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The Chery Motor Corporation has a number of brands under its control here in South Africa. The first one outside of the main Chery brand to arrive in SA was Omoda. This fashionable city crossover brand brought tech, convenience and comfort to many city-dwelling folks who sought a compact crossover with modern style.
Related: Omoda C5 (2023) Launch First Drive Review
Just a few months later Omoda unveiled a sporty derivative of the C5, the GT model saw the C5 spattered with a host of bolt-on spoilers and aero devices built also a spanking new engine that gave the C5 a sporty edge. Our initial impressions of the GT were captured by Sean Nurse during his December review of the bespoilered model which you can read here.
Post this test, Omoda removed the garish sports kit and gave us another shot at a more visually subdued model but the power under foot remained. We spent a week piloting the C5 GT around town doing family duty.
Styling
The C5 GT that was equipped with the aftermarket sports kit was thankfully absent from this review with its over-the-top side skirts, lower front bumper, shopping trolley handle styled wing and gold wheels. Although Chery originally offered the GT with a choice of up to eight different exterior customisations for the GT model, we thankfully had the stock standard GT without any of the jewellery.
Upfront you get a beautiful reverse diamond grille with split front headlights, T-shaped DRLs, and some very stylish brushed aluminium trim at the bonnet edge. Around the back, there are ‘urban flowing matrix’ LED taillights and some more brushed aluminium trim. Down the side, the 18 inch alloy wheels are thankfully a gunmetal black colour which frame out the red brake calipers, which is the only real sign that something sporty lurks beneath the bonnet.
In standard guise, the C5 is a good-looking car but in its GT spec, it is more subtly visually appealing. It looks meaner, like a coiled spring waiting to let go.
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Space & Interior
The interior appointment of the GT is very similar to that of the base C5. The standout feature here is the gold-coloured piping along the edges of the seating. The leather is plush, soft and textured with raised panels for extra comfort.
After a few days of adjusting and setting up the driving position and struggling to find a position that felt right, we found that the steering column was minutely out of line with the seating and pedals, the misalignment was barely noticeable but did make any long drives bothersome. Outside of the position dynamics, the GT was a pleasure for passengers with plenty of leg, shoulder and headroom.
Comfort & Convenience
One area in which the Omoda C5 excels, is standard equipment across the board. Coupled with the soft touch leather surfaces, the piano black trim paired with the subtle mood lighting creates an inviting interior that begs you to go for a drive.
Taking pride of place across the dashboard is a massive 20" inch screen that houses one 10-inch touchscreen infotainment screen and one 10 inch driver's binnacle, with the whole unit stretching across the top of dash.
As far as tech for convenience's sake is concerned, you will find a fast 50W wireless charging pad, 360° camera, cruise control and climate control as well as a host of USB plugs to keep all your personal tech gadgets charged.
Performance
The party piece of the C5 Gt is the drivetrain. This addition sees the GT equipped with a 1.6l turbo petrol engine mated to a 7-speed DCT transmission which is becoming a common place fitment to many of the group's crossovers and SUVs.
The powertrain delivers 145kW and 290Nm and can see the GT make the 0-100km/h sprint is a mere 7.8 seconds. Driving the GT in anything other than ECO mode is a task as merely flexing one's foot near the accelerator pedal will see the front wheels break traction and rocket you toward the horizon.
How is the OMODA C5 performance?
Fuel Economy
Despite its proclivity towards speed infringement, the GT can be docile and when driven like a gentleman through town will see the GT deliver roughly 8.7/100km on the combined cycle.
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Safety
As with most vehicles originating from the east, the Omoda C5 GT gets a 5-star ANCAP rating with 87% for adult occupant safety, 87% for child occupant safety, 68% for pedestrian safety, and 88% for its safety assistance systems.
Does the OMODA C5 have Isofix?
Price
The C5 GT is priced well against its closest rivals and even its own siblings. Naturally, the Omoda gets the CMG five-year or 70 000km service plan, a five-year or 150 000km warranty, which is transferrable should the vehicle be sold, as well as an additional engine warranty of 10 years or 1 million kilometres, which is only valid for the first owner.
| Model | Price (incl. VAT) |
| Omoda C5 1.5T 230T Lux S | R 479 900 |
| Omoda C5 1.5T 230T Elegance | R 507 900 |
| Omoda C5 1.5T 230T Elegance S | R 509 900 |
| Omoda C5 1.6TGDI 290T GT | R 589 990 |
Competitors
This is one of the most competitive automotive segments in SA and the C5 Gt goes up against some heavy opponents in the form of the Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid GR-Sport, Opel Mokka 1.2T GS Line, Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max 1.6TGDI 290T Executive and the Ford Puma 1.0T Titanium.
Verdict
We found the GT model to be a much better vehicle than the base C5. It is more fun to drive and carries an air of executive sportiness about it. The throttle/gearbox programming can use some work and the misalignment of the steering column will eventually drive us crazy but on the whole the GT package is the model for the urban sports nut. We highly advise taking this derivative for a test if you are looking for a sporty and stylish crossover.
