Changan has been on a roll recently and we think that, despite what others might think, Changan is the best Chinese automaker right now.
We really liked the Uni-K we had on a test a few weeks ago. The only thing we didn’t like about it was the price which was 180,000 AED. Now, we have its smaller sibling the Uni-T - in its Sport trim. To see how it fared, you can read the article further or simply watch the review video by clicking these words.
The Uni-T has two variants: Limited and Sport with the latter just giving the car an aesthetic body kit. It has plastic front lips which bear a sticker to make it look like the car has carbon fibre. This effect extends all the way to the rear and, well, we didn’t hate it.
The headlights look pretty cool especially when they’re illuminated at night. They also reminded us of the ones found in a McLaren, maybe they were inspired from there, who knows? We really liked the rear of the car which had a sports spoiler, some nice looking tail-lights, quad exhausts and the diffuser. Something that we really found weird was the pair of rockets on the spoiler, there’s no need of putting such childish things but hey, maybe people like them.
Step inside and you will instantly see that Changan has spent a lot of time on the interior. There’s a very nice sporty vibe with yellow seat belts and bucket seats wrapped in a mix of alcantara and leather bearing yellow accents. The 10.3 inch driver’s display is very nice and crisp to see. The centre console also looks pretty premium and also has lots of storage space which comes in really handy.
The Uni-T also has a bit of autonomous tech on offer with the car being able to drive itself for around 20 seconds after which it'll signal you to put your hands back on the steering wheel. During our testing, the cruise control also fared pretty nicely having a smooth feel to it and no signs of aggression.
The infotainment system has a DVR mode which can record footage using the cameras placed all around the car at the tap of a button on the gearbox. The reverse camera is very high quality and helpful.
The biggest downside of the Uni-T is the rear seats. After spending some time with them, we found them very claustrophobic and all cramped up. Another thing we didn’t like at the back was that there is just one AC vent and USB port. The rear experience can be a deal-breaker as this is a crossover. If you will be seating people other than your kids in the back then look away, this isn't the car for you.
Under the bonnet, the Uni-T has a funky 1.5 litre motor producing 180 horsepower and 300 Nm of torque which is pretty responsive. The DCT transmission works quite well on it but when we slightly played with the accelerator, the car got a bit confused and got jerky. This confusion comes due to the crossover not being able to decide which gear to be on and can be due to turbo lag or the computers on board. This can be a little bit annoying sometimes and we reckon a torque converter would have solved this.
At 150,000 AED, we found it a bit on the expensive side. For the same money you can get a VW T-Roc which comes with the Volkswagen brand name and offers similar features at a lower price. The pricing is where the Uni-T fails a bit as with so many offerings from well-established brands available at this price point, why would someone buy a Chinese car? As always, you can let us know about the pricing and the Uni-T as a whole in the comments section.
