The @changan_southafrica Uni-S was unveiled last night, and today it was time to drive it and see if all the spec on paper matches the physical car.
Well, it does. And then some.
It's a comfortable place to be, the driver's seat. The layout is great, much like most premium SUVs, except it's a little confusing because the selling price isn't premium. That's a rad bonus.
As mentioned, the Uni-S range features a petrol-fed, turbocharged 1.5 litre Blue Whale powerplant rated at 138 kW with 300 Nm of torque, and it's mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that sends power to the front wheels.
Throttle response, steering feedback, and handling is all good, as you'd expect from a new car. I mention this because some of the Chinese cars I've driven have throttle response of a home-built go kart. The Uni-S does not. It's really good.
There's definitely the rated power on board, we were driving around 4-up and the Uni-S had no issues at all. I want to drive it alone now to see the difference, because it's rather nippy. We drove at a normal pace, we drove at a rapid pace, we navigated Jo'burb traffic over more than 150 Km and the car happily returned mid 6s per 100 km. That's impressive and goes hard against that common stereotype of Chinese cars being thirsty. I'm sure if we drove like regular folk, the figures could be in the low 6s or even high 5s.
Also, this is on a motor that's done under 1,500 km, more mileage should see it ease up even more. A Jo'burg to Durban run will easily be done on a single tank, for sure.
It's an impressive offering and everything about it says it should be a really good seller. People just need to start trusting Chinese brands. While Changan is new in SA, it's a car company with roots dating back to 1862. There are loads of new brands around, but some are definitely trustworthy.
With all of this wrapped up in a price tag ranging from R389,900 to R469,900 legacy brands should be more than a little worried.
#CWMedia #CWMLaunch ##ChanganSA
