Black and white: GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova 1.5T review

The new GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova 1.5T represents a near R200 000 saving over the last iteration we drove two years ago. The drivetrain is the same and many key infotainment components are unchanged. So, you still get the 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Likewise, convenience features include: Keyless entry, push-button start, tyre-pressure monitors, cruise control, automatic climate control and flush-fitting door handles. Oddly, some of things missing can’t be found on the top-of-the-range R Style anyway. Like a rear wiper. And combined with no reverse camera, we recommend taking extra care when reverse parking one of these …

GAC GS3 EMZOOM NOVA 1.5T

Wide touchscreen remains on the Nova, even if driver’s display returns to old-fashioned analogue dials. Image: Ray Leathern

As we recounted in our previous story, the GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova 1.5T is the latest product from the Guangzhou Automobile Company. It is a state-owned entity in China and classified as the fifth-largest vehicle manufacturer from the region. The Chinese car industry has been booming for the last two decades and where there’s a market, there’s production.

Labour in China is plentiful and relatively affordable. Critically, because it produces cars in right-hand drive, and we have the BRICS+ arrangement, South Africa is becoming a lucrative export market. And for the money, the GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova is one of the best Chinese compact crossovers we’ve sampled to date. For an ICE only, it is mechanically sound, even if you are missing some of the bells and whistles of the R Style.

WHAT POWERS IT?

R200 000 saving is not worth turning your back on. Image: Ray Leathern

The 1.5-litre turbo petrol motor delivers meaty, supermini-like performance. It produces 130 kW and 270 Nm of torque. Claimed zero-to-100 km/h performance is about 8 seconds. Best of all, throttle response is excellent anywhere in the rev range and it feels like it can deliver that figure repeatedly. Fuel economy isn’t great but nothing to stress about either – 7.5 l/100 km over our test period. And because the vehicle isn’t too heavy, it reacts easily to braking and steering inputs.

And as far as the practical stuff, it measures 4 410-mm long, with a 2 650-mm wheelbase. So, it will swallow four adults and their luggage easily. And if you fold the rear seats flat it can handle longer items fairly well. Being the base GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova, you must do without nice-to-haves like the high-definition driver’s display, LED headlights, 360-degree view cameras and semi-autonomous drive settings.

THE VERDICT

Believe it or not, this slash-covered valance is the toned-down version. Image: Ray Leathern

Finally, there’s another critical reason we’d opt for the GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova over the R Style we drove in 2024. And we don’t just mean the R200 000 saving. The latter R Style suffered from Automotive Overstyling 101. It was all fighter-jet aesthetic, orange-flashed body kit, twin central exhausts and slasher-movie angles. What this did was detract somewhat from what is a genuinely impressive, refined vehicle underneath.

Thankfully, it’s like the Chinese listened to the criticism and toned it down for this offering. Making it all the better for it. Say what you will about the new wave of cars filling in from the Far East. But you’ve got to acknowledge that the nation is a rising superpower. What it still lacks in outright talent it will soon address and compensate for with sheer ambition.

THE FIGURES

• GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova 1.5T

• Engine:

  1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo petrol

• Power:

  130 kW @ 6 000 rpm, 270 Nm @ 1 500 – 4 000 rpm

• Performance:

  0-100 km/h 8 seconds (claimed)

• Economy:

  6.2 l/100 km (claimed/combined), 7.5 l/100 km (tested)

• Transmission:

  7-speed automatic

• Price:

  R359 900