It is undeniable that in recent years, the investment of the Wei brand in high-end models has been obvious to all, and the mocha and macchido launched earlier have also won a good reputation in the market. The newly launched latte is positioned in between, striving for the same level of benchmarking in terms of comprehensive product strength such as price, body size and configuration, making it a concern as soon as it came out. The question is, is this latte fragrant? We'll see!
The exterior shape of the latte still inherits the WEY brand family design elements, drawing inspiration from the light and shadow of the clouds and water, and the overall design is very harmonious. In terms of body size, the latte has a length, width and height of 4668/1890/1730mm and a wheelbase of 2745mm. It is somewhere between Macchiato and Mocha in size and positioning.
The front of the car adopts a front hexagonal air intake grille, the interior adopts elements similar to the lock armor, with the electroplating process, all angles can present different light and shadow effects, the edge of the middle mesh extends to the center, and finally converges to the model Logo, presenting the visual effect of "ripple convergence", which also makes the front of the car look very impactful as a whole.
The LED headlight shape of the latte highlights the sense of fashion and technology. The three vertical strip "Yunchuan" headlights inherit the original DNA design style of Weipai, and the same design also appears in the models of Mocha and Macchiato, which has also become a highly recognizable element of the WEY series.
The latte is equipped with 19-inch two-tone multi-spoke wheels for a dynamic and chic shape. The tire model is the Michelin Haoyue 4 with a specification of 235/55 R19, which is a tire that is mainly quiet and comfortable, and has excellent wet grip performance.
The rear styling is very skilful, and the overall silhouette is full but not bloated. The application of chrome trim is relatively restrained, creating a sense of simplicity and sophistication. The exhaust is the same hidden design as the Macchiato and the Mocha, which is more restrained and low-key, which is also in line with the characteristics of its hybrid models.
Compared to the exterior, the latte interior design is obviously more interesting. The moment you enter the car, the visual and tactile experience is amazing enough. The T-shaped central control area is undoubtedly the biggest attraction of the interior, in addition to a large number of metal trims, the application of soft materials and leather-wrapped trim panels, further enhance the light luxury texture of the latte interior, even if compared with the same level of luxury brands.
The multi-function steering wheel is a two-spoke design with a leather wrapped grip that feels good. The control area buttons on the left and right sides are treated with piano paint, which has a good visual effect, but it is easy to stain fingerprints, and patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder need to take care of it from time to time.
The latte is equipped with a 9.2-inch LCD instrument panel, which is different from the mainstream instrument size, and its narrow and long design makes the cockpit interior present a visual effect of running left and right. However, due to the shape of the display, it is impossible to display information such as the traditional tachometer, and the display font is small, so a certain compromise is made in the use experience.
The 14.6-inch central control large screen supports 5-point touch, and the resolution is 1920*1080. Powerful to control and set up the vehicle's internal and external functional configurations. In terms of the system, the system has built-in voice control functions, Bluetooth phones, car navigation, QQ music and other practical functions, and the screen fluency and sensitivity are good. In addition, the surface of the screen is made of aluminum silicon glass, and through a series of processes such as coating, anti-reflection, anti-fingerprint, etc., the screen display effect is guaranteed.
The latte is equipped with a 360-degree panoramic image function, the picture clarity is good, and the god perspective image connects naturally. In addition, the car also supports a transparent chassis, and the display effect is more intuitive.
The latte uses an electronic crystal retainer bar, using a crystal cutting process, and the small and delicate shape further enhances the luxurious texture of the interior. Below the barrier are the parking gear, the electronic handbrake and the engine start-stop button, and the functional area layout is reasonable.
After a simple static experience, we get down to business. The vehicles driven in this road test drive are all 1.5T+DHT HEV hybrid models, the engine uses Miller cycle, and the use of variable-section turbochargers and 350 bar high-pressure injectors and other advanced technologies. The maximum power of the engine is 115 kW and the peak torque is 235 N·m. In addition, the maximum power of the motor has reached 130 kW, the maximum torque is 300 N·m, and the comprehensive power of the whole hybrid system is 181 kW, and the comprehensive torque is 532 N·m. The official comprehensive 100 km fuel consumption is only 4.9L.
Different from ordinary fuel models, the hybrid system of latte is roughly divided into three working conditions, which is pure electric mode within 40km/h, hybrid mode of 40-80km/h, and gasoline-based direct drive mode above 80km/h. Especially in the starting and low-speed driving, the throttle response is fast and quiet, and the driving experience is not fundamentally different from that of ordinary pure electric vehicles.
Compared with Honda's i-MMD hybrid single-stop series parallel architecture, Latte's 1.5T DHT adopts a two-speed direct drive architecture, which can enter parallel mode when accelerating and overtaking at low speed, and the wheel end torque of the single-gear series parallel architecture is greater when accelerating at medium and high speed at full load, and the re-acceleration ability in the high-speed cruise state is more advantageous. In actual experience, the power reserve of this system does not have to worry, enough to cope with the complex road conditions of the city, smooth acceleration and linear braking feeling, even if it is the first contact can be easy to get started.
The steering wheel steering setting of the latte is very light, which may be very pleasing for girls, but there will be no obvious speed gain when cruising at high speed, but fortunately, the latte is equipped with L2 level driver assistance function, which increases the stability of the vehicle to a certain extent. The system includes a number of commonly used driver assistance functions, such as LKA lane keeping, high-speed driver assistance HWA, traffic jam assistance TJA/ICA, etc., and is operated by the lever with the left side of the steering wheel. The actual experience of the acceleration and deceleration process of the car cruise is very smooth. Of course, it would be more convenient to integrate the control buttons into the multi-function steering wheel.
Navigation enhanced HUD head-up display is a highlight of the car configuration, can clearly display speed, navigation, intelligent driving information in front of the front windshield, dynamic arrows will point to the vehicle driving direction according to the navigation, easy for the driver to observe the road information.
In terms of driving quality, the thickness of the chassis is the latte that impresses us the most. Although the road test drive model does not have optional electromagnetic suspension, it can also filter out most of the fine bumps in the face of the uneven road surface in the old city. In addition, the rigidity of the body and the support of the shock absorbers are very tight, and there is no obvious nodding phenomenon when braking, as well as the illusion of "flickering" boating.
In addition, the latte's performance in NVH is also remarkable. In fact, in addition to the slight shaking caused by the engine intervention during the rapid acceleration of the hybrid model, through the high-precision engine distribution mechanism, the silent chain, the design of the intake and exhaust anechoic structure, and more than 10 optimizations such as 5mm laminated glass, the latte's performance in terms of the overall quietness of the cabin can be regarded as a leapfrog existence.
After experiencing the road test drive of the 1.5T hybrid model, entering the field test link, the test drive model was changed to a 2.0T matching 9DCT+48V micro-mix system, and the high-end model was optionally equipped with electromagnetic suspension. The 48V light mixing system can play an auxiliary role, making the acceleration process more responsive. However, due to the restrictions of the test site, it is only possible to simply experience the 0-60km/h acceleration braking process. The starting moment is relatively smooth, but there will be no obvious sense of pushing back, considering its product positioning, such a setting is also reasonable.
Thanks to the 9.3rd generation ESP lateral stabilization technology, the vehicle's handling limits and stability are greatly improved. In the high-speed cornering experience, the latte performance is very calm, the body does not appear excessive roll and wheel slippage, and the whole operation process gives people a strong confidence.
Continuous winding of the pile has higher requirements for the latte chassis, which is equipped with front McPherson/rear multi-link four-wheel independent suspension, and the suspension has strong toughness, so it has good performance in handling stability and steering accuracy. In actual experience, the overall support of the suspension is sufficient, the vehicle is more obedient to the body posture when continuously steering, and the suppression of the roll is also in place.
For the comfort test, the scene also set up a continuous speed bump, in the face of continuous bumpy road conditions, the latte's electromagnetic active suspension finally played a role, can be through the road conditions and vehicle movement, real-time adjustment of damping force and attenuation vibration, in order to ensure the comfort of the ride, the actual riding experience compared to the model without the configuration, electromagnetic suspension through the speed bump when the damping is significantly more flexible, the improvement of comfort is immediate.
Finally, in the parking experience area, the scenes faced by consumers in modern cities such as narrow parking spaces and difficult parking for novice drivers are simulated. The latte has a fusion parking function, and realizes unmanned autonomous parking through 12 parking radars of the whole vehicle. Through the demonstration of the staff, the user can stand outside the car and control the vehicle through the mobile phone APP, complete the automatic identification of the scribing parking space, and automatically steer, shift, brake and other operations to achieve automatic parking in and out of the vehicle. The actual demonstration process was relatively smooth, which also made us look forward to the future in-depth test drive.
Write at the end:
Under the wave of the era of the country's vigorous development of new energy and energy-saving vehicles, as the new right-hand man under Weipai, the launch of latte undoubtedly shoulders the burden of future sales. Compared with the 2.0T+48V light hybrid model, the performance orientation is different, the 1.5T HEV model has more obvious advantages in terms of fuel economy and driving smoothness, while ensuring long battery life performance, rich configuration and luxurious interior further enhance the competitiveness of latte in the same level of products. That's no problem again, the coffee is delicious, will you pay for the "WEY" latte?