Denza Z9GT review: amazing hypercar numbers for the price of a posh coupe
The Denza Z9GT is available with hybrid or electric power, but it's the latter that makes the most sense
Verdict
With unrivalled charging capability and a competitive range, the Denza Z9GT makes more sense as an EV rather than the plug-in hybrid we drove last year. We’re not sure if the crazed tri-motor power output adds much to the driving enjoyment, as this is a big, soft grand tourer, but the promise of a longer-range, less powerful variant later this year certainly has our attention. Either way, for a new brand, the Z9GT is a real statement of intent.
Denza might not be a name you’ve heard of before, but as part of the BYD empire, it has the backing of one of the largest car manufacturers in the world – and one with a major foothold in the UK market.
Specifically, Denza is the premium sub-brand of BYD, and it has the incredibly difficult task of tempting buyers away from the likes of BMW, Mercedes and even Porsche. Various ill-fated attempts from DS, Infiniti, Maserati and Genesis all attest as to how hard Denza’s objective is.
Unlike most other Chinese brands looking to make a name for themselves in Europe, Denza hasn’t arrived with a big SUV to appeal to the widest audience possible. Instead, it’s gone for something a bit more niche, a shooting brake estate.
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Cash £24,004Called the Z9GT, it’s been available in China since 2024, although the model we’re getting is the latest update and comes with technological tweaks to suit European tastes, which will filter back to Chinese-market cars.
Orders for Europe have already started with the Z9GT priced from 115,000 euros. In the UK, we expect it to sit around the £100,000 mark when it arrives in summer – making this a very different proposition to other, value-focused Chinese cars that have swept the sales charts here.
We drove the Z9GT in DM-i plug-in hybrid form last year, but thanks to its ‘e3’ platform (pronounced ‘e cube’), there’s an all-electric model, too. It features a tri-motor powertrain, with one electric motor on the front axle and two at the rear.
Just as we found in the hybrid, the performance stats of the EV are pretty incredible. The total power output of the tri-motor system is 1,140bhp, with 1,210Nm of torque. The sprint from 0-62mph is dealt with in 2.7 seconds (just under a second quicker than the hybrid) and it’ll top out at 167mph. This pace is enough to put it into the company of the fastest four-door EVs, such as the Porsche Taycan Turbo, the Audi RS e-tron GT and fellow Chinese brand Xiaomi’s SU7.
When starting off in the Z9GT, the first thing you notice are its electric doors. All four open and close at the touch of a button, and then the driver’s seat slides back to ease access – all of which adds a bit of flamboyance to the start-up process.
Being an EV, the Z9GT sets off in a smooth, silent manner and at low speeds all the controls feel well calibrated – in particular the steering. At 5.2 metres long and two metres wide, the Z9GT might not seem the best fit for urban areas, but there’s rear-wheel steering here up to 8.5 degrees, and this gives the big Denza a supermini-like turning circle.
The Z9GT can also perform pivot turning, where the front wheels lock in place and the rears turn and steer, for occasions when incredibly tight manoeuvres are needed. There’s also a ‘crab-walk’ function, where the car will drive diagonally up to 8.5 degrees. We experienced these from behind the wheel and the Denza completed the manoeuvres as quickly as we could do them ourselves.
There’s also a self-parking feature that can be activated through the car or even an app on your phone – although if you have to use all those features regularly, you might want to reconsider if a huge shooting brake is the right car for you.
Around town, the Z9GT doesn’t feel particularly unwieldy, although our car came with the optional digital wing mirrors, which work just about as well as any others we’ve tried, but still take time to get used to. Due to the swoopy shape of the Z9GT’s back end, visibility is poor through the rear view mirror. However you can flick the screen to the digital wing mirror, although unlike the one used in the Polestar 4, there’s no scope to pan across when indicating or adjustability of any sort.
Denza says the Z9GT’s name takes the ‘GT’ part very seriously. It doesn’t take long to realise this big EV has been set up to prioritise a comfortable ride, which might sound surprising in something with more power than a Bugatti Veyron. There’s a tremendous amount of different driving modes to set the Z9GT to your tastes, from the core ones (Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow) to the ability to change the ride height via the standard-fit air suspension. Under the ‘DiSus’ menu on the central screen, there are further options to alter the suspension’s stiffness, and ‘Vehicle Motion Control’, which counters braking, suspension and steering in as little as 10 milliseconds.
The Z9GT’s technology all sounds very impressive and on the move it is, but considering the depths of the various settings, the tangible changes to the driving experience are surprisingly small. This is a 2.9-tonne car, after all, and while it certainly does a great job of hiding its weight through clever chassis technology, the Denza is no sports car.
In Normal mode, the power is limited (although Denza doesn’t provide a specific figure) and most will find this more than enough to explore the Z9GT’s dynamic capabilities. In Sport mode, you get the full-fat power output and the straight-line performance is simply breathtaking – as in you forget to breathe, while your lungs are shoved to the back of your rib cage. However, this is something we’ve experienced in plenty of other fast EVs.
What did take us by surprise is how floaty the Z9GT felt in its stiffest modes; there’s noticeable pitch on acceleration and while there are large carbon-ceramic brakes, the brake pedal requires a good stamp to slow the big Denza down if you’re driving hard. At this point, more often than not it’ll whack the hazard lights on.
Corner hard and the Z9GT won’t reward you with the same engagement a Porsche Taycan will; your best option is to aim for smooth, steady progress. The steering set-up, just like at low speed, feels very well connected. It’s also quick enough to counter the minimal slip from the rear that you can expect even with the traction control on.
Drive the Z9GT like a GT and you’ll find it to largely be a comfortable and refined thing. The floaty suspension didn’t quite glide over a rough farmtrack, but it was just as composed as, say, a Taycan Cross Turismo. Likewise, big bumps and potholes are dispatched with ease. At higher speeds, you can get the occasional thud and road noise is more prevalent than we’d like from a six-figure car, but it’s never overly intrusive.
The cabin is also of the quality you’d expect from this price bracket. There are no horrible plastics to be seen anywhere, and the materials used, especially the wood and leather elements, all feel plush and robust.
There’s a tremendous amount of kit, with the usual things such as massage and heated seats complemented by fun items such as a refrigerator, electric-folding rear seats and passenger-side screen (with built-in karaoke, no less). Overall space is excellent, too, with the real highlight coming in the form of rear legroom, although given the 3.1 metre-long wheelbase, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
The source of the Z9GT’s power and in part its weight is a huge 122.4kWh battery which uses parent company BYD’s second-generation ‘Blade Battery’ technology. You’d expect a fairly sizeable range too, but the Z9GT tops out at 372 miles. However, real-world range seemed pretty reliable. When we set off, we saw our car had a 369-mile range at 98 per cent before dropping to 226 miles at 60 per cent. Later this year, a single-motor model that will use the same battery will join the line-up with, in all probability, a lower price and a greater range.
While the Z9GT’s range is pretty competitive, ‘Flash Charging’ looks set to blow its opponents away. Flash Chargers will be able to put out a 1,500kW charge – way more than the current leading EVs such as the Taycan, which tops out at 320kW. This essentially means a 10 to 70 per cent top-up of the Denza battery can be completed in five minutes, with a 20 to 97 per cent charge taking nine minutes.
BYD says it’ll have 300 Flash Charging sites in the UK by the end of the year. As the design of the charger is a T-shape with two charging cables, essentially there will be 600 points of charge in the country. Z9GT customers will get 12 months’ free Flash Charging, with an additional six months for anyone ordering before the end of September.
| Model: | Denza Z9GT EV |
| Price: | £100,000 (est) |
| Powertrain: | 3x e-motor, 122.4kWh battery |
| Power/torque: | 1,140bhp/1,210Nm |
| Transmission: | Single-speed auto, all-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | 2.7 seconds |
| Top speed: | 167mph |
| Charging: | 1,500kW (10-97% in nine minutes) |
| Range: | 372 miles |
| Size (L/W/H): | 5,180/1,990/1,490mm |
| On sale: | Now |
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