, although the design highlights are not much, but the exquisite sense of the car is better, of course, as a high-end brand, we still hope that Xingtu still has to make some more recognizable features in the interior.
The difference between Xingtu and Chery, the configuration is also an important aspect. The model we test-drove has AR real-life navigation, and the 540-degree transparent chassis also supports 3D rotation relative to the competition. At the same time, this set of large screens is equipped with lion 4.0 lion zhiyun system, which supports speech recognition, face recognition, remote control of mobile phones, built-in rich apps and fota remote upgrades.
Audio with label is also one of the important elements of high-end brands, Star Trail wind using sony 8 channels and with a center speaker, this type of audio is usually by the original mixer for the specific model of professional tuning, software upgrades, in the spatial level of the three-dimensional sense to a higher level.
The 2022 model of The Star Trail has already launched a 1.6t+7dct Versailles version, which is powered by such a small size SUV, and it can indeed have a "small steel cannon" performance. The test drive is a 1.5t engine matched with a cvt gearbox, which has a maximum power of 156 horsepower and a peak torque of 230n·m. This set of power has been used in Chery Group for many years, not only mature and reliable, its strong power output and excellent smoothness, while satisfying the driving pleasure, but also bringing a more comfortable experience for the passengers.
The initial throttle of this set of power is extremely responsive, and the acceleration of the start can even find a slight sense of ejection. The performance of this set of cvts is indeed unexpected, its simulated 9-speed is not "paper talk", but the real action that can see the rise and fall in the tachometer. Especially when there is a sudden acceleration in the middle, the speed can be increased rapidly, rather than slowly like many previous cvts. At the same time, such a process will not let the body have any setbacks, and ensure sufficient power reserve when overtaking, and effectively improve the comfort of the whole vehicle.
The suspension of the star chasing wind adopts the front McPherson rear multi-link type, and the bouncing feeling of its suspension can be said to be more compact. The suspension adjustment is hard and tough, the sense of movement is stronger, and the perception of larger bumps will be slightly obvious, but the resolution of fine bumps is very good. The body hardly responds to the abnormal sound during bumps, and these factors are common features of high-end brand models.
This kind of hard suspension will actually bring better handling, due to the low attitude and center of gravity of the whole vehicle, the lateral support when cornering is in place, the steering adjustment force is lighter, but the accuracy is higher, with the tight chassis of the adjustment, the execution of the driver's steering action is also in place, and it is also solid and stable enough when driving at high speed.
Summary: Judging from the test drive, the overall characteristics of star chasing the wind are not very distinct, but it is indeed very easy to open and easy to use. The configuration is also complete enough, and the chassis texture is indeed stronger than chery's main brand. However, compared with other Chinese high-end brands, the route taken by Xingtu is still more to fight for cost performance, such as the price of the model driven in this test drive is 118,900 yuan, and the same price point of Lynk & Co 06 is one level lower, the space is smaller, the 3-cylinder power, and the high-tech configuration is not so eye-catching. Of course, the design and texture performance of Lynk & Co can indeed make many young people ignore the cost performance and buy because of impulse, which is a high-end brand, which needs to generate more premiums with its own charm. Therefore, the product force is good enough to chase the wind, and some better packaging is needed, but at present, it seems that it is also a very affordable high-end product.