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The Great Wall from China - Ignore it at your peril - 12/05/2010

THE biggest threat to the success of the Great Wall X240 on the Australian market is going to be snobbery.

Do you have the gall to drive around in a "cheap" Chinese car? That is the unspoken question many buyers will be asking themselves when they go shopping.

Like the first Japanese and Korean cars to reach our shores, The X240 is not a vehicle intended to sell on the strengths of groundbreaking design, Lexus levels of quality or BMW X5 performance. While it is a smart looking, well made, sensibly designed and very honest vehicle, it will always be a car people look at because of its price. The $23,990 driveaway sticker makes it the cheapest five-door fourwheel drive wagon on the market. For the money you get a full five seater that is a little smaller than a Toyota Kluger and perhaps a little bigger than a current RAV 4.

The difference is that while the Toyotas' offer 200kW V6 engines, the Great Wall makes do with a 100kW Mitsubishi 2.4 litre four cylinder. While the donk - the venerable 4G69 SOHC unit launched in 1988 - is an honest toiler, it has its work cut out to haul 2.32 tonnes of car around. The lacklustre performance (in comparison to its V6 and turbo diesel powered rivals) will put some buyers - particularly those looking for a vehicle to tow with - off.

Personally I didn't find it an issue. If you want a race car, buy a Porsche. This has sufficient go for a family wagon that can also handle farm paddocks and building sites.

It is a pleasant and comfortable drive. I found the gearbox precise and easy to use - but with a long throw on the lever. The clutch was lighter than I expected. Handling is acceptable but there is body roll if you try to corner at speed. The ride is firm but comfortable on the highway. It can be choppy in the rough.

The X240 could easily and safely ferry kids to school and parents to work during the week with the capacity to go a fair way off road - including through snow, sand and mud - on the weekend. Ground clearance is good, approach and departure angles are better than some "serious" offroaders and, unlike most of the sub-$40k "soft roaders" the X240 has both high range and low range four-wheel-drive. Selection is via a simple knob on the console. You can change from two-wheel-drive to four-wheeldrive on the fly. Low range first is a crawler. The power is more than adequate for most off-road challenges as long as you choose the right gear.

I was also mightily impressed by the standard features you get for the money. The controls are simply laid out and easy to use. Everything worked. Nothing squeaked, flexed or otherwise flagged the potential for problems down the track.

Interior materials range from the quality leather on the excellent and supportive, electricallyadjustable driver's seat to some fairly average plastic trims and fittings. The overall impression is one of luxury, however.

On the road, the wagon is quiet with good under bonnet sound insulation and not much road noise from the Goodyear tyres.

The X240 is excellent value for the money and I suspect - the beginning of big things for GWM in this country. I came away from this test significantly more impressed than I had expected to be.

Click here to download a PDF of this review.