Introduction
First Automobile Works (FAW) is a state owned automobile manufacturer in China which has been working since 1953. They offer a wide range of cars ranging from Heavy Commercial Vehicles to Small Hatchbacks. Al-Haj Group of Companies brought FAW motors to Pakistan in 2006 as their sole distributors of their heavy trucks and in August 2011 Al-Haj's operations started locally for assembling of FAW Vehicles.
Currently Al-Haj Automobiles is offering following range of passenger vehicles locally.
FAW V2
V2 is based out of Toyota's chassis SCP13 and is powered by a 1300 4 cylinder efi engine with a 5 speed manual transmission. Price of FAW V2 is Rs.1,049,000/- (Karachi). Today a friend of mine took me for a test drive of V2 since he's considering buying it and wanted my opinion. I'll compare V2 with Suzuki Cultus for they have same price and I personally feel comparing it to Suzuki Swift will be unjust just because they have same engine horsepower because Swift costs around 1.4 mil which is almost 40% more than the price of V2.
Interior
The moment I sat inside the V2 I could sense the amature interior job with plastic etc however for an amature it was nice. The interior is made of moderate quality plastic in two-tone shade of grey & silver. Indicator, lights & wipers are in the likes of all European cars meaning indicator is on left side of steering unlike the Japanese cars we normally get in Pakistan.
Immobilizer sensor, headlight dimmer & rear view door mirrors controls are on dashboard between steering assembly & door. In the center console you find the hazard button on top center below the air vents, under which there's a two din CD player below which you find the air condition control panel.
First thing on center floor is the ashtray along with lighter, then you have your gearbox and after that all four power windows buttons are placed next to hand brake & cup holders. On the passenger side you have double glove compartments, where upper portion is open & lower has a door. Seats are fabric and comfortable
Rear seats are comfortable with rear headrests separate however I found it a little congested while sitting when the front seat was rolled all the way back which won't be a bad thing if I compare it to Suzuki Cultus however if I look at JDM alternatives in same price then the car's rear seat offers short legroom. Car has rear power window controls on the doors. Rear boot tray is however of very bad quality and is in light grey while rest of the car runs a tone of dark grey.
Instrument cluster panel of V2 is readable & looks good; I don't know about the quality of its display during night since I drove it in the daytime but it looks good during the day.
Exterior
V2 has a very decent exterior. That's all I would say, it looks complete. The car has clear lens headlights & in the bumper you have front fog lights, the radiator grill looks very empowering, Door view mirrors have indicator lights under them & on the rear you find clear lens headlights, rear window spoiler with brake light & there are red reflector lights in red color in rear bumper. Car has 14" alloy rims which come with hankook tyres. The paint job quality was much better than the cars we have locally made.
Engine Compartment
When I opened the hood I was disappointed. The engine is very good when it comes to specs however the main block was looking as if its starting corrosion; the gear liver were all nakedly open to the extent that you could actually see the gear shifting inside the engine bay. The hood support rod was not easy to hook; lets hope it changes in future.
On the Road
When I drove the car; I was impressed; it was very much better than what I was expecting, the 1.3 liter engine in a hatchback always makes it a pocket rocket & this is what it car was. I was able to hit 60 km / hr in second gear when the RPM hit red line, the car handled very smoothly however the 175 width tyres did how when cutting through lanes and I feel getting 185 would do the justice. V2 was very responsive, gear shifting was a little hard but I can discount it considering a new car and hope it'll settle when the car is driven a bit. When brakes were applied with hard foot; the ABS engaged like any other JDM car.
Specifications, Comfort & Accessories
V2 offers a lot in this department as well. The car has standard front two air bags, immobilizer key, anti lock braking system, electronic power steering are only the highlights. because when it comes to V2, it offers a lot to match the value for your money. Engine is working on Euro 4 emission standards and suspension is 4 wheel independent suspension. V2 has built in door crash beams.
Air-condition cooling could have been better and the music system looks like a below average Chinese music system however the sound quality was decent. At the moment V2 is offered in a variety of five colors to choose from which are black, white, silver, red and golden however if you want an immediate delivery (2 - 3 days) then you need to compromise on the color and if you want to wait for your preferred color then the dealership cannot give you an exact time as when it'll be delivered because they run a whole batch of a certain color to control their prices.
Future
The dealership says that Al-Haj plans to introduce automatic transmission variant next year along with a 1000cc variant next year too however from another source I learned that Automatic transmission is expected within next six months but no confirm word on the 1000cc variant. Few days back this photograph was displayed on the Facebook page of Al-Haj Motors and the petrol head in me also fancies a top of the line 1.5 liter version of V2 with this body kit however it all comes down to the fact if V2 will survive our market.
A lot of Chinese cars were introduced in Pakistan in last 10 years but unfortunately none of them was able to break the "resale conscious" mentality of a Pakistani buyer. As promising as FAW V2 may sound, the only concern is will it stick around? V2 is best bang for the buck in the price range its offered however we live in a country where the major population would still prefer to go for Suzuki Cultus in the same price because Cultus sells faster. Only time will tell the future of V2 however I would only say that only time can tell what future holds for V2.
Just One Guy's Opinion
OA
nice
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