Alfa Romeo has a long history, but the model line is short.
AR currently has only three cars, Giulia-Stelvio-Tonale, and BYD was still selling a replica of the Corolla when the first two models were launchedAt the time of the Tonale Donali, BYD was already selling Yangwang.
Time never seems to have passed here in the AR, and two facelifts plus a new model are probably enough for the AR to sell for another 7-8 years.
It is true that AR needs to be reorganized, but it is not the only one in the FCA that needs to be reorganized - the market situation of FCA's brands is: first, Italy with weak domestic demand, economic stagnation, aging demographics, tough immigration policies, and industries being hollowed out by neighboring countries;Second, although domestic demand is strong and employment is abundant, the labor unions are equally tough, and the market competition is sufficientGlobalization has completely declined, the Chinese market has been completely lost, and even the markets in Central, South America and North Africa have had to give up to PSA.
This is the current state of the FCA. Without technology or cost advantages, they face a bloody dog-eat-dog affair. The decline in product competitiveness has led to limited revenue and tight cash flow, and investment in new models and technologies has to rely on the Group's financial support.
For T**ares, CEO of Stellantis, which owns 14 brands, the brand is the most important thingAnd for Elkann, the boss of Agnelli's own family, the FCA is the back, and the Ferrari is the car.
AR is understandably undervalued. Moreover, the product restructuring is real gold, and relying on love to turn decay into magic does not exist in the automobile industry.
bottega (workshop).
The current situation of AR is the realism of Italy. Economic stagnation has led to class consolidation, demographics have led to a decline in efficiency, and hard-line immigration policies have led to a lack of cheap labor, and the main industrial products are concentrated in two types: low-end products with low technical requirements or luxury products with low efficiency requirements.
In the face of mainstream car brands that rely on platform development strategies, sell variants in bundles, and have uniform characteristics, it is natural for AR to be overhead. In 2022, AR sold less than 70,000 units worldwide, accounting for 12%。
Compared to those old friends in the luxury sports camp, AR is no longer running a factory, but a workshop.
To return to the market with limited investment, Tonale's logic is easy to understand
A-segment SUV, mainstream model in major markets;
Lap jeep compass, the technical requirements are not high, the cost investment is limited;
Thorn product positioning, it is difficult to do a good job, but fortunately, the strength of the main competing products is not strong.
It's such a car, and it was fooled by the CEO of AR into taking on a new start:
Improve product quality, reorganize AR's customer relationships, and reconnect with the brand
The new electronic and electrical architecture (mainly the vehicle machine) opens up the system innovation of AR;
Inspire a new model of AR.
A CEO who is worthy of a salesman: including punctuation, every word is advertised.
Quality, quality, and quality
Tonale was born at the FCA's Giambattista Vico plant, one of the oldest AR mother factories and a major stumbling block in the millennium's AR deal with Fiat.
In that deal, Volkswagen demanded that the Veken plant be shut down and AR production merged into the Spanish plant at SEAT, mainly because of the low efficiency, poor quality and high production costs of the Veken plant, which can have a synergistic effect with the similarly styled SEAT brand. But the closure touched on workers' rights, and Fiat refused to end the condition and vetoed the AR deal.
Subsequently, AR designer Walter da Silva jumped to SEAT, determined the dynamic brand style of SEAT, and sent Audi into the first generation. The AR continues to collapse in the quagmire of the Fiat Group's operations, and the Veken plant, which used to produce aircraft, had its only product from 2011 to 2022, the Fiat Panda, with an annual production capacity of around 100,000 units until the Tonale rolled off the assembly line in 2022.
In short, Tonale comes from a Naples factory that has been focusing on the production of the top 20,000 euro models for almost a decade, and has no concern for quality.
However, whether it is because of the brand image or product styling, Tonale's requirements for quality are not low.
Rich Italian flavor.
The Tonale has six colors, three basic paints: red, white, and black, and three types of metallic paint, gray, blue, and green, of which blue-green is the advertising paint, which is in line with the car's youthful positioning. From the point of view of the painting process, Tonale has reached the average level of this type of car: the body paint is uniform, the visible area on the inside of the outer cover is primed for spraying, and the blue and green paint quality of the real car is satisfactory.
Some of Tonale's shapes favor texture, such as the gaps on the sides of the canopy that are hidden along the fenders along the inside, and the canopy that reaches the front face, hiding a lot of gaps. Some shapes do the opposite, such as the parting surface on the tailgate where the rear bumper is flush, and the thick gap is clearly visible.
The quality of workmanship eventually betrayed it. The rear bumper and the side fenders form a face-difference, and the large surface of the bumper suddenly sinks;The problem of the matching of the tail light and the light bar is obvious, and the seams are obviously not matched and the position is unevenThe reversing radar has a huge boss, and the reversing camera is not hidden;The tailgate and front door gaps are noticeably larger than in other areas, especially between the front doors and the fenders, as the black padding is particularly noticeableThe visible area on the inside of the door is characterized by a large number of riveting points, process holes and sealant strips, as well as various pores and uneven curling edges, as well as the lack of varnish coverage, which is instantly noticeable by the adhesion of fine Tuscan dust.
Caption: What is an easter egg from a factory in Naples?In the drainage groove of the 7,000-kilometer new car, a screwdriver suddenly appeared.
I wonder if AR has any misunderstanding about "the level of quality that can generate brand complexes".
Design & Function
Appearance. Luckily, Tonale held the look, at least on the front. With the shark head front and a new triangular logo grille, Tonale looks at least new. It's just that the shape of the Tonale is confusing, the same 700 mm diameter wheels, 1600 mm height design, the visual effect of the Tonale is inevitably narrow and tall, compared to the Mazda CX-50 is as low as a brick.
The Tonale is available in four trims, Super, Sprint, Ti and Veloce from lowest to highest, plus a start-up speciale, with the main styling differences being the material of the lights and window sashes. The rims come in three sizes (18-19-20), but the shape is AR's classic five-round hole design, and the complex rim shape can be well adapted to the weaker side look of the body.
The test car was a TI model, which was less black trim, privacy glass, and 20-inch ProtoTipo rims than the domestic Veloce model.
Bodywork. Tonale comes from the Jeep Compass, and the body design changes are unlikely to be significant. Given that the Compass is a 2010s design, the bulky bodywork, as well as poor visibility, are understandable.
Rear floor. The deterioration of the body structure is reflected in the door frames, and the huge structure squeezes the opening area of the doors, invades the floor plane, and compresses the width of the interior. The threshold of such a width is not decorated, and the bare plastic shell is placed in the visible area, without texture.
The width of the Tonale is not narrow, but the lateral space in the car is still insufficient: the slide rails of the seats cannot be placed on the plane, and they have to be placed on the edge of the ** platform through the structure, which is desperate to look at.
Sharply angled doors and stout A-pillars.
Another problem with the body is the sharply angled door profile of the rear doors. It cannot be opened in a narrow area, and it is easy to invade the human body, and it is an abominable design.
Interior. Compared to the exterior, Tonale's interior is lackluster in terms of design and quality, full of many outdated elements of the Compass:
The door panel lacks shape, the handle bosses and handles are disproportionately sized, and the loudspeakers are too large to squeeze the storage compartment openings
The window and door control module has an ancient shape, no double keys, and the logic of long press - short press is complex
The round air outlet knob is of poor quality;
The size of the steering wheel is overproportionate, the left and right sides are not in the same plane, and the function buttons lack decoration;
The keys are disproportionately sized, and there is a parking radar button hidden next to the Italian flag
The non-functional 12V cigarette lighter and USB-A port are placed in the foreground, which, together with the gear lever, limit the opening of the charging pad space, making it almost impossible to take a big-sized screen phone;
The charging pad has no design aesthetics, the structure is completely exposed, and there is no decoration, the counterexample is the BMW X1;
The metal tread trim and the perforated ambient lighting are nicely shaped, and the use of glossy plastic casings around the air outlets is a complete overestimation of air quality
There are a large number of white status lights on the floor, which are not easy to read when the sunlight is strong;
Too much interior material creates a lot of seams, and the interior looks very complex;
Stick to the cable-pull shifter of the Compass.
The "worst design" comes from the iconic DNA knob. The Tonale's DNA knob retains the same size as the other models, but the Tonale's floor width is much smaller, and the layout and styling become a problem. The knob is positioned at the driver's knee flexion point, affecting legroom and comfort. At the same time, the texture of the knob is poor, the key travel is long and there is a spaciousness, the selection mode should be long pressed, and the design of automatic rebound reset also makes it difficult to confirm the result when selecting the mode. The brand logo has neither texture nor design, and the effect is extremely poor.
Overall, I personally think that the interior design of the Tonale lags behind the all-new Peugeot 3008 and is not as good as the 2019 DS4.
ui
Tonale's UCONNECT5 infotainment system comes from the FCA era, with the Wildcard Jeep and Maserati. The first installation was the 2019 Jeep Wagoneer, which has high requirements for hardware configuration. The underlying platform is Android AAOS, and the software engineering and host production are handled by HARMAN International, which belongs to the mainstream solution of large car machines.
* There are two screen sizes, 1025 inches and 138 inches, support dual screen (entertainment + air conditioning = Martha) and triple screen (entertainment * 2 + air conditioning = jeep) expansion.
Fully equipped with uconnect5
The hardware used by the Tonale belongs to the entry-level version and has the same configuration as the Fiat 500E. The horizontal screen system has the same page layout as similar UIs: shortcuts on the driver's side, and air conditioning at the top of the screen. There are three functional areas on the main screen page, three layers of pages, support for customization, black bottom plate, and tile function icons.
The main problems with UC5 are:
The information overkill, it seems to be the demand of the American market, and the status bar is laid out with too much information;
A large number of functions are buried in the underlying page, such as the auto hold function buried in the vehicle settings - braking page;
Menu pages do not stop accurately when flipping down on some entries
The screen brightness calibration is poor, and the screen brightness is not adjusted in a dim environment, and the screen is kept bright for a long time
The setting option cannot be automatically entered and saved, so you need to confirm the save again after selecting it
After the car machine is started, the reversing screen has frame skipping and stuttering.
The advantage of AAOS is openness, it can integrate Alexa and Spotify, and it is convenient to connect external three-party backendsThe disadvantage is that it is highly dependent on networking functions, and requires a conbox with good performance and stable Internet of Vehicles services. Based on the current UC5 ownership, the FCA should not be slacking off on this service.
There was a significant adaptation problem with Tomtom's outsourced navigation.
The UC5 map function continues to be outsourced by Tomtom with a low degree of integration, and the module is basically independent of the entertainment system, and the address input, settings, and map rendering are all Tomtom style. The problems when using it are: zoom and display of the current location conflict, search can not only be retrieved, no fusion function, lack of vehicle dynamic guidance.
The design of the Tonale dashboard follows the traditional shape and is named Cannocchiale (cannon barrel), which instantly makes the dashboard a lot more foreign. 12.The 3-inch display has good blackness and readability. The gauge has four themes, which are switched by the button at the top of the wiper lever, and I personally like the traditional style, and the speed numbers arranged in reverse are interesting. The interface design needs to be strengthened, and there is room for optimization of information classification and icon display. The font needs to be unified, and the roller-style numbers are cute, but they don't match the interface. The tachometer red line speed of 5500 rpm is low, and it will indeed step all the way into the red line rev area under the big throttle, which may be intentional by AR.
Miscellaneous
The AR light pole has the same keyless design as BMW, but not only that, but the wiper mode adjustment is also placed on the wave wheel, and the upper and lower keys are changed to front and rear wipers. The huge paddle shifters behind the steering wheel make it difficult to operate these two paddles, which is a simple complication.
The TI model is not equipped with paddle shifters, which are reserved for holes.
Tonale has a unique set of chime, which has a lot of adaptation functions, such as lane departure and the front camera on the map have corresponding warning sounds, and you will inexplicably hear various warning sounds when driving, which is a thankless design.
Tonale has not made significant progress in the electronic and electrical architecture, and as the core of human-computer interaction, the performance of the car machine is not very good.
Power
Tonale's target markets cover Europe, the Middle East, China and the United States, with widely varying powertrain needs, and five powertrains are available.
There are two main models - 13 liter PHEV 15 liter MHEV. TONALE in the Middle East and China uses GME (Global Medium Engine)20-liter engine + 9AT + AWD, that's right, remember the GAC Jeep commander no. 1.The 6-liter diesel engine aside, the main price is the Fiat commercial vehicle engine ten years ago. In addition, the Tonale does not have a manual transmission, and it has entered the all-AT era in full swing.
The PHEV powertrain was jointly developed by Mercedes-Benz and Renault and is mainly used in Mercedes-Benz MFA platform models. The difference in the FCA version is the addition of a 4-bit motor, and the replacement of Getra's 8DCT with Aisin's 6-speed automatic transmission has improved power output. With a maximum power of 206 kilowatts, the Tonale PHEV is the top power model of the Tonale.
Tonale also features this PHEV system in the United States, with a peculiar decision-making logic.
This compares to FCA's new 48-volt GSE (Global Small Engine) 1A 5-liter gasoline engine is simply a work of conscience. This 2022 SOP is 1The 5-litre four-cylinder direct injection machine has two powers, 118-96kW, and the low-power version is more cost-heavy, with one less VGT variable-geometry turbocharger than the high-power version. Equipped with a P0-bit 48-volt BSG motor with a maximum power of 162kw, the model configuration idea is the same as that of the Volkswagen GroupThe 5-litre EA211EVO2 model is almost identical, and the comparison is as follows.
The difference is that the NVH of this engine is very good, and there is no boiling sound of the Volkswagen EA211. In addition, the Tonale's nominal 8 kW BSG makes it the only model that can directly drive the vehicle with a P0-position BSG motor, and the overall performance is comparable to that of BMW's new P2-position 48-volt powertrain based on the UKL platform.
The maximum speed that BSG can actively maintain.
The main scenarios of BSG motor electric drive are as follows:
Creep: BSG drives the vehicle to 6-7 km h by default, and the RND direction switch should be below 3 km h;
Mode selection: Sport mode (D in DNA) Default engine start, start-stop disabled;
Start drive: forward and backward can be realized, throttle speed sensitive, motor drive maximum speed of about 18 km h, basically covering the 1st gear ratio area, engine access basically from 2nd gear, staggered a gear;
Maintenance speed: the throttle opening is sensitive, the opening is very small, and it is suitable for the maintenance of vehicle speed for a short time in congested traffic, and the maximum speed of the motor drive is about 38 kilometers per hour
Shift compensation: According to the instrument information, the BSG motor has a power output regardless of the upshift and downshift, which is subjective but imperceptible
boost: also subjective and imperceptible;
Anti-drag braking: The working condition of anti-drag has a lot to do with the mode, vehicle speed and battery SoC
It is the same as the anti-drag torque of the engine, and there is no excessive dragging;
When the battery SoC is high, the BSG does not participate in the anti-drag, and the engine refuses to stall;
The speed of the vehicle increases during the anti-towing process, and the engine refuses to stall;
The anti-drag power in Sport or manual mode is on the high side, which is still lower than most PHEV models
The BSG motor takes into account the generator, and the engine drags the BSG for a long time to balance the load of the power grid.
Coasting and start-stop: No disable start-stop buttons. Prefer the ignition off taxiing condition, but limited to the speed below 80 km/h, the speed of the vehicle over 130 km/h start-stop becomes very conservative, basically no stalling. The start-stop interval is monitored, and the start-stop situation does not occur frequently.
After driving at high speeds, the engine refuses to enter the start-stop.
Problems with this powertrain include:
When the large throttle input engine intervenes, there will be an obvious power step, the engine intervenes first and then retreats, accompanied by engine torsional vibration and stuttering, and the smoothness characteristics of the power system are poor
Starting the engine at the same time during the BSG drive process will clearly feel the reduction of BSG power output;
The thermal load design does not seem to fully take into account the MHEV system, and the engine refuses to start and stop when stopped at high speeds, which may be to meet the heat dissipation needs
The engine is not responsive enough to load changes, and the VTG supercharger is of little use.
The highlight of this powertrain is that it produces a large difference in operating conditions with less complexity, which in turn changes the ride quality in the low-speed area. In the low-speed range, the Tonale is very close to a true hybrid, making it ideal for the target market of Europe, especially Italy, where the average speed is lower and the average speed is higher.
Of course, the durability of the 48V BSG motor is an issue. Audi BMW models with P0-bit Valeo BSG motors have a high failure rate, and problems such as desoldering, water damage, and premature wear of motor coils frequently occur. I wonder if the TONALE, a 48V motor with such complex working conditions, will become a potential problem.
Full throttle power output.
1.The 5-liter MHEV model is paired with a 7DCT from FPT, and the transmission performance can only be said to be just passing. The gear ratio of the transmission is set relatively short, with a 1st gear ratio of 183:1, the speed of 140 rpm is close to 3000 rpm, and the speed ratio of the bias to low-speed working conditions does not help much for fuel consumption. The shifting performance of this dry transmission is skewed towards that of an automatic transmission, and the clutch handover is more gentle, not as neurotic as the DQ200. In Sport mode (D), the gearshift strategy of the transmission changes significantly, the upshift timing is significantly delayed, and the downshift timing is not significantly different by relying on long-term high revs to improve the vehicle's dynamic response. A n model is not much different, and there is no difference in subjective perception.
Manipulation
In addition to the BSG motor, another highlight of the Tonale is the handling.
The Tonale steering machine continues to use the AR 13The traditional setting of 6:1 deceives the response with a small tooth ratio. In addition to the small gear ratio, I personally think that the fast response also comes from the high lateral stiffness of the wheel, and the ways to achieve this may be:
The neutral front axle constraint allows the wheels to have a large ground contact area;
Larger roll stiffness in the suspension, stronger shock absorber spring columns;
Low aspect ratio tires;
Larger spring rates, especially balance bar stiffnesses, to reduce the effect of body deflection on wheel loads.
Among them, the latter two items are more obvious.
The Tonale rims are fitted with 235 mm wide tyres in all three different sizes, while the sportier 235 40 R20 Pirelli P0 tyres are used on the higher-spec variants.
The suspension settings are overwhelmingly stiff, and this feeling comes from the spring rate rather than the shock damping, and the standard FSD shock doesn't show any effect. Tonale also has an optional adjustable damping dual-valve shock absorber that may be a little more effective. This spring rate setting greatly affects the comfort of the vehicle, driving on the mountain roads in poor condition in Italy, the wide-spectrum white noise and vibration accompany the way, and the tires are not making a sound after a journey, but the ears are going to be deaf.
The test car also used 18-inch 235 50R18 wheels.
Front and rear overhangs
Tonale's front and rear overhangs.
The Tonale front axle is a simple MacPherson suspension with a very ordinary material selection. The ball pin size of the lower swing arm and steering knuckle is huge, and it is guessed that the lower swing arm is shared with other models with a smaller wheel base. The brake calipers on the front wheels are available in two configurations: the high-spec Veloce models use Brembo four-piston calipers in opposite directions, and the steering knuckle needs to be equipped with an adapter structureOther low-profile models are all floating tongs, and the optional former ** is 900 euros. It is worth noting that the change of the high-configuration braking system is only the caliper without the brake disc, and it is worth thinking about how much value such a big move can produce.
The front axle is extremely tolerant of steering wheel corners, and the lateral handling limits exceed what we would expect from this type of SUV. Intense driving on mountain roads is basically not ringing tires, and there is enough response to directional input in corners. The lateral performance with high stiffness and high limits gives the driver a lot of confidence to try faster cornering speeds.
The Tonale rear axle also uses MacPherson suspension, complemented by a very flat subframe, which is designed for size efficiency and versatility. The MacPherson suspension, which eliminates the need for two connecting rods above the wheel carrier, together with the flat subframe, creates space for the P4-position drive motor.
The structure of the rear axle is of little importance for a low-load vehicle such as the Tonale, which does not pull the rear legs of the front axle at all.
Steering machine
The gear ratio of the chicken thief does not hide the weakness of the Tonale steering machine setting.
First of all, there is a significant difference between the power assist value in the center area and the linear area of the steering machine, the power assist value in the center area is small, coupled with the small gear ratio and fast response, the neutral is tense, and the small steering action will be amplified. Secondly, although the power assist value in the linear zone has increased, it is still in the small category, so the overall feeling of the steering machine is light and fast, which does not match the sporty suspension.
The advantage of the steering machine is that the vibration isolation is done well, and the power system and suspension load are not greatly affected.
Summary
The logic of the Tonale suspension is very similar to that of a steel gun model, and the rigid lateral response goes beyond the positioning of an SUV model. But the stiffer suspension and poor interior quality, tightness are simply a fairy pair, creating a bumpy and noisy body. AR still has to work hard in the face of the balance between handling and driving quality.
Epilogue **
Tonale's starting price in Europe is 3680,000 euros for a test car with TI TRIM** 4330,000, PHEV low-profile models** is 520,000 euros is on the high side, and the possibility of reflecting the luxury positioning by raising the price cannot be ruled out.
It's just that the performance of the Tonale can't support such a logic, not to mention that there are many models that can reflect the value more than the Tonale. In Europe, AR cannot be circumvented by the Cupra with the same performance and richer configurationIn the U.S., AR can't hide from a cheaper and better quality Lexus;In China, the price of the Tonale has entered the higher range of models, and there is no competitiveness.
Tonale's embarrassing situation is the reality of AR: you have to have a PetrolSexual model, but you don't have enough money to invest in a new productRefuse to sacrifice the remaining production line, and the product quality is not guaranteed;Brand revenue and sales volume are not important in the group, and the product restructuring strategy is unclear
The strategy is unclear, there is a lack of investment, and new models are to be released, so we can only come up with some facelifts of old products;Logic is closed, and the cycle repeats, a vicious circle.
So Tonale is not the beginning of the transformation of the AR brand, it is just a sequel that has to be handed over.
A nice ugly sequel.
Text allen
Figure Allen Network.