New Denza B5 2025 review: China’s Defender

Verdict

It’s clear that BYD and Denza have paid close attention to what makes a good off-roader, and have a clear goal to take sales from legacy manufacturers. As an unknown brand, Denza may initially struggle against the competition, but the car is more than capable… in a controlled setting at least.

Denza is coming to the UK in 2026, and it’s bringing an SUV with it. The B5 is setting its sights on the Land Rover Defender, and what the brand lacks in heritage, it makes up for in power and toys. 

Denza is from the BYD stable, and has its eyes firmly set on the likes of BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Audi and co, which means its products will come with plush materials, and smart tech, which – it hopes – will make the top end of the market a little nervous. The brand will launch in Europe with the Z9 GT megawagon, the D9 people carrier and the B5 SUV – all areas that Denza reckons it can excel in, and that will appeal to European customers. 

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The B5 comes with a hybrid powertrain, teaming a 1.5-litre turbocharged motor with a 31.8kWh battery and a pair of electric motors. The whole system kicks out a combined 677bhp and 761Nm, and will get you from 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds before heading on to 112mph. It can even manage 62 miles on EV power alone (according to Chinese testing; that may change once it’s run under Europe’s WLTP tests).

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From afar it looks a little like JLR’s finest, but up close it’s an angrier, more American affair than the toned down lines of a Defender. Its nose and rear have shades of Ford Bronco about them, which is no bad thing. Inside, it’s a techfest. A large, 15.6-inch central display dominates the front, and gives easy access to the car’s various functions. It’s quite a big car, at 4.9 metres long, nearly two metres wide and just shy of three metres tall, and there are pleasing amounts of space up front and at the rear, with plenty of sensible storage, too. 

Our first drive took place at BYD’s new test driving facility in Zhengzhou, China. The $30million-plus development features a test track, a simulated sand dune, a water tank and an off-road course, which is where the B5 was put through its paces. 

The track is a mix of steep banking, steps, sharp inclines, mixed surfaces and even a giant metal seesaw, and was, obviously, designed to show BYD’s various off-road products in the best possible light. The track isn’t designed for all-out speed, though, so the B5’s near 700bhp wasn’t going to be put to the test.

Moving off, it feels pleasingly robust – plenty of torque means that even getting to off-road pace feels brisk and easy. The track kicks off with mixed surfaces – lumps and bumps, simulated cobbles and slabs of tarmac – which are all designed to upset the car and ease you into the experience. The B5’s suspension coped admirably with them, and while the massaging seat was most pleasant, the road underneath did a good job of throwing the car about and giving cause to regret a big breakfast. 

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When presented with banking, slowly inching onto the surface, the B5 didn’t wobble or waver and managed to get to a decent angle before silently rolling off and onto the next task. BYD says it’ll be able to lean in excess of 30 degrees before falling over, which seems more than adequate. (Old Routemaster double deckers could manage 28 degrees, although they are a tiny bit taller than a Denza B5). 

The course took the car down a suitably Jason Bourne-esque set of stairs. Pointing the B5 downwards, it gently bobbed as the fronts and rears cleared each step. It didn’t feel overly dramatic, and got down without any issues. 

After some more banking, and assorted terrible surfaces, it’s time to put the B5 into ‘crawl’ mode to have it attack a steep incline. Pressing a button on its large display switches the various off-road modes (the course doesn’t trouble it sufficiently to require it to switch out of the standard setting, bar here). With each stab, the B5 on the screen bursts through a colourful digital cloud, a bit like the DeLorean in Back To The Future. It’s neat theatre. 

Pointing the B5 upwards, hitting crawl and taking both feet off the pedals, it gently hauls itself to the top of the slope, crests and heads down without incident. It’s disarmingly easy. To counter the fact that the car’s quite chunky, and its occupants are unlikely to have X-ray vision, cameras around it provide a full top-down view, and even show what’s under the engine. You have little excuse to bring your B5 home from a day off-road with a scratch on it as a result. 

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