Geely Coolray

Overview

The Coolray is Geely’s take on the modern compact crossover category, with which it is hoping to set new standards in technology and practicality as an everyday car. The crossover promises one of the most futuristic in-car experience, with its state-of-the-art design and technology under the skin. The Geely Coolray is available in two powertrain options, each of which is available in a single fully-loaded variant, and two color options – Red and White.

Interior & Features

While the Geely Coolray might not excite you with its polarised design, it is the interior cabin that surely will impress you with its futuristic layout and modern design elements positioned at the right places.

The flat-bottom steering wheel, along with a fully digital 7-inch LCD instrument console, looks very sporty and looks like it belongs to a much more expensive car. The same feeling is evoked by the very happening centre console, which is dominated by a large 10.25-inch floating rectangular touchscreen infotainment system and rectangular AC vents below it.

The dashboard looks very distinctive, with a nice contrasting brushed aluminium and red-colored soft-touch upper panel. Even the lower portion of the centre console looks shiny with the brushed aluminium finish around the transmission lever. At the rear, space is good enough for three passengers, with almost flat floor, large panoramic sunroof and low-set window line enhancing the sense of apace even more.

Exterior

The Geely Coolray has a decent design, which has dimensions big enough to make it look like a traditional crossover design. However, the design is a mish-mash of several design elements that make it look confusing and slightly overdone.

The front fascia of the Geely Coolray looks quite plain, with a wide diamond-like front grille with contrasting chrome and red accents and angular headlamps. The headlamps, though, look cool with cascading daytime running LEDs and projector bulbs. The angular housings for LED fog lamps do lend a sporty touch to the front end of the Coolray.

While the front has a curvy appeal of a heightened hatchback, it is the side profile which makes it look like a raised SUV. The underbody spoiler at the front extends well on the sides too, and the characteristic hump above front wheel arch and sharp character line flowing till the tail lamp do make it look quite sharp. Going with the trend, the Geely Coolray comes with a dual-tone roof treatment and machined alloy wheels.

At the rear, the Geely Coolray looks too contrasting from its frontal appeal, as the rear has a much busier design compared to that of the front. The trapezoidal LED tail lamps joined by a thick chrome bar make it look wide, while the roof mounted large spoiler and quad tail pipes embedded in the thick rear bumper do make it look sporty.

Ride & Handling

The Macpherson independent suspension at the front and semi-independent torsion beam suspension at the rear of the Geely Coolray js set on a softer side, which does not feel rugged on rough roads. However, it does feel planted and has a cushy low-speed ride. The steering, however, too is on a softer side, which makes it not so dynamic around corners and instant maneuverability.

Engine & Fuel Consumption

Following the trend of turbocharging, the Geely Coolray is blessed with the choices of two three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines. The smaller 1.0-litre unit pumps out 136 PS of power and 205 Nm of torque, while the larger 1.5-litre unit produces 177 PS of power and 255 Nm of torque. Transmission options available are a 6-speed manual gearbox for the 1.0-litre engine and a 7-speed DCT for the 1.5-litre mill, with a front-wheel-drive layout as standard in both of them.

Braking & Safety

Apart from regulars like airbags all around and ABS with EBD, the Geely Coolray is also equipped with automatic parking assistant, intelligent cruise control, speed limit identification, electronic parking brake, blindspot detection, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian recognition, 360 degree camera and intelligent high beam control.

Verdict

The sci-fi interiors and long list of comfort and convenience, as well as safety features, do make the Geely Coolray a very appealing vehicle at the first place. Apart from that, it is pretty decent in terms of performance and driving dynamics, which make the Coolray a great crossover to live with.