All-New Sentra First Test

   In the three months before and after the launch of the fifth-generation SITA (hereinafter referred to as the new SITA), I have already carried out in-depth experience of its static and dynamic parts. In the static experience, the new Shengda's space performance had left a deep impression on me. 

    The new Shengda driving experience, brake pedal travel is short, the foot feeling is hard, the initial section has a little bit of ‘open-ended test in the full force of the brake pedal, there is a relatively strong ’spring foot feeling.

    The new Sundance has a more neutral dynamic performance in the Magic Deer, and the overall centre of gravity layout is much lower than most SUVs in its class The driving experience is more like a sedan.

    When all three rows of seats are unfolded, the boot space is rather limited due to the short depth, and only one 20-inch suitcase can be put into the boot, but there is more space on both sides. With the third row of seats down, the boot floor is almost flat and there's plenty of room for three suitcases, with some room to spare.

Static Review
    Compared to its predecessor, the new Shengda's exterior design is more angular, catering to the popular ‘square box’ trend among SUVs, but don't look at the whole car's design square, Hyundai's designers have gone through a number of details in the design of the exterior polishing, and the wind resistance coefficient is controlled at 0.30cd.

   The front face design consists of multiple ‘H’ shapes, which brings good recognition to the new SITA. The light group adopts full LED light source, and the active grille underneath can not only provide guarantee for the oxygen supply of the engine but also contribute to the reduction of the wind resistance coefficient of the whole car.

  From the front to the rear of the car through the straight waistline to enhance the visual extension of the car, because the new Shengda into the country did not like the previous generation of models, lengthening, resulting in the new Shengda body length, wheelbase are slightly ‘shrinkage’.

  The new SITA gradually narrows from the rear wheel arches to the rear, reminiscent of Land Rover's ‘castle’ body design. The taillights also use H-shaped light sources, echoing the front end design.

  The interior of the new Sundance adopts the same family design as the tenth generation Sonata, with more flat lines in the details, echoing the exterior, the material performance is fair, and the roof is covered with a large area of suede material, with a delicate feel. The interior has a total of 3 colours to choose from, respectively, light fog green, wilderness brown and obsidian black, the actual shooting of the model for the wilderness brown, in the 3 kinds of interior colour scheme is more advanced, while the previous static experience of the light fog green is more youthful.

 The new Shengda centre console above the dual 12.3-inch joint screen combination, with a certain curvature, can better avoid the impact of sunlight reflection. Car machine built-in car WeChat and Tencent small scene, and also with wireless CarPlay, Baidu Carlife function

 A separate air-conditioning control area is retained under the centre console, and there is also an air-conditioning auto-drying and active air purification function. The former is automatically switched on after the vehicle has been switched off and locked for 30 minutes, which reduces odours caused by moisture inside the air-conditioning, while the latter automatically closes the windows before entering a tunnel, and switches the air-conditioning mode to an internal cycle to ensure the quality of the air inside the vehicle.

Space Performance

 The square exterior design brings good headroom for the first two rows of passengers. Although the height of the third row is similar to that of the second row, the more cramped legroom coupled with the flatter backrest forces the actual head position of the passengers to extend backward, so the headroom of the third-row passengers when they are actually riding is more constricted than that experienced in the measurement data.

 The seats in the 6-seater model are made of NAPPA leather with slightly hard seat padding. The main driver's seat features lumbar support, side-wing clamping and seat massage, providing good support during fast-paced driving. In addition, the massage function of the main driver's seat can help fine-tune the seating position by adjusting the inflation and deflation of the seat's internal airbags for a relaxing effect during long drives. However, as mentioned before, in the domestic brands ‘crazy scroll’ seat comfort and configuration of the environment, only in the main driver seat massage function, has been difficult to meet the domestic brands ‘spoiled’ consumer demand.

With all three rows of seats unfolded, the boot space is rather limited due to the short depth, and only one 20-inch suitcase can fit, but there is plenty of room on both sides. With the third row of seats down, the boot floor is almost flat and there is plenty of room for three suitcases, with some room to spare.

The new Sentra's second-row seats are also able to be fully lowered to further expand the trunk depth, although the seatbacks will bulge slightly when lowered.

The new Shengda front row has a very rich storage space, the central channel below, the central armrest box has a large storage space, the passenger above the storage compartment is also a thoughtful set of ultraviolet disinfection function, the official claim that 10 minutes can be sterilised 99.99%. Rear storage space compared with the front row is relatively single, the rear door panel set up three cup holders, the lack of paper towels and other items such as storage location.

Dynamic experience

All new SITA series are equipped with a combination of 2.0T engine + 8-speed manual transmission, with maximum power of 247 hp and maximum torque of 353 Nm. In the previous test drive on a high-altitude mountain road, the new Shengda's power output was relatively flat up to 2,000rpm due to the low oxygen content in the air. However, this phenomenon has been somewhat improved in plains driving, in addition, due to the engine torque output is smoother, the transmission's response speed and gearshift smoothness has also been improved!

Compared to high altitude areas, the engine torque is increased at low revolutions in the plains, so the power response in the front part of the throttle is more rapid. When driving at high speeds, you can clearly feel that the accelerator pedal is more ‘responsive’.

When the speed reaches about 2200rpm, a clear power gain can be felt, but this power does not last long, and if you continue to press the accelerator pedal deeply, the speed increase will not result in stronger power.

Rally Test

The top model in this test, the 2024 2.0T Connoisseur Ultra, comes standard with a four-wheel-drive system that offers mud, sand and snow modes. All but the lowest trim levels are available with the optional four-wheel-drive system. In this test, we first used the mud mode, but the fault code was reported quickly in both tests, so we switched to the sand mode.

When using the mud mode for the rally test, the vehicle soon prompted ‘terrain mode limited’, and reported ‘a bunch of’ fault codes.

Performance Test

  Prior to the performance test, we tested the vehicle's power output and ended up with a mediocre engine power attainment of 73.7 per cent and a fair wheelside transfer efficiency of 84.9 per cent.

  In the acceleration test, the power output of the new SITA is relatively smooth at the start, and after the engine speed exceeds 2000rpm, the power output ushers in a short burst, but as the speed climbs further, the power output of the vehicle is not further enhanced. In the final 10 consecutive acceleration tests, the vehicle's fastest time was 8.77 seconds, and the worst time was 9.77 seconds.

  In the three 0-400m acceleration tests, the vehicle's fastest time was 16.41 seconds, with a 400m tail speed of 142.51km/h. The vehicle's acceleration gradually began to level off after speeds above 60km/h, and the vehicle's acceleration gradually began to level off after speeds above 60km/h, and the vehicle's acceleration gradually began to level off after speeds above 60km/h.

 The new SITA's best braking result of 39.11 metres was moderate. In 10 consecutive braking tests, the vehicle did not show any significant heat fade, but its stability was average. When braking at full power, the suspension suppressed the vehicle's forward roll better.

Summary

In this test, the new Shengda's performance in the elk test, AEB, 4WD system and storage space is satisfactory, and the power combination of 2.0T + 8AT is able to meet daily needs with good smoothness. However, compared with competitors in the same class such as the HANLANDA, Ask M7 and Ideal L6 that use hybrid or range-extender systems, the new Shengda still has some gaps in power output, smoothness and fuel economy.