GAC GS5 review: the SUV in the middle of the range and at the bottom of the awareness list
3.1/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
There is nothing mechanically wrong with the GS5 — it's a competently sorted mid-size SUV with GAC's usual strengths, a spacious cabin and a fair asking price. Its real problem is positioning: it sits in the shadow of the better-known GS4 below it and the flagship GS8 above it, and that lack of visibility in the Bahraini market translates directly into weaker resale and slower parts turnaround than either sibling. Buy it only if the price is genuinely compelling and you plan to keep it long enough that resale barely factors in.
Pros
- Largest interior of GAC's mainstream SUV trio short of the GS8
- Turbo 1.5 family shared with the GS3/GS4, so mechanical parts overlap
- Fair asking price for the size and equipment on offer
- AC and cabin cooling handle Bahrain's summer without complaint
Cons
- Lowest brand awareness of GAC's SUV lineup in Bahrain, which drags resale down further
- Regional power/torque figures are inconsistent enough that we won't quote one
- Single-distributor parts and service network
- Overshadowed in showroom traffic by both the GS4 below and GS8 above it
The GS5 leans on the same turbocharged 1.5-litre family that powers most of GAC's range, and the extra length over the GS4 goes almost entirely into rear-seat and boot space rather than a heavier, more powerful driveline. That makes it the pick of the range for a family that values interior room over outright pace.
GAC has not published a confident GCC power figure for this generation that we're willing to repeat here — regional listings disagree with each other by a wide enough margin that quoting one would be a guess dressed as a fact. What is consistent across every source is the car's size and equipment level, both of which are genuinely competitive for the money.
Bahrain specifics
Like the rest of the GAC range, the GS5 is sold through a single Bahrain distributor, and cabin cooling and general heat tolerance track the same story as the GS3 and GS4: no unusual weaknesses reported, no particular strengths either, just a competent air-conditioning system doing its job through the summer months.
The awareness problem
Ask a Bahraini car buyer to name a GAC SUV and GS8 or GS3 are the answers you'll get; the GS5 barely registers. That obscurity, more than anything mechanical, is what a used-market seller has to fight against — a car nobody's cross-shopped gets a lower offer regardless of condition. If you value the extra interior space this size step delivers over the GS4, it's a legitimate buy; just go in knowing you're trading resale liquidity for that space.