Chana 1.3 Club Cab

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi all
Pretoria, South Africa
I, purchased this bakkie a while ago with 3200km on the clock and stock standard. This bakkie is exclusively used to travel to work and back (52km) on a daily basis (25km is @ 120km/h). The following were done;
1. Steel rims were widened by 75mm (outwards) and 205/60R13 tyres fitted
2. Body raied by 50mm for wheel arch clearance
3. Towbar, Rollbar and Bullbar fitted
4. Smash and grab fitted with 35% tint
5. Level 4 alarm (remote locking etc.)
6. Exaust modified (55mm) with one silencer and outlet @ passenger side
7. New cluster with rev. counter (I, think DFM cluster)
8. Third stop light

Will elaborate in a next thread on what my next mod. is going to be. Still searching for specifications and whether it could be done.

[Lucas de Lange]

Having difficulty posting some images. Will try at a later stage.

[martin_krpan]

Welocme Lucas de Lange
You are one of few owners of a Chinese car at the forum. Are you satisfied with your bakkie and are you satisfied with build quality and materials in general? Why did you decide to buy Chana instead of for example Nissan or Ford?

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi Martin
There is a few reasons for my choice;
1. Value for money as the initial cost is about 40%-60% cheaper than other vehicles e.g. Nissan and Opel (now Chev).
2. Running cost is also about 50% lower than e.g. my daughter's Yaris T1. Service components for a Chana 1.3 is on average half the price as I, service the vehicles myself. I, am not even talking about my Disco Tdi when it comes to spare parts as I, had the engine overhauled a while ago (cost equals a brand new Chana).
3. The vehicle seems to be utilised in South Africa as a small delivery vehicle and not to be high on the "theft and highjack" scale which suits me as I, "work" in predominantly low income area (note my distance).
4. Fuel consumption is moderate (13km to a litre), also note that our fuel prices are climbing at an alarming rate.

Yes, I did some mod's on the vehicle and the build quality is not the "best". The "Technology" level suits me as I, can do most repairs myself (even modify some things).
Will elaborate at a later stage on issues that needs attention on the Chana

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi all
I, want to elaborate on the following issues with respect to my Chana.

1. The seats needs an additional layer of "meduim density" foam about 50mm in thickness as my drive is relatively long and the "road surface" is not user friendly (bumpy at times).
2. The diff. ratio for me is too high as I, travel at 120km/h for some distance on a daily basis and the rev. counter runs on 4000+ r/min. I, did find a website (in China) that manufacture crownwheel and pinions.
3. Whith the wider (and somewhat bigger tyres) the roadholding is superb and not once did it feel unsafe to travel at 120+ km/h. I, think the fact that the Chana has no power steering helps with this.
4. The vehicle is very "nippy" and revs with ease to 7000+ revs. The exaust sounds fantastic and people can't believe it's a Chana motor in there.

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi all
By luck I, stumbled onto a site which shows the same Chana 1.3 as mine doing some spinning on a paved area. To find this I, punched in "monster chana" and it took me to Youtube whereupon the "video" was downloaded. The vehicle sounds the same as mine but I, think they "tweaked" the engine.

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi all
Also check "Chana racing". There's also some racing done in SA. I, use "Google".

[Lucas de Lange]

Hi all
Some aditional photos

[Misterbashi]

Love it! So many of these in Shenzhen but they are hanging and look like deathtraps.

Yours, on the flipside looks like good fun... Imagine it's good fun in the rain?

[Lucas de Lange]

Just some feedback from Lucas
My Chana now has almost 14000km on the clock and still going strong. I must say that it attracts a lot of attention wherever I go. Some drivers also tried to challenge the Chana whereupon they lost the battle badly. I certainly did not tweak the engine but for some reason this bakkie flies. To reach 150km/hr (GPS) is very easy and done in no time. I've also travelled at 140km/hr (again GPS) for some distance. I can "feel" that that the engine is not fond of running at 5000+revs/min. Note must be taken that the speedometer needle is off the markings which leds me to believe that the meters are totally inaccurate (deviation of about 25+km/hr at 148km/hr. Will upload a photo of the cluster at a later stage.