Goodbye and goodbye, Chery J1
The reality of life with the $9990 Chery J1 was not good.
Good riddance, we say. It's been revealed the latest provisions for mandatory electronic stability control, who also won and rejected the Great Wall X240 and Suzuki Jimny.
The bottom line is that ESC - a revolutionary system that uses computerized control of a car's braking system to maintain control in a potential emergency - is now installed on every car in Australian dealerships.
Because ESC is linked to the car's anti-skid braking system, basically working in reverse to pull the car straight if it goes out of line, this means we also get the benefit of ABS to prevent the wheels from locking up and give us the ability to steer. around potential disaster.
Victoria left early for the mandatory ESC, but now the entire country has joined the latest safety party, evoking memories of my only walk with j1. I spent the morning in Sydney with Chinese cheap and while there were some promises, the reality of living with a $9990 newbie wasn't very good.
It moved slowly away from traffic lights, had wobbly brakes and wobbly cornering, and I compiled a list of 18 shortcomings in the assembly work, from body parts that were only coated with primer, to a dashboard that appeared to be made from at least parts. four cars. companies that never talked about anything, let alone the need to make all their parts with the same colors and textures.
Chery changed the J1 gearbox within a week, but that's about it. Dealerships still have stock of J1s and Suzuki says they have enough Jimnys through March 2014, but those cars are a thing of the past and we're thinking about changing the safety situation in Australia in 2013.
The bottom line for the Carsguide team is pretty simple: if a car doesn't score at least four stars on the ANCAP safety rating, it's not tested. This is partly to protect the test team, but mostly because the crux of any Carsguide verdict is whether we would recommend the car to our family or best friends.
No one at Carsguide will tell their best friend to buy a car with two stars. It's the same with used cars, and we also have a huge interest in any safety development work that can make our roads more comfortable to drive.
Feedback from the Carsguide team has changed Mercedes-Benz to a flaw in one of its new safety systems that uses the next ESC development to keep the car in its lane, and we had big grins when the latest S-Class and E-Class cars arrived with the tweaks. which is directly related to our driving and writing. But we smile for a very different reason when we think about J1.
This reporter on Twitter: @paulwardgover
