A family mover’s emergency maneuvers

Handsome and hunky James Bond is now a family man, taking his wife, kids, grandparents, cats, dogs, and a butler, on a fun weekend drive to the countryside. But then, before reaching the outskirts of the city, some bad guys start chasing him, leaving the world’s most famous secret agent no choice but to perform evasive maneuvers with his MPV on busy city streets.

Far from being terrified, the family seems to enjoy Bond’s masterful skills behind the wheel. The MPV responds in kind, stable and secure despite the sudden turns and stops. Of course, Bond being Bond, he throws the bad guys off his tail. And like nothing happened, the family arrives at their weekend resort getaway just in time for afternoon tea.

As he smugly walks out from the driver’s cockpit, Bond takes his manly shades off, looks lovingly at his passengers (including the butler), winks and whispers: “I may be from MI6, but we’re in an M6. GAC to believe in magic!”

Poof. I had to snap out of this dream scenario when veteran motorsport instructor Georges Ramirez barked “Go!” at me. Behind the wheel of the GAC M6 Pro MPV, I was told a few moments ago to floor it to 60 kph, then forcefully step on the brakes as I made a sudden left turn. Georges could’ve stood in as Bond’s quartermaster Q, but I couldn’t relate to Bond, so I had to reimagine myself as Evelyn Salt, with a dozen cats and dogs in tow.

That sudden-brake-while-turning was just one of a series of maneuvers I and a group of other motoring scribes would perform on the R33 Drift Track in San Simon, Pampanga to test the handling, braking, stability, and traction control of the GAC M6 Pro.

Georges reassured me that he and his team had done this with the vehicle dozens of times before, and the systems never failed. So, with that, as soon as Georges gave me the green light, I became an Asian hybrid Bond, with a pinch of Salt, for just a few minutes.

I throttled the gas to 60 kph and stepped on the brakes while curving to the left. The MPV kept its course with the help of the anti-lock braking system (ABS). “This simulates a scenario when someone suddenly crosses the road when you’re at a turn, and you instinctively slam on the brakes. The vehicle will still follow the curve of the road and not run off the road,” explained Georges.

I then quickly drove to another portion of the track, where the “moose test” would be performed. Here, Georges explained that this would simulate a sudden evasive maneuver, like when a vehicle we were following on a highway suddenly stopped or stalled and we had no choice but to swerve left or right to avoid smashing into it.

Again, Georges told me to gun the vehicle to about 60 kph, and then, without braking, swerve left to avoid the cones and then swerve right to stay in the left lane—all done within a split second. That I did, and I could hear the MPV’s braking and stability systems kicking in on their own, and we still ended up facing the right way forward on the left lane.

The fun and crazy driving didn’t stop there. I headed next to the so-called “linoleum test,” and it was exactly as it was named. A tire-wide strip of wet, slippery, and soapy linoleum was laid out on the track, and Georges told me to drive the left wheels over the linoleum, at an approach speed of around 40-45 kph, and then slam on the brakes.

He explained that this simulated a driving situation when one side of the wheels were running on a different surface from the other side, like when you suddenly got forced partially off the road, and had to stop quickly and safely.

I did just that, and the MPV came to a quick stop, still on the linoleum, which meant the stability control and electronic brake distribution systems worked. Then, to test the traction control, Georges told me to floor the gas pedal.

The MPV, sensing the uneven surfaces the wheels were on, didn’t generate power to all wheels simultaneously, which would’ve caused the vehicle to spin out uncontrollably, but distributed it evenly according to the wheels’ current traction, allowing the MPV to move forward in the intended direction.

In between these emergency maneuvers, I was also made to try out its backing cameras and around-view monitors in a parking exercise. The video displayed on the touchscreen monitor was clear, and captured details of small objects like parking cones and roadside curbs—things that would normally be in one’s blind spots if there weren’t any cameras. Needless to say, parking the M6 Pro was a walk in the park…ing.

At the end of these exercises, I remarked that this was probably the first time that I was made to test an MPV this way. Georges responded that he was confident that the M6 Pro would perform exactly as advertised, and that the kind of technological and safety advancements found in this MPV used to be exclusive to much more expensive cars.

Now, for just a starting price of P1.230 million, you get a family MPV that can hold itself together even when things outside go haywire.

My adrenaline was still up a bit after these exercises when Astara Philippines’ training head Dong Magsajo pointed out that the M6 Pro’s premium interiors—spacious and fitted with captain’s seats—complemented its safety features. I forgot to suggest to Dong, who was once our fellow motoring media journo, to make these kinds of safety driving tests available also to potential buyers of the M6 Pro.

Not intimidating

The M6 Pro looks like a large MPV, but the drive felt like it was more compact—light and responsive. The interior is immersive, the large panoramic roof and wide windows allowing for more natural light to come in and make the interior look cheerier.

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The driver’s side also has unobstructed views of the outside, with a large quarter window on the A-pillar, a floating rear view mirror and a straightforward instrument panel design. A 7-inch LCD instrument cluster seamlessly extends to the 10.25-inch multifunctional infotainment touchscreen.

2-2-3 seating

Unlike most MPVs, the M6 Pro offers the 2-2-3 seating configuration, owing to its long wheelbase. This configuration provides more comfortable seating and cargo space. The driver gets a 6-way power seat adjustment, while the front and second row passengers get 4-way manually adjusted that may be fully reclined if passengers want more comfort. The second-row captain seats also have multi-level adjustable armrests that can be levered back to give larger legroom whenever the last row is used for storage. The third row has an adjustable backrest and spacious legroom, which can be folded down and hidden away to provide as much as 1,100 liters of storage space.

“GAC Motor Philippines introduces the M6 Pro as a contender in the MPV market. We are optimistic that Filipinos will find that this vehicle, which has the DNA for excellent world-class quality, will fulfill their diverse lifestyle and mobility requirements throughout,” stated Franz Decloedt, brand head of GAC Motor, Astara Philippines. “The M6 Pro can be a daily-driving family-mover through urban jungles, transport solutions provider for growing small to medium enterprises (SMEs), or an adaptable command center for adventurers on open roads,” he added.

Wind wing form

The M6 Pro’s exterior is inspired by a “wind wing” form, both for aesthetic advantage and improved aerodynamic design. The matrix LED headlamps are styled to follow the sharp contours of the vehicle’s front fascia, with ultramodern features such as automatic height adjustment, headlights alarm, Follow-Me-Home function, and high beam assist. The vehicle is outfitted with 18-inch tires that contribute to its overall sharp looks. The tail lamps are fitted with LED beads that span the width of the vehicle, also upgrading the road worthiness of this MPV.

Safety galore

As this entire day out in the drift track proved, the GAC M6 Pro is never stingy with safety. For starters, there’s the advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning (LDW), autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning (FCW), lane keep assist (LKA), high beam assist (HBA), integrated cruise assist (ICA), traffic jam assist (TJA), and traffic sign recognition system (TSR), among others.

Then there are adjustable seatbelts for all passengers, with unfastened alerts for the first two rows. The vehicle is equipped with dual front, side, and side curtain airbags that offer added peace of mind and protection for all passengers. A surround view camera system increases visibility and aids in parking maneuvers. Finally, there’s the electronic stability program (ESP), hill-start hold control (HHC), and tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

Power, price, variants

The M6 Pro runs on a 1.5-liter turbo gasoline engine paired with a 7-speed automatic transmission for 174 hp and 270 Nm of torque, which is more than sufficient for a family MPV.

The GAC M6 Pro 7-seater MPV comes in two variants: The 1.5L M6 Pro GS priced at P1,230,000, while the 1.5L M6 Pro GL is offered at P1,598,000. The available body colors are Crystal White, Peacock Blue and Elegant Black. Interior colors are Black and Red.

The aftersales warranty covers the first five years or 150,000 km, whichever comes first.