As one of the first owners of the 2021 Ideal ONE, I thought the advantage of the Ideal L9 was only in its static experience. However, after experiencing its dynamic performance, I was pleasantly surprised.
In the past, people would often ask, “Have you driven a BMW X7 or a Mercedes GLS?” when discussing luxury SUVs.
I believe that in the future, people will ask, “Have you driven an Ideal L9?”
Full self-developed flagship range-extended electric system and chassis control system
First, let’s talk about the chassis. People often have this ingrained idea that the chassis tuning of a century-old car manufacturer must be better than that of a new force. The Ideal L9 is ultimately a “family car,” so its tuning is focused on comfort. The conclusion is that the comfort of the Ideal L9 chassis far exceeds that of BBA luxury SUVs.
On paved roads, the Ideal L9’s NVH in hybrid mode on highways is excellent. At a constant cruising speed of 100 km/h, the sound inside the car measured by an Apple Watch is only 59dB. In a very quiet environment with music turned off, one can barely hear a very pleasant noise of the 1.5-liter 4-cylinder range extender. The steering wheel continues the comfortable feel of the Ideal ONE, and there is no shaking even when driving at low speeds with low battery levels.
On unpaved roads, driving at about 50 km/h on bumpy dirt roads, both Mercedes GLS and BMW X7 with air suspension suffer from severe shaking: the former sways horizontally, while the latter bounces up and down. Thanks to the CDC damping system, the Ideal L9 can solve the excessive shaking of the car in one or two bounces, without the feeling of “sailing.”
In the words of a friend, “On bumpy roads, I can sleep peacefully in the Ideal L9, while in the BMW X7 and Mercedes GLS, I am often awakened by the shaking.”## The flagship intelligent driving system, Ideal AD Max, developed entirely in-house.
The biggest surprise for me is that the Ideal L9 now has options for automatic lane change and lane change by pressing “OK.” Automatic lane change finally solves my feeling of disconnection.
First and foremost, the improvement of NOA (Navigation Guided Assistance) on the Ideal L9 is remarkable. I am willing to call it the “best navigation assisted driving experience on the market” when the Ideal L9 is delivered.
Thanks to the addition of the laser radar, the sensing ability of the entire car has greatly improved and is more geared towards human driving habits.
The following are my most impressive experiences:
- When changing lanes, judgment of cars in the opposite rear is more accurate and requires less distance.
- Attempts to overtake from the far right lane.
- Apart from situations where the vehicles merge from two to one lane on the ramp, it was achieved with minimal human interference throughout the high-speed driving.
Now, let me address some questions that I and other users have in common:
What about HUD height and brightness?
In actual usage, I suggest adjusting the height and brightness of the HUD to automatic. After driving about 100km, I did not find any issues with brightness or clarity.
Will the rear screen block the rearview mirror when it is lowered?
Indeed, it will cause some obstruction. Based on my experience, it blocks about one-third, mostly in the sky, while the vehicle and lane can still be seen clearly. If you are still not used to the central control screen, you can also pull up the real-time rear view image, which is very clear and easy to use.
Is fuel consumption high?
With four passengers onboard, using air conditioning throughout both highway and city traffic, the fuel consumption displayed by the meter is about 8 to 9 litres per 100km. For a full-size SUV, it is already excellent.
In summary, the Ideal L9 is a “truly comfortable and easy-to-drive” full-size SUV that offers dynamic performance comparable to that of million-dollar SUVs.
Prospective Ideal L9 owners are welcome to experience a test drive at a dealership on July 16th to see whether the Ideal L9 is truly a “great masterpiece.”
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.