If you plant flowers intentionally, they will not bloom, but if you plant willows unintentionally, they will create shade.
In the early years, the country attached great importance to the development of fuel vehicles and invested a lot of policy and financial support, but there were not many real results.
In recent years, the focus of state subsidies has been on new energy vehicles. Traditional car companies have launched a series of well-received fuel vehicles, and have also achieved a lot of success in core areas such as engines and gearboxes. breakthrough.
Great Wall and Changan are the representatives. Recently, the two companies have also launched new assemblies. Let’s talk about their technologies.
1. Changan Blue Whale series is getting better
Recently, Changan launched a new 1.2T three-cylinder engine, which is also the fourth model of the Blue Whale series. .
So far, Changan has formed an engine matrix of 1.2T, 1.4T, 1.5T, and 2.0T, basically achieving full coverage of the golden displacement under the current policy.
Changan’s new 1.2T engine has a power of 96kW and a maximum torque of 210Nm. Its power performance is better than Volkswagen’s EA211? 1.2T engine.
Based on the Blue Whale platform, this engine also uses 350bar high-pressure direct injection pressure technology and AGILE high-efficiency ultra-clean combustion system, which can make combustion more complete and have higher thermal efficiency.
In order to reduce turbo lag, the engine also uses a single-turbo twin-scroll electronically controlled supercharger, which is also a new type of supercharging technology that has become popular recently.
This new type of supercharger separates the exhaust pipes of adjacent cylinders, making fuller use of exhaust gas energy and making the engine more responsive at low speeds. This technology was first applied by BMW, and is also used by Volkswagen’s third-generation EA888. Now Changan has also entered the ranks.
From the data point of view, the new 1.2T Blue Whale engine can burst out the maximum torque in the speed range of 1500~3500rpm, and the turbine intervention time is mentioned before 1000rpm. This also allows the vehicle to have faster and more direct power response and better acceleration performance when starting off or cruising at low speeds.
The history of research and development of domestic engines can be said to be a bitter one, and it has been the target of criticism from the Chinese people in the early days. Later, after absorbing Mitsubishi's technology, we finally made great progress in reliability. The new generation of domestic engines has also made significant improvements in power and fuel consumption.
Changan is considered the leader among them. Starting from the 2.0T Blue Whale engine, it gradually developed 1.4T, 1.5T, and now the 1.2T three-cylinder engine, whose performance has reached the mainstream joint venture level. It can be said that Changan has truly mastered the core technology.
These models have indeed given Changan a boost. Sales of CS75, CS55, including Auchan X7 are also very good. This is the core reason why Changan's sales have bucked the trend in recent years.
The new 1.2T three-cylinder engine, official information is to replace the old 1.6L self-priming engine of Eado. Lower cost and better performance, this seems to be a sure profit.
But Kung Fu Motors has to say that this behavior is very likely to outweigh the benefits. Judging from the current market, small-displacement self-priming engines still have a huge market in small cars because of their good economy, excellent reliability and extremely low post-production costs.
For example, the Sylphy, which currently leads the sales list, uses a 1.6L self-priming engine; the Honda Fit, a new model that is frequently searched for, also uses a 1.5L self-priming engine; the Volkswagen series A-class cars , a large part of sales are also concentrated on the 1.5L self-priming engine.
On one side is a mature self-priming engine head, and on the other side is a small-displacement turbocharged engine with better performance. 1.5T may be able to beat 2.0L self-priming because of lower fuel consumption, lower price, and better performance, but 1.2T engine head is not necessarily better than 1.6L.
2. Great Wall Motors, cautious, comprehensive and stable
Great Wall recently released the third-generation Haval H6. The new car uses the latest "Lemon" platform, which has greater control performance improvement. The center of gravity is lower, the body pitch angle is smaller, and the steering precision is better. Currently, only the 1.5T version has been released, and the engine used is the same as the previous generation model.
In fact, Great Wall's new generation assembly has been released, and the first model of the new "4N20" series engine has been launched. The thermal efficiency has reached an astonishing 38.3, which is the same level as Honda's 1.5T engine. With a maximum horsepower of 180kW and a maximum torque of 385Nm, it has better performance than the EA888 used by Tanyue.
It can be predicted that the new generation engine will definitely become the core powertrain of the Haval series and WEY series in the next two years. However, Great Wall was very "tolerant" and did not let it catch up with the third-generation H6 for the first time. This reflects a very significant feature of the Great Wall, which is caution and stability.
Compared with Changan’s full coverage of 1.2L-2.0L, Great Wall only has two models, 1.5T and 2.0T, and only focuses on the field of SUVs. Is this because Great Wall’s technology is not good enough? Of course not.
In-cylinder direct injection, combined hollow camshaft, dual-channel supercharger, variable oil pump, and hydraulic tensioner, Great Wall has long been familiar with these technologies. Great Wall has even obtained a technology patent for variable compression ratio, becoming the second car company after Nissan to obtain this core technology. Moreover, it has made its own 9DCT, and its comprehensive efficiency and shifting speed are both at the international first-tier level.
Compared with the rapid advancement of technology, Great Wall is relatively cautious in the application of new technologies. Once it gets on the car, its reputation and sales basically soar.
Great Wall is almost the last car company among the first-tier independent brands to switch to its own 1.5T, but now the Haval H series and F series are equipped with this engine, and sales are booming. Great Wall's 7DCT was not too early to launch, and now it has millions of units installed. While other independent brand car companies are still purchasing Aisin 6AT and 8AT in large quantities, Great Wall's 7DCT has long been able to stand alone.
3. We still need to work hard to compete with the "Earth Dream"
So how far is the engine technology of first-line independent brands from "engine factories" like Honda?
Personally, I think we can talk about it in two aspects. First, from a technical perspective, it is actually very close. The core technologies used by the new generation of first-line domestic engines are not bad. For example, Great Wall's "4N20" also uses the Miller cycle, with a compression ratio of 12:1, and the latest lightweight technologies such as hollow sodium-filled valves and hollow camshafts. Technology is also used.
In terms of power performance, although it cannot reach the 272 horsepower of Honda K20C3, it is not far behind. The gap is not in technology, but in manufacturing technology and accumulation of experience in building cars. As the new generation of assemblies gradually come on board, this gap will gradually narrow.
Secondly, the research and development of independent engines is more "tricky". At present, it is basically concentrated in the domestic market, and research and development is also focused on meeting domestic regulations and policy needs.
For example, the 1.5L self-priming engine used in the Honda Fit has excellent power, cheap maintenance, good reliability, and low fuel consumption. This has been tempered for many generations. There are almost no domestic car companies focusing on the research and development of small-displacement self-priming engines, so this market will soon be monopolized by Fits.
Then there is Honda’s hybrid system, which has won Ward’s Top Ten awards many times, with good performance and ultra-low fuel consumption. There are no domestic car companies going in this direction because there are no subsidies and the technical difficulty is high.
4. Kungfu Motors
In fact, Kungfu Motors is quite pleased with the development of domestic powertrain technology. Technology research and development is very boring. What is required is to be able to endure loneliness and accumulate over a long period of time. Sometimes state subsidies are not necessarily a good thing, because as soon as the subsidies come, all kinds of ghosts and ghosts come to the scene. In the end, some people who don't really delve into technology take away the money, and the atmosphere is ruined.
What domestic car companies currently lack is the accumulation of experience and the improvement of process levels. This requires a long-term process. Fortunately, they are already moving in the right direction. The second is the parts that are not favored by the policy, such as hybrids and small-displacement self-priming, which are actually very practical for many users, but domestic car companies have invested very little energy.
Of course, no matter what, the progress of domestic powertrains is visible to the naked eye. We also hope that in the future, independent brand technology will develop better and better, lower prices, improve quality, and let more Consumers benefit.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.