What powers the 2026 Denza B5?
There’s only one powertrain on board, and it’s the brand’s DMO (dual mode off road) plug-in powertrain, which – in the B5 – pairs a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with an electric motor at each axle to produce a total 400kW and 760Nm. That's enough, says Denza, to push the circa-3000kg B5 to 100km/h in a physics-defying 4.8 seconds.
Also critical to the pitch is the B5's 83-litre fuel tank and 31.8kWh Blade battery, which combine to unlock a claimed total driving range of around 985km under NEDC test conditions.
Real world? We were averaging around 7.5L/100km (ferociously good for a vehicle this size), and so with regular charging it seems 1000km per tank is possible.
What is the 2026 Denza B5 like to drive?
There’s simply no escaping it – the B5 is a big beast. We’re talking almost five metres long, two metres wide and two metres tall, with a kerb weight of up to 3007kg. So if you’re expecting lithe athleticism, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Instead, you get on-road dynamics that lean into comfort over all else. In a huge plus for Denza, the B5 doesn’t feel at all agricultural behind the wheel, despite its rugged ladder-frame underpinnings, with our several-hundred-kilometre trip from the Adelaide CBD to the Flinders Ranges revealing a 4WD that feels built for long-distance touring.
On tighter corners you can feel the B5’s weight shifting, and the softness of the suspension translates to some lateral movement in the cabin, but none of it feels unruly and it really matches the ethos of a big, luxury-soaked 4WD.
Of the seemingly infinite Drive and Terrain modes, the weirdest might be 'Race', which feels a bit like fitting a helicopter with an ejector seat — who on earth would use it? Engage it, and the B5 tightens up, but that leads to some question marks over the claimed zero to 100km/h time. On our (entirely unofficial and untimed) test run, we flattened the accelerator and the B5 took a long beat or two as it tried to work out how best to digest all that power.
Rolling acceleration, though, is excellent, and you’ll have no problem nipping past caravans on the overtake (unless, of course, you’re towing one yourself, using the B5’s three-tonne braked capacity).
Curiously, the B5 Leopard’s suspension is less complex than that in its B8 big brother (with two levels of stiffening rather than three), but it is the more comfortable of the two B5s on the road, ironing out imperfections easily and smoothing even Australia's most pock-marked bitumen.
Off-road, however, it feels like a heavyweight fighter rather than a featherweight. It is immensely capable, and tackled everything we threw at it, but you can feel the weight and complexity as you bounce over rocks, as if the B5 is beating the earth beneath it into submission rather than gliding over it.
But beat it the B5 does. In fact, Denza’s executives will soon be announcing the B5 has conquered the infamous Beer O’Clock hill with only a tyre change, which is impressive stuff.
Open Road’s take on the 2026 Denza B5
Think a Chinese plug-in hybrid SUV can’t shake up Australia’s rusted-on 4WD market? We all thought that about the BYD Shark 6, right?
The Denza B5 is a potent mix of price, luxury and capability, and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of these on Australia’s red-dirt tracks in the months to come.
