The all new Changan UNI-V has just made its global debut. It is the first sedan under Changan’s UNI range of vehicles after the UNI-T crossover and UNI-K SUV. According to Changan, the UNI-V is devoted to create a new experience with users for a better life in the future. And as far as the first looks are concerned, the UNI-V is mind-blowingly impressive.
Just like the previous two UNI vehicles, the UNI-V sedan boasts an imposing stance and a fascinating design theme. The fascia bears strong geometric design elements carved on the grille accompanied by sharp & slim headlights and angular DRLs give the vehicle a very aggressive appearance.
The UNI-V adopts a ‘short overhang and long axle’ design, with a front overhang of 905 mm and an axle length ratio of 0.59, creating the sporty feel of a luxury sports sedan with a shorter front overhang and a larger axle length ratio. In addition, the said design also improves the overall handling of the UNI-V. According to Changan, the larger axle-length ratio, and the greater front and rear wheel span, contributes to better pitch resistance, agility and high-speed stability when driving.
The side profile features well-defined creases, a visually long hood, and a sloping roof-line rendering the fastback styling. With an aspect ratio of 0.78 and wheel height/car height being 0.47, the UNI-V’s wheel height is almost half of the car’s height, which is comparable to that of a modern day luxury sports sedan. In addition, Changan says the lowered height of the car results in lower wind resistance, making it more stable in acceleration, braking and turning. Retractable door handles are also present as with most contemporary Chinese vehicles of this category.
At the back there are full-width connected tail lamps and a well-sculpted rear bumper, dual chunkier chromed exhaust tips & low mounted centralized third brake light. UNI-V also has an electrically retractable rear spoiler, which will remain hidden when not activated. This is automatically raised and lowered according to the speed, or can also be manually controlled via buttons. It provides 25kg of extreme downforce when open and reduces the wind resistance coefficient by 0.007, resulting in increasing body stability and enhanced fuel consumption.
The interior of UNI-V sedan is as impressive as its exterior with a classic blend of blues & greys and a wonderful use of orange. As Changan says, UNI-V takes the diversified scenario needs of users as its starting point and uses human factors engineering methods to dig deeper into the needs of young groups in terms of cockpit interaction and ambience creation. The design boasts hidden air vents, integrated steering wheel buttons, integrated center buttons and other fusion designs everywhere, creating a sense of simplicity and sophistication, while enhancing safety and reducing unnecessary visual distractions for the driver. The UNI-V uses asymmetrical design and bright colors in areas such as the center console, seats, center armrest and door panels to add excitement and vitality.
The UNI-V adopts a 3+1 quadruple screen layout design, which appears to be two screens staggered on the surface, but internally they are connected as one. The hovering instrument panel is placed above the steering wheel, allowing the driver to read high-frequency interactive information such as speed and navigation from the instrument panel with a 10° eye movement when looking at the road ahead. In addition, the new A-pillar design reduces the obstacle angle to a class-leading 2.88°, allowing users to have a wider field of vision.
Furthermore, the UNI-V boasts a smart cockpit that has infrared cameras placed above the steering wheel and in the interior rear-view mirror respectively, allowing users to automatically log into the car’s ecological app via their FACE ID super account and switch to exclusive vehicle settings, automatically swiping their face when they get into the car and setting up their exclusive settings in one step. Plus it continues the UNI family’s pioneering AI active service, which always has insight into users’ needs and actively provides them with exclusive greetings in the car, sight lighting, fatigue driving reminders, answering calls to lower the multimedia volume, etc. Users can also switch music and navigate home through gesture recognition, etc. In addition, through the button or voice control, users can take photos and record videos in the car, so that they can easily keep the beautiful moments captured. In the future, UNI-V users can upgrade and iterate the car’s functions and performance online via OTA updates.
The UNI-V also features newly designed seats with minimalist line divisions to create a sense of technology. Thanks to a higher cabin space and flexible layout, the UNI-V’s front seating position has been lowered by 39mm and features a new ergonomic seat profile for a better fit and a much balanced pressure release for more comfortable long-distance driving. Other key things include a double-D multi-function steering with paddle shifters, battleship gear lever, drive mode selector and game cockpit. UNI-V users will be able to turn their mobile phones into gamepads via wifi connection, as the car is equipped with a large number of games with a hundred different ways to play at the user’s choice.
Riding on new lightweight Modular Platform Architecture, also called as Ark Architecture, has helped Changan to create a highly rigid and lightweight body for the UNI-V. The vehicle’s center of mass is lowered by 30 mm, the engine crankshaft center is moved down by 12 mm, giving the design team a wider scope for creativity. The UNI-V uses topology optimization technology to identify the optimal force transmission paths for the body, strengthening key structures while significantly reducing redundant masses, increasing the lower body by 25 kg and reducing the upper body by 31 Kg. Prior to launch, the Changan UNI-V has already won the “2021 China Top 10 Bodywork” award.
Exterior dimensions are quoted to be 4,680mm in length, 1,838mm in width and 1,430mm in height with a wheelbase of 2,750mm. This makes UNI-V even longer, wider and taller than the newly launched 11th generation Honda Civic sedan. Changan hasn’t release engine details yet but its likely to have a 2.0T engine and PHEV powertrain option.

Sebastien Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) are expected to be world champions for 2021. Not only are they champions, but the French also won the last race of the Rally Monza 2021 season. Ogier fought the entire race with their teammate for the Elfyn Evans / Martin Scott (Toyota Yaris WRC) title.
With just 7.3 seconds ahead, Ogier took the win, but even if he was back in the standings, he would still be the world champion for 2021.
Ogier won his 8th title out of a total of 9 seasons in the World Rally Championship.
Toyota, on the other hand, is the winner of the title for constructors.
The last 3 sections today Ogier was only 0.5 seconds ahead of Evans, making a 7.1 second lead over Evans in the penultimate section.
In the last section of the Power Stage there was nothing left but Neuville Thierry / Wydaeghe Martijn (Hyundai i20 Couple WRC) to press the gas for a place of honor, but only managed to win the Power Stage, but remained 4th in the general. A very disappointing season for Neuville, which failed to shorten 3.9 seconds at the end of the race to 3rd place, which remained with Dani Sordo / C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 Couple WRC).
First in Rally 2 are Rossel Yohan / Renucci J. (Citroën C3 Rally2), who in the last stage overtook the Poles Kajetanowicz K. / Szczepaniak M. (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) by only 1.8 seconds.
Apart from the last race of the season, this is the end of a generation of cars that will be replaced by a completely new one in less than two months at the Monte Carlo Rally 2022.

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The two crews with chances for the title this year started their battle with each other from the first special stage. From the very beginning, Sebastien Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) took the lead, and together with the contenders Evans Elfyn / Martin Scott (Toyota Yaris WRC) they broke away. Ogier took the lead with a 6.5-second lead over the first service park. They are followed by three Hyundai cars led by Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 Couple WRC), Dani Sordo / C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 Couple WRC) and Oliver Solberg / E. Edmondson (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC).
In this 4th stage, only 4 cars went at a competitive pace, after a person in the audience fainted, something already common.
In the 5th special stage Cinturato 1 Elfyn Evans managed to shorten the fragile lead of Sebastien Ogier to 0.8 seconds, and in the second pass of Cinturato led in the standings with 1.3 seconds and up to 1.4 seconds lead on the first day of Rally Monza 2021.
In the first stage on Saturday Sebastien Ogier took the lead again. The battle was definitely the tenth, as Evans managed to regain first place in the next stage.
Dani Sordo advanced to 3rd place, ahead of Thierry Neuville.
In the 11th speed stage Selvino 2 with a length of 24.93 km Sebastien Ogier managed to pull forward with an advance of 5.2 seconds of Evans.
The game became even more interesting, as in the 13th speed stage of 14.39 km Evans took the stage victory, while small mistakes of Ogier sent him back to second place.
In the last 13 stages of Saturday, Sottozero 2 Sebastien Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) again took the lead with only 0.5 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans / Martin Scott (Toyota Yaris WRC).
Dani Sordo / C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 Couple WRC) kept the third position at +32.2 seconds. Ogier has a 17-point lead in the overall standings and can definitely afford a relaxed ride on Sunday, where there are only 3 speed stages left.
Ford must forget its weakest year in decades, after the Fourmaux Adrien / Coria Alexandre were eliminated in Italy after a rollover in the third gear stage.
The other crew of Ford Gus Greensmith / Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta WRC) with 8th.
First in RC2 are Rossel Yohan / Renucci J. Citroën C3 Rally2 in 10th place in the overall standings.

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