GAC GS3 Emzoom Premium R packs plenty of power and style for the price.
The GAC GS3 Emzoom is a pretty interesting proposition in the compact crossover market. It’s part of a new wave of Chinese ICE vehicles looking to replicate Proton’s success with their Geely-rebadged vehicles. This wave also includes the MG 5 sedan and the Chery Omoda 5, Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro. Of these cars, the Chery Omoda 5 is the closest rival to the GAC GS3 Emzoom and probably the car most cross-shoppers have in mind in this space.
Before we get into WHAT the GAC GS3 Emzoom is, it’s worth noting what the local significance of this vehicle is. GAC is Warisan Tan Chong Automotif (WTCA)’s new partner and looking at how Nissan is in its death throes globally, this will be Tan Chong Group’s replacement or supplement OEM partner should a turn-around of the Japanese giant prove impossible. WTCA’s partnership with GAC began before the current GS3 Emzoom was even globally revealed and they brought in units of previous GS3 generation, perhaps just to lay the ground work and ensure the synergies could form with this new Chinese partner.
In China, GAC is not a new player. They’ve been around for longer than Malaysia has been independent but they’ve not had major ambitions until more recent decades. They’re one of the few Chinese auto conglomerates with experiences working with Japanese brands, but one look at the GS3 Emzoom and you’ll realize that their cars now skew more towards a European flavour than an Asian one.
This new GS3 Emzoom’s design, is for sure its strongest point. The variant we tested is the top spec Premium R, which comes with all the bells and whistles. The exterior is ‘enhanced’ with an R-Style Sport Package and R-Style Sport Exhaust. The body kit, to our eyes, is a little bit too extreme as it conveys performance that the vehicle is simply unable to deliver on, but if you like the look of a flamboyant, angular little crossover, it’s professionally done. Personally, we’ve seen how the Executive variant looks and preferred the styling there – all variants get retractable door handles, by the way.
The sport exhaust system on the other hand I really like and admire them for including. It has an actual flap that opens up and changes the note and character of the exhaust growl, even causing the vibrations of the engine to shift a little. It’s a fresh breath of mechanical ingenuity and earnest engineering that is extremely rare in today’s automotive market. It feels like not even premium German vehicles are giving us real exhaust tips or real exhaust sounds nowadays.
This variant is longer due to the body kit and measures 4,446mm. It’s still 1,850mm wide and 1,600mm tall, with a class-leading wheelbase of 2,650mm. However, we weren’t too impressed with the 341L trunk space, but in a pinch it can be expanded to 1,271 litres with the rear seats folded down if needed. As a small family car, the GS3 Emzoom is serviceable where some in this class feel tight and claustrophobic. We would still recommend looking at a vehicle at least one segment up if possible, but those are hard to come by for this price.
In terms of pricing, WTCA are relatively aggressive, but they’ve left some wiggle room for discount season… which runs until the end of 2024 with RM7,000 off bringing the final price to the RM120,000 mark. You can also pay full price and get a Maintenance Service Package and Smart Watch Key worth RM1,388 instead.
Given how every car brand, including the Japanese ones, are throwing loads of discounts at the end of the year, this may not scream value to you but I don’t think it’s for lack of trying. The GAC GS3 Emzoom in this top tier specification is filled to the brim with equipment and it’s hard to see how they could price it much lower than this without running the company as a charity house.
For RM126,800, the GAC GS3 Emzoom Premium R gives you a 10.25″ infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay (STILL missing on the Proton X50), 18″ alloy wheels, a surround view camera, USB-C ports, auto climate control, multi-coloured ambient lighting, remote engine start, 6 airbags, a tyre pressure monitoring system, blind spot vision, and a full suite of ADAS features including Adaptive Cruise Control. Oh, and there’s a pretty panoramic sunroof too with an automatic cover. It’s quite an extensive kit list, to be sure.
Like a lot of new wave Chinese vehicles, the perceived quality of the interior is top notch. noise isolation from the exterior is on par with premium compact rivals from Europe. We also noticed that the quality of paint used on the GS3 was excellent with no signs of orange peel at all. What really sets the GS3 Emzoom apart from its rivals is its cabin design. Sure, most of its rivals look really good as well, but most play it safe with black and grey interiors.
The GS3 Emzoom doesn’t hold back and gives us blue upholstery with blue stitching, complemented by blue air cond vents and even blue seat belts! There are even angular patterns in here that form a motif found on other parts of the vehicle like the grille and exterior pillar garnish piece. Overall, the design of the vehicle is something that I keep coming back to as it really stood out as something that was done with flair and a vision for the end result.
The only complaint that I have about the GS3 Emzoom is its powertrain. The major selling point of this vehicle and probably the reason for its ‘Emzoom’ name is down to an engine with a much higher output than it needs. The 1.5L 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine here spits out 177PS and 270Nm of torque but doesn’t deliver power to the wheels very well. Whether it’s because of the poor calibration of the 7-speed dual clutch transmission or some other tuning limitation, the GS3 Emzoom isn’t one of the better cars to drive in its class. At the low-end, getting the car to gently roll from a standstill is a challenge that requires careful throttle application. At the high-end, there’s a lot of power but it’s just not a joy to ring out the engine. There’s plenty of competence in the ‘middle’ of the extremes and generally the suspension and chassis behaves reasonably well. GAC should have aimed for a less sporty final product with more emphasis on the car’s strengths – comfort, quietness and given a powertrain with a smoother feel.
That being said, for a relatively new player in our market, I feel the GAC GS3 Emzoom will have its fans. Malaysians tend to be quite value-sensitive when it comes to cars, so over-delivering in terms of equipment, styling and power output may translate to a better perception of the product as a whole despite its weaknesses. As an alternative to the Chery Omoda 5, it shows some promise, but conservative buyers may still look to Japanese brands for their crossover fill.
The GAC GS3 comes with a 5-year/150,000km vehicle warranty + a 7-year/180,000km engine and transmission warranty for the first 2,000 customers. there are more than 20 GAC showrooms and service centres in Malaysia right now with more on the way.
2024 GAC GS3 Emzoom Premium-R Specifications
Engine: Inline-4, 16-Valve, DOHC, Turbocharged Petrol
Capacity: 1,497cc
Gearbox: 7-speed dual-clutch (wet clutch type) automatic
Max power: 177hp @ 5500rpm
Max torque: 270Nm @ 1400rpm
Acceleration (0-100km/h): 7.5 seconds
Price: RM126,800
