Image Credit: Denza.
This is exactly what the world needed: another silent rocket ship that can literally take your breath away before you've even reached the end of the driveway. The Chinese have decided that "subtlety" is a word used only by people who aren't trying hard, and they gave us the Denza Z. Not "Z-Pro-Max-Ultra-Lightning." Just Z. And it's being sold to us by none other than 007 himself.
Back in the day, Denza was a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz. It was a quiet marriage where the only reason to argue about was who left the toilet seat up. But in 2024, Mercedes called it quits, and BYD was forced to fly solo. And have they been flying high… No more boring family haulers, instead we get a low-slung beast aimed directly at the throat of the Porsche 911.
Denza Z Concept. Image Credit: Denza.
To make sure we all pay attention, Denza hired Daniel Craig to be the face of the brand. It's a stroke of genius, really. If you're trying to sell a Chinese electric car to a bunch of skeptical folks in Europe and the Middle East, you might as well hire the man who specializes in surviving explosions and looking dapper in a tuxedo. In the preview photos, the car is painted a shade of orange so bright I'm pretty sure it could be seen from the moon, and it's sitting right behind Mr. Craig. He looks very serious, as if he's contemplating whether the car has an ejector seat for annoying passengers.
The "beans" under the hood are quite something. Denza is keeping the exact specs of the Z under a tight lid, but all signs point to it sharing the guts of its brother, the Z9 GT. That means we're looking at a 100-kWh Blade battery and a trio of electric motors with a total output of 952 horsepower - nearly three times the power of a base 911. It's enough power to make your eyes go blurry and your ancestors feel the G-forces. If you floor this thing, you might actually travel back in time to 1985.
Denza Z Concept. Image Credit: Denza.
The styling is quite braw. It's got these sharp, diamond-shaped headlights, the front bumper is aggressive, reminding me a wee bit of the Lotus Emira - not a bad thing at all. Denza ditched the massive rear wing from the concept version (probably because it was big enough to have its own zip code), but the production car still looks like it means business. It's already been spotted hooning around the 12.9-mile Nürburgring, which suggests the engineers want it to actually turn a corner without falling over.
The tech in this thing is pure science fiction. It has steer-by-wire with no physical connection between the steering wheel and the tires. It's all handled by computers and magic. It sounds a lot like letting a robot drive you to the pub, but it allows for some clever tricks - crab-walking (moving sideways like a confused crustacean) and "slow-motion drifting" into parking spaces. The last bit is perfect for when you've had a long day and can't be bothered to parallel park like a normal human being.
Denza Z Concept. Image Credit: Denza.
The Denza Z will make its big global debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer. It's a brave move, showing up at the ultimate celebration of gasoline and history with a car that sounds like a very fast refrigerator. But with magnetorheological suspension (try saying that after a pint of Guinness) and a chassis that promises to be properly stiff, it might shock the traditionalists. Denza wants the Z to be the "pinnacle of sports cars" - a tall order when you're fighting against decades of German engineering.
But the question that's eating me right now is simple: Will it have the "soul" of a Porsche? Not a chance. It won't make a noise like a bag of angry hammers, and it won't smell like oil and heritage. But since everything is going electric, having 952 horses at your beck and call while Daniel Craig watches from the sidelines is a pretty tempting proposition for many people. Cheeky, ridiculously powerful, and it's coming for the crown. I can't wait to see what's next.
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