Developed by an international team of experienced specialists and new, young automotive talent from China, the Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T exhibits the top quality engineering and excellent safety standards with which Qoros is making a powerful global impression.
Conceived simultaneously by the Qoros design team at the same time as the 3 Sedan and 3 Hatch, the new City SUV with its increased ride heighthas a distinctively robust appearance and a commanding driving position. It will appeal to very different audience - consumers who are looking for a car to enable them to lead an active lifestyle in both city and country.
Based on the same innovative modular platform as the 3 Hatch, the new City SUV features a taller stance with raised ride-height. Graphite-coloured body cladding, including new front and rear skid-plates, accentuates the unique lifestyle character of the car, while providing increased peripheral and underbody protection. Eye-catching twin roof rails, a prominent rear spoiler and large diameter wheels with high profile tyres also contribute to the car's distinctive design.
The Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T was created by Qoros design teams in Munich and Shanghai under the direction of Executive Director of Design, Gert Volker Hildebrand. In designing the City SUV, the Qoros Design Team set out to create the most powerful application of the brand's signature design themes.
"The Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T has been designed to deliver a strong marriage of form and function, of style and purposefulness," comments Gert Hildebrand. "We set out to design a vehicle that is distinctive and modern, with the flexibility to cope effortlessly with both city commutes and out-of-town leisure drives. The design team concentrated our efforts on creating a fresh, distinctive form for the City SUV, and the result successfully achieves this important visual and functional juxtaposition."
For the compact class, the Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T features a comparatively long wheelbase (2694mm), generous width (1854mm), and a short rear overhang (815mm). These elegant proportions suit perfectlythe vehicle's bold, high stance (1504mm), distinctive body cladding and detailed styling.
At the front, the deep split-frame radiator grille - which features the signature Qoros 'cloud' mesh - now sits above a deeper bumper with additional cladding and a front skid-plate to give the face a more rugged, masculine countenance. Like the 3 Hatch, the round fog lights are set into boldly-contoured recesses that wrap around the bumper, details that provide energy and poise.
The City SUV's headlamps feature distinctive LED daytime running lights positioned as horizontal bars along the top edge. Top-of-the-range Excite models feature Xenon headlamps with automatic height adjustment, headlamp washers, and adaptive cornering technology that provides a wider beam when taking corners, greatly improving safety at road intersections and in low-light conditions. Every City SUV also features door mirrors with integrated LED turn indicator lamps.
The dominant features of the City SUV's profile are the bold wheel arches, defined by protective body cladding which continues along the side sills and lower edge of the doors. Further design enhancements, including larger wheels and tyres, a chrome belt-line trim beneath the side windows, and the larger two-part, two-colour roof spoiler, combine to give the City SUV a distinctive look in the Qoros line-up. The body-colour section of the prominent boot spoiler aligns with the door shut lines and rear bumper shut line, while the extended black section reduces aerodynamic drag.
Like the 3 Sedan and 3 Hatch, the rear door windows of the City SUV feature a 'hockey-stick' trailing line that extends into the C-pillar to allow easier access for occupants into the rear seats.
At the back, the City SUV's lamp clusters are positioned high up on the flanks, as is the horizontal chrome trim bar across the tailgate. The lamp clusters are precision engineered with light guides that wrap around the corners of the car creating a distinctive, high quality appearance. They exhibit strong brand DNA, while helping to clearly mark out the newcomer as a Qoros.
The deep rear bumper (part body colour, part graphite) sits above the new silver skid-plate. Symmetry is a key Qoros characteristic and because it is available exclusively with the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, all City SUV models are fitted with twin exhaust pipes which are set into the rear skid-plate to provide added protection when traversing poor road conditions.
Reinforcing its increased ride height, the City SUV is offered with larger 17-inch alloy wheels as standard. Three dynamic alloy wheel designs specific to this model will be available for the City SUV from launch. Entry-level Active models have 17-inch 'Tri-Spoke' wheels, while Style and Style Plus models are fitted with 17-inch 'Spark' alloy wheels: these are fitted with 215/60 R17 tyres as standard. As an option, buyers of these two models can specify the larger 18-inch 'Blade' alloy wheels - fitted with 215/55 R18 tyres - which are standard on the range-topping Excite model.
The Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T will be available in a range of five exterior paint colours - all available without extra cost: Crystal White (solid), Starlight Black, Diamond Silver, Shimmer Grey and Sunrise Red (all metallic).
The vehicle dynamics of the new Qoros 3 City SUV 1.6T have been developed to fully exploit the new car's higher chassis, wider track (up by 9mm at the front and 2mm at the rear compared to the 3 Hatch) and longer wheelbase (up 5mm), while also being tailored to deliver driving characteristics to rival those of compact SUV's developed by leading European brands.
Like the highly acclaimed 3 Hatch and 3 Sedan, the City SUV's suspension features MacPherson struts at the front and an OMEGA-shaped twist beam at the rear to provide an ideal balance of responsive handling and a compliant ride. Electronic power assistance is provided for the rack-and-pinion steering which delivers precise direction changes while also providing direct feedback to the driver.
Compared to the 3 Hatch, the City SUV has a distinctively taller stance, with its ground clearance increased by 57mm to 170mm thanks to suspension changes which raise the ride-height and the fitting of larger diameter wheels and tyres. The 17-inch tyres are 41.6mm taller and the 18-inch tyres 25.0mm taller - compared with the equivalent tyres fitted to the 3 Hatch.
The City SUV, which employs the same core structure as the 3 Hatch and has the same longitudinal and torsional rigidity, weighs around 20kg to 31kgmore (depending on trim levels) thanks to its additional aesthetic elements and larger wheels. To ensure that the City SUV has similar 'DNA' characteristics to the 3 Hatch in terms of ride, handling and steering - despite its higher centre of gravity - engineers have introduced some chassis modifications for the new model.
Spring rates are decreased by 8% front (to 24 N/mm) and 4% rear (to 43 N/mm). The dampers have been optimised to improve roll-control and yaw response, with a new valve design and up to 20% front and rear increased high speed rebound damping, while the rear jounce bumpers (bumpstops) have been lengthened by 20mm at the rear - also to help maintain roll control.
As the weight of the City SUV is broadly similar to other Qoros models, stopping power in the latest model is provided by the same 305mm ventilated disc brakes at the front and 285mm solid disc brakes at the rear. Braking performance and stability are enhanced by anti-lock braking (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) systems developed in conjunction with TRW specifically for the Qoros 3 family of vehicles.