Chinese cars, are they as bad as everyone thinks?

GAC GS3 Emzoom (2026) Review

FAST FACTS

Model: 2026 GAC GS3 Emzoom 1.5T Nova
Price: R359 900
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbopetrol
Transmission: 7-speed DCT
Power/Torque: 130 kW/270 Nm
Fuel consumption: 6.2 L/100km (claimed)
0-100 kph: 8.0 seconds (claimed)/8.52 seconds (tested)
Luggage capacity: 341/1 271 L (claimed)

GAC GS3 Emzoom Price & After-sales support

The GAC GS3 Emzoom 1.5T Nova sells for R359 900 (July 2026) and comes with a 5-year/150 000 km vehicle warranty, a lifetime engine warranty for the first owner (reverting to 5 years/150 000 km on resale) and a 2-year/30 000 km service plan. Services are scheduled at 15 000 km intervals.

The service plan is one of the shortest in its segment. The Chery Tiggo Cross includes a 5-year/60 000 km plan. However, the Omoda C5 Street+ fares even worse than the GAC: just 2 years/25 000 km. The lifetime engine warranty is a meaningful headline benefit and offers genuine long-term peace of mind for the original owner.

Verdict

The GAC GS3 Emzoom 1.5T Nova is a genuinely likeable car. It’s well built, good to drive and handsome to look at. In a market segment where most Chinese crossovers feel exactly the same on the road, those qualities will matter to some buyers. Its performance advantage over the Chery Tiggo Cross and the Omoda C5 is real and meaningful, and the driving dynamics are a step above what most buyers in this segment will have experienced from a Chinese crossover.

However, it competes in a market that favours tech and “surprise-and-delight” features. Sadly, it lacks in those regards compared with its main rivals and doesn’t really have a price advantage.

And that is precisely the problem. At R359 900, the Nova costs the same as the Chery Tiggo Cross Million Edition, which matches it on price, offers 4 more airbags and a rear-view camera, and backs the purchase with a 5-year/60 000 km service plan.

Meanwhile, the Omoda C5 Street+ undercuts the Nova by R20 000, offers 4 airbags, a rear-facing camera, a larger 51-litre fuel tank, and also includes dual 10.25-inch screens. Both rivals win convincingly on spec-sheet breadth and, critically, on safety equipment.

The GAC GS3 Emzoom 1.5T Nova will appeal to buyers who prioritise how a car drives and looks over how comprehensively it is equipped. There may be buyers out there for whom that is an advantage, but they are likely dwindling. In a segment where customers are increasingly sophisticated and where safety ratings enter the conversation, the dual-airbag count and absent rear camera are difficult to overlook.


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I test drove the 2026, Jac T8 super lux earlier, and I must say that I’ve never driven a toaster before.

For a demo model, being priced at R380,000 doesn’t seem so bad — i fact it was quite alluring.

However, I couldn’t have had a worst experience in a double cab.
Trying to drive a toaster would’ve been more enjoyable than this double cab.

First of all, the doors upon closing feel very light and full of air. It’s not a solid door and when driving I heard a faint whistling sound coming from its trim.

The gear ratio’s are appalling, i needed to change gears faster than any double cab I’ve been in and the car really struggles to get to higher rev ranges.

On the road you feel every bump in the road, it’s as if the hull of the bakkie is its’ own suspension.

There is very poor noise insulation, without the radio playing at half the volume you can hear everything on the road.
It’s a loud, brash sounding vehicle with very little comfort.

I would not use this bakkie for leisure, nor would I use it as a work horse.

The inside is very cheaply made, with little effort in trying to give substantial comfort.

The Jac T8 is the kind of bakkie that makes you feel like you’re driving a car from China - don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good cars that come from China nowadays - and I say that with respect.

This bakkie should be priced closer to R310,000 new because you get very little for what you pay for.


I test drove a 2026 JMC vigus manual, and a Foton tunland G7 earlier too.

Firstly, the Vigus was a superb ride.
Great suspension, brilliant noise insulation, good power and gear ratios, phenomenal cabin space and build quality for the price.
This model can go for as little as R380,000 which I feel is a steal for the quality you get.

The Tunland wasn’t bad either, I’d put them in a similar range but the Vigus had better power and a more known engine (they use the same tech as the Ford puma and have stress tested it to last 800,000km+).

It’s so important to test drive a vehicle before you set your mind on it.
The Jac T8 looks good online compared to the JMC Vigus, but seeing them both in person tells a very different story.

I would not trust the T8 just based on the very cheap build quality.

I watched a video of guys testing a Mazda BT-50, a Jac T9 and a BYD shark 6 (great video as they picked these cars from a hat) and when 4x4’ing, the Jac T9 just died and started smoking.

I don’t want to slander the T9 as it might be a good car, but I would choose a different bakkie instead of the T8.

Like I’ve said:
I would’ve had a better ride in a toaster than the Jac T8.

If you’re in the same boat as me, don’t even look at the T8.
 
Ethyan6 said:
I test drove the 2026, Jac T8 super lux earlier, and I must say that I’ve never driven a toaster before.

For a demo model, being priced at R380,000 doesn’t seem so bad — i fact it was quite alluring.

However, I couldn’t have had a worst experience in a double cab.
Trying to drive a toaster would’ve been more enjoyable than this double cab.

First of all, the doors upon closing feel very light and full of air. It’s not a solid door and when driving I heard a faint whistling sound coming from its trim.

The gear ratio’s are appalling, i needed to change gears faster than any double cab I’ve been in and the car really struggles to get to higher rev ranges.

On the road you feel every bump in the road, it’s as if the hull of the bakkie is its’ own suspension.

There is very poor noise insulation, without the radio playing at half the volume you can hear everything on the road.
It’s a loud, brash sounding vehicle with very little comfort.

I would not use this bakkie for leisure, nor would I use it as a work horse.

The inside is very cheaply made, with little effort in trying to give substantial comfort.

The Jac T8 is the kind of bakkie that makes you feel like you’re driving a car from China - don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good cars that come from China nowadays - and I say that with respect.

This bakkie should be priced closer to R310,000 new because you get very little for what you pay for.


I test drove a 2026 JMC vigus manual, and a Foton tunland G7 earlier too.

Firstly, the Vigus was a superb ride.
Great suspension, brilliant noise insulation, good power and gear ratios, phenomenal cabin space and build quality for the price.
This model can go for as little as R380,000 which I feel is a steal for the quality you get.

The Tunland wasn’t bad either, I’d put them in a similar range but the Vigus had better power and a more known engine (they use the same tech as the Ford puma and have stress tested it to last 800,000km+).

It’s so important to test drive a vehicle before you set your mind on it.
The Jac T8 looks good online compared to the JMC Vigus, but seeing them both in person tells a very different story.

I would not trust the T8 just based on the very cheap build quality.

I watched a video of guys testing a Mazda BT-50, a Jac T9 and a BYD shark 6 (great video as they picked these cars from a hat) and when 4x4’ing, the Jac T9 just died and started smoking.

I don’t want to slander the T9 as it might be a good car, but I would choose a different bakkie instead of the T8.

Like I’ve said:
I would’ve had a better ride in a toaster than the Jac T8.

If you’re in the same boat as me, don’t even look at the T8.
Click to expand...
As you know then, don't by Fong Kong...
 
Dongfeng’s 1.5 MW ultra-fast charger raises the bar - five-minute EV charging is real

Not that long ago, we used to argue if a naturally aspirated V8 pushing 400 horses could hold its own against a twin-turbo V6. Fast forward to today, and the entire conversation has flipped on its head. Now, we are arguing about megawatts. The numerical chest-thumping has moved from the engine bay to the charging cable - and the latest shot fired out of China is so completely detached from the reality of Western infrastructure that it feels like science fiction.

Dongfeng revealed a monstrous new ultra-high-power charging station that drops a single-gun peak output of 1,500 kW right into the battery. That is 1.5 megawatts. One single charging cable draws enough juice to power a small village, all to recharge an electric car before you can finish buying a bag of crisps.

It is a ridiculous flex from a manufacturer that has all the stylistic flair of a concrete block. Dongfeng, a Chinese state-owned legacy giant traditionally associated with commercial semi-trucks and deeply uninspiring commuter boxes, is clearly turning the charging dial way past 11. They held a presentation at the Global Innovation Center to show off this new megawatt monster, and the raw specs are simply absurd.

We are looking at a system that can pump up to 1,500 Amps at a peak voltage of 1,000V. To make sure it does not fry older or more modest EVs (uncomfortably common engineering oversight we've seen before), it has an ultra-wide voltage platform that can scale all the way down to 150V. The charging unit has an efficiency rating of 96.7 percent, meeting China's strict new energy-efficiency standards.

The question is, why did Dongfeng build this 1.5 megawatt monolith? They built it because their fierce cross-town rivals at BYD have been all over the news. Not too long ago, BYD kicked off a rollout of its own 1MW "flash charging" infrastructure network, a tech narrative covered extensively in the enthusiast press.

BYD's Super e-Platform promised to add 400 km of range to its latest EVs in a blink-and-you-miss-it five minutes flat. Dongfeng looked at BYD's world-beating, mass-produced single-gun crown and decided to match it watt for watt. The beauty of this open-ended infrastructure war is that the chargers themselves do not care what badge is on your hood; there is absolutely nothing stopping a BYD owner from plugging into Dongfeng's hardware and letting those lightnings fill up their battery.

www.arenaev.com

Dongfeng’s 1.5 MW ultra-fast charger raises the bar - five-minute EV charging is real

Dongfeng’s new 1.5-megawatt ultra-fast charger ups the stakes in China's high-voltage EV infrastructure war, highlighting a widening gap between Eastern charging speeds and lagging Western networks.
www.arenaev.com www.arenaev.com

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FiestaST said:
Dongfeng’s 1.5 MW ultra-fast charger raises the bar - five-minute EV charging is real

Not that long ago, we used to argue if a naturally aspirated V8 pushing 400 horses could hold its own against a twin-turbo V6. Fast forward to today, and the entire conversation has flipped on its head. Now, we are arguing about megawatts. The numerical chest-thumping has moved from the engine bay to the charging cable - and the latest shot fired out of China is so completely detached from the reality of Western infrastructure that it feels like science fiction.

Dongfeng revealed a monstrous new ultra-high-power charging station that drops a single-gun peak output of 1,500 kW right into the battery. That is 1.5 megawatts. One single charging cable draws enough juice to power a small village, all to recharge an electric car before you can finish buying a bag of crisps.

It is a ridiculous flex from a manufacturer that has all the stylistic flair of a concrete block. Dongfeng, a Chinese state-owned legacy giant traditionally associated with commercial semi-trucks and deeply uninspiring commuter boxes, is clearly turning the charging dial way past 11. They held a presentation at the Global Innovation Center to show off this new megawatt monster, and the raw specs are simply absurd.

We are looking at a system that can pump up to 1,500 Amps at a peak voltage of 1,000V. To make sure it does not fry older or more modest EVs (uncomfortably common engineering oversight we've seen before), it has an ultra-wide voltage platform that can scale all the way down to 150V. The charging unit has an efficiency rating of 96.7 percent, meeting China's strict new energy-efficiency standards.

The question is, why did Dongfeng build this 1.5 megawatt monolith? They built it because their fierce cross-town rivals at BYD have been all over the news. Not too long ago, BYD kicked off a rollout of its own 1MW "flash charging" infrastructure network, a tech narrative covered extensively in the enthusiast press.

BYD's Super e-Platform promised to add 400 km of range to its latest EVs in a blink-and-you-miss-it five minutes flat. Dongfeng looked at BYD's world-beating, mass-produced single-gun crown and decided to match it watt for watt. The beauty of this open-ended infrastructure war is that the chargers themselves do not care what badge is on your hood; there is absolutely nothing stopping a BYD owner from plugging into Dongfeng's hardware and letting those lightnings fill up their battery.

www.arenaev.com

Dongfeng’s 1.5 MW ultra-fast charger raises the bar - five-minute EV charging is real

Dongfeng’s new 1.5-megawatt ultra-fast charger ups the stakes in China's high-voltage EV infrastructure war, highlighting a widening gap between Eastern charging speeds and lagging Western networks.
www.arenaev.com www.arenaev.com

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Ah look... all the slaves. Each and every one of them a Xi Jinping voter
 

GWM’s Honking New 620Nm Diesel Has Triggered the Toyota Cult - Auto Expert John Cadogan​

GWM’s new 3.0-litre inline four-cylinder turbodiesel is coming to the Tank 500 and Cannon Alpha—and apparently this development has caused a substantial number of Australian car enthusiasts to suffer an immediate reality-processing failure.

So, in this video, I answer some representative viewer questions and objections:
  • Is GWM plagued by serious rust—or are people confusing it with an entirely different Chinese car brand?
  • Does GWM have enough dealers and parts support for Australian buyers?
  • Is extra power merely pointless bling for insecure men?
  • Can anyone afford to run a diesel anymore?
  • Should we wait 20 years and 500,000 kilometres before reporting any new automotive development?
  • And have I betrayed my faithful Mitsubishi Triton simply by acknowledging that GWM’s new engine appears technically impressive?
The Australian ute market is changing rapidly. Toyota, Ford, Mazda and Mitsubishi are losing substantial sales volume, while GWM, BYD and Chery continue to grow.

That does not mean every Chinese vehicle is automatically brilliant. It does mean that treating every Chinese manufacturer as though it were the same company is intellectually indefensible.

GWM has operated in Australia for 17 years, has more than 120 dealers, and is on track to sell about 60,000 vehicles here this year.

The new 3.0-litre diesel’s precise turbocharging arrangement has not yet been officially disclosed, but its claimed performance suggests it is not being wound up as tightly as Ford’s 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel.

This video is about separating legitimate questions concerning reliability, depreciation, servicing and durability from mythology, brand tribalism and reflexive xenophobia.

Because reality remains the umpire of everything.
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Jean Claude Vaaldamme said:
I saw a Chery 7 Pro max 1.5Tlgtbq+ today that lost a wheel. Don't know if it maybe hit a curb or something, did not see the incident.
Click to expand...
Knowing how you have a little bit of salt for the Chinese kicking your favorite brand's butt these days, I'm calling BS. Otherwise you would have taken a pic and gleefully posted it here ;)
 
Car TorqueX drooped their review of "The Fastest Budget Car In South Africa".

GAC GS3 Emzoom Nova, R359 900, 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbopetrol, 7-speed DCT, 130 kW & 270 Nm, 6.2 L/100km ,0-100 kph: 8.0 seconds (claimed)

Only 2 airbags lol

 
Anyone here pulled the trigger on the Changan Uni S?

Saw one in traffic and looked decent
 
Has anyone actually gotten laid while driving a Chinese car? Asking for a friend😂
 
Went for a drive in a BYD Dolphin. All went well until we got onto a gravel road
The car jumped around and was jittery on corners.
Going about 40km/hour I hit the brakes hard. All 4 wheels locked up and the car began to slide sideways. It came to a stop slewed sideways on the road
On the way back, there was a rattling sound from the rear when the brakes were applied
The car is well appointed but seems very flimsy.. I noticed that the interior light did not work
 
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