“If it’s too loud, you’re too old.”
Sitting in traffic, serenaded by the white noise of torrential rain and the reverberating burble of the Empow’s ‘sport’ exhaust, I contemplate wading into the settings menu to close the muffler bypass flaps. Just to quiet things down a bit. Then again, I think, as I goose the gas pedal and we move forward a few inches, why bother? It’s not necessarily loud per se. Not like the rattly, ringing straight pipes on my old college beater. But ‘loud’ isn’t simply a matter of actual volume. Loud is an attitude. And in terms of attitude, few cars are as ‘loud’ as the Empow.
‘Em-Pow!’ Just saying it makes you giggle. Where Japanese car names feel hat-picked from a Latin dictionary and Korean car names randomly lifted off tourist maps, Chinese car names often feel like the ramblings of Sugar-Addled Kindergartners playing with toy robots: “Coolray!” “Tiggo!” “Cannon!” “F-Zero!” But for sheer chutzpah, “Empow!” might just take the cake. And imagine how the BMW faithful will fume when we get the inevitable “Empow R.”
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Styling
GAC is not a brand associated with exciting cars. Its previous models have all had orderly alphanumeric names and muted paint jobs. Some might have some flashy trim and giggle-inducing turbocharged power—check our GS4 review, for example—but by and large, they’re sober corporate gray Toyota-VeeDub alternatives. Very well made, but conservatively so.
The Empow GE, on the other paw, is anything but sober. Obnoxious Matte Fighter Green paint offset by carbon fiber and splashy yellow accents look straight out of Need for Speed. The bodywork is long and low, sitting on spindly spider-spoke 18” wheels wrapped in rubber band thin 225/50R18 tires. With the sweptback roofline and racy trim—including functional vents for various fluid coolers—it looks a lot like a Mercedes CLA AMG. Almost exactly the same size, too.
Engine performance
Longer, lower, and wider than the old GA4, the Empow is built on an all-new GPMA platform, which opens up avenues for future electrification. Where the GA4 came with either a basic 1.5-liter engine or a slightly punchier 1.3-liter turbo, the Empow comes standard with a powerful third generation 4A15J2 direct injection 1.5-liter turbo, boasting 168hp and 270Nm of torque.
Where the GA4 could motor to a hundred klicks in under 12sec with a good tailwind, the 1.5 turbo rockets from 0-100kph in a claimed 6.95sec, making it the fastest 1.5T in this segment. We managed 7.2sec on a dirty track with a green engine and a full tank of gas, so we don’t doubt that sub-sevens are possible in optimal conditions. Nearly a second faster than the more powerful Civic Turbo, thanks to an extra 30Nm of torque and a solid seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Achieving this requires Sport+ Mode, which is unlocked by earning driving points on the race track, hitting the 3,000km mileage milestone, or simply via cheat code. Once activated, launching is a giggle-inducing affair: strap on your bright yellow seatbelt, disable the traction control, press the asterisk on the steering wheel to bring up the timing screen, slot the transmission into manual mode—which brings up a screen declaring “Top Player is Ready for Fighting!” and then, finally, hold down both the brake and accelerator pedals at once.
At the “Ejection Mode Activated” prompt, you lift off the brake, the clutch hammers home, and you rocket off the line, tires scrabbling for grip and exhaust howling like a banshee. Lovely.
This isn’t some unlimited cheat code, however. Hot conditions trigger the “Launch Control Cooling Down” warning, forcing you to wait for the next ‘Ejecto-Seato, Cuz’ buzz. GAC is very particular about heat control. There’s a large coolant feed sticking out of the top of the transmission. The turbo is fed by an expensive water-to-air intercooler, rather than the simpler air-to-air set-up that competitors use. The extra coolant circuits, surge tank and manifold insulation panels leave very little empty space in the engine bay. Quite a complex set-up, but worth it for cooler operation and more consistent performance, especially on the track.
Ride and handling
The Empow is more than just a dragstrip rocket: It handles pretty well, too. Well, relatively well. Sport+ mode firms up the steering and pops open the exhaust bypass valves in anticipation of a good mountainside romp. Paddle shifters keep you satisfyingly on the boil and the brakes are strong and consistent enough to merit their yellow-painted calipers on a demanding drive.
The suspension is supple, yet takes a set nicely, with Sport+ dynamic control allowing some leeway before reining in the fun. Unfortunately, Sport+ can’t do anything about the tires. Those 225/45 R18 GitiComfort F22 tires are quiet, comfortable, fuel-efficient and, well, that’s it. They hold on gamely, but don’t give the confidence to clip apexes at full attack. There’s enough grip to enjoy the occasional spirited jog, but not enough to make this a Chinese alternative to a Civic Type R.
Instead, the Empow is more at home on the fast sweepers and long straights of the open expressway. Sport+ enables Top Speed mode, which removes the 180kph limiter and adjusts stability control for better tracking at autobahn speeds. Maybe the engine lacks a bit of oomph higher up in the rev range, but this doesn’t really matter until you’re going well beyond the expressway speed limit. This car can really hustle.
In Sport+, that is. In Eco and Comfort mode, power delivery is more relaxed, and the dual clutch shifts a half-tick slower, even when using the paddles. The ultra-light steering in these modes can also feel a bit wayward. You can wade back into the game menu, uh, vehicle settings, to enable Sport+ dynamic control and steering, even in Eco Mode, but it still doesn’t feel as invigorating as the full Sport+.
But considering the Empow’s tiny 47-liter fuel tank, keeping it in Eco Mode is a necessity for long-distance road trips. While it is capable of 16-18 km/l on the highway, it isn’t quite as efficient as the GS4, with the previous generation 4A15J1 engine. That said, given this car only has a tick over 1,000km on the clock, there’s room for improvement as it breaks in.
But in terms of long-distance comfort, little improvement is necessary. Noise insulation is spectacular. Even the sunroof cover is lined in noise-dampening foam. The black and yellow leather seats are nice and supportive on long drives. Even out back, where there’s more than enough legroom and elbow room for two teens and a bulky child seat.
The suspension absorbs undulations with ease, and despite the thin tires, sharp-edged ruts and potholes don’t transmit much shock into the cabin. Maybe it rides a bit too low, but that’s the price you pay for high-speed stability. If you find holding the steering steady on the highway a bit too much of a chore, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitors, and even radar-assisted cruise control allow you to gobble up miles with minimal effort.
Interior
Your mind freed of these plebian tasks, you get to bask in the ambience of the Empow. That Merc CLA AMG DNA extends inside, with a flat-bottomed steering wheel with a yellow center stripe sitting in front of twin LED displays frenched into a dash-spanning screen. Keeping the display backgrounds black allows them to blend into the surround, making them look bigger than they really are.
You get a dash-spanning grille hiding the air vents a la Civic FE, sandwiched between stitched leather panels. There’s a split stack center console, as in the previous Civic, with a no-slip phone tray in front of the shifter and a huge parcel shelf underneath, big enough for a small duffel bag and several charging gadgets. The plastic ‘carbon fiber’ top is playful, if a bit cheesy, and a huge semi-open console box swallows larger and longer items than most enclosed boxes.
Out back, the center armrest features cupholders with inflated rubber fingers to hold drinks in when you’re going sideways. Overall, fit and finish is great, though things like the oddly hinged shoulder buttons on the steering wheel, the fake carbon-fiber and the matte plastic around the window switches seem like odd oversights in a cabin that’s full of otherwise classy bits.
Extra features
There’s quite a bit of convenience tech, too. A powered driver’s seat, a sunroof, several USB and USB-C charging points, remote locking doors and trunk—though the latter has a ridiculously small opening and no external unlatch button—and a bass-heavy speaker set attached to the 10” infotainment screen.
Smartphone connectivity is limited to Apple CarPlay, Baidu CarLife and Huawei HiCar. Unless you have an iPhone or can read Chinese, you’re stuck simply using Bluetooth. That said, there’s a lot of entertainment value in Sport+ Mode, which also gives you several auxiliary displays, including Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature and Boost pressure.
Sitting in the baleful red glow of those displays on an empty stretch of road at night is enough to relive your gamer/racer fantasies, even if all you’re doing is burbling along to the nearest 7-11. All that’s missing is Snoop’s “Riders on the Storm” remix playing in the background as you cruise the rain soaked streets of night-time Manila.
Verdict
So that’s the Empow GE. Not the perfect sports sedan, but honestly, it doesn’t need to be. Because where else can you find this much performance and this much sheer cockiness at these prices? Sure, there’s always the MG GT or the Civic RS—still the most complete package in the segment—or even the mighty albeit discontinued Kia Forte GT, which is fractionally quicker, with its 201 hp 1.6T. But both that and the Civic cost a whole lot more than the Empow GE’s P1.345-M price tag, spec for spec.
And the GE is worth every centavo of that. Where lower variants make fine family vehicles, they fall far short of the excitement promised by that new 1.5T engine. The GE fixes that, and then some. Sure, it’s a bit juvenile, but I have a feeling that’s exactly what the target market wants.
SPECS: 2023 GAC Empow 1.5T GE DCT
Price: P1,348,000*
Engine: 1.5-liter turbopetrol
Power: 168hp
Torque: 270Nm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch
Drive layout: FWD
Seating: 5
Score: 9/10
*Updated as per April 2025.
More photos of the 2023 GAC Empow GE:
