Recently, the Tengshi brand has seen rapid growth in the new energy MPV and SUV markets. Its star products, the Tengshi D9 and Tengshi N7, have achieved impressive sales and positive user reviews. However, in the new energy D-class luxury sedan segment, Tengshi lacks a benchmark product. The earlier released Tengshi Z9GT impressed many, but it is not a pure sedan. To enrich its sedan lineup and offer consumers more choices, Tengshi officially launched the D-class tech luxury sedan, the Tengshi Z9, at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show. This car boasts stunning exterior design and advanced tech features. Today, we will test it to see how it performs.
The golden body proportions look good from any angle. As a D-class luxury flagship sedan, the Tengshi Z9 must appear grand and substantial. In this era of technology and intelligence, the design cannot be too conservative. It needs a sense of fashion and futurism. The Tengshi Z9 achieves these aspects well.
The Tengshi Z9 features the latest “Elegant Momentum” design language. Its lines appear smooth and elegant. The pure electric and range-extended versions have slight differences in the front design. However, both use a large, closed structure. The bumper includes two laser radars on each side. This indicates that the smart driving experience will be impressive.
The cabin cover features muscular lines instead of smooth curves. The front LED headlights are large and extend outward, creating a strong horizontal appearance. Below the headlights, a strip of LED daytime running lights complements the internal light strips, enhancing the visual effect.
The side profile of the Denza Z9 uses the golden ratio. This design choice makes the car look balanced, even with an extra rear compared to the Denza Z9 GT. The curved waistline reflects light well, creating stunning light and shadow effects. The vehicle measures 5220mm in length, 1990mm in width, and 1500mm in height. Its wheelbase is 3125mm. The Denza Z9 comes in four exterior colors: Night Purple, Starry Black, Moonlight Beige, and Starlight Gray. It features frameless doors and supports electric opening and closing.
The design of the rear of the vehicle is innovative. The shape is full and rounded, giving a wide-body effect. The segmented taillights are distinctive. The taillights are large but not designed as a continuous strip. I believe this choice helps distinguish it from models with continuous taillights.
The wheel features a multi-spoke design, a favorite among luxury brands. It measures 21 inches, creating a harmonious proportion with the body. With Easy Three technology, the Denz Z9 achieves a minimum turning radius of just 4.62 meters. This is impressive for a large D-class sedan.
Smart Cockpit Creates Luxury with Technology The Denza Z9 boasts a luxurious cockpit. It features solid wood, genuine leather, and real crystal. This combination enhances the sense of luxury. Various materials add depth to the interior. In design, the Denza Z9’s cockpit resembles the Z9 GT. Both follow a familiar family design from the Denza brand. The main difference lies in the gear lever. The Z9 replaces the traditional central console lever with an electronic gear shift. This change improves usability and space layout.
The center features a familiar 15.6-inch HD central control screen. This screen displays excellent quality. The vehicle uses BYD’s self-developed BYD9000 custom car chip. This chip employs a 4nm process and uses LPDDR5X storage. It also integrates a 5G network modem. With a CPU power of 165K, it achieves a score of about 1.15 million. Both the data and the actual experience confirm its strong performance.
The latest Dilink150 system powers the car’s interface. It offers many features and supports popular apps. Users can download additional apps from the app store. The system achieves 100% compatibility. The AI voice recognition works well. It understands natural conversation and recognizes meaning accurately. The new gear shift design creates a clean look in the Tengshi Z9’s central console. Besides the dual wireless charging panel and cup holder, it has minimal clutter. The physical buttons move in front of the wireless charging panel for easier access. The design retains ample storage space below. The central armrest includes a 4L cooling and heating box.
In the back seat of the Tengshi Z9, we find thoughtful design. The car caters to all rear passengers. It offers double the comfort features. For example, the rear seats support electric adjustment, ventilation, heating, and 10-point massage. Each seat also includes a leg rest. When the right seat adjusts to a reclined position, the front passenger seat moves forward. This creates extra legroom in the back. Overall, the experience is quite pleasant. The test model also features electric sunshades on the rear windows.
In addition to the seats, each side has a small table and a makeup mirror. The 12.8-inch headrest screen keeps the rear passengers entertained during long drives. It interacts with the front screen. The rear center armrest features a 7-inch control screen. Passengers can adjust the seats, sunshades, and air conditioning from here. The rear also includes dual 50-watt wireless charging panels for phones.
The rear provides a 10L cooling and heating box. All cooling and heating boxes in the car share the air conditioning compressor. This boosts cooling speed significantly. The cooling range is -6°C to 6°C. The heating range is 35°C to 50°C. The onboard cooling and heating box comes standard across all models. In terms of space, the Tengshi Z9 reaches top class standards. The distance from the back seat’s backrest to the front seat’s backrest measures 1025 millimeters. The distance from the top of the headrest to the roof is 197 millimeters. In practice, you can sit comfortably in any position.
The Yisanfang technology platform makes driving easier. This test drive features the Tengshi Z9 plug-in hybrid. It shares the same power parameters as the Tengshi Z9 GT. It uses a 2.0T hybrid engine with a maximum power of 152 kW and a maximum torque of 325 N·m. The layout includes three motors, providing a total power of 640 kW and a system torque of 1035 N·m. The official 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time is just 3.6 seconds. It firmly belongs to the three-second club. The power is always ready. The acceleration pedal and steering system are tuned for stability, enhancing the driving experience.
This test drive focused on the intelligent features. The Tengshi Z9 boasts the BAS 3.0+ advanced driving system. We first drove the Tengshi Z9 to experience the high-speed NOA smart navigation function. While driving on the highway, we clicked the driving paddle behind the steering wheel to activate the system. Thanks to the SR12V2L solution and the hardware setup of five millimeter-wave radars, twelve cameras, and two lidar units, the system operated stably. It kept the vehicle centered in the lane. When encountering sharp turns, the system automatically detected speed limits and slowed down. It maintained lane position even in curves.
When the system detects large vehicles in adjacent lanes, it slightly avoids them. The lever can set light or heavy lane change activation. The system handles lane changes well, showing little hesitation. It can also initiate maneuvers early when approaching on-ramps, moving smoothly. During high-speed tests, the system autonomously selects faster lanes when slower vehicles are ahead. It truly makes driving more worry-free.
In addition to the high-speed NOA intelligent navigation, we drove the Tengshi Z9GT to experience the urban NOA navigation feature. Urban roads present more complex situations than highways. After activating the system, the vehicle maintains a steady speed according to the current speed limit. It clearly identifies surrounding vehicles and pedestrians. When making unprotected left or right turns, the system adjusts to stay in its lane after the turn. During the turn, if it encounters pedestrians or non-motorized vehicles crossing the road illegally, the system actively avoids them.
When the system detects slow vehicles ahead, it activates the turn signal to overtake. However, it lacks decisiveness compared to high-speed scenarios. In urban smart driving, it feels conservative. I also want to share that before the end of the year, the Tengshi Z9GT and N7 will gradually enable nationwide map-free city navigation. The Tengshi Z9 will also start this feature early next year.
In addition to the experience of high-speed and urban NOA smart navigation assistance, the BYD Easy Three-Party technology platform offers more convenient and fun features for the Tengshi Z9. Click the corresponding function button on the vehicle’s central screen to access the Easy Three-Party function interface. You will find intelligent crab walk, compass turn, racing, and custom modes. There is also an extreme steering function below.
We will experience the intelligent crab walking mode, the compass turn, and ultimate steering. Activate the ultimate steering switch. The rear wheels follow the direction when turning, known as rear-wheel steering. This feature helps in narrow road turns, parking in old neighborhoods, and quick lane changes. With this feature, the vehicle’s turning radius is only 4.62 meters. The turning diameter is less than 10 meters. For a D-class sedan with over 3 meters of wheelbase, this is excellent. It enhances the vehicle’s agility at both low and high speeds. Even the narrowest roads become easy to navigate.
The intelligent crab walk mode shows off some impressive technology. When activated, the rear wheels can turn up to 15 degrees left or right. This lets the vehicle move diagonally forward, similar to a crab. This feature likely helps with parking and exiting tight spaces. It definitely attracts attention during casual use.
The U-turn function is useful in daily driving. You can use it for sharp corners or tight parking spots. Activate the function. A 3D model of the vehicle appears surrounded by a circle. Press and hold the circle’s edge. Drag to select the desired U-turn angle. Shift into drive. Release the brake. The vehicle moves in a circular path, following your planned position. It operates smoothly, like a compass.
The Tengshi Z9 offers comfort for drivers and passengers. It features the Yun Nian-A smart air body control system. This system adjusts the suspension height, damping softness, and rebound. Users can select comfort or sport mode. The vehicle adapts to road conditions automatically.
We arranged tight speed bumps and continuous bumpy sections to test the comfort of the Tengshi Z9. At a speed of 20 km/h over the bumps, both front and rear passengers reported minimal jolting. The car handled the regular and continuous bumps well. The chassis felt solid with no looseness or strange noises. The suspension rebound matched the tires’ quick up-and-down movement.
The experience of driving on a wave road at 60 km/h is similar. It lacks the harsh jolts of speed bumps. However, the continuous undulations test the suspension’s slow rebound. Overall, the car sinks and rises smoothly. The suspension maintains stability and keeps the vehicle steady. Later, the car will offer a pre-scanning feature. This feature will sense road conditions in advance. It will adjust the suspension’s damping and stiffness accordingly. This ensures a more relaxed drive.
The final test subject simulates a tire blowout at high speed. A professional test driver accelerates the Denza Z9 to 140 km/h. A device on the left rear wheel simulates the blowout. The vehicle maintains a straight path despite the blowout. It does not fishtail or become unstable. This stability results from the strength of the Yi San Fang technology platform. When the tire blows, the rear motor corrects torque output. This keeps the vehicle under control and prevents fishtailing. Meanwhile, the suspension raises the blown tire side. This maintains balance in the vehicle’s center of gravity. Multiple forces work together to ensure safety for the vehicle and its occupants during a high-speed blowout.
The Denza Z9 and the earlier Denza Z9 GT are more than just a simple addition. The Z9 GT targets young, unique users. The Z9 caters to business elites seeking high-end luxury sedans. The Z9 enhances its appeal with added features and upgraded details. It showcases Denza’s understanding of a D-class tech flagship sedan. Denza positions itself as a high-end luxury brand while delivering an excellent product. The Z9 and Z9 GT serve as dual flagships, emphasizing technology as luxury. They aim to disrupt the traditional luxury fuel sedan market. The car is now available and arriving at dealerships. Interested buyers can schedule test drives.