Geely CK & Chery A160 Review

[Vit4wd]

Geely CK - 1.5l manual - S$39,700 incl COE

 

This 1.5l's front looks like a Mercedes C180 while the rear resembles the G9 Toyota Corolla.

 

Overall built quality is of the 80s Hyundai Stellar standard. Very limited leg room for rear passengers. The auto gear knob felt loose and plastics felt cheap. Doors closed with a solid Thud through. All 4 doors come with courtest red light at the bottom.

 

Very coarse and rough engine . Does not sound like a G7 Corolla engine at all. The 3 speed auto was a let down. Engine liked to drag when changing gears even when gentle on the accelerator. The 5 sp manual felt more powerful but still felt very rough and unrefined

 

Suspension was on the soft side, and I felt the driver seat move when I did a sharp turn.

 

Seats were very flat and the interior had a smelly chemical smell.

 

The front lamps had water vapour (condensation) inside, prob from the rain.

 

Definitely more unrefined overall when compared to the 1998 Toyota Soluna 1.5 3 speed auto which also uses a detuned G7 Corolla engine.

 

The luxury model with ABS, leather seats & sports rims costs an additional S$2K.

 

The salesman admitted that the Geely was still not up to the mark in terms of overall refinement when I highlighted the rough engine and jerky gaer changes to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chery A160 manual - S$37,700 incl COE

 

Feels world apart from the Geely . The interior may look outdated, like the WV Santana, but it was definitely more spacious than the Geely CK, although the Latio and Altis is still anytime more spacious. Interior size is similar to the Sunny's but the higher sitting position was more comfortable.

 

Overall ride quality had a continental feel although the gear felt stiff like the Proton Savvy's. Interior plastics used are of acceptable quality for a ) is actually a hatchback, simialr to the Octavia, cleverly camouflaged to look like a saloon.

 

The A160 absorbed bumps pretty well and body roll was minimal.

 

Only manual is available for the A160.

 

 

 

Of the 2, I would go for the Chery A160 anytime, primarily for its engine refinement, interior space and solid built quality.

 

The S$37,700 A160 is no longer available - fully sold out!!! The showroom and test drive models at S$36,200 are fully sold out too.

 

The facelifted model with minimal revisions to its rear lamps and headlamps cost an additional S$2K at S$39,700.

 

All A160s come with locally fitted leather seats and SW sports rims.

 

 

Hope this comes in useful for those considering a China made sedan.

 

 

 

 

1. Geely CK

 

2. Chery A160 rear (limited leg room)

 

3. Cheap foam used on the A160 seats, but seats felt firm and supportive

Edited December 2, 2006 by Vit4wd

[Porche]

Chery A160 although is 80s look car, but its looks more well built.design heavily based on old Seat Toledo, well received in Malaysia

[Julian]

I felt strange that in image conscious Singapore, Chinese made cars still able to sell... strange.

[Porche]

its sold out somemore, jus saw the Classified the Focus display unit selling only 55K. real bargain

[Vit4wd]

Mostly snapped up by Malay families.

[Vit4wd]

S$55K is after all rebates

[Porche]

no wonder so cheap.....how u know mostly snapped up by Malay families....? not buying Proton?

[Genie47]

Buy Proton drive to Malaysia to visit relatives, park car come back see it gone and most likely stripped for parts for Malaysian Protons.

 

China car? Nobody will dare to steal those even for parts unless you got some very expensive ICE inside.

[Vit4wd]

The Chery A160 is otherwise known as the Windcloud.

 

A160 is used for int'l mkt to give it the upmkt feel of the Mercedes Banz A160.

 

So when people ask me what car I drive, I'd say "Oh... A160"

 

http://www.cheryglobal.com/Windcloud.htm

[Pweelee]

Very Affordable cars i would say.

[Toyo]

"Feng Yun"

Very nice name

[Genie47]

Review by Malaysian: http://www.carsurvey.org/review_95300.html

[Vivioman]

hmmm...quite affordable for a cheaper form of transport. I guess if you are really into no frills, then it is ok for getting you from A to B.

 

There will always be a market at the lower end of the spectrum.

 

I bet when these cars are compared to Huyndai for example, Hyundai is more like japanese standard already!

[Mzrmazda3]

The S$37,700 A160 is no longer available - fully sold out!!! The showroom and test drive models at S$36,200 are fully sold out too.

 

Fully sold out???

 

Not that i'm anti China Made automoblies but it's quite a surprise for me to hear this

Edited December 7, 2006 by Mzrmazda3

[Genie47]

Eh? Even rich people drive MB to go and fight for free textbooks. Nothing to be surprised about.

[Keithpapa]

[Genie47]

Yah! You can laugh. Remember there was a time when the Yugo was sold in the US by Wal-Mart? It came when you buy a washing machine or something. The damn car became some kind of home appliance!

 

If NTUC gets into the car business, you might never know. An A160 free with every 400kg of UIC detergent powder bought. Next day you will see NTUC full of people lining up to buy detergent powder. Maybe to the point of fighting and breaking glass doors. Ala Hello Kitty.

[Tintsycool]

Me too!Surprise surprise!!