In February this year, the Geely brand unveiled a new mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle series, Geely Galaxy, and launched two plug-in hybrid models, L6 and L7, in just a few months. In order to take a share of the mid-to-high-end pure electric market, Geely Galaxy released a new pure electric medium and large sedan E8 at the Guangzhou Auto Show last month. 
As a pure electric vehicle, the Galaxy E8 is naturally built using Geely Group's SEA vast architecture, such as Zeekr and Lotus Eletre. Before the new car was launched, we took the Galaxy E8 test drive at the Tianjin V1 International Circuit, and let's take a look at how the Galaxy E8 performed when driving on the track!
For today's domestic electric vehicles, performance is an indispensable part, and the Galaxy E8 is naturally not far behind. In terms of power, Galaxy E8 provides 400V and 800V voltage platforms, of which the 400V platform adopts a single-motor rear-wheel drive layout, with a power of 200kW and 343N·m. The 800V platform adopts a dual-motor four-wheel drive layout with front asynchronous and rear permanent magnets, with a total system power of 475kW and a total torque of 710Nm. In addition, whether it is a 400V or 800V voltage platform, both are equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries. 
Let's take a look at the E8's performance in action. With asphalt on the road, outside air temperature6, 93% battery level, ESC electronic stability program turned off, and only one adult in the car, the measured 0-100km h acceleration time of the 4WD version of the E8 is 331s, the average acceleration is 081g。In order to test the stability, we conducted three acceleration tests on the E8 in a row, and the error of each test was basically 001 seconds, it can be seen that its motor performance is very stable. 
For the brakes, the dual-motor four-wheel drive version we tested uses 245 45 R19 Goodyear Royal tires at the front and rear. The E8 is also equipped with Continental's single-piston floating calipers, Brembo front and rear ventilated discs, and ITT's high-coefficient brake pads. Judging from the braking configuration alone, the keyboard value of the E8 is not high, but this does not mean that its braking performance is not good. This is because the way to improve braking performance is not only to increase the number of pistons on the caliper, but also by increasing the bore of the caliper piston and the diameter of the brake disc. 
Specifically, in brake system design, increasing the piston bore means that the working area of the piston becomes larger;Increasing the diameter of the brake disc will increase the effective braking radius. Since the braking torque = braking force x effective braking radius, the larger the effective braking radius of the brake disc under the condition that the piston braking force remains unchanged, the stronger the braking torque. The front piston caliper bore and brake disc diameter of the E8 have reached mm respectively, which is close to some performance cars. 
After measurement, the distance of the Galaxy E8 braking from 100km h is 3575 meters with an average deceleration of -110g。Judging from the measured results, the E8's braking performance has not deteriorated due to the use of single-piston calipers, and it is still very good.
Although Geely's high-end pure electric models are all from the SEA vast architecture, the chassis of different models will have certain differences. For example, the Galaxy E8 and the Zeekrypton 007 are both based on the same SEA architecture, but the 007 uses a front double wishbone and a rear 5-link suspension, while the Galaxy E8 is a front MacPherson and a rear 5-link with slightly lower suspension specifications.
In terms of suspension tuning, the E8 belongs to a mediocre style that is neither soft nor hard. In the continuous speed bump project, which tests the comfort of the chassis the most, I passed at a speed of 30km/h, and although the suspension does not filter out the road impact in a very soft way, the feedback from the suspension does not feel bumpy, but rather tough. In addition, the suspension suppresses aftershocks very well, and there is no feeling of looseness at all.
On small undulating manhole cover roads, thanks to the lower stiffness of the suspension bushings in the front and rear directions, the impact energy between the tire and the manhole cover is transmitted to the interior of the car, and has been filtered into a gentle impact and sound by the bushing. Judging from the chassis' isolation from vibration and noise, the E8 has reached the level of more than 300,000 luxury cars.
In addition to the tuning of the suspension itself, the E8 is also optimized for the natural frequencies of the body. What is the natural frequency of a car body?As a simple example, when a car drives over an undulating surface, the body is thrown up, then begins to descend, and finally returns to its original height.
If this process is compared to vibration, then in 1 second, if the body has a complete process of throwing, descending, and restoring, its vibration frequency is 1Hz. And this frequency is the natural frequency of the body.
For ride comfort, it is not good to design the natural frequency of the body too high or too low, and the ideal design is actually consistent with the frequency of human movement. The average person's slow walking step count is 125 steps per second, which is 125Hz, at this frequency, the human feeling is the most comfortable and natural.
Therefore, in the development process of the new car, the Galaxy E8 deliberately set the natural frequency of the body to 125Hz], so that the movement of the body is consistent with the state of slow walking. Therefore, when the E8 drives over undulating roads, although the more flexible suspension will cause the body to jump up and down to a certain extent, because the body beats at the same frequency as people walking slowly, this process will make people feel more stable and natural.
After talking about the comfort that everyone is most concerned about, let's take a look at the E8's handling performance on the track. First of all, it should be noted that the models for the track test drive are all single-motor rear-wheel drive versions, and according to engineers, the chassis tuning of the rear-wheel drive version and the four-wheel drive version is basically the same.
In terms of steering tuning, the feel of the E8 is relatively light, and the damping when turning the steering wheel is very smooth, and there is no sticky feeling, which is relatively difficult to experience in ordinary domestic cars.
In fact, the E8 gives people a pretty good subjective feeling. For example, its steering lag is almost imperceptible, and as soon as you move the steering wheel with both hands, the body responds immediately. The higher rigidity of the steering system also results in more direct steering feedback and reduces the amount of correction of the steering wheel when cornering.
In addition, the steering of the E8 is relatively small, and the steering wheel kills only about 1It was about 26 laps, so the E8 didn't need to hit the direction sharply when cornering, and the whole car felt very nimble.
What's more, with the large changes in speed and steering wheel angle, the steering feel transition of the E8 is also natural, and the steering wheel operation force remains linear and soft throughout the whole process. This also shows that during the development of this car, the engineers have done a very good job of calibrating the power assist characteristics of the steering system at different speeds.
Since the E8's suspension is more flexible and neutral, with a light steering feel, I didn't expect much from the chassis handling at first. When I first got on the track, I didn't rush to test the limits of this car, but drove relatively conservatively, and the E8 at this time left a very "gentleman" impression on me, and the whole car seemed unhurried. Once I had a basic understanding of its character, I started experimenting with a more aggressive approach to driving, and the E8 exceeded my expectations. I thought the more neutral suspension tuning would make the E8 very awkward in corners. But in fact, whether in low-speed or high-speed corners, the E8's body roll is relatively small, and the chassis has enough support to give people plenty of confidence.
In terms of fine-tuning, the body of the E8 does not instantly fall to the side when the steering wheel is turned, but rolls in a gradual manner. Therefore, the change in the movement of the body maintains a linear relationship with the steering wheel control angle, which makes it very easy to predict the posture of the body.
In addition, thanks to the torsional rigidity of the body of 41000N·m DEG, even if you hit the direction back and forth quickly in the S corner, the body feedback of the E8 is very sensitive, and the roll transition is also natural and coherent enough, which shows that this car has also put a lot of effort into the matching of springs, shock absorbers, and anti-roll bars.
When braking heavily into corners, the slight sinking action of the front of the car not only does not interfere with normal driving, but also well suppresses the tendency of over-distribution of body load to the front wheels. When exiting corners, thanks to the better anti-head-up resistance of the 5-link rear suspension, the body will not rise sharply even if you accelerate with all your might, which also creates the possibility for the driver to accelerate out of corners earlier.
With the perfect matching tuning of the body and chassis, driving the E8 on the track will not be psychologically burdensome, as long as you are familiar with the routing of the track, even if the driving skills are not very skilled, you can also control the car with great peace of mind. As for the sporty characteristics of the chassis, although the E8 has a maximum lateral acceleration of 1. in corners01g, but after reaching the limit, the chassis will still show the characteristics of a slight push, that is, the front of the car slides to the outside of the corner. At this point, you need to reduce the power appropriately, or apply the brakes to allow the front wheels to regain grip.
In the process of chassis tuning, the pusher is conducive to improving the driving stability of the chassis;Tail flick is good for handling. The highlight of the E8 is that its chassis retains stability while taking into account the handling as much as possible. So the end result of this car is that its chassis doesn't make you feel untamable, on the contrary, as long as you pay attention, you can drive it fast without realizing it, and it doesn't seem to be difficult.
In terms of exterior design, the E8 basically inherits the design language of the previous Galaxy Light concept car, while retaining the elegant fastback shape of the coupe, it also integrates modern cutting-edge design, and the real car looks very refined and stylish. This sleek body design is also in the service of aerodynamics. According to official data, the E8 has a drag coefficient of only 0The 199cd is currently the lowest wind resistance among production vehicles.
In terms of body size, the length, width and height of the E8 are 5010 1920 1465mm, and the wheelbase is 2925mm. In terms of parameters, the length, width, and wheelbase of the E8 are slightly larger than that of the BYD Han, and in terms of body height, the BYD Han is higher than the E8. As for the P7 and Model 3, the entire three measurements of the E8 are slightly larger.
Although the E8 is 5,010mm long, has a wheelbase of 2,925mm, and is not equipped with rear-wheel steering, it has a minimum turning radius of only 562m。You must know that the Model 3, which is one lap smaller than the E8, has a minimum turning radius of 58m。It can be seen that Geely has optimized the front suspension structure of the E8 and allows the front wheels to have a larger steering angle.
In the interior, the E8 adopts a yacht-hugging cockpit shape, and the most conspicuous thing in the middle is the 45-inch 8K resolution large screen. Inside the car, it is Qualcomm's latest 8295 car chip. Unfortunately, the model I tested was not the final production version, so I couldn't experience the actual performance of the car for the time being.
Unlike the earlier models, the E8 I drove did not have a half-spoke steering wheel, but a two-spoke steering wheel with a flat bottom. In practice, the craftsmanship and grip of this steering wheel are quite good. And on the silver buttons of the steering wheel, the e8 also uses Chinese, and here you must give Geely a shout-out.
In front of the ** island is a small storage slot and cup holder, in the middle is the air conditioning, driving mode button and volume knob, and some buttons are also in Chinese, and the rear is a mobile phone wireless charging panel and two USB charging ports.
In terms of materials and craftsmanship, the center console of the E8 is divided into three layers, the upper layer is covered with leather with two-tone stitching, the middle is a continuous air conditioning outlet, and the lower layer is decorated with white wood grain trim.
The layering of the center console also extends to the door panels, with the white part covered in large perforated leather and stitched shapes, and the edges of the armrests inlaid with silver metal trim strips, which also look more textured.
What's more interesting is that the decorative plate behind the E8 center control screen, as well as the decorative plate above the door, their surface texture looks very special. If you zoom in carefully, you will find that these lines are actually arranged by countless "auspicious" characters.
It is worth mentioning that the visor of the E8 adopts a two-section design, the upper part is a vanity mirror, and the lower part is dark glass, which will not block the view after opening the visor, and can reduce the glare of light. In the A-pillar and ceiling, the E8 is covered with suede-like materials, which makes people feel more advanced both to the touch and the look.
Like most new energy vehicles, the E8 also adopts a panoramic roof design, and extends from the front roof to the back of the head of the rear passengers, the whole area is very large. As for the sunshades, the same is absent.
In terms of seat design, the front and rear rows of the E8 are made of leather perforation, and the visual effect is also quite high-grade, and the padding of the seat cushion and backrest belongs to the style of soft and hard centering.
In terms of space, with my 180cm and 75kg figure, after adjusting the front driver's sitting position and putting the seat in the lowest position, the front head has 1 fist and 4 fingers of space from the panoramic canopy, which is very good. At this time, when I came to the back row, the legroom was just 2 fists, and the head was 3 fingers away from the panoramic canopy.
Due to the high floor of the E8 and the low arrangement of the rear seat cushions, passengers with long legs like me sit in the back row, and the support of the thighs is not good, which may affect the comfort if you ride for a long time, which is also a common problem of electric cars today.
After driving the Galaxy E8, I suddenly became particularly interested in the ** of this car, as mentioned earlier, E8 and Extreme Krypton 007 are based on SEA architecture, but the chassis and power specifications of E8 are significantly lower than 007. Currently, the pre-sale price of 007 is 22990,000, compared with the same level of pure electric cars, the cost performance is already very high. The E8 is likely to pull the starting price to less than 200,000 yuan to compete with models such as BYD Han EV and Leap C01, and the ** battle in the car market next year should be even more tragic.