There’s more, so join the full tour in the video, where Hafriz Shah also praises Chery’s right-hand drive conversion, which is better than Geely-Proton’s efforts.
Pop the hood (struts) and you’ll find a 1.5 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 154 hp (115 kW) and 230 Nm of torque, hence the 230T badge. Drive goes to the front wheels via a CVT with nine virtual ratios. We can confirm that the engine will get Chery’s 10-year/1,000,000-km warranty, which should put to bed reliability concerns.
Where does Chery’s in-house 1.5T stand on paper? The HR-V’s 1.5L VTEC Turbo four-pot makes 181 PS (178 hp) and 240 Nm, while the X50’s 1.5L turbocharged three-cylinder generates 177 PS (174 hp) and 255 Nm in TGDi form (Flagship variant) or 150 PS (148 hp) and 226 Nm in PFI guise. The HR-V uses a CVT while the X50 goes the DCT route. Our man runs an X50 Flagship, so what does he think of the Omoda’s powertrain? Watch the video.
Buyers will get a lot of specs and design for the money, but at what money? This fully-loaded top-spec version will be priced between the X50 Flagship (RM113,300) and HR-V Turbo V (RM134,800), and we’re anticipating the RRP to be closer to the Proton than the Honda. Do we see some raised eyebrows? The official launch is just around the corner now, so stay tuned.