The new sedan is cheaper than 2 million – the first test

Will the Kaliningrad-assembled Kaiyi E5 cope with the task of replacing Solaris and Polo on the market?

If you do not take into account the electric Evolute i‑Pro, over the past year and a half, the Kaiyi E5 has become the first official non-crossover novelty in our market.

Remarkable fact number two: in the maximum configuration, it costs less than 2 million rubles, while even the most compact Chinese crossovers are just starting from this mark.

Yes, it is still very expensive, but the appearance of any cheaper car is a good sign. Our editor-in-chief studied the Kaiyi E5 inside and out in static, and I had the opportunity to be the first to ride it.

Nodes and assemblies

Kaiyi is only equipped with a turbo engine, which is well known from Chery, Exeed and Omoda crossovers. 147 forces were removed from one and a half liters and a variator with nine quasi-gears was docked to it.

The number of these engines in China goes into the millions, and in Russia there are quite a few of them. There are no claims for reliability to them yet, the timing is driven by a chain. Cast iron block: you want to bore, you want to sleeve, there are spare parts for any repair. But this stage should be far away, 250-300 thousand km.

Kaiyi E5. Price in Russia 1 959 000 ₽

AI-92 gasoline can be used on an ongoing basis. So the manufacturer assures, but I would pour the 95th into my personal car. However, the appetite of the car forces you to save. The recently tested Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max with the same engine surprised me with its unwillingness to take less than 9 liters per hundred on the track. Therefore, even on a lighter Kaiyi, do not count on less than the “ten” in the urban cycle. With such inputs, switching to AI-92 will save 50-60 rubles for every 100 km.

How does it ride?

The dynamics are good: the engine is peppy, and the CVT does not interfere with it at all.

The manufacturer does not provide exact figures. For the Tiggo 4 Pro with a similar power plant, which is only 2 kg lighter, 9.7 seconds to hundreds are claimed. I willingly believe that Kaiyi E5 shows about as much.

The steering wheel is adjustable only in height, there is no climate control – only manual control.The tidy is cute. Rigid plastic is successfully ennobled with different textures.The quality of the all-round cameras is excellent.

Everything is fine, if you immediately pick up normal speed. And when pushing in a traffic jam, the accelerator setting pisses me off. In the economical driving mode (normal, normal is not provided), the delay in response to pressing is very noticeable. You need to restrain yourself and not drown the pedal deeper, because when the “five” does go, it will do it quickly. Switching to the sport setting shortens the pause. But the start after it becomes sharper. And there was a strong feeling that from time to time the car starts differently. All this is strange, because there are no similar claims to crossovers.

Comfortable?

Suspension initially left a good impression. Behind a multi-link, not a primitive beam. It works quietly, in corners it provides a constant grip even on imperfect asphalt. And then there were several speed bumps and large pits, typical of our spring. And it quickly became clear that Kaiyi did not know how to work them out. Rigid, loud and complete feeling of not new, but fairly traveled suspension.

The back is flat, the lumbar support is not adjustable: the back quickly began to complain. On our car, the electric backrest lift worked only after you move the wires under the seat. Quality alarm?At the back, I would like a more sloping back. But there is plenty of room in the knees, you can easily find a comfortable position.There is heating, thanks for that.

What didn’t you like?

Worst of all in a car with soundproofing. Aerodynamic noise is even difficult to assess, everything drowns out the sound flow from the wheels. I thought that the arches were just bare, but no, they have fender liner.

Of course, from a budget (in China) sedan and expectations should be appropriate. But the “five” is very loud. I do not believe that the car was not worked at all on this part. Perhaps the fault is the stock Atlas tires, on which Soundless is cynically written, “silent”.

What is the result?

Trunk volume is about the same as that of Vesta. Under the floor – dokatka. There is no internal handle and the shape of the casing is such that in any case you will have to grab the dirty outer part. When opening, you have to overcome the pressure of the stops.

The Kaiyi E5 features red brake calipers, front seats with integrated headrests and an Alfa Romeo-inspired stern design. Feel free to match! But so far it hasn’t worked.

You can’t hide that the car has a chassis of the level of 10 years ago, when the original Chery Arrizo 7 came out. Back then, in 2013, we didn’t expect much from Chinese cars. All claims were interrupted by the low price. And now a different alignment – not so cheap and not too modern. It is possible that Omoda S5 and BAIC U5 Plus, entering the market on the heels of Kaiyi, will be better.

So far, Kaiyi E5 is produced only in the maximum configuration with a CVT – for 1.96 million rubles. They do not promise an atmospheric engine, but a manual box will appear. This will reduce the price of thousands by 60-70. And the equipment is not so much that you can cut some of the options. I believe that the “base” will not fall below 1.7 million. And this is also not cheap – you need at least 1.5 million rubles.

Part of the navigation lights is located in the bumper. In our slush and crowded traffic jams, this is inconvenient. But there are sections in the headlights themselves. One of the cost reduction points for a simple configuration will be the replacement of LED lenses with conventional incandescent lamps.

Looks stylish, rides well

Very noisy, suspension setup is far from perfect Kaiyi E5Length / width / height / base 4670 / 1825 / 1483 / 2700 mm Trunk volume 450 l Curb / gross weight 1441 / 1797 kg Gasoline engine, P4, 16 valves, 1498 cm³; 108 kW / 147 HP With. at 5500 rpm; 210 Nm at 1750–4000 rpmAcceleration time 0–100 km/h n. e.Maximum speed 210 km/h Fuel / fuel reserve AI‑92, AI‑95 / 50 l Fuel consumption: combined cycle 6.9 l / 100 km Transmission front-wheel drive; CVT A big test of domestic bestsellers is here. “Behind the wheel” can now be viewed on RuTube