GWM ORA 03 GT review: Chinese Mini Cooper?

With the ORA Funky Cat GT or ORA 03 GT, as it will probably be called in the future, Great Wall Motors, GWM for short, is bringing an interesting vehicle in the compact car class onto the German market. It should impress with its good quality and lots of standard equipment, plus very low leasing rates. How does the sportier Funky Cat GT perform in everyday life? You can find out here.

ORA's sales partner or importer is O! Automobile GmbH in Germany. This is a direct branch of the Emil Frey Group, which some people should already know as a Mitsubishi importer. This means that you can already order the ORA from many Mitsubishi dealer locations Prodrive on. But what does ORA actually stand for? Quite simply (actually), it stands for “Open Reliable Alternative”. In the future the Manufacturers but decided to keep his vehicles under the name “GWM ORA 03 and 07”.

tl;dr: Good approach, if it weren't for MINI.

Anyone who has looked into the current situation knows that BMW and Great Wall Motors are in a joint venture Mini Cooper Electric have set up. This is scheduled to come onto the market in 2024. But why is GWM now bringing its own vehicle, the ORA Funky Cat, onto the German market on a similar platform? We don't really know that either. But the fact is that there is hardly any difference in price between the Mini Cooper and the Funky Cat. So what can ORA do to convince you?

In short, the ORA Funky Cat GT does a lot right in many aspects. When it comes to performance and actual driving, it's really solid and doesn't really give any reason for criticism in everyday use. However, the traction control should be revised a bit, whether wanted or not, the typical “0-100 km/h” sprint in our test only ever occurred with the wheels spinning. Otherwise it's just the disadvantages that front-wheel drive in the electric range brings with it. A car that has GT in its name should also be sporty, right? Yes, he can do that. Apart from the design, nothing has changed in the chassis or steering of the GT compared to the normal versions. But that also means that the normal Funky Cat can also be driven in a sporty way if you want.

ORA hasn't skimped on assistance technology. A sensible ACC cruise control system is part of the standard scope even with the cheapest expansion level. Just like a well-functioning low beam assistant for the high beam. These “extras” sometimes cost 500 to 1000 euros extra from other manufacturers. Of course, there are also other assistance systems, including “turning assistant, cornering assistant, emergency steering assistant” and much more. m. So it basically has all the modern assistance systems that belong in a car today. By the way, there is also a system similar to Face ID, which is intended to avoid distractions and different users Profile with the associated seat adjustment, so a lot of high-tech is definitely on offer here.

We can definitely recommend the ORA Funky Cat at the current prices. Unfortunately, it only lags behind the competition when it comes to charging performance. Even if an ID.3 can't charge much more on average with a similarly large battery. We would have liked a little more DC charging power. But if you want to wait for slightly better software and trunk space isn't too important, then you should wait for the new Mini Cooper SE.

Design: Sporty Cat

It's a shame that ORA is ditching its Funky Cat name and switching to a rather unspectacular name. As mentioned above, Funky Cat becomes “GWM ORA 03 GT”. We really liked the nameprochen, because it reflects something completely different on the car market and many of our friends liked it.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that the ORA 03 GT still has "cat-like" features. What looks like a mix between Porsche and Mini Cooper is actually an extremely interesting design concept. I don't really like the word "copied", but you can also see that they were heavily inspired by the brands just mentioned. Except for the rear section, where a lot of things are very “special”; for example, there are no rear lights apart from the strip under the rear window. The flashing lights are still located at the bottom left and right so you can see them clearly. The tailgate opens from version “400 Pro+” electrically and can also be operated using a foot gesture. This version currently starts at €38.490 including 19% VAT.

Thanks to the elimination of the BAFA premium and the environmental bonus, all prices of the GWM ORA 03 have been significantly reduced. That's why the prices are currently quite good, and you'll find out why we still recommend you wait for the new Mini Cooper in the course of the article. 

There is also a front lip that has the GT lettering prominently shows off red brake calipers and red fangs attached to the rear of the bumper. ORA has come up with a really successful “GT” design package here. The rims also look quite sporty, definitely better in our eyes than the standard rims on the non-GT version. At the rear there is also a roof spoiler, which has a distinctive GT badge on both sides.

Interior: Modern, but definitely classic

The interior of the GWM ORA 03 GT is the same as the normal versions like the 300 Pro Or 400 Pro+. The only notable change is in the color combination, which consists of a red/black leather look set and drifts somewhat towards suede. The seats are comfortable for a city car and the headrests have red GT lettering.

The seat belts are in red, as befits a sporty version. Otherwise not much has changed in the interior. There is still the combination of two 10-inch displays for the speedometer and assistance systems and one for the infotainment “experience”. More on that later. The gears in the 1-speed automatic transmission, which almost every electric car has, are adjusted using a rotary wheel, similar to the one in MG. This is located prominent in the upper half of the center console. We would have liked a little more resistance here, as is the case with various MG models. With the ORA, you basically turn a normal wheel and hope that the gear lights up correctly. Yes, you can get used to it, but it's not better.

For parking mode you simply press the P in the middle, this at least feels pretty good. At the same time, the electric parking brake is automatically applied. Autohold can be activated or deactivated.

The workmanship can be classified in a good to very good range, nothing squeaks or creaks, even when cornering. They have proven several times that the Chinese can now build solid to very good electric cars. This is also the case with the GWM ORA 03 GT, for the price it is quite high to very high quality compared to traditional manufacturers who still increasingly rely on piano lacquer etc. The steering wheel, on the other hand, has a touch button look, but there are real buttons hidden behind it. But some of them are not that responsive. You get used to it so you can always find exactly the pressure point you want to trigger.

Infotainment: Playful, but still functional.

Actually, I would have labeled the infotainment on the ORA Funky Cat GT as “so-so”. It offers gimmicks such as a skill tree as seen in various video games, or a “record player” as a music widget. Everything is very nice and it also fits the charm of the vehicle. Nevertheless, ORA has responded to the criticism, the font, which was really illegibly small in some places, has been enlarged slightly, and there is now even wireless Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay. The former worked perfectly apart from a few minor music interruptions; the connection was established in a few seconds after starting the vehicle, just as you would imagine. It was also a similar experience with Apple CarPlay, which is important to note. We had pre-release software on our vehicle, which is now gradually being distributed to the ORA vehicles.

However, the climate menu is still so small that incorrect entries often occur. The most important functions, such as the fan, front and rear window heating as well as the AC, can be activated or deactivated using a haptic toggle switch. Nevertheless, we would have liked a slightly simpler climate control that wasn't hidden so deep in the menu. For example, if you are using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you first have to go to the corresponding “ORA” menu to get back to the actual infotainment. In terms of speed, everything is totally acceptable, but a home button that is permanently displayed would still be a useful extension.

Driving: Good assistance & comfortable chassis.

The GWM ORA 03 GT has everything a modern vehicle should have in terms of assistance systems, from an automatic parking assistant to the lane change assistant on the motorway. These work really well in good conditions. During our test period, the weather was clouded by rain, but the automatic wipers did a good job. Nevertheless, we miss a rear wiper given the rather large rear window. After a few meters you can hardly see anything anymore. We don't know who took it down like that.

At least there is a good 360 degree all-round camera with many different views. You can even start this view on the steering wheel at less than 30 km/h and use the arrow keys to go to the rim view, for example. There is also an underbody calculation, so you can see what is underneath you when driving slowly. The headlight height can be adjusted using the rotary wheel on the left under the steering wheel. Depending on the load, other vehicles do this automatically, but you probably have to do it yourself. The tailgate can also be opened by long pressing the corresponding button, and the entire vehicle can also be switched off using the left switch.

The driving modes can be set between Normal, Sport and Eco as well as Auto. The latter should probably automatically decide which mode is currently needed. It is definitely a very interesting position for this key. Fortunately, the mirror adjustment is electrically in place, where it has been for years, as are the window openers.

The range in everyday life, in winter temperatures, is around 300 kilometers with the 64 kWh battery, of which 59 kWh is usable, around 10 to 19 kWh are consumed per 20o km. That's not so bad, but 16-17 kWh would be better for such a vehicle class.

No difference to the non-GT version.

While driving, we noticed that it drives exactly the same as the non-GT version. No faster jump forward, because the horsepower number stays the same. The front axle is powered at 171 hp and that stops at 165 km/h. Unfortunately, the cruise control only works up to 120 km/h. Acceleration goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds, which really isn't much. Nevertheless, the ORA Funky Cat GT at least proves how funky it really is in curves (pun intended). Drifting is less possible with front-wheel drive, but it's a lot of fun when you have a winding road ahead of you. And in terms of external design, ORA also put a lot of effort into making the car look sporty.

The steering can also be adjusted in 3 levels. This is not linked to the driving modes but can be set separately. We were able to notice smaller differences. But nothing that significantly changed or improved the driving experience. The chassis isn't bad either, nothing special. It absorbs bad road surfaces relatively well. But it's also better in the price range; compared to the ID.3, it offers a better chassis in everyday life.

Would you rather wait for the new MINI?

No, that's roughly my personal assessment. If you don't want to miss comfort such as seat massage or an electric trunk lid, you can confidently choose the ORA 03. It's definitely not a bad car. Only when it comes to charging performance is it no longer up to date. It is given as 67 kW at peak, under real conditions it reaches an average of 55 kW. That takes a relatively long time, so I personally only see it as a city car, which is partially designed for long journeys. The new MINI, which is also built by GWM, can charge up to 95 kW DC. If the charging curve is (hopefully) better there, then the ORA is quite negative here. The trunk of the ORA should also be a little bit larger. Just like the back seat, which is more commonly known as an emergency seat row on the MINI. This will not change with the new version.

But to the biggest point, why I think you should wait before buying: The software in the new MINI is based on the new MINIOS9, which has Android Automotive as its base. A very good implementation for infotainment, there is also a large OLED in the middle of the vehicle as well as a head-up display (albeit made of Plexiglas). The interior of the new MINI is also a bit more high-quality and comes with very stylish ambient lighting. We are definitely excited and will of course let these two vehicles compete against each other again when the market launches. Since there will be almost no difference in price. We are currently expecting a test of the new MINI Cooper SE in the second half of 2024.

Thanks to O! Automobile GmbH for providing a GWM ORA 03 GT for 2 weeks as part of this press test, all travel costs were borne by GWM ORA. Our opinion was not influenced by this!

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