Finding a half-decent small SUV for less than $30,000 has become quite challenging in the past couple of years. But as mainstream brands march further upmarket, some Chinese manufacturers are happy to grab sales at the lower end of the market.
One such brand, Chery, re-emerged with the Omoda 5 compact crossover about 18 months ago with keen pricing and loads of standard features.
Further pushing the value point, Chery recently added a new base grade of the Omoda 5, the FX. It sits under the Omoda 5 BX and EX with the same powertrain and it only loses a handful of features from the BX.
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At $27,000 drive-away, it looks like a steal on paper. But how does the new cut-price Omoda 5 handle urban duties? And does this small SUV offer more than just a solid standard features list?
Chery Omoda 5 2024: FX
| Engine Type | Turbo 4, 1.5L |
|---|---|
| Fuel Type | |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.9L/100km (combined) |
| Seating | 5 |
| Price From | $25,490 |
| Safety Rating |
|
Price and features – Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with? 8/10
8 / 10
At the time of publishing, the only non-Chinese-branded model in the mainstream small SUV category available for less than $30K drive-away is the 14-year-old Mitsubishi ASX. The only other sub-$30K small SUVs are from Chery, GWM Haval and MG - all from China.
Since launching the Omoda 5, Chery has placed value at the heart of its pitch to buyers, and that has only sharpened with the launch of the new base FX grade, tested here.
The FX kicks off at $27,990, drive-away, which lowers the price of entry to the Omoda 5 range by $6500. Not bad at all.
The only other models that compete on price are the GWM Haval Jolion Premium from $26,990 drive-away, the soon-to-be replaced MG ZST Vibe at $26,490 drive-away and the Mitsubishi ASX GS which is $26,740, but that doesn't include on-road costs.
Spec wise, the FX is not missing much from the next grade up, the $34,490, drive-away, BX. You get halogen headlights instead of LEDs, and it loses acoustic glass, soft-touch upper door inserts, ambient lighting, a wireless device charger, a 12-volt outlet in the boot and a frameless rear-view mirror.
Compared with the BX the FX suffices with single-zone instead of dual-zone air conditioning, the audio system drops from eight speakers to six and it has fabric rather than synthetic leather seat trim.
Out of these missing items, you’ll miss some more than others. Offering halogen instead of LED headlights is increasingly rare these days, even on base grades, and halogens are just not as strong, especially on regional roads at night.
But I am yet to encounter a truly effective device charging pad in a car so that’s no great loss.
The safety list is solid (see Safety section below) and it still has a good level of standard gear, especially for the price.
The FX comes with rear passenger air vents, keyless entry and start, a proximity key, a six-way power driver’s seat, dual 10.25-inch screens (multimedia and driver instrumentation), digital radio, an intelligent voice command as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Design – Is there anything interesting about its design? 7/10
7 / 10
The Omoda 5’s design is bold, certainly more so than its larger Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 stablemates.
At the front the narrow daytime running lights integrate into the busy-looking grille that is surrounded by vertical headlights.
Tall wheel arches, narrowing rear three-quarter windows, creases, a boot lip spoiler and a perky rear help it stand out, but when you look at it front on or rear on, it seems oddly proportioned. Like it’s on stilts or something.
The cabin design is smart and restrained with a high-set centre console, piano black inserts, attractive three-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel with clear dials and minimal use of buttons.
Soft-touch materials adorn the top of the dash but the doors make do with hard plastics, which I have no issue with. The passenger side dash is upright but that doesn’t impact functionality.
Practicality – How practical is its space and tech inside? 7/10
7 / 10
The cabin offers enough space for a small SUV. It feels wide across the front seat and there’s plenty of headroom, too.
The driver’s seat is power adjustable and while the fabric and stitching look cool, there’s almost too much padding under your bottom.
There are clear controls on the comfy door armrest and on the lovely looking three-spoke synthetic leather, flat bottom steering wheel.
The console sits up high, presumably to give the cabin a sports car look, and the dash is neat and clean, largely due to a lack of physical buttons. There are two phone holders that dominate the lower part of the dash and they double as device chargers in higher grades, but not in the FX.
There is space under the console to fit a bag or other items but the USB-A and USB-C ports are on the passenger side so you have to reach over to connect a cord if required. Thankfully, the Apple CarPlay is wireless. It connected easily and did not require reconnection while I had the car.
Two smallish cupholders are found near the gear shifter, and a sizeable central bin will store a number or items. The doors can stow a tall and wide bottle as well as other flat items.
Chery’s dual-screen set-up looks nice and not a world away from Kia’s integrated screens. The driver instrument display is not customisable in this grade and many of the items on the display are quite small. It would help if these were a little larger.
The multimedia side is simple to use with iPhone-like icons for functions like vehicle settings and more. There’s even a cute little bubble face on the side that you press to dictate commands. I asked the system to perform a few basic tasks like turning the air con off and on and it did it immediately without fault.
Air con controls are housed in the screen as well but it’s not as fiddly as some systems from other manufacturers. The only complaint is that it doesn’t appear to show the exact temperature, and the air flow could be stronger for a hot climate like Australia.
Taller passengers will probably need to duck their heads getting in and out of the Omoda 5’s rear seats, because of the low roofline. Once in the rear, there is a decent amount of knee and legroom, and headroom is good too despite the roofline.
Those rear seats are flat and not the most comfortable but fine for urban drives, and they feature ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats and three top tether points for child car seats.
In terms of amenities, there’s one USB-C port in the second row, lower air vents - something too many small SUVs go without - a centre fold-down armrest with two (shallow) cupholders and enough space for big bottles in the doors.
All petrol Omoda 5s have a cargo capacity of 360 litres, which increases to 1075L when you fold the 60/40 split rear seats down. This is more than the GWM Haval Jolion petrol’s capacity (337L).
It has a manual tailgate, a high loading area and some under-floor storage, but there is more than enough space for some luggage or a large amount of groceries in the boot.
It has a temporary spare wheel which is essential in Australia if you’re driving beyond urban areas.
The only negative is the flimsy parcel shelf. It struggles to stay in the groves that are designed to hold it. I had to re-fit it every time I opened the boot.
Under the bonnet – What are the key stats for its engine and transmission? 6/10
6 / 10
There are two petrol engine choices for the Omoda 5. The FX, BX and EX use a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit delivering power and torque outputs of 108kW and 210Nm, respectively.
These grades are front-wheel drive and the powertrain features a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Those outputs are inline with the GWM Haval Jolion petrol but offer more punch than the MG ZST.
The Omoda 5 GT grades use a more powerful 137kW/275Nm 1.6-litre turbo, but they also come with a higher price tag.
Efficiency – What is its fuel consumption? What is its driving range? 6/10
6 / 10
Chery says the official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel use figure for the Omoda 5 1.5L is 6.9 litres per 100km and the CO2 emissions are rated at 164g/km from the Euro 6-compliant engine.
After a week of urban, freeway and outer suburban driving we recorded a figure of 10.3L/100km which is well off the official figure.
It has a 51-litre fuel tank and runs on 91 RON petrol. Based on our calculations you can expect a theoretical range of about 765km.
Driving – What's it like to drive? 6/10
6 / 10
The Omoda 5 has two personalities depending how and where you’re driving. If you only drive in urban areas and rarely exceed 60km/h, it’s more than fine as a daily driver.
It’s when you’re on the open road or a freeway that its flaws are revealed.
The 1.5-litre engine is responsive enough, although there is some hesitation when accelerating under full throttle, and it’s slower to pick up pace when you’re already on the move at 60 or 80km/h.
The throttle is quite sensitive, however, and can be a little jolty when taking off. And light tyre chirp is also possible when accelerating hard.
Chery’s CVT is fine and doesn’t have the drone of other CVTs, but the manual mode toggles on the side of the shifter are in a confusing spot. When I first got in the car, I mistook this for the button that allows the shift between drive and reverse that many other cars have. I only made that mistake once, though.
The engine is rowdy when accelerating hard but not unpleasant, and Chery could do more to keep noise out of the cabin. Wind noise is particularly noticeable.
The Omoda 5’s ride can be jittery, particularly on uneven or pockmarked roads. The tyres seem to soak up road reflectors and smaller bumps but the suspension tune is on the firmer side which means it’s crashy over bigger bumps.
It also leans a lot when cornering, feeling top heavy in bends. This is not the sort of dynamically capable crossover you can have fun with on a twisty road, like the sadly departed Ford Puma, or the Mazda CX-30 or VW T-Roc.
Some general impressions - the brakes are a little slow to respond but you learn to adjust. The steering feels artificial and twitchy and you’re constantly fighting with the lane keeping aid. More on that in the ‘Safety’ section below.
On sunny days a distracting reflection of the top of the dash appears on the inside of the windscreen. It’s not great. But another general impression is that the proximity key works a treat. Which is not often the case.
Warranty & Safety Rating
Safety – What safety equipment is fitted? What is its safety rating? 6/10
6 / 10
As mentioned earlier, Chery has a long list of standard safety gear for all grades of the Omoda 5 from the base FX to the top-spec GT AWD.
In fact, the only feature the FX and BX don’t get is a 360-degree surround-view monitor.
It comes with a centre airbag to help mitigate against injury during a side collision, front and rear parking sensors, multi-collision brake, forward collision warning, auto emergency braking (AEB), emergency lane keeping, lane departure warning and prevention, traffic jam assist, lane change assist, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic sign recognition.
ANCAP gave it a maximum five-star crash safety rating in 2022.
There is no question you get a bucket load of safety gear for your money. However, some of the advanced driver assistance features let the car down.
We have written before about the poor performance of systems like the lane keeping aid when the Omoda 5 launched 18 months ago.
Chery was very quick to recalibrate some of these systems to ensure they are better suited to Australian conditions. But it’s still well off the pace of other more established small SUV rivals.
Despite the improvements, the active lane keeping system still isn’t great. On a freeway, the steering is incredibly jittery and it makes for an unpleasant driving experience. The car ping pongs between the line markings and sometimes it feels like it’s going to steer you into the next lane.
At one point I had the indicator on to change lanes and even then the steering was fighting me to stay in the lane I was in.
It feels like one of the first examples of lane keeping systems from several years ago. Many other brands have sharpened these systems to the point they are barely noticeable.
The blind spot monitor beeps a lot and at inappropriate times. It is quite frustrating. You can turn off some of these systems in the settings menu, but you shouldn’t have to do that. They should just work without distracting from the task at hand - driving.
Chery’s driver attention alert is infuriating. I lost count of the number of times the ‘You’ve been distracted for a long time’ warning flashed up when I was looking straight ahead at the road. At one point the display flashed when I was at a roundabout trying to turn. So I was distracted by what? My own driving?
The adaptive cruise control, however, is responsive and adapted to forward traffic without getting flustered.
Chery may have improved the ADAS calibration after the Omoda's launch, but the carmaker still has a lot of work to do in this area to be anywhere near its mainstream rivals.
Ownership – What warranty is offered? What are its service intervals? What are its running costs? 8/10
8 / 10
Chery has a solid aftersales offer that includes a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, seven years of roadside assist as long as you service with a Chery dealer, and seven years of capped-price servicing.
The service schedule is every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. That’s off the pace of some rivals that don’t make you return to the dealership until 15,000km.
But the cost of the first five services is $280 a pop before increasing to $391 and then $295. That is well priced for the segment.
Verdict
There’s little argument that Chery is focusing on value-for-money when it comes to its model range, and that’s absolutely the case with its new range opener - the Omoda 5 FX.
The spacious, flexible and neat cabin also get a tick.
Purely looking at this car on paper, it is hard to beat for $27,000 drive-away. And if you stick exclusively to urban areas without hitting the open road, you might be happy with your purchase.
However, the overall drive experience, including the behaviour of the advanced driver assistance tech, is well off the pace of mainstream rivals from Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, VW and more.
If that price is too good to look past, then be sure to do back-to-back test drives with other similarly priced rivals to compare.
Pricing Guides
Range and Specs
| Vehicle | Specs | Price* |
|---|---|---|
| BX (basic Version) | 1.5L, SPEED CONTINUOUS VARIABLE | $31,204 |
| EX (high Version) | 1.5L, SPEED CONTINUOUS VARIABLE | $34,116 |
| FX | 1.5L, SPEED CONTINUOUS VARIABLE | $25,490 |
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