Brilliance Coupe – on the market!
The Brilliance coupe is officially on the market as of today and starting at the bargain price of 111,680rmb to 160,950rmb. The 1.8T powered motor can do 0-100kph in 10 seconds and has looks to kill. We doubt Brilliance will have any problems selling these babies over the next 12 months, hopefully improving their share price.
More information as we get it.
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Im assuming for 160,950 gets you the 1.8T with all the goodies (leather, etc)… For 111,680, what type of engine would that get you?, would you be able to opt out not to get the rear wiper
- would the suspension and manual transmission be the same?
I believe you have the choice of a standard 1.8 (non Turbo) or the 2.4 Mitsubishi with manual trans. I’d take the 1.8T full stocked for 170k!
If the non turbo 1.8 is the same Harbin engine as in the BS4 you might as well have a hamster in a wheel for an engine. The Harbin engine used in the BS4 is either license built Mitsubishi engine or one based on technology from them. Information from Brilliance seems to be a bit conflicting.
I’ve driven the 1.8T in a BS6 automatic and it’s a good engine.
oooh – didn’t know a 2.4 was an option, wonder how much of a premium for that nicety though :-/
Too bad they don’t have a “build your car” page so you can see the options/prices…
It looks like whenever the Chery A6CC comes out (think it might be this year?) – it would be a direct competitor?
Bob, The Mitsubishi engine is a lesser engine, and comes cheaper than the 1.8T.
Mark – the dealer for Brilliance was hinting that the 1.8T is of Passat 1.8T origins. Not sure if that is true or not, or if he was just trying to make me believe its a great quality car (of which it is!)
The 1.8T engine is Zhonghua’s own, although it was developed by or in cooperation with FEV of Germany. Zhonghua are currently developing a whole range of engines. The 1.8T is the first to see light of day.
I agree with you Ash. The 2.4 is definitely a lesser engine. As far as I know it’s quite an old Mitsubishi engine doing the rounds with a number of Chinese manufacturers such as Great Wall.
The Brilliance coupe, originally came with a 5 speed?
Looks to now (or maybe always had?) a 6 speed?
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fauto.sina.com.cn%2Fnews%2F2008-04-11%2F1605364551.shtml&langpair=zh%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Looks like the suggested price hasn’t budged much – 155,900 rmb for the 1.8T and 6 speed Manual. (Assuming the Automatic is around 10-15K more?)
Bob,
There was a recent price drop on the top 170,000rmb model by 8000rmb. Still not enough to make me want to drop 170k on one.
150k, and id think long and hard, 170k, no way.
That’s interesting. I didn’t know any Chinese cars were coming with 6 speed units. I wonder what the gearbox is like? My trial of some versions of the BS4 showed the 5 speed manual to be pretty bad.
not sure this will help with your question about the transmission but….
From a post on Chinacarforums.com
“6MT from GETRAG (Jiangxi) Transmission Co., Ltd, a China-Germany Joint Venture between GETRAG CORPORATE GROUP (Germany) and Jiangling Motor Group (China)”
out of interest, is the word ‘chinacartimes’ still banned on China Car Forums
Haha – well I know the statement “China Car Times” is not. I sense there was some drama?
Yes. It is a long story. The owner got his pants in a twist that CCT took off like a rocket, and CCF stagnated. He banned my URL from my sig, from any posts etc etc.
Never mind, all water under the bridge etc etc.
When you say top model, do you mean the most expensive (with the Automatic Transmission), or do you mean just having the biggest engine? – if the later – only 6K to go
On a side note, when buying a car in China, does this price include all the miscellaneous taxes, registration fees, etc?
Bob: Not usually no, you’re looking at 8.5% tax, 500rmb reg fee + insurance of say 5000rmb. And as far as I know you can’t bundle these into any finance package, so you’re looking at a 30% downpayment plus the above. God knows how the average man in the street can afford a car here!
Is this car in full production? Kinda surprised I have not seen one yet…
Also did this auto ever get Crash-rated?
I’ve seen one or two on the road now. I can tell you that back in December there were a lot of them rolling around the Brilliance factory. Not sure where they’ve all gone to though as I only saw the first one on the road last month and that was in Hefei of all places.
I saw one in QD, and one in the hell hole that is Tianjin.
Bet the one you saw was red, wasnt it?
I saw a red one in Beijing last month… haven’t seen any others since then.
Finally saw a coupe driving around the other day – the most identifiable feature…the front grill that resembles a girl’s choice of underwear *cough* “Gull Wings”….
Im not sure, if it was because of the crappy day and matching color of the auto (Sky was a gloomy grey, the auto was silver that needed a wash) – but this auto wasn’t that eye catching…kinda felt like a fat Hyundai Tiburon (doesn’t help that a shiney red one was a few cars behind it)… atleast from the side as it drove by….
If one looks at the NACP crash tests, the Brilliance coupe seems to have the same survivability as with the sedan. While it may look nice the tests say it is dangerous junk.
Can you share the link to the NCAP tests for the coupe?
I bought the top version of the Coupe three months ago in Shanghai. So far it goes really well, the 1.8T engine is a lot of fun, stereo has great sounds and the look is 1A for an Asian Coupe. I was driving long distance (Shanghai – Beijing and vice vs) and especially the turbo power is great. Brilliance Service is very friendly and helpful, however they do not speak any English. Suspension seems sometimes a bit too hard for the bumpy streets in Shanghai, Beijing is fine. Originally from Germany I used to drive BMW 525i, Peugeot 206 and VW. Sure, Brilliance is not a BMW, but considering the price it gives me at least the same fun than driving a German car. Generally this car is a lot of fun and if you dont plan to crash it and dont mind small quality issues there is no reason to spend three times more for a German car to drive a sporty 170hp Coupe.
I bought a BS4 saloon about 18 months ago and have been quite pleased with the car my only moan is the under powered engine. My local dealer has a demonstration Coupe BS3 for sale that l was interested in until l asked the price he suggested it would be in the region of LE200,000 – LE220,000 (Egyptian pounds)at todays exchange rates this is about £23,000-£26,000!!! Sorry but at this price l can see them staying in the showroom. Plenty of quality competition available at those prices. How much are you guys over in Shanghai being asked to pay??