Availability of the character-altering regional suspension and steering revision starts with the H6 crossover.

SUSPENSION adjustments to GWM product to make them feel more at home on New Zealand roads are rolling into the showroom.

The work under the AT1 protocol - which pronounces as ‘at one’, a name chosen to emphasis the application was a regional retuning - was first sampled by media, this writer included, in Australia last September.

The Haval H6 driven then has become the first customer available product to benefit from damper and steering tuning revisions.

The job was conducted under leadership from Rob Trubiani, who in previous life with General Motors engineered the driving manners of Holdens, his opus being the 2018 SS-V Redline that farewelled all those Aussie-made Commodores.

Trubiani’s role now is to calibrate the steering and suspension of the Chinese make’s regional products.

That was the focus of a media day at the Lang Lang testing ground near Melbourne that’s a highly familiar base for the project lead, as it was developed as a GM facility before being sold off.

Because the cars he is finessing are already familiar to us, ’before’ and ‘after' analysis of his work was possible.

To this writer, the Haval H6 PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha diesel ute had sharper steering, a quieter, more less ruffled ride, and, overall, delivered sense of being more confident and more connected, less floaty than the factory settings.

GWM has not said when the revised Cannon Alpha is coming, but says the H6’s regional formula applies to petrol, and front-drive and all wheel drive hybrid and plug-in hybrid editions the hybrids are here now; the others are due shortly.

GWM cars coming here are going to get AT1 by the middle of 2026, as a running change.

Trubiani had said that with H6, the hybrid and plug-in hybrid would receive more attention than the pure petrol, achieving new power steering software, as well as new suspension dampers. The regular petrols get the latter only.

His H6 optimisation optimisation required extensive calibration work, including approximately 24 front damper

tunes and 40 rear damper tunes. The proposal is that the car has “an ideal balance of ride and handling across each variant.”

A media share today says steering calibration represents an even deeper layer of refinement, with thousands of individual data points adjusted over weeks of development to “deliver a steering feel that is intuitive, natural and confidence-inspiring.”

In supplied comment, Trubiani said: “The objective of the AT-1 philosophy is to create a more unified and intuitive driving experience, specifically tuned for New Zealand conditions. The result is a more cohesive and assured character, with improvements evident across everyday driving scenarios. From enhanced ride compliance on uneven surfaces to more precise and consistent system responses, every element has been refined to contribute to a more resolved and capable vehicle.”

When interviewed in September, there was hint more is to come.

GWM has already reduced factory tune for driver assistance nd attention monitoring protocols that in original state proved highly irksome.

Trubiani reckoned he could further improve those ADAS calibrations, but said such alteration required a deep dive into the electronic architecture.

For now, GWM’s Australia-based regional office says findings will extend beyond New Zealand and Australia. the work is contributing to GWM’s global engineering knowledge base and informing future product development across international markets. This was reflected in a significant cohort of GWM’s global research and development and engineering teams travelling from China to work directly with Trubiani on optimising the AT-1 localisation programme.

“Our Chinese management is listening and engaged; they want us to push the envelope. We want GWM ANZ to be recognised not just as a support centre, but as a hub of engineering innovation that influences the brand globally,” said John Kett, GWM chief operating officer.

GWM’s country manager for New Zealand is similarly enthused. Says Cameron Thomas: “AT-1 cars are tuned and developed specifically for New Zealand and Australia, with both countries sharing many similarities in road texture and undulations. These road surfaces drive similar inputs into the vehicle's suspension and body structure.”