Lavida is the real "god car" in China's auto market, and has been one of the top three in the sales list since its launch, and it is of far-reaching significance to Shanghai Volkswagen, because it is the first brand new production car independently designed and developed by Shanghai Volkswagen.
When the PQ34 platform, on which the old Bora (also known as the fourth-generation Jetta) was about to be withdrawn from the market, Volkswagen made a decision to launch two models for the Chinese market based on it, divided between Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen. FAW-Volkswagen gets the new Bora, while Lavida is a product of Shanghai Volkswagen and was launched in 2008. At the beginning of Lavida's listing, the biggest criticism of the media was that Shanghai Volkswagen actually used the platform 10 years ago to build a new car, although it underwent a "generational change" in 2012, but in fact it was only a major facelift, the entire architecture has not changed, and in the blink of an eye it is almost ten years later, this car is still one of the biggest winners in the Chinese auto market.
In 2018, both Lavida and Bora finally used the MQB-A1 platform, which is the same platform as the Golf and A3, so that the shortcoming of the old platform will no longer be criticized. After changing to a new platform, Lavida and Bora did not use independent suspension, the front suspension is MacPherson, the rear suspension is a torsion beam, and the torsion beam is actually understandable for low configuration, but the whole system is a torsion beam, in fact, the product power in the A-class is inferior to that of competitors.
The new Lavida is equipped with two engines, one is a new engine for the EA211 array, a 1.5L naturally aspirated engine with a maximum horsepower of 116 hp and a maximum torque of 150 Nm, replacing the previous 1.6L naturally aspirated engine, mated to a 5-speed manual or Aisin 6-speed automatic manual transmission, and the other engine is also EA211, 1.4T 150 hp, mated to a DQ200 7-speed dry dual-clutch transmission. The most popular version will still be the 1.5L self-priming version with a 6-speed automatic transmission, because the whole powertrain is relatively mature and the price is low.
The comfort of Lavida is actually very much in line with the needs of most families, the suspension is very soft, the sound insulation is very good, and the engine noise heard in the car is not big in the full speed range, but the power system is defective. Because it is a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated engine, but it wants to make a relatively good fuel consumption performance, so the timing of the shift is very forward, the speed is pressed, and the power is often insufficient, and its first half of the throttle is empty stroke, so the daily driving experience is not very good, if there are advantages, it can only be said that the output of the entire power is relatively linear.
Lavida's rear seat space is actually not large, the rear seat cushion of its previous generation model is short, and the seat cushion of this generation model has been lengthened by 2-3 cm, which is not very different visually, but it adjusts the angle of the rear seat cushion, so the rear seat of this generation of Lavida is a little more comfortable than the previous generation. The seat adjustment on the new Lavida is finally not a knob, but like most ordinary cars, the angle and height are adjusted with a lever, which is really good.
Automatic transmission models are all equipped with automatic start-stop system and Auto Hold function as standard, but there is no multimedia screen on the low-profile model, and there is only one mobile phone holder where the touch screen was originally placed, although Lavida can be connected to the intelligent interconnection system through the mobile phone, and the vehicle information can be viewed with the mobile phone, and the Bluetooth system can also be connected, but this design does make it seem very cheap.
The new Lavida has not yet participated in the C-NCAP crash test, but the Golf and Audi A3 using the same platform have excellent results in the crash test, so the safety of the new Lavida is still guaranteed.