For the past few
months I had been rigorously collecting and researching on what the car market
had to offer. Thanks to my rather unique preferences, the whole process is made
easier as not many of them fits in to my list of consideration.
My preferred
specifications:
·
Below
RM 80K
·
Manual
Transmission
·
Displacement
of 1.6cc and below
·
4
or 5 doors
Okay, we are not
here to argue about my preferences. Matching the above list of specification, I
had found a few kuruma and they are:
·
Great
Wall M4
·
Nissan
Almera
·
KIA
Picanto
·
Toyota
Vios (J)
·
Proton
Iriz
Why no Perodua? Let’s
just say that it is not my cup of tea. My plan is to test drive all of them and
finalise the chosen one to be purchase next year. As I had posted on my Facebook
that I had tested the first in the list and below are my brief review on the
car.
Disclaimer: the
review stated below are based on my personal opinion thus does not represent any party. Praises
and critics are made base on the test drive unit provided by either the
manufacturer or retailer.
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GWM’s Great Wall M4
Apparently this
model had been in Malaysia for a couple of years. The main attractive point had
to be the price. Ranging in between RM50k-60k, undoubtedly the mini SUV had
grab some attention. I am not going to explain in detail on the available
versions, prices, and differences as you may refer them from the below flyer. The
below review are based on three sections: exterior, interior, and drive experience.
(test drive
unit: Great Wall M4 Comfort MT)
1. Exterior
If you were to
notice, the M4 design looks familiar to other cars in the market, to me it is a
design with the mixture of the front grill of Ford, head of a Toyota, and the
back of Kia. Despite that, it still looks pretty decent (compare to some). I rated
this mini SUV pros and cons as below:
Pros:
·
Decent
head and tail lights
·
Nice
fitting 16 inch rims
·
Big
side mirrors with indicators
·
Solid
build with 6 choice of colours
·
Proper
body ratio and size (very easy to get in)
·
4
disc brakes
Cons:
· Heavy
Doors
· Gap
between bonnet and windscreen is somehow a little too wide
· Fuel
cap panel does not come with holder and the cable attached must be proper
adjust every time you close the panel as it might caught the dangling cord
· Big
fat backside that does not add value to the car’s function and design
· The
stand panel beside every door are covered with easily scratch plastic
· The
door open handle feels fragile (same goes for the roof rails).
2. Interior
Behind the
wheels of the comfort version limiting my review to a certain accessories such
as the touch screen navigation system, leather seats, and the rear mirror smart
tag thingy. Nevertheless, the rest are covered as below:
2.1 Seats and leg
room:
The driver seat’s
height is not adjustable as it only allows you to adjust forward and backward. I
find the height really not suitable for short waist dude like me. Overheard from
another fellow female test driver, she claims that she have problem with the
height as her sight is reduced. Since my legs are not short, I pushed the seat
nearly all the way back and to realise the rear seat leg room vanished.
With the cushion
covered in plastic wrap and the floor covered with newspaper, there's no way to tell whether they are comfy but from my observation, it seems
comfortable as the cushion comes with anti-heat netting but might raise a
worries as it may tangle with clothing zips or other hard material object. The rear
seat are not for long journey as they are nearly at 90 degree and not to
mention the limited leg room.
2.2 Dashboard and
center console:
The meter layout
on the dashboard is handsome. I personally have no complaint about it. The digital
speedometer lit in dim orange is warp around nicely by two stripes of white
lights that indicates the temperature and the fuel. Although it looks nice, it
takes me some time to get used to the digital speedometer as I still prefer the
traditional needle (exactly what the unit have for the rpm reading to the
right).
The steering
wheel is comfortable to hold but for a car that size, one can only wish for a
larger one. The volume rocker button on the steering wheel is decent but when
you press down the honk, you will realize that the front cover of the steering
wheel is not well fix and align to the base thus creating plastic friction.
The buttons
layout on the center console is a copycat from other reputable manufacturer, so
it looks nicely arrange to me. Despite the good v shape layout with mini LCD
screen to indicate the air-condition’s status, the buttons as predicted and
reviewed are just way too flimsy. It is actually worse than my expectations. Only
the two nob buttons are good to press (air condition and radio on off) the rest
must be handle with care. (Same goes for the control panel on the driver’s
door) the comfort version comes with a big LCD screen for the radio that I find
it a plus point.
2.3 Storage
The side pockets
by the two front door is meaningless as my hand can’t fit in. The grove box in
front of the passenger seat is pitifully small. Above the grove box comes a
curve in space that I have no idea what would be place there, maybe it is meant
for little McDonald toys / figurine as decoration? I ponder.
Despite having a
big backside, the boot space without folding down the rear passenger’s seat is relatively
small. It only fit a maximum of two medium luggage bags. I did not fold down
those seats to reveal larger space as it is troublesome and defeats the
original purpose. I forgotten to check whether there’s pocket behind the two
front seats (will do it next time). P.s.~ there’s no place for your Rayban~~~
3. The Drive
Before taking
off, I manage to spend some time in the unit with engine ignited. The sound of
the engine remain calm and smooth. As I switch on the air conditioner, the rpm
meter started to rev (normal). That is when I felt a minute vibration from the
engine. Given the fact that the car is low on fuel, the vibration could be as
innocent but I fear that it is from the improper fuel injection or
distribution. (My current car produce such vibration in larger scale as it
chocks for fuel). Realising the car is vibrating (you might not feel it) I decided
to rev the car and to find out the paddles are not as responsive. That is when
the engine roar it’s loudest.
Still before
taking off, I manage adjust the side and rear view mirrors without problem. However
the air-condition is leaving me head scratching. It is not easy to adjust all the
dials (still not getting it done) the main concern is the sound of the fan of
the air conditioner. At medium fan speed, it is way too loud! It overwhelmed
the noise from the idling engine and the radio at soft. To see whether the
radio’s voice can counter it, yes it does but the speakers are poor.
Eventually I took
off after waited for about half an hour. With the radio and air condition
switched to off, the sound of the engine is not bad at all. As a spirited
driver, I started to play with the clutch paddles and gear stick. More disappointments
brews. Knowing the clutch paddle can be adjusted to my preferred height, I am
not going to comment on that. The annoying part is the gear stick as it is
short to thrust forward for first, third and fifth gear and long to pull backward
for the other three gears. That’s not all, the gear switching is not
comfortable as they are too close to each other (Please refer to diagram below). With
the gear shifting not making it any more comfortable, I could not really test
out on the gear ratio but it appears to me that the ratio gap are close as I have
to shift more often than my current car.
I took the unit
(and the salesman) to a more remote area so that I could pick up some speed. The
speed struggles to go up at first as the paddle’s respond is not sensitive
enough for me. (Can get used to it) the unit became smooth to drive at about
40-60km/h. it is pretty decent to drive / cruise around town. (Given the fact
that I had driven something worst). Since this car is not design to dash, I give
that department a rest. The car balance well in corners but you can feel a
slight tyre friction with sharper turns. The sales person told me it could be caused
by the not proper inflated tyres, I have no idea. The brakes on the other hand are
responsive and it does perform as well as any other cars with 4 disc brakes. No
fuel test could be conducted as the test unit’s fuel and distance recorder is
removed.
As a conclusion
for the drive review, other than the annoying gear shifts mechanism and the
seat height’s that force me to sit up straight, I managed to drive the unit
around without much trouble. I wouldn’t say I enjoy driving the unit as much as
my current car (could be my problem), but given the fact that it is really dirt
cheap, I will still put it in my consideration list for now. Is it worth your
time to even have a look at the car? Yes! Just remember that you do not get
another car that size for that price and it is not ugly.
If you are
planning or had tested the car, please provide some feedback as this will determine
whether the problem lies in the test unit or my driving behavior. But keep one
thing in mind, do not be put off by my findings above as I tend to scrutinise
to details, some of the mentioned might not affect you. Have fun~~~
