When people knew that SAIC Volkswagen was going to launch a new MPV model called Viloran, it instantly caused a lot of discussion, even in the MPV market has not been subjected to so much attention, the reigning top selling domestic brand Volkswagen is finally going to attack the family MPV market again.

Since its introduction in 1999, Buick GL8 has achieved unprecedented success and has been nearly monopoly posture continued to the present, the masses once played the Sharan and the Wayan card obviously did not achieve any results. Against this backdrop, the Viloran comes with its own attention and traffic, while its new SAIC Volkswagen Intelligent Vehicle Link system and new interior cabin make us even more excited about its performance in the smart-cockpit arena.

Summary of core points

1. Volkswagen's latest Vehicle Link system is supported by a degree of intelligence that is no less than that of other models, changing consumers' impression of MPVs.

2.? The voice system provided by Volkswagen Ask demonstrates a respectable interaction experience.

3.? The luxury and comfort of the cabin cabin is a definite strong point, so watch out for the competition next door.

4.? No obvious shortcomings, all features are basically above average, in line with the level of the public.

Intelligent configuration information

Intelligent performance

1.? Smooth touch operation, speed response

Shanghai Automotive Volkswagen Intelligent Vehicle Link system is built on Linux and Android dual system architecture, the basic quality of the entire system performance is very good, both touch response and animation smoothness is very good. Specifically from the system speed-related scores, in addition to the cold car, the car machine startup need to wait a certain amount of time, other operations such as navigation, application startup, voice search, etc., the feedback of the car machine is relatively smooth, and in the test program got a lot of high scores, but also let this set of car machine to us left a good first impression.

2.? Volkswagen ID account as the core, integration of third-party eco-applications

Unlike the previous system, which was relatively closed, the new system integrates two online entertainment apps, Cool My Music and Himalaya, as well as Gaode Navigation and Jingdong Small Whale Smart Home, and accesses the Meituan data for food and beverage recommendations, as well as support for Carplay and Carlife. third-party accounts of the entire eco-interconnection are unified under the VW ID account. The entire eco-connectivity third-party accounts are unified under the Volkswagen ID account, and the information will be automatically synchronized after logging into the car.

In terms of account management, this system is not quite the same as most of the current car models, as the third-party eco-applications are bound and managed through the cell phone's Super App, rather than the car model. At first, we were a bit uncomfortable, but later found that this is actually more conducive to the owner of the car at any time away from the car management operations, rather than having to rely on the vehicle, the operation is more flexible.

What's behind this is Volkswagen's philosophy of building an ecosystem that centers on unified account management, which is also an important foundation for human-machine intelligent interaction today and in the future. It can be said that the new system in the third-party online ecological aspects to do with the times, although the number of applications is not much, but already has the current mainstream car-machine interconnection function.

3.? Super App car control capabilities need to be strengthened

The next step is to highlight the SAIC Volkswagen Super App, which is an important part of the SAIC Volkswagen Telematics. the App will show a lot of brand and model-related information, activities, and some of the car knowledge in the home page, and the frequency of the push will not be particularly intensive, providing owners with an understanding of the brand's product entrance. At the same time, the App also provides an official mall, you can buy new car deposit, maintenance supplies, car supplies, etc., there are some after-market services.

After adding the car in the vehicle page, the App can support remote locking/unlocking, flashing lights/hooting, vehicle positioning, etc., but now it has been more common to start/turn off the engine, windows/sunroofs/seats, air conditioning, trunk, and other vehicle control-related functions, Volkswagen is not open, to the App function has been a lot of discounts, and the daily use of a certain reduction in convenience, which is still to be future This point still needs to be strengthened in the future.

4. The voice system is grounded, but also reflects the conservatism of Volkswagen

With the support of Volkswagen Ask, the localization performance of the entire voice system has been greatly improved. Throughout the interaction with the system, we hardly had the kind of watered-down feeling that we usually get with joint-venture brand cargo luxury brand models. Words, feedback, etc. will not be particularly hard, closer to our daily use of habit, and there is a certain multi-round dialog ability, improve the sense of interaction.

In the navigation, music, the system supports no wake-up play/pause music, previous/next song, zoom in/out of the map, due north/frontside, and other common commands, and can be directly through the "you call XXX" to change the customized wake-up call, but also has a boy and girl switch, Mandarin/Cantonese customization capabilities, interaction is also more flexible and free of charge. It also has the ability to switch between male and female Mandarin/Cantonese customization, as well as the flexibility and freedom of interaction, which also adds a lot of points to Weiran.

In terms of function and command coverage, the ability of music, navigation, weather, phone and other common functions is relatively comprehensive, but for some query commands, the system seems to be a bit unintelligible, and sometimes may be the wrong meaning. In addition, the voice's ability to control the car is equally conservative, such as windows, sunroof, windshield wipers, lights, seats and so on do not support voice operation.

Obviously, perhaps for security or cost reasons, the logic of traditional car companies in this regard will be more cautious, and do not think that some conventional operations need to use voice to replace the above-mentioned App remote control related functions. But in general, the new system on the Weiran completely changed our impression of Volkswagen's more rigid impression, and the interaction experience has been greatly improved compared to previous Volkswagen models.

5. Rear is the real highest priority of the whole car

Unlike sedans and SUVs, which are more common, the focus of MPVs will be more on the rear compartment, and Volkswagen Weiran naturally spends a lot of thought on the second-row boss's seat, which is officially known as the Captain?Chair.

Sunblinds, courtesy armrests (with cup holders, cell phone holders, storage space, USB ), seat configurations (heated, ventilated, massaged, leg rests), independent air conditioning, 360° rotatable reading lamps, boss button, dual-side electric sliding doors, welcoming light carpet, these configurations alone are enough for a wide array of features, and coupled with the diamond-embossed leather, you can experience a strong sense of comfort and luxury.

The only flaw, the two most exclusive individual seats in the second row are still manually adjustable fore and aft, which is slightly jarring when other aspects are so well thought out.

6.?L2+ Autopilot capability is simple and easy to use

IQ.DRIVE is Volkswagen's latest generation of intelligent driver assistance systems and is starting to be used in a succession of new-generation products, which are equipped with ACC Adaptive Constant Speed Range, Lane Keeping, AEB Brake Assist, IQ.Light Intelligent Headlamps, 360° Panoramic Imaging, PLA?3.0 on the Weiran. Automatic Parking Assist and so on, the current mainstream driver assistance functions are available, and the steering wheel set up a key to open and a key to set up the button.

The whole automatic driving system starts, the working experience is relatively stable, the acceleration and deceleration in the driving process, the lane keeping in the ring road curves are relatively smooth, for the warning class prompt information is also relatively significant, this point we are still assured that Volkswagen. The automatic parking system supports vertical and side parking automatic parking, with the use of panoramic image, the size of more than 5.3 meters of Wei Ran provides a lot of help. However, the perpendicular rear can only recognize the space in the middle of the two cars at present, and for the time being, it is not possible to choose to park in multiple empty spaces.

Ease of use

In the car's home page, when a small hand-shaped icon appears in the lower right, this means that it now supports gesture control, like a slap in the face, which is also a unique feature in the new system of Volkswagen models, waving your hand to turn the page, the operation of the success rate is relatively high, and there is a certain degree of practicality. But if you don't like it and still want to touch-swipe the screen, it's a two-finger swipe that's required, rather than the usual one-finger swipe, which takes some getting used to.

The whole style of the car still continues the previous style of Volkswagen, but has been redesigned, with a lot of aesthetic improvement. On the left side are shortcut buttons for menu, home, screen on/off, and volume, with a uniform black background and regular square icons for the menu bar. The home page is presented in card format, and you can customize the content of each card by long-pressing it, but some function pages lack a corresponding back button, so you have to tap the home or menu button to exit to the home page, which is a bit inconvenient.

In addition, in order to increase the sense of technology, Wei Ran uses touch control under the center screen to control the air conditioning. In comparison, however, we still prefer the traditional physical buttons, and the touch method still creates a degree of visual and motor distraction.

Appearance and technology

The Wei Ran is still a Volkswagen family design, using a 9.2-inch center screen + 10.3-inch LCD instrumentation consisting of a dual LCD screen, and a touch air conditioning control panel below the center screen, creating a nice technological atmosphere. In addition, the car uses a new steering wheel shape, coupled with nice leather materials, elegant wood veneer, interior ambient lighting and wireless charging pads, which enhances a lot of luxury, and the aesthetics are also much livelier than the interiors of previous VW models.

Reliability

Volkswagen's ergonomics in all aspects of the performance is good, in addition to the air conditioning touch panel slightly affected, the screen, instrumentation, etc. is also basically no driving safety distractions, navigation, music, audible, voice system, and other major features in the test process have not been problematic, the reliability of the degree of relatively high. The main account of the car can authorize other accounts to unlock the vehicle, and in addition to the main account, there will be restrictions on the use of online functions for other accounts, with corresponding considerations on account security.

The downside is that there is no E-Call or B-Call on the car to ensure safety, and only the app can realize the function of vehicle rescue. Vehicle status in the car only supports tire pressure monitoring, and other aspects need to be viewed in the App, which can check several aspects of the engine, tire pressure, lights, and braking system through the health report. But in general, all levels are above average, and in line with the experience accumulated behind VW's many years of car building.

Innovation

We didn't expect too many innovations on a Volkswagen, but they are all relatively close to reality, such as a wealth of thoughtful settings in the second row of the vehicle, gesture recognition, etc., and none of the flashy gimmicks, which is in line with the style of Volkswagen products.

Other innovations we've mentioned above are the digital cockpit in the car's engine. It allows you to personalize the dashboard. In addition to the center display, which can be controlled directly from the steering wheel multifunction buttons, the analog dials on both sides can be customized in the settings for nine types of commonly used driving information, and there are preset modes of Auto, Classic and three saved fixed views, making the dashboard display more flexible, plus five points.

Additionally, while customized driving modes are not uncommon, this time on the Weyland the adjustable content is richer, with the ability to adjust the steering wheel, driver, adaptive cruise control, light assist, air conditioning, etc., which still has its novelty in it, so add 3 points for that.

Car Cloud Review

We've already mentioned in the opening paragraph that 300,000-400,000 yuan, or even up to 500,000 yuan of MPVs, the domestic market can't get around the Buick GL8, an evergreen tree that is still the best-selling MPV at present. And Wei Ran compared to before, in the form and functional positioning are closer to the GL8, if you look at the price of 28.68-399,800 yuan, almost directly referring to the current GL8?ES Luzun series, the target is very clear.

The final test results, Wei Ran got a total score of 656, in our current list as a whole already belongs to the upper-middle level, in the entire joint venture camp is already at the top. From the point of view of the cockpit functions, the car system is moderate, the vehicle intelligent control is slightly conservative, human-machine interaction and the instrument panel have a good performance. Considering the MPV's functionality and VW's conservatism, we think this is a very good score.

Whether or not the SAIC-Volkswagen Weiran will be able to shake the Buick GL8's position in terms of sales, we can say that at least in the field of intelligent cockpit, the Weiran has all the strength to compete with it. This is also more in line with the daily needs of ordinary consumers in the home, and with the GL8 is more good at the business sector to form a differentiation, but also will attract those who are more concerned about the field of intelligent people, and into the final market performance.

This article comes from the authors of the Automobile House car family number, does not represent the views of the Automobile House position.