Ever since I had the chance to test drive the Zhi Ji L7 on the track and on the road earlier this year, I have been thoroughly impressed by its handling and overall feel. One of the car’s major selling points is the combination of its continuously variable dampers with a front double wishbone and rear five-link suspension, along with the dual-directional 12-degree rear-wheel steering. These hardware features give the car exceptional agility and handling capabilities, making it stand out among other domestic cars. In fact, the carmakers went as far as to get William Advanced Engineering, the vehicle technology consulting company derived from the famous Williams F1 racing team, to fine-tune the car’s chassis, showcasing an exceptional level of customization and attention to detail.
To put it simply, I believe the Zhi Ji L7 has the best handling performance among all domestic cars, even surpassing one of the benchmarks for electric sports sedans, the Tesla Model 3 Performance, in terms of chassis feel. Its outstanding performance, advanced noise isolation, and exquisite craftsmanship and materials all contribute to its success in the sports sedan market.
During my test drive on regular roads, where I didn’t even come close to pushing the car to its limits, I was impressed by how forgiving the car was. As a first-time electric car driver, the acceleration pedal tuning made it easy to get used to the car. Instead of providing a linear power response like some EVs, the car has an appropriate transition zone in the early stages of the pedal stroke that makes the everyday acceleration experience closer to that of a large-displacement naturally aspirated car. Additionally, with the one-box brake system, the Zhi Ji L7 can completely decouple mechanical braking from regenerative braking, using the regenerative braking only when the pedal force is strong enough. The transition between the two braking methods is also seamlessly smooth, and it is even possible to turn off regenerative braking when the driver releases the throttle, similar to that of a traditional gas car.
Playing around with the rear-wheel steering in narrow alleys was a delightful experience. What’s remarkable is the car’s turning radius, which far exceeds what you would expect from a car with a wheelbase of just 3,100mm. When making a turn, you can feel the rear wheels pushing the car’s tail outwards, making it easier for the front wheels to follow the desired path.# Onboard Imaging Camera
A camera placed on the top of the car to capture beautiful scenery during the driving process is not a new idea. However, no car has succeeded in implementing this seemingly simple task. Of course, there are various regulatory requirements in actual operation, which make it not that simple. The Carlog system equipped with three cameras and high-quality sensors, can be used at speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour. Through image processing algorithms, it can horizontally combine an ultra-wide field of view while controlling distortion, and also support two viewing angles. If you assign the shortcut key to Carlog on the right side of the steering wheel, short and long presses correspond to taking photos and recording videos, which is very convenient. In addition, there is a one-key to make a group of photos and upload to short video platforms. It can be said that among the car-mounted imaging products, it has the best functional and usage scenario closed-loop.
IM AD
After entering the expressway, IM AD did reduce a lot of mental fatigue and shoulder and neck muscle tension. Although it was launched not long ago, its excellent turning ability and smooth acceleration and deceleration (including same-lane avoidance capability) based on the solid technical background of the top domestic intelligent driving startup company Momenta, have given me a good impression of this system on the expressway.
When a large truck or bus passes by, the system can also avoid within its own lane, which is undoubtedly closer to the operation of a human driver. After all, the sense of security is also part of safety.
This is still the old generation of Nvidia, with the ability of 30 TOPS Xavier chips and pure vision systems, and we are very much looking forward to seeing what performance it can achieve when upgrading to dual LiDAR and dual Orin.
Smart Driving Assistance
To activate smart driving assistance, flick the gear from park to drive twice, or flick once towards the reverse gear and depress the brake. The logic of the system is similar to that of other products, but the difference is that speed setting and distance adjustment are controlled by the large physical paddles on both sides of the steering wheel at the back. Once familiar with it, you can operate it blindly immediately. It is recommended that other manufacturers also match the smart driving function with larger operating hardware to become the mainstream configuration. After all, this operation relies on small rollers or touch buttons on the steering wheel which really lack tactile feedback and also aren’t very efficient.By the way, I just remembered that the interior of this car is also worth savoring. The massage function of the front seats is not at all a gimmick, and I want to emphasize that the lack of a smell, or rather the absence of a smell, is really rare. The car I experienced was still in its temporary license plate state, but from the moment I got in and completed the trip, I never realized that it was a 99-new quasi-new car. Besides the extremely natural driving experience, the indoor air quality is also the highest among the vehicles I have experienced so far.
I learned that IM has specially built a ventilated warehouse, shelves, and transportation standards to improve the environmental performance of the interior materials, by increasing the cost and lengthening the turnover time to let the interior accessories disperse odor before being installed into the car.
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.