Test drive Geely GC9
“Sorry, ah have that ansver,” blurted out the Chinese driver of the Geely GC9, moved to the right, stopped on the side of the road, and only then picked up a smartphone that had been ringing for the last ten minutes. Our driver was not just nervous, he was panicking...
“Sorry, ah have that ansver,” blurted out the Chinese driver of the Geely GC9, moved to the right, stopped on the side of the road, and only then picked up a smartphone that had been ringing for the last ten minutes. Our driver was not just nervous - he was panicking because he had to act not according to the instructions, and answering the phone while on the move was unacceptable. For China, this is normal, as well as the fact that before a test drive a couple of kilometers long on the territory of a factory in the vicinity of Ningbo (we were only allowed to leave it as passengers), the journalists listened to how to properly keep your hands on the steering wheel and adjust the mirrors. Armed with this invaluable knowledge, we put on orange helmets and went to get acquainted with the new flagship of the Chinese company Geely - the GC9 business sedan, which, in fact, became the first fruit of its cooperation with the Swedish Volvo bought a few years ago.
This is not yet a common platform for Volvo and Geely for small-sized cars CMA, on which the new generation of Emgrand will be built (its concept was shown to us in Shanghai), but the GC9 was created with the active participation of Europeans. Firstly, the appearance: the vice president of Geely for design, who came here from Volvo, is the world-famous Briton Peter Horbury, who is responsible for it. His task is to create a new corporate identity and a unified ideological line for Geely vehicles. Does this mean that something from Volvo will appear in them? In the appearance of GC9, which, by the way, is called Emgrand GT in Chinese brochures, there are features reminiscent of the Swedish S60, but Horbury emotionally parries my questions about the similarity of the design of the two brands: “We do not accept copy-paste, and some similar elements can be found in most modern cars - this happens when designers follow global trends, each time bringing something of their own. "
There is really no reason to accuse the GC9 of obsessive copying - it is a solid, calm car that does not at all fit with the stereotypes about the Chinese auto industry. He does not want to reproach him at all in the sense in which we forgive minor mistakes to promising talents: he is very well assembled and makes an adult impression inside, although the plastic on the front panel is unpleasant to the touch, the "beemwash" washer for controlling the multimedia system is inconveniently located (the elbow is too far back) and spins like a part of a short-lived plastic toy, and the boot lid hinges are so huge that they deprive the owner of the chance to load any bulky items.
It is already more difficult to forgive the infantilism of the gearbox, because it is easy to drive it crazy with sharp accelerations, like Roskomnadzor with mirrors of sites. The "automatic" produced by the Australian DSI, from which Geely at first simply bought the units, and then acquired the whole company at once, gets confused in six steps and the desire to suddenly change the pace periodically responds with a puzzled roar and off-scale turns, forgetting to accelerate at the same time. The steering response is also lacking, but the suspension is set up very comfortably - the sedan is a little wobbly, but ignores most of the irregularities and rides maturely, smoothly, matching Geely's swing to the business class. Accelerating GC9 with a 163-horsepower 1,8-liter turbocharged engine is heavy, strained, but quite enough for the urban cycle. For Russia, it will be a top-end engine, and a more affordable version is equipped with a 2,4-liter 162-horsepower naturally aspirated engine. In other markets, a 275-horsepower 3,5-liter version will appear, but in our market, most likely, it will not be due to the high cost.
The management of the plant, which was built specifically for the production of new Geely, assures that the platform of the sedan is its own, Chinese, but this is not entirely true, because we are talking about a modernized Volvo P2 / Ford D3 - it was still on it in the “zero”, when the Swedish company owned by Ford, Volvo S60 and S80, Ford Mondeo and other models were built. And Volvo specialists actively participated in finalizing the platform for the Chinese model. Thanks to them, many of Volvo's assistive technologies migrated to the GC9, such as lane control, active cruise control, and various security systems. By the way, Geely claims that the level of protection for the driver and passengers of the GC9 will be close to 5 stars according to EuroNCAP, and if the Chinese car really meets the European understanding of safety, this is certainly a breakthrough.
Otherwise, the East and the West still have parity: in terms of handling and dynamics the GC9 is still inferior to European counterparts, but in terms of comfort, design and equipment, Geely is practically not inferior to them, and if the price of the sedan turns out to be sufficiently Chinese, then it surpasses. The GC9 has a properly functioning automatic parking system and an easy-to-use head-up display; the seat of the rear right passenger is adjusted in the manner of a business class seat on an airplane, when the pillow is simultaneously moved with one button and the backrest is collapsed; the multimedia touch screen reminds of the country of origin with typically Asian special effects, such as highlighting selected menu items with a "spotlight", but the system is functional and can boast of a quick response. Soundproofing is very good, although it is worth a little more magic over the rear arches, the seats are comfortable and made of high-quality materials, we could not find any serious flaws in the interior trim either.
The quality of workmanship and body painting has improved significantly. Gestamp is responsible for stamping (the same company cooperates with the largest European car manufacturers), and painting works are carried out using BASF equipment. In the same plant where the GC9 is produced, it is planned to start production of 7-speed DCT transmissions with two clutches. Such investments and the use of new materials (paints, for example, German), could not but affect the cost and, accordingly, the final price of the car, but the low cost of wages plays in China's favor. How much Geely will cost Russian buyers is an open question, but it is known that in China, where sales started back in April, the most affordable GC9 is sold at a price of 120 thousand yuan - a little less than $ 14. in terms of the current exchange rate.
Geely planned that Russia will see the GC9 in the fall of 2015, but the start of sales has been postponed so far, as demand in the local market has exceeded the company's forecasts and the plant does not have time to fulfill all orders. Now everything depends on whether the factory will have time to quickly increase capacity. The question of the price in the Russian market also remains open, but if Geely manages to keep the price tag on the GC9 in the basic equipment at the level of $ 13 - $ 465, it will be much more convenient for them to destroy the traditional ideas about the Chinese auto industry.
Moreover, technologically GC9, albeit with a number of reservations, has already denied these ideas. Chinese car presentations are a specific activity and you need, at least, to have a local driver's license to be released outside the territory of the factory landfill while driving, and therefore this test drive turned out to be one of the shortest in my life, but this was enough to understand: the point of no return has already been passed. In the world where we have, it seems, only two options are left - the explosion of the largest bomb that ISIS can assemble (terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation), or China's consumer dominance - while the second scenario is being implemented. Another country has appeared in the East that knows how to make cars.
