The Geely Coolray looks the part and offers plenty for R429,900, but a few frustrating flaws stop it from being the complete package.
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The Geely Coolray looks the part and offers plenty for R429,900, but a few frustrating flaws stop it from being the complete package.
“Is that the new Proton?” asked the lady at the petrol station. I was barely out of the car. I told her it was a Geely. “It looks like the X50,” she said. She wasn’t wrong. Thing is, the Coolray and the Proton X50 share the same platform and basic architecture, both products of the Geely Group, which also happens to own Proton.
Think of it as the same car wearing a different badge with its own distinct identity. And with Proton’s local future looking increasingly uncertain, the Coolray arrives at exactly the right moment.
As for the looks, I have nothing against it. It has its own Geely identity without straying too far from what made the X50 appealing in the first place. The slim LED headlights up front give it a sharp, sporty front fascia, while the rear carries twin-pod tail lamps and a stylish diffuser. The subject at hand, in Vertex trim, also gets a motorsport-inspired rear wing, which suits the Coolray’s character well. I’m also particularly glad Geely deleted the four decorative exhaust tips from the X50. If you’re going to put four exhaust tips on a car, they should be functional. These weren’t. Good riddance.
On the road, the 1.4-litre turbopetrol 4-cylinder engine delivers its 128kW and 290Nm to the front wheels with enough confidence for daily driving and the occasional highway overtake. At cruise, the Coolray settles into a composed, comfortable rhythm. The suspension, though, is on the firmer side, and over local, less forgiving road conditions, it can get noticeably unsettled.
But if there’s one genuinely frustrating aspect, it’s the throttle calibration. Finding the right input is a delicate exercise; too little and nothing happens, too much and you’re speeding away faster than intended. It’s a trait that seems common among Chinese cars, but it caught me off guard more than once, particularly on smooth surfaces where the front tyres would scramble for traction on what should have been a gentle pull away. Dialling it into Eco mode seemed to dull the throttle response and make low-speed manoeuvring more manageable.
As for the interior, I’m going to sound a bit controversial, but I prefer the X50’s interior setup to that of the Coolray. Don’t get me wrong, the overall build quality is relatively good at this price point, and if you’ve spent time in Geely’s recent products like the E5, you’ll understand why.
The buttons that were once sprinkled across the X50’s centre console and HVAC panel are gone, absorbed into a large 14.6-inch touchscreen. Fair enough in principle, but in practice it means scrolling through a touch interface to do something as simple as adjusting the AC. Physical buttons should be standard. Not everything needs to be digitalised, and this is one area where the X50 got it right.
The conventional gear selector has also moved to the steering column, which does free up valuable space around the centre console. That space is partly occupied by a wireless charging pad, which sounds great on paper, until you realise that during daylight hours, the phone is consistently exposed to sunlight. The column-mounted selector also had a habit of requiring a second input to properly engage drive, which is an unnecessary frustration and something that shouldn’t happen in a modern car.
The Coolray in Vertex trim is a genuinely compelling package with some real frustrations that come as part and parcel. At R429,900, it significantly undercuts what Proton charged for the X50 when I tested it in 2022 at R579,900, and in terms of styling, it comfortably outguns most rivals in its segment. The Haval Jolion Pro, Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, Kia Sonet, Honda Elevate and Suzuki Fronx are all worthy competitors, but none match the Coolray on looks alone.
Shortcomings centre around the claimed consumption of around 9.3l/100km, which is high for a compact SUV, and more particularly for the value-conscious buyer it’s trying to attract. Also, the interior compromises add up to an ownership experience that doesn’t quite match what the stylish and sporty exterior promises. At R429,900, it’s priced right. Whether that’s right enough to overlook those frustrations is a question only the customer can answer. For me, I’d want something that’s better sorted before making a purchase.
The Geely Coolray is a genuinely interesting proposition, and an important one, given the context around its local arrival. It’s considerably better value than the X50 it essentially replaces, but it’s still not without its rough edges. And that’s what’s frustrating here since the fixes could have easily been resolved before the product’s final sign off. Whether it’s the right SUV depends on how much the gremlins bother you. If looks and value are at the top of your list, stop here and seek out your nearest dealership. If you need everything to be near-flawless, then keep looking…
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