Omoda C9 AWD review: a premium Chinese SUV that impresses for under R1 million

Hardly a month goes by without a new Chinese brand or model announcement, and more often than not, they’re well priced and even better specced.

As with all things, some are better than others, but South African consumers have embraced many of them, and we’re seeing more people with calculators in hand than stars in their eyes before signing an offer to purchase.

This is especially so in the premium market, as demonstrated by the Omoda 2.0TGDI 400T Explore AWD, which makes a fine case for itself. Omoda is part of the Chery Group, which has been making strong inroads into the local market and has become a household name in part as a result of its popular Tiggo range.

Think of Omoda as their luxury brand, and for R885 900, you get heaps of luxury and technology wrapped in what is genuinely a premium experience.

Exterior

I think bold and elegant would be the best way to sum up the exterior, and while many SUVs seem to be cut from the same cloth, the Omoda C9 certainly attracted attention from bystanders.

The sloping roofline and borderless diamond-shaped front grill with the full-width LED lightbar connecting the headlights give it a commanding presence and an almost Range Rover-esque look.

Flush door handles and attractively creased sheet metal combined with 20-inch alloys deliver an eye-pleasing side view, while the sleek LED taillights and integrated spoiler round off the rear.

Interior 

The super-comfortable heated and ventilated leather front seats are magnificently stitched and adjusted from the door, very much like a Mercedes-Benz and like a Merc, the gearshift is operated from a stalk on the steering column.

The view is dominated by a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a same-size infotainment screen that’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible.

It’s fairly intuitive once you’ve got the hang of it, and I felt that the graphics could have been sharper.

There are a lot of things happening between the two screens while driving, with a raft of nanny warnings that distract you. Fortunately, they can be toned down or switched off, and they will stay that way once the car is switched off.

A heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof and an almost exhaustive list nice to nice-to-haves, including a 12-speaker Sony audio system with speakers in the headrest, make it a pleasant place to spend time and also take the attention away from one or two touchpoints that don’t quite measure up to the rest of the interior, which is not a dealbreaker though.

Drivetrain

Under the bonnet, the C9 is powered by a four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine delivering 192kW and 400Nm coupled to an eight-speed automatic torque converter transmission sending power to all four wheels.

The driving modes include eco, normal and sport as well as snow, mud and off-road modes.

Driving

Like the exterior and interior, the Omoda 2.0TGDI 400T Explore AWD provides a refined and premium driving experience.

We often lament the Chinese drivetrains’ inconsistent and patchy software, but in the C9, there is very little of that and gearchanges smoothly blend in with linear acceleration throughout the rev range.

The adaptive suspension with continuous damping control is a bit on the firm side, but not intrusively so, and it does a stellar job of taking care of road imperfections, which included a long stretch of corrugated gravel road.

The all-wheel grip keeps things on an even keel and provides peace of mind both on gravel and on wet and slippery roads. 

Whether puttering through the suburbs or stretching its legs on the highway, the overall feel is one of refinement aided by very decent sound dampening.

It’s not a rocket by any means and was never intended to be, but it hustles along nicely when asked. It prefers to be in Eco or Normal mode, and I found that with Sport engaged, it tended to hunt for the right gear, especially when braking hard to enter a corner and then accelerating out again.

A big plus, though, is that there is minimal body roll, and the gearshift paddles add a pleasant sporty element.

The steering setup is probably too light and vague for a car of this nature, but to be fair, I doubt this would prevent anyone from parking it in their garage.

Safety

The C9 has ADAS L2.5 assistance systems with an almost endless list of safety features that include nine airbags, adaptive cruise control (ACC), automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring (BSM), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), lane departure warning (LDW) and lane departure prevention (LDP), integrated Cruise Assist (ICA),  traffic congestion assist (TCA) and lane change assist (LCA).

Verdict

The Omoda 2.0TGDI 400T Explore AWD is a lot of car for under R1 million and offers standard features that are found only on more expensive legacy brands, including a fragrance dispenser!

Given what we know about the so-called Chinese invasion, and especially from the Chery Group, they will continue to challenge the premium segment head-on with value-for-money offerings and will leverage that as much as possible.

It’s a car that doesn’t shout out luxury but does more than enough to attract attention through its design alone, and no doubt in the coming years we will see a lot more of them on the road.

It comes with a seven-year/100,000km service plan, a seven-year/200,000km vehicle warranty and a 10-year/1,000,000km engine warranty.