Experiencing China's Take on the Sporty Sedan: Lynk & Co 03+

[Music] if I asked you to describe an american-style performance car you'd probably think of something with a big engine up front rear-wheel drive in good straight-line speed if I asked you to imagine a English kind of performance car you might think of a small light Roadster like a triumph or an MGB America England Germany Japan they all have their own version of a performance car but what about China if I asked you to describe a Chinese performance car would you have any idea what to say that's why I have borrowed this Lincoln company Oh three plus two try and find out what exactly is the distinct characteristic of a Chinese performance car first a little background Lincoln Co is a sub brand from G Lee a company you've definitely heard me talk about before on this channel created in concert with Volvo which G Lee owns Lincoln company offers a line of entry-level luxury vehicles that are positioned above G Lee products but below Volvo all of them including this oh three sedan our built on Volvo's compact modular architecture the same platform as the Volvo XC 40 but this isn't a normal oh three no this is the O 3 plus the performance variant and arguably one of the few performance vehicles to come out of a Chinese brand which is why I think it's a great place to start exploring the nature of Chinese performance despite its Swedish bones it is immediately apparent when looking at the Lincoln Co 3 plus that they do not practice the Swedish art of restrained simple design all Lincoln Co cars including the O 3 obviously feature this kind of three-tier front fascia to understand why it's so discomforting to look at it you have to remember that most cars have a two-tiered front fascia design the top tier is the headlights and Grille while the bottom tier is made up of the bumper lower air intakes and maybe some fog lights in addition to those two tiers the Lincoln company oh 3 adds a third one in the form of these lights built into the fender the result is that you don't really know where to look at the front of it when you see it on the road it's kind of like meeting somebody with eyeballs in their forehead it's a little bit uncomfortable I think it makes a friend of the O 3 plus more multifaceted what I mean is that the design of this car seems to shift based on what angle you're looking at Fir while researching for this video I would sometimes stumble on a photo and think that Google Images had made some mistake only to realize that it was indeed a photo of the O 3 plus I just didn't recognize it at first in a world full of cars that all look roughly the same I actually find it kind of refreshing coming around to the rear you can see that the design here is also pretty funky you've got these clear taillight lenses on top of which the O 3 plus performance models had quad exhaust a rear diffuser and this big old Lang I love it even if I have no idea whether or not it actually has a lot of aerodynamic benefit and just in case you forget what exactly this wing is for there's a nice reminder here on the side downforce sitting inside the O 3 plus you start to get the idea that the exterior designers were tame compared to whoever designed the interior of it if you can name a material this car has it I imagine the conversation between GE and their suppliers went a little something like this so you're making a new of three brass what kind of the material everything how do you think unique chrome yes black practice yes I'm a brat yes how about a Cantera absolutely yes how much all of it Oh the result is an interior full of materials and textures I've literally never seen inside of a car before take for example the digital camo here above the glove box or here on the glove box the - here there's this Alcantara full of I guess speed holes I don't really know speaking of Alcantara it's everywhere and I mean everywhere the dry of the steering wheel here the shift knob the - the sealing the back seats the front seats I'm in terms of daily usability this stuff is going to get dirty and it is going to get dirty pretty quick that's why apparently lincoln company has a specialized Alcantara cleaning service at the dealership just for the O 3 + [Music] [Applause] all of that Alcantara not to mention the quad exhaust the rear diffuser and that big wing in the back promised a lot when it comes to performance but can the O 3 plus actually deliver here are the basics up front you've got a turbocharged 4-cylinder from Volvo pumping out 254 horsepower and 350 Newton meters of torque all attached to an 8-speed automatic transmission this thing puts power to the ground through a BorgWarner four-wheel-drive system that means a 0 to 100 kilometer per hour sprint in about 6 seconds in terms of how it actually feels to drive there isn't much this car can't do the chassis feels very solid and acceleration is definitely adequate on public roads the four-wheel drive is pretty unflappable I've thrown it into corners probably faster than I should have and it's very stable the 8-speed transmission shifts quite smoothly and quickly when it's in manual mode quick enough that I don't really yearn for a dual clutch the Volvo 4-cylinder sounds surprisingly could and it does so without resorting to pumping fake engine noise into the cabin through the speakers like some other cars I think it has a nice metallic rasp to it let's have a listen [Music] [Applause] now having said all that this is at the end of the day still a compact family sedan at least it's based on a compact family sedan platform so even though it performs pretty well in all categories it's not really a sports car but in the end it's pretty good at everything it's comfortable it's quick and that makes it what I would consider a very good daily driver performance car so what have we learned about the nature of Chinese performance cars well based on the sample size of one I think that the real defining characteristic of a Chinese performance car at least today is that Chinese manufacturers are willing to try things that traditional Western manufacturers just won't do the Chinese car industry is still in its teenage rebellious years and while that means they still have a lot of mistakes left to make they're also willing to break the rules the often arbitrary rules that are set by more traditional manufacturers from Europe the United States or even Japan if the future of Chinese performance cars is quirky funky stuff like this color me very excited alright that's all for today thanks for watching

Channel: Wheelsboy

Views: 332,822

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Id: dMG97t5fmM4

Length: 8min 25sec (505 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 08 2020