Greetings imperialrealcs...
I hv been following the comments on this forum and find alot of interesting stuff. My purpose is not to cause friction but rather to just give my opinion on this matter.

I hv 2 agree wt u bout the Hi capacity engine, yes consumption could b high... but at the end of the day it all boils down to driving style. Wt a racy driving attitude 1 can even make a honda city i-dsi suck fuel. So this matter is infact subjective as it too, depends on the driver.

Torque and horse power are both important i will agree... but in sum situations havin lower hp den torque or lower torque den hp is acceptable. The focus of the Eastar is it's MAX Torque which is readily available at 3000rpm. Max hp is 127@5500rpm. Spec wise there is no other sub 100k MPV that has such a low end torque character. Why Torque? Torque is actually referring to Pulling Power or pick up(in layman terms) it does not reflect the ability of the vehicle to travel up to speeds. That is why for example the mitsubishi evo 8 can do 0-100 in 6 seconds(higher hp cars are faster). The 127hp of the Eastar is sufficient for it to reach max speed of 180km/h without difficulty(pls also note that the Eastar is even lighter than the avanza 1.5 by 40kg. As a people mover I would agree with Chery for paying emphasis on Torque, the lack of torque or inability to get it wen needed will affect driving and even fc. Take for instance the 1.3 toyota avanza, a goo deal for its price wen it was launched but wen people started drvin uphill wt full the problem begins. It seriously lacks torque causin it to slug on hill climbs. Simply put, the more load u need to carry in a vehicle the more torque u will need(not hp). And fortunately the Eastar shines in this dept(And yes ive driven the car too). Although 198Nm of torque is not a "terror" figure, its available at low rpms making it superbly drivable for the city even wt full load compared to other sub 100k MPVs.

The 4G64SM engine is not a faliure engine. As per my research, the Mitsubishi grandis in china has a version that uses the same engine. So if its good enuf for mitsubishi im sure its good enuf for chery. As for the low tech of the engine I do agree, but since its 2.4 the output offsets need to increase power via other methods(MIVEC etc). Actually i believe the main reason chery is usin dis eng is cost, I checked wt sum connections who said a brand new eng is below 5k for manufacturer. Cant blame for wanting 2 make money...

I checked the interior but I hv 2 admit it does not leave much to desire. I would rather Chery improve the interior to Korean standards but increase the price by say RM5K. I hv noticed others sayin dey r willing to "decorate the interior" ... cant agree less really.

Chery has a dist to travel before it reaches japanese car standards for now it should focus on catchin up wt korean makes. I will conclude by sayin that for RM80k this is still the best value for money MPV. Hope dey come out wt da 2.0 soon

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Added on December 16, 2008, 5:17 pmbro... headlamp fogging can be easily rectified if u send in your car to chery 3s ctr in pj... my fren Eastar suffer from same prob turns out at the back of head lamp housing there is a stopper that has to be removed to allow air to circulate which eliminates the prob. this ia a standard feature as it was intended for 4 season country(china)

This post has been edited by Super Maniam: Dec 16 2008, 05:17 PM

no probs Enigma4646... im just stayin neutral on the matter, don wanna be biased. neway hope u guys don mind me buttin out of no where... Im not an owner but do hv insights on da industry. Hope its ok if i bump in sumtime