Standard automatic transmission, sleeper 1 meter wide, the most authentic American long-headed truck Gerfa V7 evaluation in China.

It has been three years since China relaxed the limit of long-headed trucks, and the mainstream trucks on the market are flat-headed trucks. Before the launch of T7 in Lapras, long-headed trucks in Liu Qi could not even buy a product with the same configuration and workmanship, and long-headed trucks played the role of low-end products in the market. To put it bluntly, there are no high-end products to play with.

20 17 my evaluation of Lapras T7 is "the explorer of domestic high-end coaches".

Why do you say that? Limited by laws and regulations, Lapras T7 has made compromises in many designs, but it also has to consider the cost and market acceptance. The final product is not a perfect shape. Both the chassis and cab are refitted from Lapras flathead truck H7, so there is no differentiated experience in the interior space of flathead H7. In addition, the guide price is 50,000 to 60,000 higher than that of H7, but there is not much difference in configuration. It's just a long form, which makes it difficult for users to pay willingly.

This year, JAC Gerfa will launch the "V7" series of high-end long-head trucks. With the experience of T7 in Lapras, before contact, I didn't think highly of Gf7. I'm afraid Gerfa V7 is another flat-headed truck that can't open a clear gap in experience.

With the opportunity of Jianghuai Brand Day, I saw the real Gerfa V7 for the first time. After reading it from the inside out, I think Gerfa V7 still has hope to hit "the highest-end long-headed truck in China" in the future. In fact, in terms of configuration and design, Gerfa V7 is also the best domestic long-headed truck that can be bought in the near future.

Here are some questions that everyone is most concerned about.

What is the relationship between GfA V7 and K7?

The flagship heavy truck at the highest end of Jianghuai is the well-known K7 series of European flathead trucks. According to the information we have learned, V7 with a long front page will be a little higher than K7 in product positioning, which also means that the price will be more expensive than K7.

Surely some people will think, is it possible to add a "long nose" to K7 to get V7? That's what I thought at first, but it's not. V7 cab is different from K7, which is a newly developed cab. The V7 cab will be introduced in detail later.

What is the configuration of V7 chassis?

The chassis configuration is basically the same as GfA K7, and engines, axles and the like can be used. The key difference is the transmission. At present, V7 only comes standard with ZF AMT transmission, and manual transmission is not provided for the time being.

How much does it weigh?

How long is the nose? Will the weight of V7 be heavier? I don't know the actual weight, but the published weight is 8.8 tons, which is the same as the flat-headed K7.

What is the price?

We don't know the price and price range at present. I'll take a wild guess. The price of GfA K7 with similar configuration has exceeded 500,000, and V7 is positioned at a higher end. It is estimated that the price will be above 500 thousand. This is just a personal guess, not a fact.

Is there room in the car?

The interior space of V7 is larger than that of K7, and it is also larger than that of many flatbed cars. The sleeper width is about 1 m. When you sit in the main driver's seat and adjust to the final position, your thighs can be almost straight.

Real American modeling

Thanks to the previous cooperation with Navistar, JAC learned a lot from Navistar's subsidiary, International Truck Company. On this basis, the shape design of Gerfa V7 is full of American style. Some design elements are similar to the LT series and ProStar series of IWC, and it is these details that make the V7 look like an American long-headed truck.

The most striking thing is the shiny air intake grille, which is decorated with a large area of chrome from the hood to the bumper, and part of the rearview mirror shell is also decorated with chrome, which is the favorite design element of American trucks.

The mesh diameter of the grille is very small, which can be used as an insect-proof net.

The dome at the top and the cab form a whole, and the transition is very round, which can reduce some wind resistance coefficients. The height of the fairing is not adjustable, and the height of the whole vehicle is 3850mm, which is only 8mm lower than that of the grid K7.

Because the height of V7 increases gradually from front to back, the visual effect will be smaller when it is put together with K7, but in terms of size, V7 is really not small. The length reached 7590mm, and the whole vehicle was 650mm longer than K7, more than half a meter. The wheelbase is 4 150+3 150, which is 850mm longer than the K7 wheelbase.

The width of the vehicle is also designed to increase from front to back, and the width of the front "nose" is narrow, which increases obviously after passing the driver's seat to ensure the size of the sleeper. This is also the design style of American long trucks. The cab is narrow in front and wide in back.

The engine cover is designed to turn forward, and there is an exposed lock on the left and right, which needs to be unlocked with a key.

The cab is equipped with airbag suspension for shock absorption, and the rear window is made according to the domestic car habits.

Camera reduces blind spots

The biggest difference between a flat-headed car and a long-headed car is that the field of vision is different. There is a long nose in front of a long-headed car, and theoretically the blind spot will be bigger. When sitting in the main driver's seat of V7, I felt the vision in particular. The field of view of three sets of wide-angle lenses on the hood can cover the blind spots in front of the vehicle and on the left and right sides of the hood. By the way, I can also see some blind spots under the door. There is no need to worry about the problem of blind spots.

Feeling uneasy? There is a blind spot camera on the front grille of V7, which can eliminate the blind spot in front of the vehicle. There is also a camera under the rearview mirror of the left and right doors. With the assistance of these three cameras, you can rest assured.

In addition, LDWS lane departure warning and TPMS tire pressure monitoring functions also appear on V7.

The space inside the car is a surprise.

Next is the space part that everyone is most concerned about.

After the engine moves forward, the height of the cab floor is reduced and the floor is completely flat. It only takes two steps to get into the car, and you can enjoy the flat floor space without climbing four steps.

The pedal is particularly long, made of stainless steel, with small anti-slip teeth at the edge, which is combined with the side skirt. The visual effect is particularly good, and the materials are also very textured. This little detail is really great.

The design of center console and door panel is the same as GfA K7, which is copied from K7 to save development cost. It is precisely because of this interior that many people mistakenly think that V7 has a nose in front of K7.

As mentioned earlier, the width of the car is narrow at the front and wide at the back, so the length of the center console is not as long as K7, and the co-pilot part is only a short section, and the small bedplate of the co-pilot is also cancelled.

The show car is equipped with a one-button start, so I don't know if this function will become the standard of V7 for the time being.

The main driver airbag shock-absorbing seat has many functions, not to mention the conventional front, rear, high and low adjustment, as well as the additional support of shock-absorbing adjustment, two side waist airbag support and side adjustment. The length and height of the cushion can be adjusted, which supports rapid deflation and is convenient for getting on and off, and is equipped with left and right handrails.

Another thing I have to mention is that the sitting posture of the V7 is not like driving a truck, and the steering wheel angle can be adjusted to a lower position. In addition, the design of the long-headed car makes the whole sitting posture similar to driving a bus, and the sitting posture will be more relaxed and comfortable, which requires practical experience to feel.

The length of a car from front to back is much larger than that of a flathead truck. The sleeper size is about 1 m, and it is designed with equal width. The widest and narrowest parts are the same size. The size of many car sleepers is 90cm, but in fact the widest part is 90cm and the narrowest part is 70cm.

On the premise that the sleeper size is wider than most flat-headed cars, the driver can also have particularly exaggerated leg space. Sit in the seat, adjust the position to the end, the legs can be almost straight forward, and the normal driving seat can be adjusted to the middle position. Restricted by laws and regulations, the size of the original sleeper can't be bigger, but the space behind the seat is extremely surplus. After buying it back, you can use this space to modify it. It's a good idea to make a small cupboard or widen the sleeper.

The height from the floor to the top of the cab in the car will be a little lower than that of K7, which is related to the shape design. But don't worry, it's high enough for people to stand up straight in the car.

There is a slight shortage of storage space.

The storage space at the top of the V7 car is U-shaped, limited by the top design, and there is only a small storage box in the middle. The arc on the left and right sides leads to the storage grid, and the net bag is used to prevent the stored items from falling. This design will affect the storage of many items to a certain extent, and there will be less storage space available at the top. This is a disadvantage of flat-headed trucks.

Fortunately, the storage box under the sleeper makes up for some space. The storage space under the sleeper is divided into three sections. The left and right storage boxes can communicate with the outside of the cab, and there are box doors outside.

In the middle is the car refrigerator, which is drawer-type and can be pulled out.

This part of the storage space under the sleeper has two commendable advantages and two disadvantages. Let's talk about the advantages first. There is a hydraulic support bar under the first sleeper, so you don't need a hand to hold the sleeper pad when you take and put things, so it is difficult to take things with one hand.

The second advantage is that the door opening of the storage box outside the car is low, so it will save a lot of effort to store things from outside the car.

There are two shortcomings that need to be improved: the refrigerator interferes with the shift lever after being pulled out, resulting in the drawer not being completely pulled out, and the refrigerator upper cover not being completely opened, which needs to be held by one hand.

The second is that the door of the external storage box is low in height and easy to touch. Just change it to the left or right or increase the current upward angle.

Some comfortable configurations in the car.

There are some comfort configurations or details in the V7 car that are worth mentioning.

As soon as I got on the bus, I noticed the dark red atmosphere light on the roof. Drivers driving Ouka should be familiar with this thing. Almost every Ouka brand has this kind of ambience light, or night light.

The main driver's seat has electric heating function.

The center console provides 220V power supply, cigarette lighter socket and USB charging interface near the co-pilot.

Behind the main driver's seat is an independent warm air outlet, and the control switch is at the top of the sleeper. There is also a cigarette lighter interface and two USB charging interfaces in the same position, which is convenient for charging the mobile phone when sleeping in bed.

There are reading lights and internal light control switches at the rear of the cab.

There is a window on the left and right sides of the sleeper, which can be opened for ventilation. It is more perfect to add insect-proof nets in mass production.

There are curtains in the sleeping area to separate the driving area from the rest area.

Seat belts support the height adjustment function.

There is a small place on the door that is soft-packed, so you can just put your hand on the door to pad your elbow.

Standard AMT transmission

V7 chassis configuration is not low, worthy of the title of flagship truck.

Let's talk about the most important power configuration, the MC 13 engine of Germany Mann Technology, with a maximum horsepower of 540 HP and a torque of 2500Nm, which is the fifth emission of China.

The transmission does not provide manual gear. At present, it can only be equipped with ZF's latest TraXon automatic manual transmission, 12 forward gear and hydraulic retarder. The shift lever is installed on the right side of the main driver's seat, and the gear layout and operation mode are similar to those of passenger cars. By default, it is in N gear, and you can only shift gears by pressing the button in front of the shift lever. Provide A (automatic forward gear), M (manual forward gear), Dm (low speed forward gear), R (reverse gear) and Rm (low speed reverse gear) modes. In manual mode, press the button on the side to manually shift gears; Both Dm and Rm are used when it is necessary to accurately control the vehicle to move forward or backward at low speed, which is similar to the semi-linkage function of clutch.

According to the development trend of heavy trucks, it is no problem to standard AMT, and it is also commendable that V7 does not push the manual version. However, due to the consideration of selling price, it is easier to be recognized by the market if domestic AMT can be provided to reduce the cost and selling price in the later period.

For the axle, the front axle adopts Cameron to maintain the wheel end bearing, with a maintenance interval of 500,000 kilometers and disc brakes.

The rear drive axle is an internationally famous Mercedes-Benz axle, and the wheel ends are also lubricated by oil, with long maintenance cycle and drum braking. The small speed ratio of 2.85 is similar to that of imported cars, and the common speed ratio of imported cars is around 2.7-2.8. Power chain is a typical combination of high horsepower engine+direct drive+small speed ratio drive axle.

The front anti-collision beam is made of aluminum alloy and is particularly thick.

The front suspension has two leaf springs, and the rear suspension has a trailing arm airbag suspension with two airbags on each shaft for shock absorption. It's American style, and the left and right airbags have connecting plates.

The upper thrust rod is naturally arranged horizontally in the United States.

The interesting thing about the V7 chassis is the fuel tank. The side skirt completely blocks the fuel tank inside, leaving only the fuel filler outside, which has a certain anti-theft effect. The main and auxiliary double oil tanks on the left and right sides of the chassis are matched, with a total capacity of 1 1,000 liters. It's interesting because it uses a circular fuel tank, which is completely the style of American long-headed trucks. It's really exquisite.

High-end and high-risk

As far as products are concerned, under various restrictions of domestic laws and regulations, Gerfa V7 is already the best long-haul truck. Compared with Lapras T7, which went on the market two years ago, Gerfa V7 has pushed the domestic long-headed trucks to a new level. The interior space of the car has improved significantly compared with that of flat-headed trucks, and the design conforms to the American style, and all kinds of configurations do not lose the high-end flat-headed trucks. However, the domestic truck market is characterized by low price, not necessarily good sales, and high-priced sales are difficult to achieve. No matter whether the car is good or not, the price is an unavoidable threshold. Even if Gerfa V7 is not a long-term premium, the cost of these configurations will not be low, and it is a high-end route, which means high risk. What we have to wait for now is the official listing, hoping to have a good price.

Figure/text: Chen Jiefeng