Geely Coolray

Since its 2019 arrival, the Geely Coolray showed the Philippine market that there is something worthwhile in acquiring a China-made, relatively inexpensive chock full of 2020-present features sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Sure, the 2018 launch of the MC ZS started the trend of breaking the notion that China autos (let alone China SUVs) had bad quality control, lacked creature comforts necessary in an ever-changing global automotive theater, had little response from any pedal, and were generally unsafe. But the Coolray, following the first four letters of its name, made an easily-followed trend out of getting a China-sourced entry-level utility runner, thanks to introductory pricing that started at less than a million Philippine pesos. That action made fellow China-manufactured competitors like the Chana CS35, the Chery Tiggo 5X Pro, the GAC GS3, and the JAC more than passing fancy options in a crowded segment that includes the Toyota Raize, Hyundai Creta, Kia Stonic, Nissan Juke, Ford Territory, Honda HR-V, Chevrolet Trailblazer, SsangYong Tivoli, and Subaru XV.

However, three years have passed since the Coolray’s debut, and this Geely go-getter still has a chip on its fenders, trying to create a niche for itself.

Variant and Price

If there were items that made the Coolray stand out from its rivals, it’s the exterior color palette and the telltale front end.
The latter has close to a rainbow-colored roster, with picks ranging from Vermillion (the Coolray’s take on red) to Cloud Blue to Sunburst Gold (available for the top-end PHP 1.198 million Sport Turbo SE or Sport selection) to plain Silver. It’s great that an automaker is willing to roll the dice on body colors, which adds further to the branding of the SUV as the first vehicle for single corporate worker rookies or straight-out-of-senior-high starter auto seekers.
As for the front end, Geely insists that its most significant highlight is the lines that intersect at the grille’s ten, two, eight, and four o’clock areas, known as an “x-shaped energy bumper.” In Vermillion, the energy bumper is reminiscent of the logo for the Sony XPlod series of car audio items, which is probably the inspiration for the front-end design.
Complementing the energy bumper is what Geely calls a borderless Chronos front grille. It’s your typical grille, with the Geely logo in the center, honeycomb inlets behind said logo, two inlets, and some red lines. Only the Sunburst Gold colorway renders those inlets above and lines to match the body color.

Dimension

The dimension of the 2022 Geely Coolray is 4,330mm Length x1,800mm Width x 1,609mm Height. The ground clearance is 180mm and the wheelbase is 2,600mm.

Headlights

The headlights are rather “squinty” parallelograms, with projector halogen bulbs (for the base model, PHP 1.073 million Comfort and PHP 1.198 million mid-tier Premium variants) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs for the Sport range-topper.
LED daytime running lights come standard across the model range, but the interesting part is that there are no foglights.
Only the Premium and Sport choices have automatic headlight control.

Side and rear

The side and rear profiles look like they took a page out of the 2015 Range Rover Evoque.
This was most evident in the gouged lines on the door flanks, the diffuser undertray below the rear bumper (which highlights the exhaust tips), and the silver bar atop the tailgate’s plate number holder stretches to the taillights. Regardless, the homage to a luxury compact sport-ute, mixed with generally eye-catching body colors, a black roof, and black a-, b- and d-pillars make the Coolray easy on the eyes for many.
The base model Comfort option has 17-inch rims and 215/60 series tires, while the Premium and Sport picks have 18-inch wheels and 215/55 series rubber. Regardless of size, Coolray-spec rims come in a single jet black color.

Matching the exterior attraction is what occupants enjoy when they plop into any of the Coolray’s seats.

The most significant talking points here are the infotainment with a 10.25-inch touchscreen, six speakers, and a seven-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) gauge cluster that can be customized by the one behind the wheel (Sport version only). Sadly, there’s no Android Auto-Apple Carplay capability, so pre-load your smartphone with audio and video entertainment is best to get them played via the head unit.

Reinforcing the Coolray’s premium cabin look was the rest of the cabin, including the materials and the color of the materials used. Red leather was present for the dashboard, doors, seat borders, and center console armrest, complemented by brushed aluminum trim. There are even screens for the rear occupant windows and a panoramic sunroof. A push-button ignition (with remote starting via the key fob) and keyless entry come standard. Tailgate opening-closing at a button’s touch, power-assisted adjustment for the driver’s bum catcher, and cooling for the front seats are available only on the Sport version.

There’s just one powertrain for the entire Coolray range, in the form of a turbocharged, 179 PS/255 Nm, 1.5-liter three-cylinder gas engine and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. You can toggle the throttle response via three maps – Eco, Normal, and Sport.

Upon checking out most takes on the SUV, one would be advised to put the throttle response in Normal for purely urban trips and Sport mode for highway jaunts. There’s a delay in any forward gear movement (even in the manual mode), which sadly negates the eye-popping mill numbers.

Suspension and steering

Macpherson struts and a torsion beam were Geely’s preferred front and rear suspension setups for the Coolray. Surprisingly, even with a single torsion beam and 17/18-inch rim-tire combos, ride damping behind the front occupants was generally a firm feeling, bordering on soft.

As with most autos using wheel-rubber matches past 16 inches, handling and steering in the Coolray were generally sharp. Also helping was the steering feel that reviewers described as generally light but not numbing. This was helpful should one prefer to conduct parallel parking or long backing by one’s self instead of relying on the sport-ute’s automatic parking feature.

Safety Features

The Coolray has a lot of safety aids, including the aforementioned automatic parking feature.

That safety doodad is a boon to those tired after long trips who want to park the SUV properly without touching or stepping on any driver controls.

Beyond the automatic parking, there’s lots to unpack, safety-wise. An electronic parking brake (with hill-hold feature), anti-lock brakes, traction and stability help, rear seat Isofix latches (for child seat attachment), cruise control, increased brake/engine brake grip on descent, and a reverse gear-activated camera (you can watch what’s behind the auto, via the head unit) is standard. For the Sport flavor, the reverse gear-activated camera has 360-degree viewing, side and curtain airbags, front and rear parking sensors, and power-assisted folding and heating for the side mirrors.

Even with serious 2019-present niggles and a still-unfair label about China cars, the Coolray offers value for money. Mind you; these are not the China-made autos of the late 2000s that were laughingstocks in nearly all departments.

Instead, great leaps forward from its parent company have made Philippine-market Geely products a serious consideration for entry-level, first auto utility. However, it is recommended that one test drive most (if not all) competitors in a single segment to discern whether a particular model – the Geely Coolray included – is the right one for your needs.