First impressions: the Denza Z9 GT is coming to Malaysia — and it's unlike anything else here

KUALA LUMPUR: There are cars that impress on paper. Then there are cars that make you feel slightly irresponsible the moment you put your foot down.

The Denza Z9 GT is very much the latter — and if everything goes to plan, it will soon be on sale in Malaysia this July as the brand's flagship luxury shooting brake.

We flew to Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, to get behind the wheel of the Malaysian-bound Denza Z9 GT — right-hand drive, production spec, essentially what will land on our shores later this year.

And after a full day at BYD's test facility, which includes a main track, a slalom course, and even a drift pad, we have a lot to say.

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First, the numbers you need to know

Before we get into how it feels, let's talk about what Malaysian buyers are actually getting. The Denza Z9 GT EV sits on Denza's bespoke e³ platform — a tri-motor setup producing 850 kW, 1,156 PS, and 1,210 Nm of torque.

The front motor alone makes 230 kW. The two rear motors combined punch out 620 kW and 800 Nm — independently controlled, each driving its own wheel.

Zero to 100 km/h? 2.7 seconds.

The battery is BYD's second-generation Blade Battery, 122.49 kWh, running on a 1,000-volt architecture. Flash Charging takes it from 10% to 70% in five minutes. Ten to 97% in nine minutes.

Let that sink in. Nine minutes for a near-full charge, and we saw it do it effortlessly at BYD's test centre.  To put that in Malaysian context — that's shorter than your typical mamak stop. Pull up, order a teh tarik, and by the time you're done, the car is essentially full.

And before you ask — yes, the Denza Z9 GT Malaysia spec gets European suspension and damping tuning. So what we drove in China is very close to what you'll be buying here.

A look that earns attention

Before you even open the door, the Z9 GT makes a statement. The shooting brake silhouette is long, low, and genuinely elegant — 5,180 mm of it, to be exact.

Up front, dual-line LED headlights give it a sharp, distinctive face. At the rear, hourglass-shaped taillights span the full width and leave a strong impression in the dark. There's also an upper spoiler with a suspended hollow design that channels air over the roofline, and a lower active spoiler that automatically deploys at 90 km/h for added downforce.

The whole car is finished in 2K nano-ceramic paint — harder, more UV-resistant, and with double the lifespan of conventional paint. Small detail, but the kind of thing you might appreciate years down the line.

One more party trick on the outside — walk up to the rear with the key in your pocket, step on the Denza logo projected onto the ground, and the tailgate opens automatically while the suspension lowers itself to make loading easier. It's the kind of feature that sounds unnecessary until you're carrying groceries.

For the Malaysian launch, two exclusive exterior colours are available — Rime Gold and Obsidian Black — paired with three luxurious interior options: Dark Chocolate with Red Velvet, Dark Chocolate with Perg Beige, and Full Black with suede seats.

On the drift pad — yes, really

One of the highlights of the day was being let loose on a dedicated drift course. This is a 5.18-metre-long shooting brake with over 1,100 horsepower, and Denza wanted us to slide it sideways. We were not going to argue.

With rear wheel independent motor control doing the heavy lifting, the Z9 GT proved remarkably approachable to drift. Power goes exactly where you tell it to, the rear steps out progressively rather than violently, and it never felt like it was trying to kill you.

For anyone who has always wanted to learn car control in a safe environment, this is genuinely a brilliant tool for it — provided you have the space and wet surface of course, or else tyres will become an issue. 

The gymkhana section — agility you wouldn't expect

A 2.3-tonne car doing a mini slalom sounds like a recipe for disaster. It wasn't. Thanks to the rear wheel steering system — which can turn up to 15 degrees for Crab Mode, and reduce the turning radius to just 4.62 metres — the Z9 GT felt surprisingly nimble and predictable through the tight stuff.

It changed direction with a confidence that belied its size. The rear felt planted, responsive, and cooperative rather than fighting you through the cones.

The same system that lets this car crab walk sideways or execute a Pencil Compass Turn in an impossibly tight space is what makes it feel almost hatchback-like on a technical course. Remarkable. We're not sure what real world applications are, but still impressive. 

Out on the main track

This is where the numbers become very, very real. On the straights, the Z9 GT builds speed at an almost alarming rate. It doesn't just accelerate — it compresses you into your seat and keeps going long after you expect it to ease off. High speeds arrive in no time at all, and the car feels planted and stable throughout.

Through the corners, it carries itself with composure. The DiSUS-A dual-chamber air suspension with CDC stiffness control does a good job of keeping things balanced. There is a slight hint of oversteer when you push it, but it's manageable and actually rather entertaining — particularly impressive given that the car was riding on Continental eco tyres rather than performance rubber. On proper performance tyres, this thing would be a different animal entirely.

Worth mentioning here — the VMC tyre burst system. Denza claims the Z9 GT can maintain control and stability even with a complete tyre failure at up to 180 km/h. We didn't test that ourselves, but on a car this fast, knowing that system exists in the background is genuinely reassuring. It's a capability that puts the Denza Z9 GT amongst the best of rivals like the Porsche Taycan and Mercedes-Benz EQS on the active safety front.

Inside — where the real luxury lives

Step inside and the Z9 GT makes a strong case that Chinese luxury has well and truly grown up. Natural wood veneer, knitted fleece roof lining, genuine leather throughout — it feels properly expensive in a way that isn't trying too hard.

All four doors are electrically operated with soft-close function, controllable by button or voice command, and each one has millimetre-wave radar built in to detect obstacles before the door makes contact. No more door dings — at least not ones you caused.

The tech is genuinely staggering. Five screens — a 13.2-inch driver display, a 17.3-inch central touchscreen, a 13.2-inch co-pilot screen, a 9.1-inch digital rearview mirror, and a 6-inch rear control panel — plus a 50-inch augmented reality heads-up display, all powered by a 3nm processor.

That's the same chip generation as a current flagship smartphone, sitting in your dashboard. No other EV on sale in Malaysia today comes close to this level of in-cabin technology.

The Devialet 20-speaker audio system deserves its own paragraph. The French audio brand — whose speakers grace venues like the Royal Albert Hall and the Opéra de Paris — is integrated throughout the cabin, with pop-up speakers that physically rise from the dashboard when the system is active.

Four-zone independent climate control means everyone gets exactly the temperature they want. The front fridge under the centre armrest cools to -6°C or heats to 50°C and fits six cans. Small detail, big smile.

On practicality — the Denza Z9 GT offers 495 litres of boot space at the rear, plus a 53-litre frunk up front. For a car this performance-focused, that's a genuinely usable amount of space. Grand tourer credentials, not just grand tourer looks.

One thing about the rear — and why it doesn't matter

The rear floor sits noticeably high — a consequence of the battery architecture beneath. Normally that's something we'd flag as a meaningful compromise.

But here's the thing: the legroom is so generous that it simply doesn't register as a problem. Sit back there and you have space, you have comfort, you have heated and ventilated seats with massage and electric leg rests. The high floor becomes a non-issue almost immediately.

The neat seat bolster trick

One of our favourite features of the whole day wasn't the drift mode or the AR-HUD. It was something subtler — the front seats' active side bolsters, because we generally haven't experienced it before. 

Connected directly to the DiSUS-A suspension system, they read what the car is doing in real time and tighten around you when you're cornering.

It's like the seat physically grabs you and holds you in place during spirited driving. It sounds gimmicky. It absolutely is not. It works, it's intuitive, and once you've experienced it, every other sporty seat feels incomplete.

So, should Malaysians be excited?

Genuinely, yes. The Denza Z9 GT is not a car that's trying to impress you with its spec sheet, although it has an impressive spec sheet. The spec sheet is just the starting point.

In person, on a track, in right-hand drive form destined for our roads, it backs up every number with something you can actually feel. It is fast in a way that makes you recalibrate your sense of fast.

It is luxurious in a way that feels considered rather than excessive. And it does things — the tyre burst survival, the crab walk, the bolsters that hug you mid-corner — that no other EV on sale in Malaysia can currently claim.

Price is still TBC, but expect the Denza Z9 GT Malaysia price to position it firmly in the premium EV segment when it launches here in 2026. Whatever it costs, the conversation it starts will be worth every ringgit we think.

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