Reading with transportation: a Chinese sedan promises a fun story to tell
Preface is translated from English as "preface". It is a strange and boring name for a sedan in comparison with exotic names of crossovers - "Monjaro" and "Okavango". If they were written on the cover of a book, that alone would guarantee a fascinating plot. Preface nevertheless has a colorful cover, and what is there with the content, found out "Izvestia".
Familiar features
Preface does not look boring at all, and if to write a preface to this model, it will be quite brief: Geely brand did not succeed in sedans for a long time. Neither Otaka, disgustingly made and rusting right before the eyes, nor Emgrand GT, dashingly conceived, but poorly tuned, did not bring fame to the brand. Ordinary sedan Emgrand only by the third generation became more or less decent car. Good externally, with a beautiful interior, but budget and not fast.
Dimensions of Geely Preface: 4825×1880×1469 mm. Wheelbase - 2800 mm
Taking into account that Geely was doing much better with crossovers, it was clear that the company will sooner or later take up sedans. Moreover, there is a "co-author" - Volvo, helping with the development of platforms and power units.
Preface, although stylistically related to Emgrand, is perceived as a car of another, higher class. It does not seek to surprise with unusual design moves, as many Chinese sedans, but speaks a language close to the Russian motorist. From the front it looks like Volvo, from the side - like Octavia, from behind - like Kia K5. Dimensions are almost like Camry, and sporty squat body causes analogies with BMW. In general, everything as we loved and what we have lost.
In addition to gray-purple, other metallics available are green, black, gray-blue and gray, and one non-metallic white
The incredible body color, which the website calls "gray-purple metallic," adds to the car's prominence, but it's best in black.
Handles up
The interior of Preface is typically Chinese: a minimum of buttons, a giant "tablet" in the center of the panel, a flattened steering wheel, a high console with a "cave" under it and a driver's seat with a short cushion. Fine lines of stitching on seats and door cards are combined with frankly plastic "wood". Transmission selector is paddle-shift, in Mercedes style, though for Chinese manufacturers it also becomes a common place.
The interior is presented only in one color variant. Seat upholstery in eco-leather is already available in the base configuration, but electric adjustment of the front passenger seat is available in the top version
Thick armrests with a very narrow slot for fingers surprised me - it is inconvenient to slam the door. The handles of door locks, which need to be prying and pulling upwards, are also unusual. There is an impression that the design of armrests was drawn for doors with servo drive, which open and close by pressing a button, but in the process this idea was abandoned.
The screen saver on the central display was also surprising, as if drawn by a student-practitioner. However, the touchscreen works fast and the menu is built logically. It is important, because not only climate control, but also light and mirror control are tied to the central display. The absence of Android Auto for Geely is a norm, for "mirroring" the screen of the smartphone you can download another application.
Sedan with reserve
Preface is larger than other Chinese "Camry killers", exceeds them in wheelbase and is noticeably wider in "shoulders". At the same time, the space on the back row is about the same as in competitors. Camry and Kia K5 are more spacious, but they are also larger than Preface. The sofa in Geely, despite a strange roll between a cushion and a backrest, provides a comfortable landing. There is also a reserve before knees, but only if the driver's seat is set in the lower position, passenger's feet will not fit under it. The headroom of the second row passengers is small, and it becomes clear why Preface is deprived of such an option as a sunroof.
Preface for the Russian market does not have an electric trunk lid, but it is possible to unlock the lock remotely - it is enough to stand at the stern for five seconds with the key in your hands or in your pocket. The lid itself rises on springs. The trunk is quite roomy, deep and wide, but it lacks hooks and loops, and its aperture is narrow.
Sporty character
Under the hood of Preface two-liter turbo engine, rather modestly by today's standards forced up to 200 hp. Thus the declared acceleration to "hundred" - 7,1 s, few sedans and liftbacks can now boast similar figure. The automobile drives assertively. If the road is wet, the sedan now and then breaks from a place with squealing of tires. Seven-stage "robot" at acceleration does not "dull" and changes gears quickly. If not pedaling, it works quite smoothly, but movements in tension on a rise make it jerk perceptibly.
The sedan accelerates from a place to a hundred in 7.1 seconds, top speed - 210 km/h
In sport mode Preface becomes too sharp, and effort on a steering wheel grows. Comfort mode is optimal here, but still the steering wheel remains too sensitive, and brakes - sharp. Suspension is also sporty dense, that, on the one hand, provides good controllability, but on the other hand - forces to be careful with lying policemen and road defects.
If to drive quickly, the consumption grows and - up to 13-14 liters per "hundred", and the tank of the car is small.
Declared average consumption of 95 gasoline - 7.2 liters per 100 km
It seems that Geely has not defined with a genre of the sedan: for a light reading there are a lot of sharp plot lines, and for a blockbuster there is not enough convincing. The character of Preface will like a venturesome driver, passengers will want more comfort, including acoustic - tires hum loudly. Especially if to these passengers came Geely with checkers.
How much is Geely Preface
However, a large sedan by today's standards can be liked not only by "corporates", but also by private citizens. Even despite the oddities and roughnesses, this is a car that not only looks good, but also handles decently and drives fast. Preface is larger than its competitors and costs noticeably more. The basic version with 17-inch disks, deprived of electronic assistants and for some reason glove box illumination, costs 3.18 million rubles, and the top version with 18-inch wheels will cost almost 3.4 million rubles.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
