Roadtest/ Review of Chery Storm 2 (Fulwin 2) hatchback.. translated via Google Translate
Text taken from: autofan.com.cn, dated May 11th 2010
Appearance: Beautiful but the work is not precise enough
The Storm-2 design elements inspired of the whale, from the "V-type front face" to the center console. At the rear, sedan models may look a little more whale breath, but the hatchback model's tail on the whale had nothing to do with, and compared to the former face, tail lines are more complex.
Storm-2 sedan models uses 195mm tires, the widest among small cars, but hatchback models do not inherit the advantages, but have slightly narrow 185mm size, even so, for small cars they are completely sufficient.
Door strength seems rather heavy, careful observation shows Storm-2 door stopper and the Volkswagen model lineup are quite the same, the window layering on black suede feels very upscale. We also found a number of small shortcomings, such as the back window on the triangular decorative plate was not flat, rear bumper and fender seams not enough for three probe reversing radars.
Interior: Design and functionality are excellent
In interior the most attractive thing is that the driver & co-pilot are each in front of the center console LCD screen that can show different content. From the design, the "dolphin tail" shaped center console style is good-looking, without feeling uncomfortable, which in itself is a success.
Not only looks good, Storm-2 from the practical point of the interior is also commendable, such as a key to the decline of four car windows, front doors, warning lights, special concern is the front panel warning lights, most compact cars does not have this configuration, not to mention the small car, except when to open the door to provide warning to vehicles behind, but also allows the front passengers and the driver see more clearly the situation on the ground.
Secondly, in the control panel Storm-2 is covered with thick soft material which feels good and is outstanding for a small car.
The center console consist of a total of three LCD panels, the upper panel shows the driver instantaneous fuel consumption, door status, reversing radar, and other information, copilot front panel display and outside temperature, time and other information, dashboard similar to conventional small cars, But the LCD screen size is very attractive, but can show only a fixed number of information.
Sound expansion capabilities are also available, AUX and the USB interface is very comprehensive, and comes with two data lines, but with them, I personally do not like messy console line.
Travel: Space fully enough
Storm-2 hatchback with leather seats costs more to improve ride comfort, which is also rare in a small. Having said that, in fact among home users, the extent of demand for the leather seats are not like business officials. Strong, adequate and comfortable fabric seat is a good choice.
Seats are slightly hard, seat-shaped design is also completely like the style of family cars, though parcels are not very good. The driver seat has height adjustment functions, for this price the function is also very rare.
Take the space, more than 2.5 m wheelbase to make room for Storm-2 interior. Unlike most small cars which feel cramped, a 1.75 m tall person sitting in the car experience good head & leg room and was comfortable, of course, Storm-2 space is not really large, more than just "good enough" for a small car for this is the good result.
Storage space: The front cup holders and rear seat down to the ground is less
A bottle cannot fit in the door storage, but I was not very worried, after all, even if does not fit here, handbrake generally will have a cup holder next to, so I do not mind these things, so to focus at the two storage tanks on center console. The lid opening is small, but fairly easy to use the location.
But when I finished studying the two cup holders, only to find that there was not even a storage box at the hand brake, not to mention cup holders. Copilot's door would not have cup holders & the front passenger does not have a place where you can put drink bottles, which I can only say: Perhaps Storm-2's designers never drink while driving .
However, this problem does not exist in the back row, and all have the right and left door cup holder, also has a central rear cup holder for rear passengers, the storage space is perfectly adequate, and rear passengers will be more happy than the front passengers.
The next to experience was the trunk space, the first step is to open the trunk but then we met a sort of a small trouble, how to open the trunk. Surprisingly the trunk opener is located at the center console panel next to air conditioner switch.
In luggage space, the Storm-2's trunk did not let us down, whether or not the rear seats fold flat, room size for a small hatchback car is very spacious. However there were no split seat option and also the tailgate ground clearance is high, trunk internal threshold is also high, resulting in the pick and place luggage, and if the luggage is very heavy, then obviously it will be more inconvenient.
After all the static experience, my conclusion is: if the designer did not forget Storm-2 front cup holders and rear seats fold flat into two proportional details, this will be a very good job for self-relevance small car.
On the Road:
The engine code-named ACTECO-SQR477F the 1.5L four-cylinder 16-valve engine is made by Chery's independent research and development, SOHC structure parameters are looking good, can play a 6000 rpm maximum power of 109 hp, 3000 rpm can be reached 140N-m of maximum torque.
Storm-2 is a fairly easy car, power and engine performance characteristics of the basic line, starting and low speed stage of the performance of its capability, particularly suited to stop-go city driving style. Engine output is no explosive power, not very violent speed moments, but daily driving does not make you feel very "meat", is just right.
Having five gears in the city cruise, engine speed rarely have the opportunity to turn over 2000, even in the 120km / h speed change under the rotational speed of 3300, however, will inevitably bring about a better economy. Output performance was not very quiet, and power decline was more obvious, seems like the Storm-2 is not high-intensity driving style vehicle.
Cabin seemed a bit boisy but noise is mainly from the tire and the ground intense friction, corresponding to the engine which is rather very quiet. but sitting in the car you can clearly hear "hissing" of the breathing sounds.
Fuel consumption & performance of Storm-2's did not let us down, after nearly 200 km of testing, of which 30% of the very congested road sections, 70% of the smooth sections of the final score of 6.2 L / 100 km, and even further increased by 30% of the congested road, fuel consumption will not exceed 8L / 100 km.
Acceleration & Braking tests:
Even in full throttle conditions, high torque output could not sustain, may be computer programmed to control the engine output, the acceleration however has a great impact on performance. Its quick to reach 60km/h but takes relatively longer to reach 100km/h. Storm-2's 0 ~ 100km / h acceleration performance was 11.9 seconds, although not very impressive, but this result we can accept, and most also be compared to the same level rival model.
Brake pedal feels bit hard but performance is very good. Not only excellent braking performance, but braking system stability was a surprise too.
Summary:
Through several days of exposure, I'm already in love with this car, not because it is how good or how well the performance of work, but when you think of the situation from a decade ago to today's situation with such earth-shaking changes, we can see own brand really has progressed forward.
Its still really not a perfect car, sheet metal is not enough detailed, personalized design is not in place and so on, but its advantages to the more direct, far beyond the the same level of braking performance levels give us the security guarantee, excellent fuel consumption performance for us in this era of high oil prices can save a lot of overhead under. Of course, the most important point is that it has a more excellent value for money, only about 6 thousand dollars to buy such a car, I think that is very cost-effective.