FULL REVIEW: Geely Coolray Sport SE -- Is it still worth the hype?

Disclaimer: Sojitz G Auto Philippines Corporation, the official importer and distributor of Geely in the Philippines, kindly lent me a 2022 Geely Coolray Sport SE for one week. AutoFun Philippines paid for all the fuel, toll fees, and a car wash.

As I write this, I made the most startling realization – it has been more than 11 years since I graduated from high school.

This is particularly apparent because, earlier in the day, I had a delicious lunch with my batchmate, who is currently an intern at one of our country’s biggest public hospitals (a salute to all our dedicated frontline healthcare workers).

The last decade or so has seen the erosion of our once-svelte waistlines, but our close friendship held up over all this time.

Back in high school, I didn’t really stand out, apart from being an honor student. However, some of my batchmates were truly exemplars.

Some were members of the student council. Some were superb chess players. And some were part of our awesome school dance team, HATAW (by now, you should have a clue where I went to high school).

When Geely Philippines arrived on our shores in September 2019, it brought what would come to be the “golden boy” of the then-bland compact crossover segment – the Geely Coolray.

The Coolray would put the fledgling Chinese car brand on the map in our country, seemingly combining startling turbocharged performance and exciting tech while undercutting its Japanese rivals in price.

Put another way; it was in the student council, dance troupe, and chess team, without a rich kid's snobbiness.

Three years later, is the Geely Coolray still one of the popular kids, especially with fresher models like the new Honda HR-V Turbo (which I have also reviewed) out for its crown?

Sharp looks

The Coolray has gotten a few styling tweaks over the last few years, with this top-of-the-line Sport SE model looking particularly sporty.

The familiar LED headlights and rather aggressive lower bumper get colored accents in the grill and front air dam.

The Coolray’s side profile is also eye-catching because of the strong character line that flows from the front fender and diverges into two – the crossover’s upswept beltline and down-sweeping door line. 

Yet more colored accents are on the lower door trim, while the rear-quarter window has an interesting shape that leads the eye to the large tailgate spoiler, wrapped in a rather tacky carbon-fiber sticker. 

Out back, the Coolray gets a fairly raked rear windscreen (not quite as dramatic or attractive as the HR-V’s) and wraparound LED taillights. The large, genuine four-pipe exhaust completes the sporty look.

Overall, Geely styling chief Peter Horbury and his team did a great job with the Coolray’s looks. It helps that Horbury used to work for Volvo, now owned by Geely.

Colorful cabin lacks polish.

Step inside the Coolray Sport SE (relatively easy to do because of the car’s good height), and you will find a roomy and rather dramatic two-tone interior.

The swathes of red on the dashboard and door cards meld well with the faux-aluminum look plastics, particularly on the dashboard and the raised center console. And unlike the HR-V, the Coolray’s center rear seat isn’t meant for gerbils.

Other nice touches include the nicely integrated touchscreen infotainment system, the easy-to-read digital gauge cluster that changes color according to the driving mode, and the wonderful panoramic moonroof.

For the cargo area, you get a good opening, a low floor, and an electric tailgate. But the split-folding rear seats don’t fold flat or do the neat, origami-like positions of the HR-V.

Also, even though the Coolray uses nice leather and soft-touch materials in the right places, the abundance of hard plastics makes it feel a bit cheap.

Finally, there are numerous charging ports that Geely, for some reason, has placed on a somewhat awkward shelf under the center console. It would have been better to move it up with the air-con controls.

Unrefined convenience features

Aside from the nice moonroof and the electric tailgate, the Coolray Sport SE is loaded with cool convenience features.

The cruise control helps on long trips, and the standard 360-degree camera system is handy in tight spots. However, the touchscreen infotainment system lags when moving the camera view around.

But the biggest annoyance is the automatic parking system, which can handle perpendicular and parallel maneuvers. Our popular kid tries a bit too hard to be the teacher’s pet here.

The system cannot identify parking slots quickly, even though it has passed by several. And when it does find a slot, it will still go in even though it is much too small or has an obstruction like a pillar or a lamp post.

The Geely is also behind rivals like the Honda HR-V in active safety, lacking adaptive cruise control, collision-mitigation braking, and lane-keep assist.

Strong performance, mushy controls

Right, time to get behind the wheel of the Coolray.

For one, the driver’s seat (air-conditioned in this top-spec variant) lacks thigh and lower-back support, making it a relative pain on longer journeys. For another, the small windows that help make the Coolray look cool affect the view out the sides.

But the seats and blind spots are the least of the Coolray’s issues on the go. 

The turbocharged 1.5-liter, twin-cam, 12-valve inline-3 gasoline engine produces 179 PS and 255 Nm of torque. Unlike most three-cylinder engines, vibrations are well-suppressed (except on a cold start), and you get a throaty growl as you rev it hard.

However, it is paired with a somewhat recalcitrant 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT), which lags at low speeds and has a manual mode that has a mind of its own (it changes up on its own and won’t let you shift down to maximize engine braking). 

Compared to the DCTs by Hyundai or Volkswagen, the Geely’s can do with a bit more work.

Other bugbears include the mushy brake pedal that operates rather lackluster brakes, the choppiness over bumps with the standard 18-inch alloy wheels, and the numb steering, which makes the Coolray difficult to place at high-speed cornering.

This is a shame because the Coolray corners quite well, exhibiting minimal understeer and good inherent rotation for a powerful front-wheel-drive car. 

The throttle response is also good in Normal and Sport modes, although the DCT makes things jerky in more exciting situations.

Subpar fuel economy

So far, a mixed bag for our star student – but we have come to one of its low marks, fuel consumption.

In Eco Mode and keeping the engine below 2,000 RPM, which is when the turbo kicks in, it got a rather poor 5.5 to 8.5 km/l in 40 km of city driving. This included drives on EDSA, Roxas Boulevard, and C-5 from attending the Aston Martin DBX707 launch in Paranaque City.

On the expressway, using the same driving method, it got a respectable 13 to 16 km/l when my Mom and I had brunch in Tagaytay. This was a 170-km, round-trip journey to and from my house in Quezon City. 

The Coolray also cruises at 100 km/h in 7th gear at 2,000 RPM.

For comparison, the Honda HR-V Turbo with its continuously variable transmission (CVT) got 7 to 10 km/l in the city and 16 to 18 km/l on the open road. The CVT is also much smoother in all driving conditions.

Good value, but at a high cost

Where the Geely Coolray knocks rivals like the Honda HR-V into the weeds is price.

This top-spec Sport SE is just ₱1,269,000, some ₱470,000 less than the equivalent-specification Honda HR-V RS Turbo. And if you get the base Comfort SE variant without all the leather and toys, it’s just ₱1,083,000. 

And given that the Geely feels so much better than Chinese cars of old, that huge price difference really can swing buyers.

The Coolray still gets good marks on its report card for offering a lot for the price. However, if it wants to stay at the cool kid’s table, Geely must improve the crossover’s driving dynamics.

In addition, that big savings over Japanese rivals might be decimated by the Coolray’s fondness for premium unleaded. Again, some engine and transmission tweaks could turn the tide.

Overall, the high-schooler in me understands the hype surrounding the Geely Coolray. But the exacting, former high-school teacher in me sees some notable shortfalls that this young Chinese crossover needs to work on.

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