GC Drives: Zeekr 7X Off-Road Weekend is rewriting the rules at Sepang Circuit

By day's end, that skepticism had evaporated like morning mist on tarmac.

THE OFF-ROAD AWAKENING

The Adventure Trail came first. Standard road tyres, uneven terrain, rocks scattered like nature's speed bumps. I braced for the jarring punishment typical of pavement-bred SUVs. Instead, the 7X glided. Its adaptive dampers absorbed every rut, every stone, transforming brutal impacts into barely-there whispers. This wasn't just intelligence survival. This was mastery.

Then came the Obstacle Course. Hill descent control activated, and the 7X became something else entirely. No throttle input, no brake pedal dancing. Just automation orchestrating perfect momentum. I watched seasoned 4x4 pickups struggle where the Long Range variant simply... flowed. The computers didn't just work; they understood.

The Off-Road Adventure Trail and the Obstacle Courses.

WHEN PHYSICS DEFIES BELIEF

The High-Speed Performance Ride rewrote my understanding of what 2.5 tonnes can achieve. Strapped beside a professional rally driver, all-terrain tyres gripping dirt, I felt the AWD variant launch with violence that defied its weight. Corners that should've seen us plowing wide were instead carved with surgical precision. My hands gripped the handles. My heart hammered. This wasn't supposed to be possible.

The Slalom Test confirmed it. Steering response arrived instantly. Sharp, communicative, alive. Emergency braking? The 7X hauled down from speed with authority that left tyre marks and dropped jaws. Two-and-a-half tonnes to a complete halt in distances that shame lighter machinery. The physics textbooks need revising.

The High-Speed Performance Ride and the Slalom and Acceleration Test.

THE CIVILIZED BEAST

The on-road segment revealed the 7X's split personality. ADAS transformed it into something approaching autonomous luxury, adaptive cruise maintaining perfect spacing, lane centering guiding with invisible hands. The Automatic Lane Change feature impressed, though Malaysia's diverse road markings occasionally confused its sensors. Room for improvement, certainly, but the ambition is undeniable.

The On-Road Test Drive.

THE VERDICT

I arrived doubting. I left converted. The Zeekr 7X doesn't compromise between electric efficiency and genuine capability. Instead, it simply refuses to acknowledge the choice exists. From RM179,900, it delivers performance that rewrites what we expect from premium EVs, from SUVs, from the entire category.

My racing background taught me one truth: capability reveals itself under pressure. The 7X doesn't just handle pressure. It thrives in it.

Electric off-roading? I'm buying it now.

The Zeekr 7X is available in Standard (RWD, 422km range), Long Range (RWD, 605km range), and AWD variants. More at zeekr.com.my