Author: An Gong Zi Xing Qin Ye Se

It is said that the Chu area has been a place good at building dreams since ancient times. In Song Yu’s “Gao Tang Fu”, he talked about the story of King Chu Huai and the fairy of Mount Wu who formed a bond in their dreams. More than two thousand years later, in Wuhan’s Huangjinkou, less than 100 kilometers away from Yunmengtai, a new story about dreams began.

In November 2021, Voyah Motors’ second car model, a new energy MPV called the “Dreamer,” made a high-profile debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show and was officially launched in May of the following year, with deliveries beginning in July. With the arrival of the lunar calendar’s “flowery July” and accompanied by autumn rains in Beijing, the Voyah Dreamer smart driving test drive event arrived as scheduled, with the rainy weather making the driving even more difficult.

“Taking dreams as horses” is a poem by Hai Zi. The ancient Chinese people’s worship of horses was actually equivalent to that of dragons. Today, we often say “the dragon’s spirit and the horse’s vigor,” which may have originated from the saying in the “Rites of Zhou”: “Horses more than eight feet tall are dragons.” The “Book of Changes” talks about the “Qian Gua,” saying “time rides six dragons to rule the sky,” and the Jin Dynasty’s “Shiyi Ji” refers to King Mu’s eight horses as “the eight dragon horses.” Whether it’s a dragon or a horse, it’s ultimately a beast of burden.

It was Zhao Wuling, king of Qin State, who first wore a robe and rode on horseback, introducing cavalry to the Central Plains. Later on, during the Han dynasty, General Li Guangli brought back 3,000 Ferghana horses from Da Yuan, enabling Wei and Huo to trample on the Xiongnu and occupy their land. From then on, people and horses became one, whether it was “white horses adorned in golden bridles” or “dragon and horse flower snow fur,” the horse became the people’s legs, capable of “galloping with the spring breeze” and “yearning to fly a thousand miles.” Generations of people roamed the vast lands, following their “returning through the flowers with the scent of horse hooves,” fulfilling one “Spring and Autumn Dream” after another.

As time marches on and the world changes, today, even though we still call them “streets,” the honking of cars has replaced the neighing of horses. Although “thousands of horses can be found, but not a single competent judge,” as the master judge of this era, how can we identify the “thousands of miles horse”?

Firstly, it’s speed.

It’s an old saying that power is like savings – you don’t need it, but you can’t go without it.

Voyah Dreamer is equipped with the “Lanhai Power” powertrain, with a high-performance pure electric version capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds, and an intelligent multi-mode drive system version capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds.

Although ultimate driving may not be a strong demand for consumers as an MVP, when there is a need for rapid acceleration or urgent time constraints, only excellent performance can “travel thousands of miles without stopping” and elegantly “hide one’s light under a bushel”.

The Second Principle: Frugality.

In ancient times, successful cavalry battles often depended on abundant water and grass, and fat and strong horses. Therefore, once they traveled long distances, if food and forage were insufficient and horses were thin and had long hair, most of them could only wait to die.

The same is true for cars.

The Voyah Dream Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive System rides on Dongfeng’s self-developed 1.5TGDI China Heart Top 10 engines. The WLTC urban fuel consumption is not more than 5L/100km. The 0-carbon version adopts an 8-layer flat wire drive motor, with an efficiency of over 95% and an operating efficiency of 88.2%.

“Festivals in times of abundance, thrift in times of scarcity; defeating enemies in times of abundance, preserving oneself in times of scarcity.” Excellent energy consumption control allows people to travel long distances without worrying about energy supply, while also enjoying economic benefits. As the Book of Changes said, “Heaven and earth are regulated and the four seasons mature, and the regulation serves the purpose of preserving wealth and not harming the people,” which can be described as “long thought for the monarch.”

Third Principle: Stability.

The Book of Changes talks about “Proud Dragon has regrets” and says that “Proud means that it knows how to advance but not how to retreat, how to survive but not how to forget, and how to gain but not how to lose.”

Driving fast may not be important, but reducing speed and stopping in time are definitely important.

As an MPV, Voyah Dream has a 6-second level zero-to-100 acceleration capability, but only needs 37 meters to stop at a hundred kilometers an hour. At the same time, it is equipped with large-size brake discs and front double-piston calipers, which can withstand 10 consecutive hundred-kilometer braking and have outstanding anti-heat attenuation capabilities. After intense driving, it still needs to be settled down calmly.

# The Analects of Confucius, Stop at the Ultimate Good

The Analects of Confucius talk about “stop at the ultimate good” and say “only when we know when to stop can we be settled.” Excellent motivation is undoubtedly important, but knowing what a perfect ending is, stopping the car without shaking, and being in harmony after “Already done” is the real wisdom that truly complies with Chinese people.

Day 4: Health

The Book of Changes says, “The sky moves vigorously, and the wise man strives tirelessly.” “The sky moves vigorously” is the overall spirit of the Outline of the “Qian Gua” in the Book of Changes. Actually, the eight characters “All day long, dryness, and dusk are as strict as alertness” are the essence of it. People are dry all day long, which seems easy, but it is difficult to be as strict as alertness, and the wise are cautious in their solitude.

However, the dream of Voyah designers is deeply rooted in their bones, and they express the phrase “as strict as alertness” incisively and vividly.

“Double-arm + independent five-link suspension system” and “CDC adaptive cushioning and shock absorption with magic carpet function”, these two “substances” that are hidden in the deepest part and are not easy to notice if not mentioned, are the internal strength that the Voyah designers have been practicing and proud of.

If you don’t turn it on, you won’t know it exists; if you don’t sit in it, you won’t know it is there. However, Voyah designers are willing to invest in safety and comfort when driving. “Although the taste is expensive, we must not reduce our physical efforts.” It can be said that the great sound is soundless, and the great path is formless.

Day 5: Ingenuity

The “Shuowen” dictionary says: “Ingenuity means skill,” which shows that people use ingenuity to praise someone’s superb skills.

In the history of Chinese literature, there were two ingenious people, one is Li Ping, who played the konghou in China, and the other is the Pipa Maiden who played the pipa on the Xunyang River. They admired the konghou played by Li Ping, saying, “Twelve doors of cold light in front, twenty-three strings moving purple emperor”, and the pipa of the Pipa Maiden, saying “Clanging and cutting, confusing and playing, big and small pearls falling on a jade plate.” Such extraordinary skills and overwhelming beauty behind them are the result of rigorous practice.

Although Voyah Dreamer is an MPV, it promotes automatic parking as a unique skill.

Its automatic parking function can cover most scenarios in daily life, not only in parking lots, but also in different places such as unmarked streets and weak-signal underground garages. Automatic parking, even if it is just a fraction of an inch off, can easily lead to disastrous consequences. The confidence of the dreamer team in this system comes from long-term training. As the saying goes, “a sharpened sword comes from hard work, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold.”

In fact, we experienced the trial installation of “Dreamer” four months ago. As a new type of product, our evaluation of it at that time was “mediocre” (Note: idiom meaning generally satisfactory). After four months of refinement, the evaluation of the mass-produced car test drive, especially in comparison with its competitor models, can be described as “close behind” (Note: idiom meaning a small gap and close distance).

In the relatively focused MPV market, the appearance of Dreamer will inevitably create ripples in the existing pattern, after all, Dreamer has strong hardware capabilities. Although it is a new brand and product, and has undergone personnel adjustments, it is like the poem by Lu Xun, “Plum blossoms are superior to snow in whiteness, but snow surpasses plum blossoms in fragrance”.

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.