The Guangzhou Auto Trumpchi GS7 SUV has been
launched on the Chinese car market. The GS7 is the smaller five-seat sister of
the larger seven seat Trumpchi GS8. The GS7 has been redesigned from the
C-pillar onward to the rear, and the lines, especially the third-side window,
look less balanced than on the GS8.
It is still a great car to look at.
The front and rear light units are work of art. The grille is big n shiny and
the whole car has a muscular feeling to it. The interior is very neat too, with
high quality materials, neat fake-carbon trim, and big black leather seats.
The instrument panel has analog dials, which is a
rarity these days in new Chinese SUVs in this segment. Most are fully digital
now. The steering wheel looks strangely old fashioned, more 2007 than 2017, and
there are far too many buttons on the tunnel and stack. So where the exterior
is near perfect the interior has some serious flaws.
There is something odd with the engines too. There
is a 1.8 turbo with 188 hp and 280 Nm. Good engine, good numbers. But then
there is 2.0 turbo with 201 hp and 320 Nm, only 13 hp and 40 Nm more.
Nothing bad with the engines themselves, just a bit
odd the range-point of view; the engines are too 'close' to each other. A 1.6
turbo and a 2.0 turbo would have made more sense, or a more powerful 2.0 turbo.
Price for all this pretty starts at US$ 22,800 and ends at US$ 32,000.
The Trumpchi GS7 will be exported to Europe and the
U.S. in the not-too distant future, but without the Trumpchi brand name.
