The Chinese S-Class that looks like a Rolls-Royce and Drives like a…

hello and welcome don't ever say that we don't read your comments because we are back today with another highly requested vehicle this time the hong chi h9 ever since this thing debuted late last year it has been the source of fervent internet debate some people say that it looks like a blatant copy of a rolls royce others say it looks like a blatant copy of a bmw and still others think it's just a pretty good looking sedan everybody has an opinion but today we're going to try and answer a much more basic question is it any good let's find out [Music] if we're going to talk about the exterior design on this car we have to start by addressing the elephant in the room ever since this thing debuted everybody and their mother has been commenting about how it looks like this car or that car and to those people i say you're right you're absolutely right it looks like a mashup between a rolls-royce ghost and a bmw 7 series that can be explained in part at least by the fact that back in 2018 hong ki hired none other than giles taylor former head of design for rolls-royce and one of the people behind the modern design language for the brand the thing is design and development for this vehicle started in 2017 and credit for this design goes to a chinese designer that works for hong chi so while i think that giles taylor probably had some input on it it's safe to say that hong chi always planned on evoking the rolls-royce style [Music] regardless of its origin story i have to say that i really like the look of the h9 for all of its similarities to other designs it has some unique and interesting details take for example the beautiful chrome strip that flows down from each headlight and meets below the grille i also love the distinctive strip of chrome and red lighting that starts in the middle of the grille and extends into the hood sure it's more than a bit kitschy but it's a fine alternative to a traditional badge the side profile of the h9 is also quite fetching starting with this beautiful long hood and working its way down to a gentle slope here on the rear speaking of the rear i have a feeling it's going to be the source of some controversy i think it looks like a cadillac ct5 and i think it looks pretty good but it will probably have its detractors speaking of which let's talk about this awesome two-tone gold and purple paint job as i just said i really like it i think it looks pretty cool and it's obviously supposed to elicit thoughts of mercedes-benz s-classes however some of you may disagree on a more practical note rear trunk space on the h9 measures about 370 liters that's a far cry from the 510 liters you would find in a mercedes-benz s-class despite the very similar wheelbase end length the inside of the h9 is lathered in leather chrome and what i think is the strangest accent material i've ever seen on the inside of a car the pattern lies somewhere between wood marble and a peppermint stick still i like it more than piano black plastic which is also very prevalent like here on the dashboard and here on the center console overall it reminds me a lot of something like a mercedes-benz e-class which i don't mind because i like the integrated look of the screens in this one as opposed to the stuck on the dashboard tablet look that's more and more common in cars today a couple of small details that i want to point out this is a private owner car and he's decided that he's going to put some kind of plastic film all over the interior parts here to protect the piano black material not a great look in my opinion the other problem is not the owner's fault this is from the factory there are a few places where the craftsmanship the finishing i should say is is not quite up to what i consider a good standard also the materials for example here on the dash could be a little bit softer but overall these are small nitpicks the similarities to mercedes-benz only serve to draw attention to the fact that interior material quality is only passable i do like the red strip running down the dashboard which continues on the center armrest the result is what i would consider a pretty cohesive design but most h9 owners will be spending more time in the back seat theoretically at least so let's see what that's all about first let's talk about what you don't get this is a mid-spec version which means that it lacks the refrigerator infotainment screens in the backrests and the massaging seats that you would get in the higher spec version what you do get are two usb ports ac controls here and then also some adjustability for the seats including lean the headrests and the passenger seat up here as well this mid-spec version does have a lot of blanks here on this center armrest which isn't particularly good looking oh the other thing you get is tons of leg room but you would expect that in a car that measures five meters in length [Music] the h9 uses a rear-wheel drive platform and comes in your choice of two engine options both of which operate through a 7-speed dct the first is a 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder making 252 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque but the truly power-hungry can step up to the 3-liter supercharged v6 which makes 280 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque neither of those is especially impressive but the power figures of the four-cylinder engine are similar to those of the base four-cylinder bmw 7-series that's available here in china but its starting price of 45 thousand dollars is a little over one-third of the bmws [Music] so it's a third of the price but does that mean that it offers a third of the performance and comfort as well let's talk about performance first the zero to 100 kilometer per hour time in this two liter version is about 7.3 seconds the zero to 100 kilometer per hour time in the four cylinder 7 series is something around six seconds so a big difference but not that big before you ask i have driven the 3 liter supercharged version the v6 and while it is noticeably quicker it's still not a performance vehicle i would estimate that the 0 to 100 kilometer per hour time is somewhere in the six and a half second range the transmission seven speed dct very very smooth especially at speed shifts are imperceptible almost the only problem is when you're taking off from a dead stop there's a considerable lag between when you put your foot down and when you start to actually move i thought this might be the turbo engine's fault but then i remembered that it was also present in the supercharged version that i drove earlier so that's going to be the transmission's fault for sure so how about comfort well i gotta say this is an incredibly comfortable vehicle certainly one of the most comfortable chinese cars i've ever driven now the comfort does come at a bit of a cost when it comes to performance and we'll go back to that i'd like to compare this to the cadillac ct6 in reality it's probably a better benchmark than a 7 series or an a8 because its price here in china is almost exactly the same so i drove a cadillac ct6 last year and one of the things i really liked about it was the playfulness of the chassis don't get me wrong this is a huge sedan so it's not as though it was tossable but it certainly was more playful than this h9 instead of the playfulness of the ct6 you have seriousness in the h9 this is a card that says to you i'm about cruising nothing else don't try and drive me like a performance car that would be a bad idea and it's right there's nothing but understeer when you really push it and the steering no feeling at all it's incredibly incredibly numb makes it easy to maneuver but it doesn't exactly egg you on to drive it aggressively still the lack of athleticism doesn't diverge from the basic character of the car this thing is supposed to be about cruising comfort it has no pretenses of performance so i don't think it will be a problem for most potential buyers presence is a term that i think is often misapplied to vehicles that are simply huge to me it refers to something that commands a certain level of attention and respect as it moves down the road examples include the mercedes-benz s-class cadillacs of the 60s and 70s and yes pretty much anything from rolls-royce love it or hate it the h9 has presence and that is a feat in and of itself does it borrow from other brands in order to make that happen oh yeah it absolutely does and i personally would have preferred that they blazed a completely new path in terms of the design but at the end of the day i think it has enough unique design features and elements to stand on its own alright that's going to be all for today thanks for watching

Channel: Wheelsboy

Views: 1,620,112

Rating: 4.695713 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: gg2RC4FYdxE

Length: 10min 16sec (616 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 27 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Doppelkupplungs]

Engines are 2.0 turbo 4 cylinder and 3.0 supercharged V6 both mated to 7 speed DCT.

2.0 produces 252 hp and 280 lb-ft. 3.0 produces 280 hp and 295 lb-ft.

It sounds like those powertrains are straight out of VW/Audi.

Also this car is rear drive, but does anybody know which car platform it is based on? He said it is just a boat with zero sportiness. I am assuming older maybe late 80-early 90 Toyota Cressida or some rear drive platform along those lines....

[u/kuddlesworth9419]

I miss two tone paint jobs. Seems like a perfectly good vehicle if you want comfortable motoring.

[u/KingKontinuum]

Looks a Cadillac CT5 and BMW 7-Series love-child

[u/nill0c]

Looks more like a Roller and a Maybach mashup to me. Maybe with a Lincoln front grill.

[u/jroddie4]

Drives like a chinese shill.

[u/topcat5]

It's really an odd collection of styles copied from other makes and brands.

[u/Saitoh17]

I think I actually like the look more than the new Ghost... That two tone paint job is sick.

[u/Mega_Harald]

I would buy this in Europe