Motor named the advantages and disadvantages of the new GAC S7 crossover

The Russians received the GAC S7 with a five-year warranty and limited power plant capabilities compared to the Chinese version. The GAC S7 for Russia has not lost at all in terms of interior trim. But first things first.

“Where is the door handle?” – this unexpected question and the accompanying second of confusion arise when trying to close the door of the GAC S7 from the inside. On the armrest, at first glance, you can see the high-quality leather upholstery, the backlit speaker (in the depths, under the grille), and even the silhouette of the mountains located in the vicinity of the GAC headquarters in Guangzhou.

But it’s difficult to see at first glance that there is a gap left between the armrest and the upholstery, which serves as the interior door handle. Another oddity in the interior is the hazard warning button on the overhead console, out of sight of the driver.

The steering wheel of the GAC S7 is almost oval in shape. Behind it is a compact instrument panel
GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC S7 for Russia has built-in VK and Yandex services, including maps, music and video
GAC The active safety systems are very functional, but the Russian version of the S7 does not have lidar on the roof
GAC GAC Mirrors and wipers can also be adjusted via the menu
GAC Climate control on the GAC S7 is quite clear
GAC Heating and massage are provided for all seats
GAC The GAC S7 has four fixed driving modes
GAC

And in general, there are almost no physical buttons here – in fact, they only control the “climate”. Most of the functions are hidden in the media system menu, and the GAC S7 here only follows the trend characteristic of modern Chinese cars. Electric buttons here also open door locks from the inside. For safety, there are also redundant mechanical levers, but you will have to look for them at the bottom of the doors.

No crowding

The GAC S7 has no problems with fit and adjustment range. Company representatives explain that they developed the car with an eye on the European market and took into account the higher growth of Europeans compared to residents of China.

We readily believe: the range of seat adjustments here is very wide – both horizontally and vertically. Also pleasing are the large side mirrors, which do not require long adjustments before driving.

The GAC S7 instrument cluster is compact and uncluttered
GAC GAC S7 interior
GAC GAC S7 interior
GAC

I definitely liked the instrument panel, mounted in front of the oval-shaped steering wheel. Information is displayed on a small screen that does not suffer from sun glare. The readings on it are perfectly visible, and there is no extra space, like many other modern cars, where the necessary data is lost among useless animation.

Finishing materials are also at their best: Nappa leather and pleasant fleecy suede are widely used in the interior, and the design of the “zero gravity” seats was taken from Lexus by GAC specialists. The S7 seats are made up of 10 layers, and the padding can mold to the shape of the occupant’s body. I feel like it turned out quite well. And the choice of role model is also clear: it is with Japanese auto companies that GAC joint ventures have been operating for many years.

GAC S7 interior
GAC There are additional pillows on the headrests
GAC The ottoman chair folds out electrically
GAC

A lot of free space is provided for rear row passengers. On the right side there is an ottoman chair with a footrest: it can be folded out using an electric drive.

But the trunk of the S7 is not as large as one might expect from a crossover almost 5 meters long: the distribution of usable space was clearly in favor of passengers. The loading height is also large. But in order to fold down the backrests of the rear sofa, you don’t have to go into the salon: the electric drive buttons are located on the wall of the luggage compartment itself.

The car is built on the EV+ modular platform, designed specifically for hybrids and electric vehicles. The range includes eight body colors, including dark green and “deep black” – with this color, chrome parts are not used in the S7 trim. Another feature in lighting technology: more than 2.2 thousand LEDs are used in the headlights and the strip connecting them for the car in the maximum configuration SX Premium, which can display various pictures and animations.

As a result, the car can move the “pupils” of the conventional “eyes”, and arbitrary inscriptions can be displayed on the surface of the headlights. True, they will only be visible in the parking lot – you won’t be able to express your attitude towards the actions of surrounding drivers while driving. In the basic ST version, the optics are simpler, but the high beam assistant is also available for the car.

Simplified transmission

Compared to the GAC S7 for the Chinese market (where the car is branded Trumpchi), the power unit of the Russian version is simpler. In China, a gasoline engine, in addition to charging the traction battery, can also rotate the wheels. On the Russian market, the S7 is a sequential hybrid with a 1.5-liter gasoline engine producing 156 hp. acts only as a generator that powers the traction battery.

GAC S7
GAC GAC S7
GAC GAC S7
GAC GAC S7
GAC GAC S7
GAC GAC S7
GAC

The car is driven by two electric motors on the front and rear axles with a total output of 340 hp. But according to Russian legislation, the so-called 30-minute power is used to calculate transport tax in the case of sequential hybrids. For the GAC S7 it is 122 hp, this figure is indicated in the documents.

The Chinese version of the hybrid has a total output of 501 hp, and acceleration to “hundreds” is 5.8 s versus 6.7 s for the Russian version. However, even in its “truncated” form, the GAC S7 has decent dynamics, confidently moving in traffic on highways and overcoming mountain serpentines in the vicinity of Sochi, where the first test of the new product on the Russian market took place.

Under the floor of the GAC S7 is a 36.3 kWh lithium iron phosphate Magazine Battery 2.0. The manufacturer promises that it is especially resistant to fire. The range on pure electricity is 153 km according to the NEDC cycle, and the total is 867 km. Fast charging from 30 to 80% takes only 18 minutes. At the same time, the gasoline generator is quite “omnivorous” – it is designed for 92-grade gasoline.

The car’s power plant has three operating modes: with priority to the traction battery, the gasoline engine, or intelligent, which uses the gasoline engine and battery depending on the driving style. Artificial intelligence is used to analyze driver behavior.

According to the manufacturer, if the car is charged regularly, it can consume only 1.1 liters of gasoline per 100 km, and without external charging, fuel consumption according to the NEDC test cycle is 7 liters per “hundred”.

However, after driving along mountain serpentines in the vicinity of Sochi, the on-board computer of the test GAC showed more significant figures: 9.3 liters of gasoline per 100 km (with priority for the use of internal combustion engines) or 7.4 liters per “hundred” after switching to automatic mode.

You can customize the response of the steering wheel and even the sensitivity of the brake pedal; in addition, the car has four driving modes. In the “standard” mode, the steering response may seem insufficiently informative, but overall the S7 handles predictably, readily entering corners.

GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC

The platform on which the S7 is built generally provides for the installation of air suspension, but in the case of the S7, the engineers did without it. The S7 is equipped with FSD adaptive shock absorbers, which change stiffness depending on the amplitude of vibrations. On a flat surface they “clamp” to ensure controllability, and on asphalt waves they work more softly.

But this is in theory. In practice, when driving along imperfect mountain roads, you can feel quite noticeable rocking from bow to stern in the S7’s cabin, and noise from the road clearly penetrates into the cabin. You can also hear it when the internal combustion engine is connected to the power plant: there is still no ideal silence in the S7 cabin.

How much will it cost

On the Russian market, GAC S7 will be offered in two versions. For the ST entry package they ask from 5.7 million rubles. For an additional payment of 350 thousand rubles (the cost of the older SX Premium configuration is 6.05 million rubles), the buyer will receive a more refined interior with Nappa leather, an advanced audio system with 21 speakers instead of 12, double-layer glass, a display projector on the windshield and a parking assistant.

Direct competitors like Exlantix ET, Li Auto L6 or Voyah Free are noticeably more expensive. The most affordable of them, Voyah Free, will cost 6.6 million rubles, and you can’t approach the Li Auto L6 without 6.9 million rubles, and its finishing is more modest.