BYD Sealion 7

[Tkseah]

On 4/21/2026 at 9:00 AM, steveting99 said:

Here is a Youtube video by a Japanese owner of the Sealion 7 having the suspension system examined by a specialist. 

In the opinion of the expert, the suspension system is surprisingly well engineered and manufactured by BYD. No corners were cut.👍

Surprised to find out that BYD makes it's own shock absorbers (dampeners). Shows how much vertical integration that BYD has in it's manufacturing. Little out sourcing. 

To me it is not really a good thing that BYD does all these in-house.  It's like using in-house sound system instead of using established brands like Sony etc.. In-house may be decent, but may not be as well tuned as those by industry specialists.  Maybe that's why we read of feedback that handling and suspension may not be as good as some competitors.

[Lala81]

On 4/22/2026 at 8:28 AM, Tkseah said:

To me it is not really a good thing that BYD does all these in-house.  It's like using in-house sound system instead of using established brands like Sony etc.. In-house may be decent, but may not be as well tuned as those by industry specialists.  Maybe that's why we read of feedback that handling and suspension may not be as good as some competitors.

Other than vertical integration with cost saving benefits.

I think PRC culture has less DIY or self modification culture.
3rd party PRC automotive specialist companies may find it hard to sell anything on a retail market. They expect the AD to take care of everything and just buy as is. Package deal rather than changing the parts that i dislike.

In CN, u often find it easier to buy a whole new set rather than find much replacement parts.
Although they are a big country, due to the density and easy availability of cheap services in cities, they aren't really into modification/re-purposing other than maybe farmers/rural areas.

 

[steveting99]

@Lala81 Not wrong in your thinking. BYD is a volume manufacturer, making single digit margin and not interested farming production to 3rd parties, thus giving away margin. Hence the reason why BYD got in trouble with the Malaysian government who think BYD isn't doing enough to support Malaysia's auto industry with their local CKD assembly plant at Tanjong Malim. See Paul Tan article here: https://paultan.org/2026/03/30/byd-ckd-ev-saga-where-does-the-auto-industry-stand-with-mitis-rm200k-floor-price-export-criteria/

The high vertical integration means rapid development cycle in the software defined vehicle era. BYD doesn't want to be held hostage to key 3rd party suppliers who are slow and cannot iterate fast enough as BYD to leap frog the competition. An example is the Blade Battery 2.0 with flash charging from 10% to 70% in five minutes. See picture below.

The Sealion 7 will eventually get the new Blade Battery 2.0 and thus have ultra fast charging. There are also weight savings and energy efficiency benefits with the Blade Battery 2.0 architecture. Just not sure of the timing.  

Edited April 22 by steveting99
additional text

[Tankee531]

Encountered my first front cross emergency brake, and I was not even that close from the stationary car waiting to turn into carpark. Luckily there was no car behind me.

[Tankee531]

On 4/22/2026 at 9:36 AM, steveting99 said:

@Lala81 Not wrong in your thinking. BYD is a volume manufacturer, making single digit margin and not interested farming production to 3rd parties, thus giving away margin. Hence the reason why BYD got in trouble with the Malaysian government who think BYD isn't doing enough to support Malaysia's auto industry with their local CKD assembly plant at Tanjong Malim. See Paul Tan article here: https://paultan.org/2026/03/30/byd-ckd-ev-saga-where-does-the-auto-industry-stand-with-mitis-rm200k-floor-price-export-criteria/

The high vertical integration means rapid development cycle in the software defined vehicle era. BYD doesn't want to be held hostage to key 3rd party suppliers who are slow and cannot iterate fast enough as BYD to leap frog the competition. An example is the Blade Battery 2.0 with flash charging from 10% to 70% in five minutes. See picture below.

The Sealion 7 will eventually get the new Blade Battery 2.0 and thus have ultra fast charging. There are also weight savings and energy efficiency benefits with the Blade Battery 2.0 architecture. Just not sure of the timing.  

You are right. Unfortunately, existing Sealion 7 owners will not benefit from it. 

[steveting99]

@Tankee531 Look for the new BYD Sealion 08, which will debut in Beijing Auto 2026. The three row SUV is expected to feature DiSus-A air suspension, LiDAR-based driver-assistance hardware and rear-wheel steering. It'll have the Blade Battery 2.0 with an 800V architecture.

The Sealion 08 will be offered in both BEV and PHEV variants. 

[Tankee531]

On 4/22/2026 at 6:06 PM, steveting99 said:

@Tankee531 Look for the new BYD Sealion 08, which will debut in Beijing Auto 2026. The three row SUV is expected to feature DiSus-A air suspension, LiDAR-based driver-assistance hardware and rear-wheel steering. It'll have the Blade Battery 2.0 with an 800V architecture.

The Sealion 08 will be offered in both BEV and PHEV variants. 

I am one of the existing Sealion 7 owners that will not benefit from it

[simon_simon]

On 4/22/2026 at 1:20 PM, Tankee531 said:

I am one of the existing Sealion 7 owners that will not benefit from it

You aren't the only BYD owner regretting their choice....

Many complain about BYD keep churning out new models with new tech advances every few months. 

Lately Mr Wang explain why his coy sales had fallen in China in last 12 months.....because of EV and battery technology is the driver for survival.

So he decided to focus more on BYD is best at - Battery tech + vertical integration for new upcoming BYD/Denza models cross different ride and budget. 😆

 

 

 

[simon_simon]

On 4/21/2026 at 3:00 AM, steveting99 said:

Here is a Youtube video by a Japanese owner of the Sealion 7 having the suspension system examined by a specialist. 

In the opinion of the expert, the suspension system is surprisingly well engineered and manufactured by BYD. No corners were cut.👍

Surprised to find out that BYD makes it's own shock absorbers (dampeners). Shows how much vertical integration that BYD has in it's manufacturing. Little out sourcing. 

 

Another Japanese tested SL6 & SL7 and he prefer the latter...The price-value preposition is simply to hard to beat vs JDM. 

How many expect a "mass market" SL7 comes with OEM front drilled-disc brakes ? 😆

 

[Ake109]

On 4/23/2026 at 11:41 AM, simon_simon said:

Another Japanese tested SL6 & SL7 and he prefer the latter...The price-value preposition is simply to hard to beat vs JDM. 

How many expect a "mass market" SL7 comes with OEM front drilled-disc brakes ? 😆

 

I didnt care about the drilled discs, i think its unecessary cosmetics. I did like that they used aluminium arms, double wishbone and monobloc 4 pot calipers.

[simon_simon]

On 4/23/2026 at 6:18 AM, Ake109 said:

I didnt care about the drilled discs, i think its unecessary cosmetics. I did like that they used aluminium arms, double wishbone and monobloc 4 pot calipers.

Oh, you will be surprised just how many car-craze pple love to mod their OEM brake into drilled disc ! 😝

Speaking of "unecessary cosmetics", some Japanese car reviewer even gone as far as micro-level checking on the SL7 paint quality, the plastics, rubber thickness, door slam sound, cushion quality, as these guys have done...That speaks volume already.

One thing they keep saying as they go over this MIC product - they keep comparing it with Lexus quality. 

 

[inlinesix]

On 4/23/2026 at 12:18 PM, Ake109 said:

I didnt care about the drilled discs, i think its unecessary cosmetics. I did like that they used aluminium arms, double wishbone and monobloc 4 pot calipers.

Drilled discs shortened braking distance as compared to solid discs.

At least that's my experience with Mini

[simon_simon]

On 4/23/2026 at 6:41 AM, inlinesix said:

Drilled discs shortened braking distance as compared to solid discs.

At least that's my experience with Mini

SL7 weights around 2.3 ton with over 520hp for top end 4WD. Perhaps that explains the drilled disc.

Result of cost-quality benefits from max vertical integration in the production line.

Edited April 23 by simon_simon

[Tankee531]

just realised just now 😅

I charged to full yesterday and reset trip A.  Dashboard shown 482km remaining (against 480km in spec sheet).  My range setting is Standard. 

Just now, trip A shows I have travelled 129.7km, yet range remaining is 371km.  That makes a total of 500km, which is higher than spec sheet. This means that I can get > 500km on a full charge. 😍

Edited April 25 by Tankee531

[Ake109]

On 4/25/2026 at 7:29 PM, Tankee531 said:

just realised just now 😅

I charged to full yesterday and reset trip A.  Dashboard shown 482km remaining (against 480km in spec sheet).  My range setting is Standard. 

Just now, trip A shows I have travelled 129.7km, yet range remaining is 371km.  That makes a total of 500km, which is higher than spec sheet. This means that I can get > 500km on a full charge. 😍

Yes, if standard range setting, full charge shows 482km on mine as well.

Suspect the 100% drops to 99% once it hits 99.49%, because it notmally drops to 99% once i cover about 3km but next drop to 98% is normally about 9km.

100% to 90% is the longest range, I usually get about 70km from it.

Longest paper range I got (trip meter plus reamaining range) was about 540km+

I think 500+ is def possible as i drove to 480km with 12% left

[simon_simon]

Thai PM part time as a BYD sales rep by personally driving a SL7 AWD to fetch China's visiting foreign minister. 

😜

 

[steveting99]

On 4/20/2026 at 8:24 AM, Tkseah said:

Anyone checked if such mods affects the warranty?  I remember some AD are pretty anal about unofficial mods to their cars.. 

Have checked with one of my work kakis who has the Sealion 7 and asked if he would like to do the suspension modification to improve the ride. Specifically the Profender coilovers from Autoclinic. 

He checked with his agent and the reply was that any suspension modification would affect the warranty. 

Edited May 7 by steveting99
additional text

[Ake109]

On 5/7/2026 at 10:26 PM, steveting99 said:

Have checked with one of my work kakis who has the Sealion 7 and asked if he would like to do the suspension modification to improve the ride. Specifically the Profender coilovers from Autoclinic. 

He checked with his agent and the reply was that any suspension modification would affect the warranty. 

Water is wet lah. Which agent will say ok.