2026 GWM ORA 5 Ultra (car review)
By Google News Category Car Reviews ·
Breaking the mould of grey scale cars, the GWM ORA 5 brings m’Ora colours to Australian roads. Not to be confused with the similarly named discontinued EV hatchback, this version is aimed solely at the red hot small SUV segment.
Retaining the cat like appearances of the smaller offering, the ORA 5 has some polarising aesthetics. Despite the divisive looks, it comes in shades that include Emerald Green (as tested), Pepper White, Cute Cyan, Flamingo Pink, Crystal Black and Mystic Grey.
The latter three are exclusive to higher Ultra trim we’re testing. The exterior proportions make it look small but at 4471mm long, 1833mm wide and 1641mm tall, it’s ironically one of the largest cars in the segment.
That shows in the big 362-litre boot, complete with additional underfloor storage. Drop the second row and that expands to 1,060-litres. It even has a spare wheel. The rest of the interior follows the modern minimalism trend of new cars.
A 14.6-inch infotainment screen runs the latest GWM Coffee OS software, which is intuitive and easy to operate. It offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while phone-based navigation is shown on the 10.25-inch digital dash.
Unlike rivals, GWM has been a little classy, fitting the car with real metal switch gear under the centre screen, alongside bronze finishing to the interior trims, and a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel.
Our test example came with heated and ventilated front pews (with all seats trimmed in leather), heated side mirrors, a 50-watt wireless charger, 9-speaker audio system, auto power windows and an electric tailgate.
A large panoramic sunroof features, with the sunshade controls hidden in the infotainment screen. That aside, those physical switches are a nice touch, and a joy to use, but only work in one direction.
They operate key functions like switching the A/C on and off, and the front windscreen demister. They could have controlled volume and temperature if they were bi-directional. On paper the all electric powertrain sounds a touch lacklustre.
Delivering 150kW and 260Nm, with a range of 435km from its fully electric powertrain, you’ll find a decent hit of instant torque when you put your foot down. Throttle response is a little laggy though.
It’s not the worst culprit, but it does require a small adjustment in your thinking when pulling out on the highway. Luckily, the GWM comes standard with adaptive cruise control and lane keeping. This makes highway stretches easy to manage.
The list of driver and safety aids don’t end there either, as all ORA 5’s come standard with driver fatigue and distraction detection, rear parking sensors, a 360-degree surround view monitor, and front and rear cross traffic alert with collision warning.
You’ll also find autonomous emergency braking, blind spot monitoring and traffic sign recognition. In a somewhat confusing move (at least until you get the hand of it), adaptive cruise control is activated using the column-shift gear lever.
You need to push it towards Drive twice to turn it on, and once more to activate lane keep. Adjusting the following distance or speed is done via the D-pad on the left hand side of the steering wheel.
Small changes to the speed can be done with one click of the scroll wheel while big changes requires a bigger swipe. The system is only as smooth as the driver in front and that does tend to lead to harsh stops and brisk accelerations.
As tested, the GWM ORA 5 is $37,585 drive away. It offers decent…
Originally published by Google News Category Car Reviews
