Buying a new car today presents an interesting challenge for would be buyers; a number of automotive brands have expanded their model offerings significantly in the last decade, to the point that they offer a product for every micro-niche.
As an automotive enthusiast, this journalist has always believed choice is a good thing, and while there’s certainly tons of metal out there today, proceedings take a sharp U-turn when it comes to finding something that offers bang for your buck.
A variety of elements from increasing material costs, to chip shortages and – lets face it – the thirst for greater profits by manufacturers has seen prices for new vehicles increase significantly in the last decade. As an example, the last time this journalist was in the market for a car in the late 2000s, a budget of AED80,000 opened the door to several vehicles including a mid-spec Toyota RAV4 or Nissan X-Trail (both compact crossovers).
Alternatively, for that spend at that point in time, you could also get slightly better specified compact crossovers from brands like Hyundai and KIA, and could consider at least a dozen other cars.
Today however, things are quite different; both the aforementioned Japanese contenders boast a starting price of AED99,900, while getting into a basic Hyundai Tucson will run you approximately AED90,000. Those base vehicles offer precious little in terms of features, and are rather dull to look at, and there aren’t many other solid choices for under AED100,000 at present.
So, if you are a young adult or young couple and want a vehicle that doesn’t break the bank yet offers modern features, a decent driving experience, and stands out in a sea of forgettable metal, the million dollar question is: what are your options? Thankfully, help is at hand from the Far East.
Enter the COOLRAY
Geely features two subcompact models, with the Coolray first breaking cover late in 2018 (it is known as the Geely Binyue in its home market), and since its introduction all those years ago, Geely has kept the platform up-to-date with constant tweaks and updates.
The T&FME tester costs AED 79,900 and was finished in an attractive ‘Lavender’ colour (a recent introduction). The vehicle is also offered in grey, white, red and blue at the time of going to press, however as a nice extra – the vehicle’s 18-inch tomahawk style wheels are exclusively offered in purple only on lavender finished vehicles (black rims are offered as standard on the other colour options). T&FME has been quoted rental rates in the UAE, where the vehicle was tested, at 159 AED (daily); 1,059 AED (weekly); 2,999 AED (monthly) on some sites, but can be as low as 1720 AED (monthly). This seems more in line with other Chinese brands and equivalent vehicles in its class.
In the metal, the Coolray is an attractive thing and is one of those vehicles you feel the designers just couldn’t stop designing. While that can sometimes be a bad thing, the Coolray has a cohesiveness to its design – those front bumper slats, hood vents, rear wing, creases and body lines come together well, and give the car an attractive and sporty look. The subtle purple rims match the lavender paint job brilliantly and there’s tasteful use of faux carbon fibre, as well as contrasting black and red elements (roof, mirrors, grille etc.), all of which give the vehicle a decent bit of presence.
The Coolray even has quad exhausts integrated on either side of its rear bumper (in pairs of two) – the great news is on conducting a close-up visual inspection, those exhaust finishers actually lead to actual exhaust pipes. Fake exhausts on sporty vehicles are a personal bugbear (I’m looking at you NISMO Patrol) that really put this reviewer off, so it’s brilliant the Coolray sidesteps that faux pas.
Stepping into the vehicle, the sense of ‘they went all out on the design’ continues – the cabin is awash with interesting design elements, a mix of different materials and backs up the car’s sporty exterior well. Two screens dominate the Coolray’s dashboard, however Geely has also included physical buttons and controls on the steering wheel and dash for features like intelligent cruise control, air conditioning and audio – Geely gets points here for avoiding haptic touch controls, which seem to be finding their way into more and more vehicles each year.
Geely’s buttons and controls all had a nice tactile feel to them, and as their function doesn’t change in context to what you’re doing, it’s easy to build muscle memory and habits – you’ll therefore get comfortable and familiar with the Coolray quite quickly.
The only real complaint this reviewer had with the Coolray’s interior from a design standpoint was with regards to the use of the black plastic trim around the gear selector and around the door handles – those picked up fingerprints and were dust magnets, and needed a wipe down every couple of days to look presentable. The other issue was with the lack of support for Apple Carplay and Android Auto – this is a disappointing omission that this reviewer hopes is remedied in future iterations of the vehicle. That said – if you have to have it on your Coolray now, there do seem to be ways to install both using third party USB add-ons (feel free to YouTube that).
The vehicle’s user interface (UI) is fairly straightforward and easy to navigate, though it isn’t the most polished in terms of its looks and the way information is sometimes presented (in the vehicle health status section, the text “The car in good condition” was displayed for example).
Apart from those issues, the Coolray’s cabin is a pleasant place to be, with a clean mix of contrasting black and red elements. Controls are logically laid out and within arm’s reach, while the cabin is airy whether you’ve got the large panoramic sunroof open or closed, and offers good all-around visibility. Given the vehicle’s subcompact size, rear legroom might be a bit of a pinch for taller passengers but that’s to be expected given the vehicle’s 2600mm wheelbase.
The T&FME tester had about 5,631KM on the clock when this reviewer collected it, and over the four-day test period, there were no detectable squeaks or rattles at all. Interior trim touchpoints felt good and was solidly bolted into the car with zero play when pushed and prodded.
A cool contender for Dubai’s roads?
There’s four different specs of the Coolray on offer, however the powertrain remains the same across the board – a 1.5 litre four cylinder engine with 172hp and 214ft/lb of torque mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The powertrain is a fine match for the vehicle; the engine and transmission are fairly refined operators and in comfort driving mode (you can choose from sport, comfort, eco and adaptive) the car gets off the line well, and the transmission does a good job of keeping the engine in its power band as you go about your business, and most overtaking moves don’t require much consideration.
In mixed use driving the Coolray proved frugal in terms of petrol consumption. On the highway, with the intelligent cruise control maintaining 100km/h (the cruise control even follows vehicles well around bends and turns which is fantastic), the Coolray reported it was doing 4.6l/100km, while mixed used driving (slow and high-speed on city roads and highways) saw average fuel consumption of about 8.4l/100km.
A full tank on the Coolray at the time of going to press (AED 3.22 per litre for Special 95) costs AED 145 and gave a range of 402km – you’ll probably be able to manage more than that if you spend more time on highways rather than sitting in constant city traffic. Switching to the other drive modes changes the character of the Coolray slightly, though take this reviewer’s advice and avoid ‘eco’ at all costs, as it makes the vehicle feel sluggish.
If you floorboard the accelerator from a standing start, you can get a bit of torque steer (the Coolray is front wheel drive after all), as the car steps off the line – it will do 0-100km/h in under 8 seconds. Being a small displacement turbo engine, the engine runs out of huff at high-way speeds beyond 140km/h but that scenario will be quite rare for most people (unless you frequently drive to Oman or Saudi Arabia from the UAE).
Considering the Coolray’s 18-inch wheels and low profile rubber, ride quality is a nice blend of sporty and compliant. You’ll feel broken roads and potholes in the cabin but it’s not jarring and for the most part, the little Geely handled all manner of road surfaces and bumps surprisingly well given its short wheelbase and weight.
The steering wheel has a premium feel to it and is great to lay hands on but is devoid of road feel. It is precise and weights up nicely at higher speeds, and – conversely – is light at low speeds, which means complicated parking manoeuvres are a doddle. Of course, you could also let the Coolray park itself – the autonomous parking assistant got it right five out of five times in a variety of parking scenarios around my home and office, once again highlighting the vehicle’s immense value proposition.
Verdict
If you’re in the market for your first vehicle or are keen to replace your existing city runabout with something a bit more modern without breaking the bank, the Geely Coolray has your name on it. It’s a well sorted subcompact that drives well, is more interesting to look at than its peers in this price bracket, and it will utterly decimate a number of more expensive vehicles from Asia, Europe and North America in a game of feature ‘Top Trumps’. It’s quite possibly one of the best value buys on the market today.
