Lifan Solano is well known to Russian motorists - the assembly of this model of the Chinese manufacturer has been established in Cherkessk. It's time to take a closer look at the sedan in its new incarnation.
Everyone chooses for themselves - this statement is no less applicable when discussing cars than in relation to people. Looking after a new car - no matter what price category, brand and country of origin, each of us pays attention to some of our own, clearly defined set of qualities. For some, appearance is more important, others are attracted by spaciousness and practicality, others are ready to look for rare lines about the nuances of “asphalt” handling even in the review of tracked bulldozers.
Who is the bravest?
Perhaps from the breed of cars for those people who always strive for a reasonable price to acquire as many formal signs of prestige as possible. And at the right time, flaunt them, arguing before others about their practicality and foresight. There seem to be many such people. Lifan Solano, whose assembly started in Cherkessk in 2010, has gained some popularity in the Russian regions. Many of these cars are still working in a taxi, which indirectly allows us to judge this sedan as quite unpretentious.In its second generation, Solano is ready to contribute to the above approach: the car looks restrained and somewhat solid, the design has diminished overtly Asian motifs and attempts at embellishment. But its silhouette is not particularly harmonious - the bow and stern are heavy.
Compensation is a spacious trunk, in which you can easily tamp the necessary belongings when going to the country in the spring. If desired, skis will also fit: if you fold the sections of the back of the rear sofa, a wide opening is formed that allows you to transport long lengths. On the trunk lid, Chinese designers provided soft upholstery, but there was no place for a handle - to close the trunk without getting dirty, you have to grab onto the lock in a slippery plastic “case”.
- Vladislav- January 23, 2015
Test machine, for more than a year I have been riding Lifan Solano (2012, box). Bought from hands with low mileage. The previous owner, she stayed in the property literally no more than 3 months and sold in connection with the move. He spoke well about the car, in which I agree with him. The machine is unpretentious, it eats 12 liters of gasoline in the city (in traffic jams), on the highway - 8 liters. It rides softly, listens well - I liked the steering wheel, and the pedals are conveniently made - just what you need. In general, the interior is good, the electronics work flawlessly. Under the hood climbed except that the oil change and all. In my opinion a very decent car.
- Nathan- April 1, 2015
Lucky, I bought a new car already with a good discount. And most importantly - run-in. I took a new Solano, ran it for a long time, 5000 km for sure, did not overclock it, only 95 from the bow. Then he changed the oil. After that, the consumption became much less. I didn’t detect it separately, but in a mixed one it’s about 8 liters, plus or minus. And he began to pour everything and only the 92nd.
A good sedanchik around the city, to dangle at work. Service is inexpensive, even if you only take officials. You can do a lot yourself. I used to have a Corolla. So the engine is very similar. I change the oil filter myself, something for the suspension too. All the same, our roads are dead, so every time you won’t run into a twist. But still, I don’t do it often - the suspension is quite energy-intensive, it tolerates our Russian reality well. Its trunk is large, and in general there is a lot of space for its size. It is comfortable inside, even behind the three it is not crowded.
On this page, we tried to collect test drives and reviews of the Lifan Solano car, which were printed or published in any automotive magazines and other authoritative sources.
Lifan Solano: plebeian in the nobility
"Red" China seems to know what the common people of the people need. The proletarian wants a car no worse than the imperialists. The Russian consumer is not far behind in this regard. With the release of Lifan Solano, the domestic auto industry should sprinkle ashes on its head and irrevocably capitulate. While the leadership of VAZ is announcing Kalina with a radio tape recorder on a grand scale and is trying to attach GLONASS there, the Chinese are stuffing their creations "under the business class" and can count on wild success among a certain segment of the population.
Smart people say that, they say, do not promise. And rightly so! I swore, sometimes even out loud, that I would never drive a product of the Chinese automobile industry. And here you go ... Sat down. I drove almost 300 kilometers on it on not the best roads, and ... And the new Lifan Solano made me think - about the Chinese auto industry, its past and present.
Lifan group of companies (Lifan Industry Group Co.Ltd). The word "Lifan" is translated into Russian approximately as "To go in full sail." Lifan Corporation was founded in 1992. Today, LIFAN Industrial Group is in the list of 500 leading private enterprises in China. The corporation specializes in the production of cars, buses, motorcycles, scooters and ATVs.
The head of the Russian representative office of the Chinese car company Lifan, Mr. Sun Zejun, and correspondents from leading automotive publications visited the Derways car plant in Cherkessk, where production of the new C-class sedan Lifan Solano began in March of this year.
A small stele with the inscription "Derways" rises next to a concrete fence surrounded by barbed wire. It is quite quiet around, the noise is created only occasionally by cars passing by and the voices of the guards. You can’t say that there is a lot of activity behind the fence.
The first private car factory in post-Soviet Russia appeared in 2002. It was built in Karachay-Cherkessia. Many considered the project utopian, including because the new enterprise was going to produce SUVs of its own design. Nevertheless, the plant started working, and the Cowboy, built on the chassis of the Romanian ARO, went on sale. True, only a few hundred of them were made - the demand for a car of a new, still unknown brand was small. In addition, the buyers did not inspire confidence in the plastic body, assembled on a spatial frame. Yes, and the price seemed too high to many .... Soon a solution to the problem was found. At the end of 2007, the assembly of the Chinese Lifan Breeze sedan began at the plant. In parallel, the construction of new buildings, installation and adjustment of equipment were underway.
In the summer of 2009, welding production, as well as a cataphoresis and painting shop, designed to produce up to 100,000 bodies per year, were launched.
Currently, the plant assembles cars under the Geely brand from Chinese car kits, as well as Lifan Breeze and the Solano sedan that debuted last year. By the way, his name comes from the name of an Indian tribe that once lived in those parts where today the border between the United States and Mexico passes.
The wind blew again from the Caucasus mountains. And it's called Solano. Such a romantic name (as in Spain they call a strong southwest wind) wears a new product of the Karachay-Circassian and Chinese car industries. The tandem of "Derways" and Lifan produced another "windy" car. Their firstborn - Breez - was simple and unpretentious. Designed for a mass, inexperienced motorist, he quickly occupied his niche in the market. The C-class sedan Lifan Solano is already positioned by manufacturers as a “premium” in the “economy” category. Still! The new car was stuffed with pleasant amenities for the car owner. The only package so far includes ABS, two airbags, full power accessories, air conditioning, an audio system and an on-board computer, as well as optional, but pleasant little things: LED “dimensions” in the front optics, alloy wheels and adjustable lumbar supports at the front seats.
Lifan Solano - premium segment in economy class
They promise that it will cost no more than cars of Russian brands. With a rather generous equipment: a 1.6-liter engine, a wide range of options, a spacious interior, quite an energy-intensive suspension ... But it seems that the new golf-class sedan will retain all the traditional problems of Chinese cars - an uncomfortable fit, not the highest quality finishing materials, miscalculations in ergonomics, mediocre dynamic performance ...
Sedan Lifan Solano (formerly known as Lifan 620)- a new model of the C-class from the Chinese car manufacturer Lifan Industry Group Co. Ltd. Sales of Lifan Solano cars in the Russian market began in March 2010. Lifan Solano managed to establish itself in the Asian markets. Sales of Solano in China in the first quarter of 2009 alone, according to the manufacturer's official statistics, amounted to more than 15,000 vehicles. Although this may not be the most successful indicator, given that daily car sales in China are 30,000 units. The appearance of the Solano makes a solid impression. Its design echoes the fashionable modern trends in the automotive industry. It is believed that the design of the Lifan 620 Solano model was borrowed from a German car, namely the BMW 3 Series. But due to the lack of any “highlight” of its own, we can say that it looks like many modern, though mostly Asian, cars at the same time.
The Russian car market has already crushed many Chinese automakers and models - how many of them flashed like meteors and went into oblivion ... Lifan in general and Solano in particular are among the few survivors. The very fact of the existence of a Chinese car that has experienced a slight restyling in our country for six years of sales, and then changed the first generation to the second, already speaks of a certain recognition. But what has changed?
The body retained all dimensions, except for the length: it increased by a symbolic centimeter, up to 4620 mm. Width, height and wheelbase are the same: 1705 mm, 1495 mm and 2605 mm. However, all external body elements - doors, fenders and bumpers - have been redesigned and updated. Headlights, taillights, turn signals in the mirrors and daytime running lights received LED elements. Trunk volume is noticeably increased - from 386 to 620 liters.
The design and interior trim have fundamentally changed - already in the basic version there were armchairs and a rear sofa made of artificial leather, even the simplest radio tape recorder supports USB, and the extended version of the multimedia system supports navigation and a rear view camera.
The new 100-horsepower 1.5-liter engine has replaced the old 106-horsepower 1.6-liter: the “one and a half” meets Euro-5 standards, and the average passport fuel consumption, compared to the previous generation car, has decreased by 1 liter and is now declared at the level of 6.5 liters per 100 km. However, the maximum torque has fallen - from 149 Nm to 129 Nm.
At first, the car will be equipped with a manual 5-speed gearbox, but a CVT will also appear later. The cost of the basic configuration of Solano II, as already mentioned, starts from 500,000 rubles.
Look and design
Solano-2 has become only 10 millimeters longer than the previous generation, but it is much more important that it is 23 centimeters longer than the VW Polo Sedan, 25 centimeters longer than the Hyundai Solaris, 27 centimeters longer than the Renault Logan! Basically, a mighty and solid hood and a 620-liter trunk give an increase in dimensions, and although the interior does not shine with space, the formula “more car for the same money” works, and works well!
The front and rear optics look solid and even somewhat noble.
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Atypically moderately and appropriately, chrome is used in the exterior decoration, which other Chinese manufacturers often abuse ...
Salon
The architecture of the torpedo is very successful, everything is in place, everything is easily accessible. The decoration uses matte black plastic, glossy black with an imitation of some natural material (either wood or stone, with long sparse veins), as well as silver, a la metal. On the front panel, two classic pointer instruments (speedometer and tachometer) are adjacent to digital displays for temperature, fuel level, mileage and consumption information. In general, a classic. Only the blue edging of the “dials” drawn for some reason can confuse.
Air conditioning control - fully electrified: geared motors are responsible for adjusting heat / cold, and for distributing air flows, and for turning on recirculation.
Doors and dashboard - hard and echoing plastic, which on the doors, however, is diluted with soft leatherette inserts with nice red stitching - as well as on the seats. The same VW would surely call it signs of a “special series” and would rip off a lot of money ... The seats are made of nice and durable eco-leather, even in the basic configuration; none of the competitors will offer this, everyone has a minimum wage - only a “rag”.
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All four power windows are electric, plus the front ones with one-touch quick-down mode. The steering wheel has audio controls. But here the adjustment of the "steering wheel" is allowed, alas, only in height ...
Lifan Solano II
base cost
500 000 rubles
And, unfortunately, the volume of the cabin is somewhat discordant with the impressive external dimensions of the car ... Tall drivers may not have the limit of adjusting the longitudinal travel of the front seat, especially in winter clothes - it would be nice to make the travel range wider ... However, this is partly compensated by adjusting the backrest, but with a large driver and front passenger, those sitting in the back will have to twist, attaching their knees.
Multimedia
In a rich configuration, the car is equipped with a multimedia system with a 7-inch touchscreen display and control from the steering keys. The screen, interestingly, is not capacitive, but resistive - that is, it reacts not to touch, but to pressing. The technology is outdated, but the display is very responsive and responds to any object other than a finger - in winter, in a cold car, you can control the device without taking off your gloves.
The multimedia head unit can play music from a phone via Bluetooth, from a memory card, a USB flash drive, as well as an external device via a 3.5 mm input (its socket lives in the armrest along with the USB connector). A separate microSD card is reserved for navigation - software from Navitel is responsible for it. And when you turn on the reverse gear, the image from the rear view camera installed above the license plate is displayed on the screen!
The multimedia interface is a little slow, but the logicality and consistency make up for everything. The main menu consists of a horizontal line of large icons, and the settings menu consists of a vertical list; even a person far from sophisticated gadgets will not get confused in them.
The audio system plays, however, it is rather flat, inexpressive - there are no tops or bass. Although, it would seem, there is a base for good sound - there are large “ovals” in the rear shelf, and the front speakers in the doors are complemented by remote tweeters.
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Iron
Under the hood of Solano-2 is a new one and a half liter 16-valve engine with hydraulic lifters (a rarity now!) And a phase regulator. The engine compartment is spacious, which fans of self-service will appreciate - access to most nodes is easy.
The engine is covered with a decorative plate, which, coupled with the soundproofing of the engine shield and the hood cover, perfectly muffles the sound of the engine in the cabin. Incidentally, after the fairly rigorous testing we put the Solano to, the metal valve cover was appropriately hot, but the individual ignition coils for all four cylinders were just warm. So, a good thermal decoupling!
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The master cylinder is tiny, because all the brakes around are discs, requiring minimal piston stroke and fluid displacement.
The generator is also "baby", the size of a large grapefruit, but the specialists of the dealer center praise it very much - they say it does not give failures.
On the upper tank of the radiator is a filler neck. Fans of classic solutions will approve!
All seams of the internal cavities are treated with a Movil-like anticorrosive agent - its traces in the form of dried droplets are clearly visible, for example, on the lower edge of the trunk lid:
By the way, in the trunk of Solano, in addition to the 620-liter usable volume, as well as an ordinary wheelbarrow wrench and a jack, the owner will find a bag that contains a cable, lighting wires, a first aid kit, an electric compressor and an emergency stop sign! And on the inside of the lid hangs, in the American manner, an emergency opening handle.
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Movement
We pick up a car at the Lifan dealership in Simferopol and drive to the Crimean mountains. I shift gears according to speed, which seems to correspond to most inexpensive sedans with 1.4-1.6 engines and a power of about a hundred horses - and I don’t understand what is happening ... The car frankly does not go! Acceleration is practically non-existent; outside the city, having somehow reached a speed of under a hundred in fifth gear, the gas pedal generally “disappears” - you can take your foot off the pedal or, conversely, push it all the way to the floor - no difference ...
Strangled by Euro-5 standards, coupled with the sluggishness of the electronic throttle? Damn, the characteristics of the motor completely flew out of my head! This engine produces a maximum torque of 129 Nm at five thousand revolutions, which is noticeably higher than that of classmates. The engine loves to be turned without hesitation, and the gearbox with incredibly stretched second and third plays along with it, like an experienced partner who understands perfectly.
We twist from the heart, and a miracle happens - the car has dynamics and agility, adjusted for a low-power motor and a budget category, of course. At the same time, which is typical, the maximum thrust is achieved without a hoarse screech!
Agility, however, noticeably turns sour in the fifth after 120-130 - the manufacturer has shifted the operating range of the motor and transmission to the area of \u200b\u200blow and medium speeds - summer residents who need peppy traction on an overloaded car will be satisfied, but lovers of long-distance intercity hauls - not very much.
Interestingly, the continuous supply of traction in second gear along the Crimean serpentines leading to the mountains, and racing in third gear along a mixture of primers and broken asphalt roads of the Ai-Petri mountain range did not lead to catastrophic consumption - the engine ate a little more than 10 liters, which for a hard annealing with constant acceleration and deceleration in low gears is simply ridiculous. And, in fact, the average consumption in the “city + highway” mode did not exceed seven liters - in the break-in mode, this is just adjusted for the same 6.5 liters promised by the specification, which is one liter less than the previous generation Solano.
Dimensions (L/W/H), mm
4 620 / 1 705 / 1 495
Disc brakes and impeccably tenacious - neither take away nor add. The suspension of the car (McPherson in front, a solid beam in the back, as “shoes” - Chinese Giti rubber of the 15th diameter with a dimension of 195/60) pleasantly struck - it resignedly swallowed huge pits and cobblestones of the Crimean mountains, it was not possible to break through it even once! The suspension is incredibly energy-intensive, with it you can safely bludgeon along the Russian "directions".
The electric power steering mechanism, of course, lacks composure to the reference criteria - with quick shifts of the steering wheel, cottoniness is felt (which may decrease when rubber from brands from the top ten are installed instead of regular ones) and you need to dampen the steering wheel at high speed harder, but the serpentines of the road on Ai-Petri Solano-2 I passed quite confidently and sometimes even boldly. It must be admitted that in terms of suspension and taxiing, the car is perfectly "Russified", it is a sin to demand more from the "Chinese" for such modest money that they ask for it.
07/12/2013
I apologize for the mat, but there is no other way about this car.
The car was bought in 2006-7, I can’t say for sure because they sold it and crossed themselves, owned it for 2 years.
We bought a car for 370 tr. somewhere.
Main equipment: condo, pillows, leather-erysipelas, abs, gur, Volume 1.6 - 105 horses somewhere. Looks exactly like the picture in the post.
In general, it was normal for this price to complete it .. There is no joy, the car is cheap, everything is there from the main one. Priora, at that time, cost somewhere the same.
Ride on it for a bit and it became clear that the vegetable grower engine was not going anywhere, the engine, as they said, was from Toyota Carolla. Fuck knows what this engine is from, but he did not want to go. On the highway, of course, he was driving 160 and there was nothing, but from a traffic light, he probably even pulled six if desired. By the way, at speeds over 100 km.h. (between the hood and the glass there is a plastic protection adjacent to the glass with an elastic band) the gum flew out to half and hu.chila on Lobovik. I began to think that the car would soon fly apart. The officials said that the fastenings are broken, go to hell, this is not under warranty.
The time has come. went to change something there, after sent 3 letters which says: the car must be driven to dealers and redo the electrician, such as a factory marriage. Every time they went they did everything.
It's been a while - Warranty is over burnt out brains. Bought new brains, waited 3 months from China. Put new ones, ride, burned out and new ones. In the end it turned out that both those and those were alive, the problem was in another x.y understand what. Everything was done by the officials.
Another miracle has passed- the gas pedal broke, we bought new parts, after that the new ones broke, I went like that in Chinese)).
In short, every time, and this is every month, everything broke down.
I list it like this:
1. By way of almost all consumables every year.
2. Refused tidy, light.
3. Izdoh Chinese battery somewhere in a year.
4. Rubber moldings all shrunken, chrome began to climb around.
5. The body is shit, the foil, the scratch immediately rots.
6. Shumka is shit.
7. A place for the driver with an increase of 180 shit, you’ll get in hell.
8. Plastic crap fell off around the door lock.
9. You will find horseradish spare parts and you will wait for hell. (No problem for now)
10. If someone seriously flies into you, you are a corpse, go there to heaven right away.
I have listed everything. You won’t remember everything that broke, too much.
Well, in the end I will say the pros.
1. Looks OK
2. Salon looks normal for this price too.
3. The box and the motor did not fail, although they are fucking necessary if everything else falls off, and the mileage was 50-60 thousand when they sold it to another d.lbaebu, and he was delighted to the point of madness.
Everything, there are no more pluses.
P.S. Now they say that supposedly the engine is different there and everything is different, and the car is normal. I don't know if it's true. But I don't recommend taking it. better than an old normal foreign car 3-4 years old.
