Holden Barina vs Gac Emzoom

What's the difference?

Would I recommend you buy a 2018 Holden Barina? In a word, no. There are better light cars out there for close to the money - cars that are more modern, more sophisticated, more refined, more efficient and better equipped.

At this point in time the Barina still has its place - if you just need a cheap set of wheels, I guarantee you will be able to score a good deal. But if it were me, and it was my money - but I had to buy a Holden - I’d be checking out the slightly smaller Spark (and saving a few bucks in the meantime) or trying to stretch the budget to the larger Astra.

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 Barina isn’t the most intriguing or attractive offering in the segment - that mostly has to do with the fact cars it competes against have changed quite a bit in the six years since the current-gen Holden launched.

There are more attractive rivals, but I think the update in late 2016 was definitely worthwhile. And in high-spec LT guise as you see here - with those stylish 17-inch alloy wheels standing out against the boxy silhouette of the Barina - it’s quite handsome. In fact, the LT for me is an 8/10, and the LS is a 6/10, so I’ve taken the average here.

The changes included new enclosed headlights with LED daytime running lights (DRLs) rather than the old ring-type headlights, a new grille, new front and rear bumpers, and revised tail-lights.

The interior isn’t quite as nice too look at, with loads of hard plastics of varying textures and qualities, while the ‘leather’ on the seats is unconvincing. It is pretty spacious, though..

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.

The Barina has one of the larger interiors of the segment, thanks in large part to its high roofline. It measures a close-to-its-peers 4039mm long and 1735mm wide, but at 1517mm tall, it isn’t far off compact SUVs.

There is really good headroom front and rear, and the driver’s seat has height adjustment - meaning taller drivers can lower themselves in pretty nicely, but the passenger front seat doesn’t have height adjust, and it sits quite high.

The media system is a 7.0-inch touchscreen with two USB ports (one to connect, one to charge - both located in the top glovebox) and Bluetooth phone and audio streaming - and you get that system in both variants. The screen is supposed to have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but when I connected my iPhone it wouldn’t show up the mirroring screen… which was annoying, because there’s no sat nav.

The driver-info display may be a monochrome thing, but it is super handy to have a digital speed readout, and you can keep an eye on other key bits of info, like fuel use.

Back-seat legroom is adequate, but not exceptional - behind my own driving position (I’m 183cm tall) my knees were hard-up against the seat. You could fit two adults in the back pretty comfortably, but three would be hard work. If you tend to transport younger passengers, the dual ISOFIX and three top-tether child-seat anchors will come in handy.

Storage in the back is poor - there is no rear door storage at all, only one map pocket and no fold-down armrest. There’s just a single cup holder in front of the middle seat.

Up front there are two cupholders between the seats, and there are large pockets in the doors but they aren’t formed to hold bottles, so your fizzy might go flat from shifting around. The dashboard console is quite small, and there’s no covered armrest between the seats - but the driver gets a van-style armrest.

The biggest issue I have with the cabin is that the steering wheel is huge - like, it’s the same one used in the old Commodore, and it’s way too large for the Barina’s cabin - and the gear-shifter is oversized, too. Smaller features would make for a more spacious cockpit, and it’s a bit too easy to accidentally put it all the way down into M for manual mode, rather than D.

The boot of the Barina is fairly good for its size at 290 litres (VDA), and that expands to 653L with the back seats folded down in 60/40 formation - it’s a good cargo hold, albeit with a large, deep load lip, and there’s a space-saver spare under the floor.

There are some other little things that are good: the fact the electric windows have auto-down (and auto-up on the fronts). And some things that aren’t: the masses of hard, cheap-feeling plastics; the knobs and dials that don’t feel great to turn; and the seats are pretty uncomfortable.

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.

GAC has kept it simple and offers the Emzoom in a single model grade - Luxury - which is priced from $25,590 plus on-road costs. Even at roughly $28,000 on-road, the Emzoom is among the dozen or so cheapest new cars in Australia, and certainly one of the most affordable SUVs of this size.

GAC didn’t skimp on equipment to achieve that price too, with such luxuries as a panoramic sunroof and power tailgate included, along with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED lights and dual-zone climate control.

Other equipment includes wireless phone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth and a six-speaker sound system.

Powering the Barina is a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which produces 85kW of power and 155Nm of torque. There’s the choice of a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic, and the Barina is front-wheel drive.

The outputs of the engine are decent for the class, but the weight of the Barina - a porky 1248kg - means it doesn’t feel as sprightly as some competitors, many of which are below 1100kg.

There is no high-performance model - the Barina RS that came out in 2013 lasted a few years, but was axed in 2016.

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’...

Because the Barina doesn’t have a downsized turbo engine like some rivals, it is claimed to use a relatively high 7.2 litres per 100 kilometres for the manual model (LS only), while the auto version (in LS and LT guise) is said use even more, at 7.5L/100km.

Over our time with the car, we saw 8.8L/100km, which isn’t terrific for such a small car. A Mazda 2 has claimed fuel use as low as 4.9L/100km, and it doesn’t use a downsized turbo engine, either.

At the very least the fact the Barina can run on regular unleaded (91RON) means filling up will be a little cheaper.

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. 

There are elements of the drive experience in the Barina that are fine, but not one part of it sets a benchmark for the segment. And in a class where almost every car is at least a little bit fun to drive - think the Mazda 2, Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Peugeot 208, Suzuki Swift... I could keep going, but I'd prefer to drive any of those every day. Heck, even a Toyota Yaris or Hyundai Accent excites me more than this.

If all you do is potter from home to work, or home to the train station, there’s a good chance this will be fine as your means of conveyance. But if you’re the sort of person who wants a car they can enjoy, the Barina mightn’t be for you.

The LT model with its larger wheels may look pretty good, but the ride is fouled by those rims. And while the grip from the Continental ContiPremiumContact 2 tyres is genuinely good, the steering can be slow and heavy at times, and there’s a lot of road noise on coarse-chip surfaces.

Those wheels are nice and might be acceptable in a sporty hatch, but the performance doesn’t match up - the 1.6-litre engine is a little bit gutless at times, with its lack of torque meaning the six-speed automatic transmission is quite busy shuffling through the gears. That’s not unusual in this class, but the engine isn’t very refined, and can get trashy at high revs.

The transmission is not only busy, but it can be clunky when shifting, too - I noticed a few times when it was going between second and third gears.

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.

Thankfully, GAC didn’t cut too many corners on safety. There’s airbag coverage for all outboard occupants and a 360-degree parking camera system as well as a decent amount of driver assistance features for a sub-$30k SUV.

It must be noted that there is no ANCAP or Euro NCAP score, but the Emzoom comes with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, high beam assist and adaptive cruise control.

However, that's the extent of the list, so it doesn't have the comprehensive list of active safety systems that its rivals can claim.

Holden has rolled back that limited-time seven-year warranty, with the standard old three-year/100,000km plan in place once more. There is the option of extended warranty, with up to six years/175,000km available.

Holden requires the Barina to be serviced every nine months or 15,000km, which is reasonably lenient - some competitors require maintenance visits every six months/10,000km.

The costs are covered by Holden’s 'Know Your Cost Servicing' plan, with the first and second services priced at $249, the third and fourth at $349, while the fifth drops back to $249. No matter which way you look at it, it’s more affordable than a lot of competitors.

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.