BYD Denza Z9 GT parking technology tested

BYD’s upmarket Denza sub-brand is due to arrive in the UK in earnest later this year, and deliveries of its shooting-brake-inspired Z9 GT are expected to begin in October. So, what exactly is Denza? It calls itself a “premium technology-oriented automotive brand”, although the Z9 GT – offered as either a 1,140bhp EV or a 765bhp plug-in hybrid – might equally be sold as a “Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo for people that can’t park”, given the sheer quantity of self-parking technology it carries.

Yet does this technology genuinely deliver? Could bay and parallel parking be removed from the UK driving test, leaving us all to glide about in Denzas, or is it simply gimmickry you demonstrate to friends once before never using it again?

We have not yet driven the Z9 GT on UK roads, but we have spent time inside it and tried each of its smart automated manoeuvres. Here is our judgement on every party piece…

Denza Z9 GT self-parking

As with plenty of other cars currently available, the Z9 GT can detect a parking space and guide itself into it, whether it is a parallel space or a car-park bay. The process is impressively smooth, and is easily activated through a physical dashboard button, followed by two taps on the large 17.3in central touchscreen.

The Denza is adept at recognising spaces even where markings have faded or a bay sits at an unusual angle. Should it fail to spot one, however, the bird’s-eye camera view allows you to drag and drop any chosen location, as well as select the direction in which you want the car to finish. Clever. There is also remote parking for tight spaces, meaning you can get out and use the app to let the car park itself.

Toe-out Rotation

Denza ought to find a more concise name for this feature, as it is quite an effective trick. Where a parallel space is only barely long enough for the almost 5.2m-long Z9 GT, the car will drive in nose first before using its independently steered rear wheels to angle them both outwards. The rear wheels then turn in opposing directions, moonwalking the back of the car towards the kerb. Heehee!

Watching it glide into place is slightly unsettling, but it really does function and makes tight city-centre parking possible. Just avoid asking about tyre wear, and do not bring up the Brooks Walker fifth wheel of the 1930s.

Crab Walk

In this setting, both rear wheels of the Z9 GT turn in the same direction as the front wheels, at an angle of up to 8.5 degrees. This lets the car roll diagonally forwards or backwards, rather like an automotive bishop – the chess piece, rather than a clergyman. It feels peculiar from within the Nappa leather-trimmed cabin, although much of our time crab walking was spent trying to imagine when we would ever need this particular ability. This one is a miss.

Compass Turn

The Z9 GT’s showiest party trick is the Compass Turn. Like the toe-out rotation used for parallel parking, it turns the rear wheels in opposing directions while driving one front wheel backwards, allowing the car to rotate entirely around its own axis. Tired of performing nine-point turns in dead ends? Simply stop, choose the feature on the screen and instruct the car how far it should rotate.

A 180-degree turn is ideal when escaping a confined spot, but, for some reason, it can spin as far as 360-degrees. At that point, you are exactly where you started, albeit with substantially less tyre tread. We were taught not to turn the steering wheel while stationary, to avoid needless tyre wear, so sitting in the Denza while it performed this manoeuvre on the coarse tarmac of the Goodwood Motor Circuit paddock was rather painful to witness.