ORA 07 Review: A Cool Slinky Cat
The 07 excels in certain areas, but disappoints in equal measure in others.
Where the Good Cat relies on its cuteness, the 07 leans on being a cool slinky cat.
Its elongated body tries to pull off a Panamera, and it succeeds but not completely. From some angles, the 07 looks great, but in others, it just looks disproportionate. It feels as if the body shape has been artificially squeezed into the footprint of the chassis.
Nonetheless, it cuts a more distinct shape than most of its competitors. There are active air intakes which are very uncommon for a car at this price. Look, it even has an electric retractable rear spoiler. Could it be the only car in its price range that has this feature? Probably.
The interior is surprisingly spacious, but the headroom is a little left wanting. Boot space is also compromised due to the swooping roofline that stretches all the way to the back of the car. But at least its value proposition is quite solid. There’s a huge panoramic sunroof that runs to the back like a Tesla Model 3, a heads-up display, intelligent parking (vertical, parallel, slanted), an Infinity sound system as well as massage and ventilated front seats.
It continues on with the drivetrain. Despite being priced like Cat A alternatives, the 201 bhp / 340 Nm Cat B drivetrain makes the 07 quite brisk to drive with a 0-100 km/h time of 7.9 seconds. The various augmented engine sounds onboard also make for a curious sensation when accelerating. However, being front-wheel drive, it never really feels sporty, even if you switch on the ‘race car’ sound. 18-inch rims do make the car ride fairly firmly, but I guess that’s an understandable trade-off for the sporty looks.
A 83.5 kWh battery gives a very respectable 570 km of range on the WLTP cycle, and on the test it feels entirely achievable. Charging from 30% to 80% is done and dusted in just 32 minutes.
The 07 is priced well for a left-field choice, offering more power and great features for the same dollar, but you would have to like its uncommon appeal.
Photos by James Wong
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