2023-08-30 07:38:14
One of the newcomers to the Russian market attracts attention with an unusual design, but he turned out to have much more trump cards in the back
It seems that Changan has found its niche between other Chinese brands – while they are flooding the Russian market with crossovers of all stripes, Changan … also puts “SUVs” on sale, but at the same time does not forget about the usual “passenger cars”. One such machine is the Octavia-sized Uni-V liftback. But to call him a competitor of the Czech prude does not dare!
McLaren Panamera RS 7 Sportback
Skoda Octavia in the latest generation has ceased to be a simpleton, but what did the Chinese draw … In the guise of Uni-V, there is enough aggression and outrageous details to challenge supercars from British Woking. And in a three-quarter view from the rear, it is impossible to get rid of the thought that you are seeing something from the “RS-ok” Audi. Passers-by and downstream neighbors react violently to Changan, not understanding what kind of car it is. The inverted Acura emblem is not yet immediately associated with the Changan brand.
Changan Uni-V was introduced in November 2021 at the Guangzhou Auto Show, so it can be attributed to the new generation models created on the ARK modular platform
Source: Auto Mail.ru
A splitter under the front bumper “under carbon fiber”, large “fangs” simulating air intakes, a fancifully carved radiator grille and an arrogant squint of LED headlights – Uni-V gives the impression that under the hood there are “horses” under 400!
And from behind it hits on the spot. And not a pair of “square” exhaust pipes. It has a retractable wing! Moreover, you can raise it with a button from the passenger compartment, and thus notably “troll” the owners of the Porsche Panamera, whose tail in a traffic jam is one of their favorite entertainments.
Changan Uni-V on the Russian market can be bought in one of six colors offered: in addition to black and white, there is also blue, red and two shades of gray
Source: Auto Mail.ru
The interior of the Uni-V is in many ways similar to the interior of the Changan Uni-K crossover, which we tested in the winter – there are the same two large “TVs”, an unusual small “rectangular” steering wheel and a high central tunnel with a gearbox joystick and a “twist” for choosing driving modes.
But it is felt that Uni-V paid more attention. Pleasant gray inserts, orange stitching, unusual design of door panels and handles, and from the right seat you can clearly see the line that continues the edging of the two screens. It’s a pity that the panoramic roof does not have an opening section, and I also spent an hour trying to select the passenger seat in the menu to turn on the ventilation. But it turned out that both her and the heating were deprived of everything except the driver! Unusual solution…
Source: Auto Mail.ru
Fortunately, there are no other oddities in “Changyang” (yes, it is not “Changan” at all, but “Changyan”). There is even an unusual feature for the rear passengers, who will be quite comfortable even on a long trip – latches for mobile devices are built into the headrests of the front seats! And for the two rows of “mechanical” buttons under the central screen, the creators of this interior would like to wish long life and more influence in their company.
But what’s the big orange button that says Super Race doing here? I press. An animation with a racing track appears on the dashboard, and a warning appears on the central screen that the stabilization system is turned off and quick start mode is available. Seriously?!
After the Changan Uni-K crossover, where aggressive design is combined with “herbivorous” dynamics, there were big fears that the Uni-V would somehow help realize the ambitions of active drivers. After all, under the hood here – only 1.5 liters! Yes, the specifications indicate 181 hp. and 300 Nm of torque, but enough Chinese cars have passed through our hands, where words differ from deeds. Changan even claimed 7.1 seconds of acceleration to hundreds, but then this information disappeared from the official Russian website. Got excited?
“Poltorashka”, which is lucky!
I turn on the Racelogic GPS device, which we use to measure the dynamics of test cars, activate launch-control, Changan takes off and … I can’t believe my eyes! On the screen – 7.2 seconds in the column “0-100”. I do a few more starts, the average result is 7.3. At high speed, the Uni-V turns sour, as expected, but still makes its way to the passport maximum speed of 205 km / h. Worthy!
Source: Auto Mail.ru
In normal mode, without activating Super Race, acceleration to hundreds falls out in just 8 seconds, which, however, is enough for everyday driving. The main thing is that the seven-speed robot deftly manages two “wet” clutches – there is no long “blunt” standard for Chinese cars at the start, and it works adequately in motion. Most of all, the box does not like corks – sometimes it can protest in small jerks.
And in Uni-V, you can safely use different driving modes. Do not rush anywhere – choose Eco, with more active driving it is enough to stay in “normal”, and before a bunch of interesting turns on winding paths, be sure to switch to Sport. And the difference between these algorithms is really significant! The main thing is to turn off the binding of the selected mode to the steering wheel, in sports it becomes “reinforced concrete”, the effort is too great.
And this car loves turns – at first you are cautious, but over and over again you increase speed in familiar bunches, and Changan does not even think of slipping off the trajectory. No wonder there are Continental tires with a width of 235 mm (!) – like on other “charged” hatchbacks. And in terms of behavior, Uni-V has nothing to do with Uni-K’s bumpkin.
The secret lies in lightness – the curb weight is 1400 kg, which by modern standards is not much for a car with such dimensions. And the engine of its own design from the BlueCore family is not only pleasantly lucky and not too noisy, but also “eats” little. The average consumption for the entire time of the test did not exceed 9 l / 100 km, so even a modest 51-liter tank is enough for a sane power reserve. Moreover, the instruction allows you to fill in AI-92 gasoline there, but dealers still recommend the 95th.
By the way, in December last year, this motor set a record recorded in the Guinness Book – it continuously worked for 259 hours at 5.5 thousand revolutions. But it is not clear if anyone has tried to set a similar bar before and what should be the real achievement in this category.
The fact that the Chinese did not pursue fashion and installed 18-inch wheels kept the ride smooth, and the sound insulation is not bad. The only thing that stands out from the overall favorable “driver’s” picture is the ridiculous size of the brake. They withstood a series of slowdowns during measurements of dynamics without problems, but such a small diameter causes certain concerns.
Need additional calibration and refinement of the “software” and some electronic assistants. The active cruise control works adequately (for a Chinese car), but the automatic emergency deceleration system can lead to an accident (or to a driver’s heart attack)! A few times the Changan suddenly “dug” in place for no reason – and it’s good that it was in traffic jams, otherwise the back of the Uni-V would have undergone an unscheduled “restyling”.
How much does Changan Uni-V cost?
In Russia, Uni-V is offered only with a 1.5 turbo engine, a robot and front-wheel drive (in China there is also a two-liter engine and a hybrid version), and only two trim levels are available. For the basic (albeit very rich) performance of the LX, they ask for 2,859,900 rubles, but the Uni-V DLX looks much more interesting, where for an extra charge of only 70 thousand there will be hood air stops, a rain sensor, a Sony audio system with 10 speakers, a scattering of electronic driver assistants, multi-color interior lighting, heated and ventilated driver’s seat and the same retractable rear wing.
Clearance of 152 mm makes you be careful when parking to the curbs
Source: Auto Mail.ru
Prices are comparable to the Changan CS55 Plus compact crossover, and the Uni-V has almost no competitors among sedans and liftbacks. Nevertheless, for half a year of sales, he never became familiar on the roads and remained a niche story, the market has long been captured by an armada of SUVs. But in vain – this Chinese no longer makes you remember the Skoda Octavia or Hyundai Elantra models that left our market, which could turn any winding road into pleasure.
Below are the Changan Uni-V scores for our Chinese car rankings. Click this link to learn more about the scoring method.
See table
Vadim GagarinSergei UdachinAnna LevinaDynamics
Acceleration 788 Handling 988 Brakes 788Comfort
Seating behind the wheel776 Interior space777 Noise isolation777 Smooth ride666 Trunk789Technologies
Electronic assistants677Cameras665Multimedia778Equipment788Trying on yourself
Subjective assessment on a 10-point scale988Sum929595Arithmetic mean94
Final rating on a 100-point scale78,33
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#Test #drive #Changan #UniV #Chinese #surprises