You’ve heard this line before: Sedans are on a decline and don’t sell anymore. But here comes the BYD Seal 5 DM-i, seemingly revitalizing the traditional four-door. All of a sudden, we’re seeing loads of them and their numbers are growing each day. What decline?
Of course, the reason for that is its very enticing price, size, and the promise of over 1,000km between fill-ups. The Seal 5 DM-i has hits all the right notes on a brochure, while BYD’s aggressive marketing department is making sure everyone hears about this wonder sedan of sorts.
The thing is, cars are not defined by their specs, brochures, and the pretty photos that go along with it. It’s a totally different matter when it comes to real-world testing. Given its popularity and the hype surrounding it, it’s a good time to review one.
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Styling
Part of the Seal 5’s strong showroom appeal probably lies in its exterior. We’ll admit that it looks rather handsome, and the Quartz Blue paint on our tester makes it a looker. The front end is imposing without being ostentatious, and the smooth, flowing lines give it a touch of elegance. Those are words we’d thought we’d never use for what’s essentially a budget sedan.
Body-size, there aren’t any awkward angles. Also, the gentle curves are a good break from all the boxy and/or angular designs we’ve been seeing from a lot of automakers lately. It’s not polarizing in any way, and won’t induce any violent reactions. Only badge snobs won’t like the way it looks.
That said, it could do with larger rims and it does look a touch too high off the ground. Then again, our roads aren’t exactly friendly to low-riding cars.
Interior
Organic is probably the best word we can describe the Seal 5 DM-i’s cabin. Like the exterior, it’s all about clean and uncluttered lines with no quirks and no unnecessary details for the sake of design. We’ll admit that we miss the days of having a proper shroud for the instrument cluster, but that’s the way things are these days. Still, we think the screens aren’t overdone.
The best part is, the ergonomics are as conventional as they come. Yes, there are a fair bot of basic controls in the touchscreen, but there are still physical buttons in there. For instance, the on and off button for the air-con is, well, a button. The same goes for its automatic climate function, and drive modes, and there’s a simple and effective volume dial. Those coming from Japanese cars will find it very easy to adjust to it. Only the electromechanical gear selector might catch a few folks off-guard.
We won’t tell you the price tag just yet, but for something that starts under P1-M (not the variant we tested, though), you’d be forgiven if you thought you were in something worth 1.5-M or more. Soft touch materials are abound, from the dashboard top to the interior door skins.
Those are things you couldn’t say about cars like the Nissan Almera, Honda City, and Mitsubishi Mirage G4. Like it or not, the Chinese automakers are good at making their customers feel like they paid a lot more than what the unit price suggests.
Technically, it’s classified as a compact car, but at nearly 4.8 meters long, it’s already encroaching on midsize territory. The result of that is loads of space. Buckets of legroom, stacks of headroom despite a sunroof, and because it’s a wide car, it’s can truly fit three people in the back seats.
All good, then? Well, not quite. The seats are a little short on support under the thighs, and the backrests could be a little less flat. Its trunk size is decent at 450 liters, but fitting wide items might be a struggle due to its awkward shape. Still, it’s great from an interior and practicality standpoint.
Performance
The top-spec Premium variant we tested comes with a larger battery pack and, more importantly, more power compared to the base Dynamic trim. Under the hood resides a 1.5-liter engine who’s sole purpose in life is to feed charge to the battery for the single electric motor. Total system output is rated at 194hp and 325Nm, all of which are sent to the front wheels. Meanwhile, its 18.3kWh battery pack has a range of 115km and a combined extended range of 1,240km…In theory.
We got the car with 70 percent of charge but, truth be told, it didn’t matter one bit. The engine constantly fed charge to the batteries to a point that we didn’t need to plug it in at all. We also noticed that the batteries top up themselves quickly, meaning we never saw charge dip below 40 percent and would consistently recharge itself to 70 percent.
The car went through just about every possible traffic scenario, from gridlock traffic to wide open expressways. At one point, we left the car in idle for a solid 20 minutes and we made zero effort to hypermile it. We threw everything we could throw at it, and by the end of 300km in a week, it still returned 14.5km/L. Given the way we drove it, that’s not just a solid result, it’s spectacular. Heck, by the time we returned it, it was still good for over 400km.
With 194hp on tap, the Seal 5 is properly brisk. Thanks to the instant torque that electric motors provide, it feels quicker than the 0 to 100kph time of 7.3 seconds suggests. It delivers confident passing power, even going uphill, and there’s zero doubt that this car can make it up Baguio.
Ride and handling
We’ll kick off this part by saying the Seal 5 DM-i rides soft. That means it’s one of the most comfortable riding cars in its price point. Bumps and thumps are well suppressed, while the soft suspension damping, combined with the fat and chunky tires, mean road imperfections were dealt with ease.
But the price of the pillowy ride is rather wallow driving dynamics. The car pitches and rolls when the suggestion of enthusiastic driving came up, and it heaves noticeably on wavy roads. It doesn’t feel uncontrollable, as the car can handle it, but it does suggest that handling limits are relatively low. We now understand why similarly sized sedans like the Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla Altis, and Honda Civic cost much more. Then again, it doesn't compete against those, at least in terms of price.
Another thing we noticed was torque steer. Torque steer occurs when the accelerator is pressed a little too exuberantly, pulling the car to one side. It was very evident on this car, and the tires fitted to this car were simply overwhelmed by the power. 194hp isn’t particularly out of this world, but we reckon a few tweaks to the chassis should quell these.
However, those things might not matter too much to its target market. For them, they’ll care more about how it rides rather instead of its corner carving abilities. So we’ll tell you that it’s comfortable, light to drive, and easy to move around.
Extra features
There’s no shortage of features in this car, most of which are actually useful. There’s the 360-degree cameras with high definition displays, along with multiple camera angles. Power seats are also included, along with a sunroof. Rear air-con vents are a neat addition, along with cruise control. There’s no advanced driver assists, though.
We appreciate the ability to swap between pure electric and hybrid modes. During its stay with us, we did just leave it in the latter, likely explaining its constant battery charge regeneration. Drivers can also choose eco, normal, or sport modes. Of course, the novel, if rather gimmicky, rotating screen is standard. It’s a BYD after all.
Oh, and did we mention that it has Vehicle to Load (V2L) capabilities? Yes, this car can power a home in case of emergencies just like the Sealion 6.
Verdict
So, it’s not a great handler, but BYD put in the work where it counts the most. The result of its efforts is a spacious, practical, incredibly efficient (not so) compact family sedan that offers near-unbeatable value for money. The Seal 5 DM-i range starts at just P948,000, and the top-spec Premium retails for P1,198,000. If you consider the space, features, and performance that it gives, it’s an absolute bargain. The thing is, it’s not just good for the price. It’s a good car, full stop.
10 years ago, you’d scoff at the idea of a BYD threatening established automakers. Today, they’re not just a threat, they’ve well and truly planted their flag. Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, and Toyota should take note. This is how you do a budget sedan.
Specs: 2025 BYS Seal 5 DM-i Premium
Price: P1,198,000
Engine: 1.5-liter I4 + permanent magnet synchronous motor
Power: 194hp (combined)
Torque: 325Nm (motor)
Transmission: E-CVT
Drive layout: Front-wheel drive
Seating: 5
Score: 9/10
