Car brands have known for a long time that Filipino buyers like 7-seaters. As GAC brand head Franz Decloedt said in his welcome speech on the morning of our event, we’re family-oriented. When we travel we like to bring extended family like grandparents or titos/titas.
With this GAC is pushing its M6 Pro in this market, to offer a stylish MPV with tons of features. As a vehicle the M6 Pro is truly packed with functions usually not found in its P1.6 million price range. But is it really good value? We spent a day with this minivan to find out.
From GAC’s spanking new showroom in Pasay, we would drive to the R33 drift track in Pampanga along NLEX. I was behind the wheel for the first leg of the journey, which took us from the dealer to Skyway Stage 3, and on to NLEX.
The 60kph speed limit on Skyway was a good opportunity to test the M6 Pro’s adaptive cruise control. On the right side of the steering wheel I found the cruise control buttons. After locking the speed at 60kph, the M6 Pro dutifully followed the car in front. I even reduced the distance setting to the car ahead to its minimum, and the radar was able to sense other cars safely. True enough, at one turn a traffic enforcer was monitoring the Skyway 3 cars with his radar gun. Good thing we turned on the M6 Pro’s ADAS features.
Despite having a diminutive 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, the M6 Pro was able to maintain speeds of up to 100kph easily. There were four adult men in the car, by the way, and none of us were on the thin side. The 174hp and 270Nm of torque under the hood is enough for expressway cruising.
I also didn’t hear a lot of engine noise. The cabin is well-insulated from the engine bay and from the outside environment. The top spec M6 Pro I’m driving has a DTS-tuned audio system with eight speakers, so the quiet cabin should help with listening pleasure. The M6 Pro has Apple CarPlay, but no Android Auto.
From Skyway 3 we entered NLEX shortly. The M6 Pro calmly cruised at around 80kph, still aided by adaptive radar.
We exited at San Simon, Pampanga. From there we passed through some narrow alleys, where we encountered some awkwardly parked cars and tricycles. Here the M6 Pro demonstrated its relative nimbleness and the benefits of not being massive. It was almost as if event organizer Ramirez & Cutter included the tight streets as part of the driving experience.
At the real track in the R33 compound, I rode with pro driving instructor Georges Ramirez, who guided me through the course they laid out. With braking tests and a moose test, the M6 Pro’s ABS and stability were demonstrated.
The effectiveness of the cameras around the GAC minivan was also demonstrated, with Ramirez pointing out how easy it is to spot obstacles in real time. Of course, the veteran racer said the best advice: Trust your eyes first and foremost; the additional cameras are just there to help.
And that was it for our day drive to Pampanga. Well, that was it for me anyway. After that it was the turn of my car companions to try out the M6 Pro. And I was left to test the most important feature of this minivan—the captain’s chairs. So as Neil Pagulayan of Autocar drove back to GAC in Pasay, I nodded off in the back.
I woke up as we were exiting Skyway 3 in Pasay’s entertainment district. The A/C was good, the seats were good enough, and it was quiet all throughout the ride.
The GAC M6 Pro offers a lot for its price, maybe the best in its segment. If you’re looking for a minivan that won’t break the bank, this should be on your short list.
