Saturday Local Car Enthusiasts Held a Gathering
On Saturday, local car enthusiasts held a gathering. Two new car owners equipped with the 8155 infotainment system made us old-timers envious. Unexpectedly, I received a call on Monday saying that I could upgrade. The person on the phone asked me when I was available to come in for an upgrade. Of course, I was ready to go at any time! There was a slight pause on the phone, and the person replied apologetically, “Sorry, our upgrade will officially start tomorrow. The earliest appointment time available is 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.” On Sunday, I received the Bluetooth key, and by Tuesday, I was able to upgrade the 8155 system. This pace suited me perfectly!
The alarm clock rang promptly at 7:00 a.m. I usually need to sleep in a bit before getting up, but today I jumped right out of bed. I washed up and headed out. I was a local test subject and had no idea how long the upgrade process would take. So, I decided to grab breakfast and prepare myself for the long haul.
At 9:00 a.m. sharp, I arrived at the Lynk & Co 4S shop, and the staff greeted me warmly. The only Lynk & Co shop in town had become an all-in-one store, occupying a prime location in the after-sales area – a special reception area exclusively for customers like me.
After explaining why I was there, the staff member started working on the computer. I glanced at the WeChat group and found that another car owner with a 415 Runaway model was also there to upgrade. It was quite a coincidence! The staff tried to explain to me the risks involved in being the first person to upgrade in town. During the conversation between the partner and the technician, I heard a few things:
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The 8155 chips had just arrived yesterday afternoon, and they had not yet been entered into the inventory management system.
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The U and WE versions of the boxes are different. The staff could not tell which model was the U version and which was the WE version.
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As the first group of customers to upgrade, there were some work orders that needed to be checked together. This would involve checking the cameras, radar, and seat frames for strange noises, among other things.
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The technician was scrambling to read the official replacement tutorials.
All of a sudden, I felt like I was seriously taking a risk by being the first person to upgrade in town. I shared my concerns on the local car enthusiast group, and one of the members replied, “Your technician experience points +5 after upgrading your car.”After the technician finished studying the tutorial and preparing the materials, we officially started at nearly 10 o’clock. I put on my safety helmet as required and went to the workshop to observe. My partner reminded me that I could only watch on the side in the workshop and photography was not allowed. The following pictures were taken illegally by me. I tried my best to blur them to make it easy for the staff to deal with.
The first step is to disconnect the high voltage in the car, and then open the front cover and disconnect the negative pole of the 12V battery. The technician is already familiar with this step, after all, many car owners came here to fix the issues with the assisted driving and camera failure in the previous version.
The second step is to remove the decorative cover plates on both sides of the center armrest, remove the screws, and slide the entire center armrest back, revealing the body of the 820A car navigation box.
The third step is to unplug the 7 connecting wires of the car navigation box, and make a record to avoid not knowing the connection position after replacement, which would be awkward.
The 820AP car navigation box that was replaced is still lagging even with a cooling fan, it looks like it’s really old.
The fourth step is to remove the fixed screws of the 820AP box, and then replace it with the 8155 box. Finally, tighten the screws and connect the wires.
The fifth step is to return the center armrest to its original position, tighten the screws, and cover the panels.
The sixth step is to connect the 12V battery, press the brake, and power up the entire car. The electric door needs to be manually reset again.
The process of replacement is almost trivial, and Congcong told the truth. It is estimated that they have considered the replacement issue during the design of the car.
During the process, I saw two technicians with their heads on my car mat replacing the car navigation chip. I applaud their hard work. Fortunately, I just washed my car yesterday and the car mat is clean.
Regarding the issue of resetting the electric door, it is really difficult to push the electric door when the eddy current motor assistance fails. I do not know whether there is a mechanical unlocking device for the car door when the entire car is powered off. The recent explosion of Tesla cars makes people fearful.
I used to think that the new car computer had no programs installed, but after powering it on, it went directly to the operating page. I even clicked on the software version and saw that it was version 3.0.1. I went crazy with excitement and emotion all at once. I asked the technician, “Isn’t the system pre-installed at the factory? Why do you need to rewrite the system?” He said that the factory-installed system may not be complete and it needs to be connected to the back-end server to read the VIN to match the system, which requires downloading and writing. It takes a long time.
I secretly took two photos of the computer behind the technician and waited in the rest area.
Geek+ is quite strict with the secrecy and network security of the system, and I saw the technician entering several accounts and passwords, and even had to receive SMS verification codes on his phone to connect to the back-end server.
While waiting, I also test drove the Lynk & Co 09. I initially wanted a large SUV, but if the 09 was released before the Geek+ 001, I would have blindly picked the 09. After test driving it today, I felt that the starting was so slow. Was it due to insufficient torque? Why was it so noisy? Why was there a jerky feeling during acceleration? Once you drive an electric car you can’t go back to gasoline cars. If you have charging conditions and don’t need to drive long distances every holiday, you should buy an electric car! Driving an electric car can be addictive, especially if it’s a comfortable and a good driving experience.
After the test drive, I put on my helmet and went to the workshop to check on the progress. The technician told me with a sad face that there was a problem and they were communicating with Geek+ engineers to upgrade it remotely.
It seems like I’m relying on Lynk & Co’s hospitality.
During this time, a friend brought me a bottle of Evian and a bottle of mineral water. I used to drink Coke, and now there are exclusive beverages. It seems that upgrading to a multi-functional shop really does come with a different service standard. It feels like driving a Lexus to a Toyota dealer for maintenance. Hahaha!There is a new car owner who just picked up his car locally, and we call him the “Vortex Brother”. He happened to be nearby and rushed over to the group chat when he learned that I was upgrading to the 8155. We chatted and smoked together while waiting. We talked about old cars, new cars, extreme spending, competitors, and upcoming models. The topic of men is inseparable from cars, and that’s how simple men find happiness.
Soon after I finished eating, my friend told me that the car had been upgraded. I originally wanted them to help me deal with the steering noise and high-speed steering wheel shake, but they said it would take a long time to fix, and they hadn’t eaten yet. I decided to do it another time.
My car friend just happened to want to try out my car with the EC panoramic sunroof and air suspension. I also wanted to carefully experience the difference between the new and old car systems, so I let him drive while I sat in the passenger seat and studied the new car system. The experience time was too short, but here are a few points to note. Specific details will be verified through long-term use.
1) The smoothness of the car system has improved dramatically. Finally, there is a sense of immediacy when directing commands. If some transitional animations and other details are added later, it will rank among the top tier.
2) The dropdown menu no longer only displays notifications, but also allows users to add many frequently used function shortcuts, which is great.
3) It supports sliding adjustments for air conditioning temperature, wind speed, and seat ventilation or heating, and is very responsive and easy to use.
4) Gaode Maps has been added, which links with the mobile app and WeChat. This is a must-have for me, and deserves positive feedback.
5) The sound quality has been improved, and it further demonstrates the potential of this Yamaha speaker set. By subscribing to a music membership and selecting the highest sound quality, users can listen to music without using data. No more connecting to Bluetooth to play music on the car while opening the NetEase Cloud Music mobile app on the phone.
6) The menu hierarchy and logic have been improved. Previously, the second-level menu options were too long and it was jerky when swiping. Now it is much clearer, and buttons like the “close” button for the streaming rearview mirror have been moved from the top right corner to the top left corner.
A picture of a key must be included for it to be a complete set.
The experience time was short, so I’ll stop here for now. If I discover anything interesting, useful or worth criticizing, I’ll write about it later! Good night, everyone.
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.