For fifteen years, if you drove a Holden Commodore and marveled at how it seemed to glide over rough surfaces while staying sharp and connected in the corners, you were experiencing the work of Rob Trubiani. As Holden’s lead engineer for vehicle dynamics, he was the man largely responsible for the ride and handling prowess that defined a generation of Australian motoring.
Trubiani has recently brought his three decades of expertise to GWM, and has been charged with a singular, ambitious mission: to locally tune GWM’s entire fleet for the unique and demanding roads of Australia and New Zealand.
This isn’t just a case of tweaking a single model; it’s a comprehensive, ground-up program to redefine the brand’s dynamic character for the entire Right Hand Drive (RHD) market. GWM is no longer content with just being a value leader; it’s aiming to become a dynamic benchmark too.
The Mission: From Good to Great on Local Roads
GWM’s leadership has been paying close attention. With a rapidly growing and exciting range of vehicles, the brand has been on a “steady path of growth, consistently for many years”. But with that success came valuable feedback from the people who matter most: customers, dealers, and the media. As Trubiani puts it, “The feedback has been clear that the cars are great. But they don’t suit our roads necessarily as well as they could”.
Lesser brands might ignore such criticism. GWM, however, listened. Trubiani’s very presence is a clear sign of this, an investment in local expertise to create a product that doesn’t just work on our roads but excels on them. This commitment spawned the “AT1” program, a name with a clever double meaning. On one hand, it stands for “Australian Tune 1,” but its deeper meaning is philosophical: to make the driver feel “At One” with their vehicle.
“When drivers are most relaxed in the car, when they are most in tune and most playful with their vehicles, they feel confident,” Trubiani explains. “And for me, having confidence in the car is what gives you that excitement”. The goal is to create a car that inspires such driver confidence while ensuring passengers enjoy a comfortable experience, a delicate balancing act that requires a master’s touch.
Under the Skin: The Science of ‘Linearity’ and Feel
Upon joining GWM, Trubiani and his team spent months simply driving and evaluating the current product range. The verdict was encouraging. “What really came across was that our cars have a really strong fundamental architecture… It’s great. And is a really good launching pad for us to do AT1”. This meant the team wasn’t facing a major overhaul, but a process of refinement, tweaks and tunes to unlock the chassis’s inherent potential.
The team identified the “big hitters” that define a car’s driving experience: steering calibration and damper (shock absorber) tunes.
The steering was the first focus. Modern electric power steering (EPS) systems are incredibly complex, controlled by a suite of about 20 data tables. One of the most critical is the “boost curve,” which dictates how much electrical assistance the steering motor provides at different vehicle speeds. Trubiani’s team has made thousands of calculated changes, fine-tuning data points to a staggering “point one of an amp”.
The objective is to achieve what Trubiani calls “linearity.” “The vehicle does need to feel linear. Where your driver input gives you an expected output, and again, that’s all part of that confident feeling”. For the driver, this translates into steering that feels “pinpoint sharp” during small inputs, allowing you to place the car on the road with precision and without any unnatural vagueness or resistance. This refined feel is applied across the car’s different steering modes (Light, Comfort, and Sport) to ensure a natural and consistent response in all conditions.
Taming the Bumps: The Art of Damper Tuning
Alongside steering, the dampers are crucial for achieving the desired ride and handling balance. Trubiani, a self-confessed “petrolhead and keen driver,” relishes this part of the job. The process involves physically disassembling shock absorbers and changing the internal valving, a task where the possible combinations run into the “millions and millions”.
“It’s the skill of tuning engineers like myself to be able to I guess know what you want to change and have a vision for where you want to take a car,” he notes.
This painstaking work has already yielded significant results. The GWM Cannon Alpha ute, for example, has undergone around 40 distinct damper changes, while the Haval H6 SUV is on its 60th iteration. This tuning is aimed at two key areas: improving “ride comfort and impact performance” to create a quality feel over bumps, and refining “body control” to ensure the car feels stable and tracks the road securely. It’s this control that prevents the wallowing or unsettled feeling that can plague vehicles not tuned for local conditions.
The AT1 Rollout: A New Dynamic Signature
This extensive development program, backed by “outstanding support from our head office team,” is now being rolled out across GWM’s key models. The investment in flying in overseas suppliers to work directly at the Australian proving ground shows just how serious GWM is about this RHD-specific localisation.
The first vehicles to receive the AT1 treatment include:
- GWM Cannon Alpha (Diesel): Full steering calibration and damper tune.
- GWM Cannon Alpha (HEV & PHEV): Steering calibration.
- Haval H6 Range (HEV FWD/AWD & PHEV FWD/AWD): Full steering calibrations and damper tunes.
Tarmac Takeaway
By investing so heavily in a bespoke tune for the Australian and New Zealand market, GWM is not only enhancing its products but also setting a new standard for other manufacturers. It demonstrates a deep understanding that what works on a smooth test track elsewhere in the world doesn’t necessarily translate to the challenging, varied, and often coarse-chip road surfaces found Down Under.
The ultimate goal, in Trubiani’s words, is to create cars that “reassure all drivers, but it rewards the enthusiastic driver”. It’s a philosophy that promises safety and comfort for the daily commute, but with an extra layer of engagement and fun for those who love to drive. With a handling guru at the helm and full factory backing, GWM is not just joining the conversation on ride and handling, it’s preparing to lead it.
