Review: Chery QQ3 1.1 MT

Small car, big ambitions: The Chery QQ is the vanguard of the Chinese invasion.

WORDS Niky Tamayo PHOTOS Carlo Sapera | 1 October 2008

Ominous words I suppose... “Chinese Invasion”... but this time, it’s really happening. While a number of enterprising souls have brought Chinese cars onto the local market over the past few years, none of them have had the financial clout of Iseway Motors, who are hitting the Philippines with a massive investment in dealerships, service centers and rolling stock. While Chinese cars have a reputation for ridiculously low prices, ridiculously bad quality and ridiculously poor customer support, Iseway is looking to change such perceptions. They’re trying to overcome the bad quality and improve customer support while keeping prices ridiculously low. Despite my initial doubts as to the seriousness of this venture, dozens of dealerships seem to have gone up in the wink of an eye, and the streets of Manila are flooded with QQs... okay, maybe not flooded, but there are quite a lot of them out there, already. I was one of the few people on the staff besides Carlo clamoring to have the QQ. Just for the hell of it. Not because I thought it was a great car, but because I thought it would be like a Vin Diesel movie. In other words, not award-winning stuff, just beer-and-chips fun. But with oil prices swinging around like GMA’s blood pressure and people tightening their belts all-around, the QQ’s small size, big economy and miniscule asking price are actually starting to look... sensible. Sensible or not, it’s still a Chinese car. Sure, buy disposable Chinese toys, Chinese DVD players, even Chinese cellphones... heck, some of those cellphones cost less than my Sony Ericsson’s battery. But the thought of Chinese cars bring to mind unbidden images of old jalopies falling apart as they cluck-cluck-cluck down the road. It doesn’t help that the QQ is basically a rebadged Daewoo Matiz, a Korean micro-car two generations out of date. In fact, it’s identical under the skin to the Chevrolet Spark (the official Matiz successor). The only “new” car design on the local market older than this is the Suzuki Alto. Of course, you can buy two QQs for the price of one Corolla, with change left over for gas. Obviously, it’s not as high-tech or high-spec, but that’s not the point... it’s cheap. I inspect the QQ trying to figure out where they cheaped out to keep the price so low... but I can’t. A walkaround shows excellent panel finish and gaps that are ruler-edge consistent... though not exactly air-tight. And the overall design is actually quite cute. While the Spark looks like a slightly facelifted Matiz, the current QQ has a more distinct personality. That “smiley” grille alone probably sold an entire fleet of QQs to Coca-Cola Philippines. Getting in the car... oh... keyless entry... that’s a nice touch. Where was I? Getting in the car... the doors close with a decent “thunk”, and the seats are suprisingly comfortable, too, if inordinately squishy. Though fit and finish in the Spark is a few notches better, the QQ is a brighter, airier and seemingly better designed place. Aside from some trim mis-alignment on the gauge pod, I can’t find much to complain about. I’m stumped. I was ready for a taxi-cab interior. This is a little too... nice. So this is a Chinese car? With centralized locking and power everything, this car seems like it should cost 100k more. It’s obviously not as nice as the segment leaders, but it makes the asking prices for some of the competition look ironic. So let’s see how this thing goes down the road, shall we? Twist the key and... HOLY JUMPING JESUS... oh... it’s just the ignition warning buzzer. It goes off like a fire alarm, but thankfully, like the infamous Toyota back-up buzzer, it’s completely harmless/useless. Twist the key and the engine starts with a single click. No “Chinese Car” jokes there, though the speedometer needle seems to have a Chinese Ghost or two, as it swings with the tachometer for a few seconds after you start the car. Weird, but harmless. Like with Toyotas, there’s plenty of urge when you feather the gas pedal. Power is smooth and linear, and a quick set of 0-100 tests highlights the peppy powerplant’s predilection for smoking street-launches. Ridiculously skinny tires, ultra-short gearing and a body that’s two Ike Lozadas lighter than a Corolla allow you to dump the QQ’s clutch at 4000 rpm and romp up to 60 in just 5.5 seconds... 60 km/h that is. Still, that’s amazingly quick for such a small engine... though the lack of power starts telling by 100 km/h, 13.9 seconds after you light off. Or 14.2 if you get lost rowing through the gears. And with third gear located on some nameless side street between Binondo and Quiapo, it’s easy to get lost. On the other hand, the QQ’s competitors all have grotty gearboxes, anyway, and most of them are slower. But driving is about more than just power, and it’s in the driving experience where you finally realize that you are indeed in a cheap car. The light and lifeless steering is better than the Alto’s electric box, but only just, and the brakes are soft and mushy, too. Like most small cars, the QQ dislikes large bumps at speed. Instead of trying to counter body motions with stiff springs, the QQ just wafts along like an old Corolla. While soft is nice, I wish the QQ had the same joie de vivre as the Alto, which drives like a manic little go-kart. THE GOOD Fully-loaded Soft ride Peppy engine Low price / Long warranty Quiet THE BAD Outdated chassis Limp suspension Limp brakes Weak airconditioning Minor build issues THE LOWDOWN Not quite perfect, but as more-than-basic transport, the QQ is quite a bargain. But a go-kart doesn’t a commuter make. The QQ’s better sound insulation and softer ride make more sense in the daily grind. Besides the rather weedy air-conditioning (yes, tint is mandatory), it’s a perfect office runabout. The seating position is high, with good view all-around, and five people can actually fit inside... if they’re very good friends. We even squeezed a 6-footer into the back seat without breaking his back or provoking murderous rage. The QQ got us 10 km/l in traffic, though owners report between 12-15 km/l in normal use. It’s likely to be even better with the lower-rung 800cc model. As a bonus, the QQ is small enough that you can squeeze around traffic jams, and it fits in parking spaces that other people are likely to pass over. It’s pretty practical... the Toyota Corolla of Chinese micro-cars. But is it anywhere near as reliable as a Corolla? To answer such concerns, Iseway is reportedly offering an industry-leading 150,000 kilometer / 5 year warranty on the QQ, with incredibly cheap spare parts and lots of dealerships to buy them at. Sure, the chassis isn’t quite world-class and the suspension is on the lightweight side (the bane of microcars since time immemorial), but for urban use, these aren’t such big issues. For your money, you’re getting power windows, power locks, a 1.1 liter DOHC EFI engine, and a warranty to cover any of that breaking. In our time with it, we didn’t really notice a tendency to break. Unless you count the weatherstripping around the windshield. Apparently, given the proper weather, it’ll strip right off. The top edge of the rubber popped out in noon-time heat on our very last day with the car and started flapping around in the wind. Up until that point, I was worried that nothing would fail and people would accuse me of writing a long-winded advertorial. A trip to the dealership fixed it quickly, though, for free. So, there may be a few niggles, but Iseway’s doing its darnedest to get it right, and it’s willing to guarantee that the rest of the car won’t fall apart in the next few years. And in ten year’s time, who knows what Chery will be like? It took the Koreans decades to go from nothing to world contenders... but at the rate the Chinese are going, the Chinese invasion might be over even before the first QQ comes out of warranty.

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