View Photos of the 2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8 exterior and interior photos.
It's not every day that we review a car from an entirely new company, but that's the case with Vietnamese newcomer VinFast and its debut vehicle, the VF8. If you doubted that building cars is difficult, the VF8 offers plenty of evidence, with a bounce-house ride, numerous fit-and-finish issues, and lifeless steering. Maybe U.S. buyers would put up with all that if the VF8 were priced like a 1980s Hyundai Excel, but it's not.
One nice thing we can say about the VF8: Its $750 paint, in a color VinFast calls Deep Ocean, looked nice.
The VF8 sits with its front end higher than the rear, such that it looks as if it's carrying a phantom cargo. That's one visible sign of a suspension that's far from well sorted.
Our VF8 Plus City Edition managed 210 miles of range on our 75-mph highway test, handily beating its 191-mile EPA range rating. Perhaps VinFast is still too new to know how to game the EPA tests like everyone else.
With 402 horses from dual motors, the VF8 hit 60 mph in a respectable 5.0 seconds. It might be quicker but for its porky curb weight: 5771 pounds.
The VF8 offers numerous reminders of its rush to market, such as a head-up display menu that permanently shows a left-hand turn in Hanoi.
There is a front trunk, with small upholstered carpet squares for each of its odd little compartments.
This VF8 City Edition and its 82.0-kWh Samsung battery pack is only available for lease and will soon be supplanted by the standard model, which has an 87.7-kWh battery supplied by CATL. The revised battery will supply an EPA-estimated 264 miles of range for the Eco and 243 for the Plus.
Pricing starts at $47,200 for the Eco trim and $53,000 for the Plus. We daresay they both need to be significantly less expensive than that. Our City Edition arrived with a base price of $57,200.
VinFast's warranty is 10 years or 125,000 miles, bumper to bumper. You get the idea that VinFast is basically saying, "Well, if we're still here dealing with 2023 VF8 warranty claims in 2033, that'll be a good problem to have!"
The VF8's highway-assist system works well, but all of its driver-assist aids default to on, resulting in a cacophony of chirps and reprimands until the driver deactivates them manually.
There's a karaoke app. It didn't work.
The drumbeat of road impacts is loud, and that's not surprising given how much of the rear wheel well you can see through the seatbelt trim hole.
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
2023 VinFast VF8
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