2014 GrandSport Chaser
Performance - ★★★★
One of the most interesting things about the GrandSport Chaser is the engine. Under the bonnet there is a rather small 2.2-litre engine, but unlike normal it isn’t a 4-cylinder engine. Instead the engine is a V8 that manages to produce a whopping 300 bhp @ 8300 rpm and 197 ft-lb of torque. Somehow as well they have managed to get all of this power out of it without the use of a turbocharger. The engine powers 1250 kg of metal, so 0-62 mph is covered in a reasonable 5.3 seconds and the top speed is gear limited to 154 mph. Speaking of which, the gearbox is a huge let down. It is one of the only 6-speed gearboxes in the world that require you to shift all the way to 4th gear before you can get to the magical 62 mph, which is appalling. The engine is an absolute beauty but it is completely ruined by the gearbox. A shame.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
Sports cars aren’t expected to have a supple ride, but this one manages rather well if not brilliantly when it comes to the duty of ironing out bumps and scars on the road. The suspension setup does seem a bit weird. The front suspension is a incredibly firm setup, yet the rear suspension is a rather soft setup. This does make the ride a bit weird, but overall the car does do a rather good job, once up to speed, at ironing out bumps. At lower speeds the rear suspension still manages to soak up most of the bump, but the front suspension feels as if it almost can’t be bothered. Odd, but OK.
Handling - ★★★★
The GrandSport Chaser seems to have found an area where there isn’t anything letting the side down. The Chaser, although it has a weird suspension, handles really rather well, if not magnificently. There is a lot of grip that, along with the rather low weight, allows you to throw the car into corners. This agility plus the fact that GrandSport decided that driver assists are for wimps means this car is a proper drivers car. The handling most certainly has a very nice sporty feel to it, which is good. To be honest, it could have a little bit more grip because it doesn’t exactly fly around corners and if you do throw it into a corner too fast and the grip exceeds its limit, the rear end does become loose rather violently, but other than that it is a very nice car to drive.
Refinement - ★★★
This is a sports car, and along with the nice sporty feel to the handling comes a very dirty, rumbling soundtrack as you drive along. Foot to the floor and the interior fills with the sound of a very angry, high revving V8 monster. This is wonderful, but if you aren’t the kind of person who is interested in driving at full throttle everywhere and just want to cruise along the roads the engine could become a nuisance, because it never shuts up, partly because the engine is very loud and secondly because at 70-80 mph the engine is revving in 6th gear at a ridiculous 4750-5250 rpm. Thankfully wind and road noise are almost completely suppressed, however this may also be down to the fact that the engine drowns out all the noise.
Equipment - ★★★
This is yet another area where I believe that GrandSport couldn’t make their mind up about. A sports car like this isn’t expected to come with a lot of equipment and also is not expected to be getting a high score in this category, however it seems as if they wanted it that way from some point of view yet from another they did. The car comes with all the basic equipment you expect in cars nowadays such as air-conditioning and your radio/CD player with USB ports etc, but it has some safety equipment as standard that you expect in something with massaging seats and 18-way electric seat adjustment, which this doesn’t have. And to top it all off, they decided that although it has tonnes of safety kit they would leave out driver assists such as traction control and electronic stability management. A mix of everything here, but overall decent.
Quality - ★★★
The interior is rather a special place to sit. There are sporty touches here, there and everywhere to remind you that you are in a V8 sports car. In order to keep the weight down the materials used in the cabin are either really special or really horrible. There are some signs of lightweight metals here and there, but there are also plenty of horrible, rough, flimsy, scratchy plastics, but overall the interior is still decent enough, even more so considering the sportiness.
Reliability - ★★★★
High performance in small engines usually comes at the expense of reliability, but after extensive and brutal testing the engine has shown absolutely no signs of wear. The engine is an incredibly well-built, solid lump of metal. We also believe that you shouldn’t have many electrical niggles, mainly down to the fact that there aren’t many goodies that can go wrong in the first place, except safety stuff, and also due to the ever-improving reliability of tech in our computerised world.
Running Costs - ★★
Although higher running costs are generally something that doesn’t put the sports car buyer off, this car is possibly poor enough to make the buyer have second thoughts. Nowadays you expect rather surprising fuel economy from small, powerful engines. This car manages just 32.1 mpg, which, although reasonable, isn’t exactly good. Most high-200 to low-300 bhp small turbocharged engines nowadays manage around the 40 mark. The biggest issue we have found with the car are the servicing costs, which are eye-watering.
Safety - ★★★★
This car would have a much, much lower rating in this category if it wasn’t for the safety equipment. The car has so much stuff it makes you think you have just sat yourself down in a top-of-the-range Volvo, not a cheap-ish small sports car. There are countless airbags, numerous special safety features and even silly stuff like AEB. The huge let down is the fact that it has next to no driver assists. There is anti-lock brakes, but that is it. This seems rather contradictory considering that it has so much other stuff that keeps you safe in the event of a collision, it just seems as if it wants you to have a collision in the first place.
OVERALL - ★★★
For: Wonderful gem of an engine, safety tech, sporty feel
Against: Running costs, many other confused bits and bobs that make little sense
One of the most interesting things about the GrandSport Chaser is the engine. Under the bonnet there is a rather small 2.2-litre engine, but unlike normal it isn’t a 4-cylinder engine. Instead the engine is a V8 that manages to produce a whopping 300 bhp @ 8300 rpm and 197 ft-lb of torque. Somehow as well they have managed to get all of this power out of it without the use of a turbocharger. The engine powers 1250 kg of metal, so 0-62 mph is covered in a reasonable 5.3 seconds and the top speed is gear limited to 154 mph. Speaking of which, the gearbox is a huge let down. It is one of the only 6-speed gearboxes in the world that require you to shift all the way to 4th gear before you can get to the magical 62 mph, which is appalling. The engine is an absolute beauty but it is completely ruined by the gearbox. A shame.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
Sports cars aren’t expected to have a supple ride, but this one manages rather well if not brilliantly when it comes to the duty of ironing out bumps and scars on the road. The suspension setup does seem a bit weird. The front suspension is a incredibly firm setup, yet the rear suspension is a rather soft setup. This does make the ride a bit weird, but overall the car does do a rather good job, once up to speed, at ironing out bumps. At lower speeds the rear suspension still manages to soak up most of the bump, but the front suspension feels as if it almost can’t be bothered. Odd, but OK.
Handling - ★★★★
The GrandSport Chaser seems to have found an area where there isn’t anything letting the side down. The Chaser, although it has a weird suspension, handles really rather well, if not magnificently. There is a lot of grip that, along with the rather low weight, allows you to throw the car into corners. This agility plus the fact that GrandSport decided that driver assists are for wimps means this car is a proper drivers car. The handling most certainly has a very nice sporty feel to it, which is good. To be honest, it could have a little bit more grip because it doesn’t exactly fly around corners and if you do throw it into a corner too fast and the grip exceeds its limit, the rear end does become loose rather violently, but other than that it is a very nice car to drive.
Refinement - ★★★
This is a sports car, and along with the nice sporty feel to the handling comes a very dirty, rumbling soundtrack as you drive along. Foot to the floor and the interior fills with the sound of a very angry, high revving V8 monster. This is wonderful, but if you aren’t the kind of person who is interested in driving at full throttle everywhere and just want to cruise along the roads the engine could become a nuisance, because it never shuts up, partly because the engine is very loud and secondly because at 70-80 mph the engine is revving in 6th gear at a ridiculous 4750-5250 rpm. Thankfully wind and road noise are almost completely suppressed, however this may also be down to the fact that the engine drowns out all the noise.
Equipment - ★★★
This is yet another area where I believe that GrandSport couldn’t make their mind up about. A sports car like this isn’t expected to come with a lot of equipment and also is not expected to be getting a high score in this category, however it seems as if they wanted it that way from some point of view yet from another they did. The car comes with all the basic equipment you expect in cars nowadays such as air-conditioning and your radio/CD player with USB ports etc, but it has some safety equipment as standard that you expect in something with massaging seats and 18-way electric seat adjustment, which this doesn’t have. And to top it all off, they decided that although it has tonnes of safety kit they would leave out driver assists such as traction control and electronic stability management. A mix of everything here, but overall decent.
Quality - ★★★
The interior is rather a special place to sit. There are sporty touches here, there and everywhere to remind you that you are in a V8 sports car. In order to keep the weight down the materials used in the cabin are either really special or really horrible. There are some signs of lightweight metals here and there, but there are also plenty of horrible, rough, flimsy, scratchy plastics, but overall the interior is still decent enough, even more so considering the sportiness.
Reliability - ★★★★
High performance in small engines usually comes at the expense of reliability, but after extensive and brutal testing the engine has shown absolutely no signs of wear. The engine is an incredibly well-built, solid lump of metal. We also believe that you shouldn’t have many electrical niggles, mainly down to the fact that there aren’t many goodies that can go wrong in the first place, except safety stuff, and also due to the ever-improving reliability of tech in our computerised world.
Running Costs - ★★
Although higher running costs are generally something that doesn’t put the sports car buyer off, this car is possibly poor enough to make the buyer have second thoughts. Nowadays you expect rather surprising fuel economy from small, powerful engines. This car manages just 32.1 mpg, which, although reasonable, isn’t exactly good. Most high-200 to low-300 bhp small turbocharged engines nowadays manage around the 40 mark. The biggest issue we have found with the car are the servicing costs, which are eye-watering.
Safety - ★★★★
This car would have a much, much lower rating in this category if it wasn’t for the safety equipment. The car has so much stuff it makes you think you have just sat yourself down in a top-of-the-range Volvo, not a cheap-ish small sports car. There are countless airbags, numerous special safety features and even silly stuff like AEB. The huge let down is the fact that it has next to no driver assists. There is anti-lock brakes, but that is it. This seems rather contradictory considering that it has so much other stuff that keeps you safe in the event of a collision, it just seems as if it wants you to have a collision in the first place.
OVERALL - ★★★
For: Wonderful gem of an engine, safety tech, sporty feel
Against: Running costs, many other confused bits and bobs that make little sense