Gac Emzoom vs Mini 3D Hatch

What's the difference?

Candidly, I really didn’t want to like the Emzoom. I think Australia has too many car brands already and the market is in danger of becoming overwhelmed with mediocre products at bargain prices that will squeeze out better but more expensive products.

But I cannot help but really be impressed by what GAC is offering. There’s no doubt the brand faces a major challenge expanding its dealership network to grow sales, but if it continues to deliver vehicles as nice as the Emzoom then it at least has a shot.

Not only is it affordable but it has style, space and is enjoyable to drive. For anyone in the market for a small SUV or just a sub-$30k new car, this should definitely be on your short-list.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

The Mini 60 Years is another classic special edition Mini and its definitely one for the fans. I'm not at all fussed by it and would quite happily save my money for a standard Cooper S. The Mini is still one of the most playful, interesting cars from a mainstream car maker and while it doesn't please everyone with its size and weight, it's tremendous fun to drive.

It's the kind of car I could own and I always feel comfortable in - it's the perfect size for urban environments but is just as much at home belting down a freeway on a long trip or scooting down a B-road just because.

Unfortunately one of the common themes for many of the new Chinese brands entering the Australian market is inoffensive but uninteresting design. The cars tend to be quite generic and lacking in style and statement.

That’s not the case with the Emzoom, which stands out with its bold, angular design that really sets it apart from its direct rivals. For a brand looking to make an immediate impression and attract a new demographic, GAC has made a strong opening move with the Emzoom.

It’s not limited to the exterior either, with an equally design-forward cabin. There’s only a smallish 7.0-inch LCD instrument display integrated into a wider panel, but it’s all housed within a single unit alongside the 14.6-inch multimedia display to create a hi-tech look.

Yes, there are other elements from rival brands that are evident in the design, but borrowing a few cues from other places isn’t something unique to GAC and the overall look and feel of the Emzoom is very likeable.

Always readily identifiable, Mini updates always add detail without touching the main game. I quite like the indicators, which are big LED rings surrounding the headlights, but then again I'm a sucker for lighting. I think the Mini looks terrific in three-door form and the Union Jack rear lights have grown on me. They're a bit silly but in a good way, which kind of sums up the car. The British Racing Green looks pretty good, too. Amusingly, the puddle lamp even has a 60 Years flavour.

You can spot the Cooper S by the centre exhaust and the 60 Years has its own set of 17-inch alloys.

The cabin is pretty much the same apart from the particularly warm hue of the leather. It's a classic colour for British cars but works nicely. In the Cooper S, the panoramic sunroof is split in two, but the front section opens. It does make the car feel a bit bigger, which is handy given it's pretty tight in there. The piping is a nice touch, too, although the Piano Black on the dash was so last decade rather than so last century but at least there isn't a slab of tacky wood. The fact the interior is otherwise unchanged means there are other cheap touches that somehow fail to ruin the ambience.

Mini calls its version of iDrive 'Visual Boost' for some reason, and it's displayed via a 6.5-inch screen set in a big round dial ringed by changeable LED lights.

The Emzoom offers a surprisingly spacious interior for a small SUV. 

We were required to travel with four adult occupants at one stage and even in the back seat there was enough room for this six-foot tall reviewer to ride comfortably.

It feels more spacious thanks to the panoramic sunroof which can let in a load of natural light and get rid of the cramped feeling you sometimes have in these smaller models, particularly in the back seats.

While the seats are trimmed in PVC, they look and feel fine for this price point, and the driver’s seat is ventilated and has six-way power adjustment.

There are two USB ports in the front (one A and one C) as well as a 12V outlet, and there’s one USB-A in the rear.

The boot measures 341 litres, which is a respectable size for this type of SUV. While the inclusion of a power tailgate is a very nice touch at this price and makes life easier.

Yep, it's a small car so expect things to be reasonably cosy. I fit in there fine but I am neither particularly tall nor broad. Taller folks will fit just fine in the front (but not too tall, don't be greedy) while larger people might find themselves uncomfortably close to their passengers.

The rear seat is bearable for children and patient adults on short trips. At least they'll be well hydrated because as well as the pair of cupholders up front there are a further three in the back for a total of five. The Mini joins the NC Mazda MX-5 as a car with a greater cup capacity than passenger capacity. Front seat passengers can keep the water topped up as there are also small bottle holders in the doors.

There are two USB ports in the front seat and a wireless charging pad that doesn't fit bigger phones under the armrest. If your iPhone is the smaller size, the combination of wireless CarPlay and charging pad is excellent.

The boot is surprisingly big for such a small car, beating many of its cheaper rivals with 211 litres with the seats in place and 731L with them folded down.

There are four ways you can have your 60th Anniversary Mini. If you're happy with 1.5-litres of power, there is the three or five-door Cooper for $33,900 and $35,150 respectively. If you want a bit more grunt, you can step up to the Cooper S three-door (the car I had) for $43,900 and the five-door for $45,150. Eagle-eyed readers who know their Mini pricing will see a price rise of $4000, and Mini Australia says you get $8500 of value. All of those prices are before on-road costs. 

The standard Cooper S package brings dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and start, driving mode selection, leather interior, reversing camera, sat nav, auto LED headlights and wipers, wireless Apple CarPlay, run-flat tyres and you can add all the 60 Years stuff on top of that.

Without putting too fine a point on it, the Mini isn't cheap to begin with, so whacking four grand on top of the already stiff pricing obviously doesn't improve matters. You do get more stuff, obviously, as suggested by the claimed $8500 figure.

That means British Racing Green IV metallic paint with Pepper White mirrors and roof or Midnight Black Lapis Luxury Blue with black mirrors and roof. Inside you get a choice of Dark Cacao with the green paint or Carbon Black with the blue paint. If you choose the latter you miss out on the special piping and details.

Cooper S buyers pick up wireless phone charging, Comfort Access pack, heated front seats and LED headlights while the Cooper S adds a panoramic sunroof, Harmon Kardon-branded system and head-up display.

Bucking the trend for electrification, the Emzoom is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that makes 125kW/270Nm. This provides adequate performance for a small SUV, without offering anything special.

The engine is paired to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which sends its power to the front wheels. More on that set-up under ‘Driving’...

The Cooper S has the usual 2.0-litre turbocharged four (the Cooper has a 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder), serving up 141kW and 280Nm. Power finds its way to the front wheels via a seven-speed twin-clutch transmission and will push the 1265kg Cooper S to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds.

Slightly confusingly GAC quotes a claimed combined urban/extra urban figure of 6.6L/100km, but based on the WLTC testing protocol, which is similar but marginally different to the more common and real-world-focused WLTP.

However, in our actual real-world test drive we instead saw a return of 7.6L/100km, so expect to use slightly more than the claim, regardless of testing protocols.

The Emzoom has a 47-litre fuel tank, which means if you can hit the claimed economy, you’ll have a range of just over 700km on a single tank. Our real-world average would still be good for more than 600km, which is a respectable range for what is designed to be a city-friendly SUV. 

Mini reckons you'll get 5.6L/100km on the combined cycle. Maybe you could if you don't drive it like I did (I got an indicated figure of 9.4L/100km).

The Mini has stop-start to help cut fuel use around town and launch control to ruin those efforts.

What makes the Emzoom really impressive, particularly at its price, is the way it drives. GAC has been in partnership with both Toyota and Honda in China for decades, and clearly the brand has been paying attention to how those more established global brands do things.

The net result is a small SUV that is genuinely enjoyable to drive and a far cry from the dull, unresolved offerings from other Chinese newcomers.

The Emzoom’s ride is nothing short of remarkable, given this is an all-new brand to Australia. It managed to soak up some very nasty-looking bumps without any notable fuss in the cabin. There is still some fine-tuning that could be done to make it class-leading in terms of both comfort and responsiveness, but the overall first impression is very, very positive.

It’s a similar story for the steering, with responsiveness and good weighting, not the occasionally numb and dull steering other Chinese competition offer up. 

The engine is fine, nothing special to report, it does the job steadily but does need to be worked hard at times. The gearbox, on the other hand, is more notable.

While a dual-clutch transmission is better on paper, providing faster gear changes for more responsive driving and lower fuel consumption, in practical terms they can be more challenging to operate smoothly.

That’s very much the case with the Emzoom, with the clutch tending to ‘slip’ when you take-off from standstill, often resulting in wheel spin - and a more dramatic-sounding departure than you intended. 

This is probably not helped by the tyres, a Chinese brand that this reviewer had never experienced before but felt light on grip.

Once on the move, it works well enough, although occasionally it gets caught between gears when you’re trying to drive more spiritedly, but most of the time it’s fine.

By far the biggest foible of the Emzoom is the noise. GAC clearly saved money on what’s known in the business as ‘NVH’ (or noise, vibration and harshness), with a noticeable amount of tyre roar, wind noise from mirrors and poor sound deadening underneath.

It’s not ideal but there was always going to be a compromise to get this type of SUV for this price.

Driving a Mini is a unique experience. Almost no other car on sale today has the combination of that far-away, near-vertical windscreen and an A-pillar that is almost slim by today's standards. The side of the car is almost fifty percent glass, so vision is terrific. 

It had been a little while since I drove a Mini Cooper S so I was looking forward to the Mini bounce that I've always loved and my wife despised. Somewhere along the way, that bounce has faded somewhat, to the point where my wife says she doesn't mind it anymore. That must be a good thing, because while the ride is more refined, it's still a blast to drive, even if you're just getting around in traffic.

The Mini just loves point and squirt driving. The quick, well-weighted steering helps you swing the nose in and out of gaps and the handy slab of torque from the 2.0-litre ensures you stay out of trouble while doing it. The Mini also loves haring down a country road, the more secure-feeling ride belying its short wheelbase. The weight of the car probably helps keep things on the straight and narrow. It's pretty clever to make the car feel grown-up while also maintaining its sense of playfulness.

The driving mode switch doesn't make a huge amount of difference, with Sport mode adding a few apologetic pops from the exhaust.

Complaints are few, but there are too many buttons on the steering wheel and to my mind are all in the wrong place. By necessity, the controller for the media screen is practically on the floor and is crowded in by the cupholders and huge handbrake lever. But that doesn't mean Mini should take away the handbrake.

I have my reasons.

Like the rest of the range, the 60 Years has six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward collision warning, AEB (auto emergency braking), a reversing camera, speed sign recognition, and tyre pressure monitoring (it also has run-flat tyres and no spare, so that's an important consideration).

There are two top tether and ISOFIX points for the kiddies.

The Mini scored four out of a possible five ANCAP stars in April 2015. This was before AEB became standard earlier in 2019.

GAC has tried to be proactive and match the market with a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, but strangely offers an even longer warranty for its electric and plug-in hybrid models.

It is an unusual decision and raises question marks over the longevity of its internal combustion engine models for no apparent reason.

As we wrote when we tested the Aion V, GAC is starting from scratch in Australia with less than a dozen dealers set to operate in the first 12 months. That means limited opportunities to both buy and service a GAC vehicle.

As with parent company BMW, Mini only offers a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty with roadside assist for the duration. You can buy an extension to five or hold your breath during negotiations with a dealer.

Servicing is condition-based - the car will tell you when it needs one. You can buy a servicing package that covers the basics for five years for about $1400 or step up to the near-$4000 option which throws in consumables like brake pads and wiper blades.