When it comes to hot-selling self-owned brand models, Changan UNI series must be at the forefront. As a series that leads the fashion design, every car it releases is quite eye-catching. However, if you tidy up, you will find that the UNI family only has three models so far: UNI-K, UNI-T, and UNI-V. In this market where design, performance, and quality are multi-dimensional, the faster update speed of competitors also brings new pressure. So, the fourth model of Changan UNI series, UNI-Z, has been launched. The family taste is weakened, but the design sense remains.
The UNI-Z clearly draws on the design style of the Changan car series. Its design is not so unique, especially the borderless style of the front end is weakened, and the style of the front grille has a clear frame, reducing the sense of technology while enhancing the sense of luxury.
The grille expands upward in a V-shape, with the angle continuing to coordinate with the angle in the Changan logo. The front face light strip connects the sharp headlamps on both sides, which are composed of 94 LED bulbs, visually integrating with the middle decorative panel. The triangular decorative panels on both sides of the bumper continue to show a good sporty style.
The side profile doesn’t look slim but exudes a tough temperament, similar to the sleek design of a coupe SUV, with a long front end and a muscular feel with the short rear. The dimensions of the new car are 4730mm in length, 1890mm in width, and 1680mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2795mm.
The shape of the rear of the car is sharper, with a large segmented spoiler at the top, a family-style continuous tail light in the middle, and two large exhaust pipes at the bottom, giving the rear of the car a very sporty look.
The test drive car is equipped with multi-spoke 19-inch wheels, paired with Chaoyang RADIAL RP76 series tires with a size of 245/50 R20, which is a tire that focuses on quiet comfort. The sense of technology is still the main theme.
When you open the door of the UNI-Z, you will notice that the design is different from the current UNI-K, UNI-T, and UNI-V models. Instead, the style seems to have some fusion with the deep blue model, and the layered central control panel lines are more concise. In terms of materials, the entire cabin of the new car is covered with a total of 11.5 square meters of leather, including the door panels, seats, and central console area, all covered with leather and soft plastic materials.
The steering wheel style of UNI-Z maintains the consistent design style of Changan, with a double-spoke steering wheel that has a good sense of technology. The button design at the three and nine o’clock positions appears more delicate, enhancing the overall stylish atmosphere.
It offers a full LCD instrument panel with a new interface design, which enhances the overall sense of technology. The interface settings can be completed and synchronized within the car, making it easier for users to grasp real-time driving information and road conditions while driving.
The 14.6-inch large suspended central control screen is still the visual center of the cabin, using the latest system, and the performance has evolved. The screen touch is more sensitive, the sliding is smoother and more responsive. The UI interface is very simple, with clear hierarchical menus, which is also its advantage. It is easy to use without any threshold, and anyone can quickly get started.
The car’s external online voice can support users to pre-record voice content and play it through an external speaker in specific scenarios to increase fun, such as “please be careful when reversing”, and can also be used as a loudspeaker. It is also worth mentioning that its voice can be operated by the driver outside the car. The external online voice function of UNI-Z is not yet popular in the price range of tens of thousands of cars, and can be considered as a unique configuration in the market.
The Face ID 3.0 facial recognition system can authorize up to 5 people at the same time. Users can use the system to adjust the preset settings of the vehicle by recognizing their faces, allowing for seamless adjustments to the seat and rearview mirror positions for different drivers.
The intelligent driving system is well equipped, with UNI-Z series standard L2 level assisted driving. Even entry-level cars have 11 active safety features, such as integrated adaptive cruise control, lane assistance, and forward collision warning.
All models come with PM2.5 filters and smart air purification system. Temperature and airflow can be adjusted quickly through the touchscreen. It’s very convenient. The space that a mid-size SUV should have.
The car is equipped with sport seats, and the diamond-shaped stitching design looks very sporty. When you sit in the driver’s seat, thanks to the ergonomic seat design, the entire seat has a large contact area with the body, and both support and resilience are very good, making it very comfortable to sit in. The front seats are all electrically adjustable, and the driver’s seat has lumbar support function.
The five-seater is positioned to be spacious, with great comfort in the rear seats. The backrest angle and seat cushion length are very good in the regular state, leaning more towards comfort. The regular seats on the left and in the middle can reach the top level in the mid-size SUV.
The panoramic sunroof has a large lighting area, covering the overall area of the second-row passengers’ heads, providing a stronger sense of transparency for the passengers in the car, and also equipped with an electric sunshade.
Because of its sloping rear end, its design actually leans more towards a sporty SUV. The interior of its trunk is not as tall as a typical SUV, so the height is average but the depth is sufficient. The regular volume of the trunk is 638L, which can be further expanded to 1425L when the second row is folded down. There are also multiple storage compartments under the floor, enough for the use of five people in the car. Hybrid also has new gameplay.
The new Blue Whale hybrid is powered by two electric motors, with a peak engine power of 72kW and a peak motor power of 158kW and peak torque of 330N·m. The battery supports 125 kilometers of pure electric range, and the overall range of the vehicle exceeds 1200 kilometers.
This power system adopts a serial structure of P1 and P3 motor input shafts, with a compact motor layout of 3 axes and 6 teeth, thus achieving one-key switch between plug-in hybrid and extended range power modes. The dual mode still emphasizes both power and fuel economy, with overall tuning emphasizing comfort. With the new power system, there is no need to question either the hardware or the parameters. The entire power system matching is very mature and perfect, worthy of recognition in terms of smoothness and logical mode switching. It has a manual switch, but in actual use, as for how the logic switches, I suggest putting it on intelligent hybrid.
In urban driving, the extended range mode is used, thanks to the performance of the motor, the driving experience at this time is like that of a pure electric vehicle, with all the advantages of a pure electric vehicle: smooth, quiet, responsive, and with good power output proportion. Slight pressure on the accelerator pedal will provide you with a smooth and non-awkward power response, and the short pedal travel setting will give you a very direct sense of acceleration.
When driving at high speed, switching to hybrid mode allows the power system to have higher output in parallel mode. During the brief acceleration process of overtaking at 120 kilometers per hour, the sense of acceleration is still very noticeable, and it can also bring a good sense of acceleration when fully loaded, with quite ample potential.
The new car has four driving modes: energy-saving, comfort, sport, and pure electric. Each mode has distinct characteristics. In sport mode, you can feel the power and response more directly, and the power system can recognize the driver’s intention more quickly. However, I personally feel that the car in energy-saving mode is the most comfortable.
The steering wheel has a neutral turning force, feeling light at low speeds and providing some damping as the speed increases. It performs well in daily driving, with good lane changing and overtaking performance. The electronic power steering does not feel heavy, making it very easy to drive.
The front McPherson + rear multi-link independent suspension system provides excellent support, giving the driver more confidence in high-speed continuous lane changes with minimal body roll. The overall comfort-oriented chassis tuning style gives it a more sophisticated road feel and better adapts to everyday road conditions, especially on well-paved roads, with very noticeable effects in absorbing small road vibrations. However, there is a slightly noticeable body roll in corners.
The application of the new power system has upgraded the NVH quietness performance. When sitting in the car, the engine running is almost inaudible. Shouting from outside the car cannot be heard inside. When driving over rough asphalt roads, the entire car maintains a high level of NVH performance. The overall NVH of the car is definitely one of its highlights. In summary, the development of the Changan UNI series over the past 4 years has been steady and solid. Excellent design and bold use of the new power system have contributed to good sales and reputation for the three models. In the trend of electrification, the UNI-Z born under the embrace of new energy continues this momentum. Its pre-sale price locked in the 100,000-150,000 yuan (20800$) range to compete in terms of cost performance is also the key to its future success.