We collected the Geely Starray EM‑i Inspire Super Hybrid at that glorious Hunter Valley moment when time becomes theoretical, pants become optional, and every second person is either a wine rep questioning their life choices or a Sydney escapee.
The latter has usually discovered that a tree change mostly involves negotiating with kangaroos over vegetable rights. We live here, we know the roads, and we had the Starray for two full weeks.
That’s long enough for the novelty to fade, the ivory interior to face its greatest fears, and for neighbours to stop asking what is that? and start asking how much? At first, the name sounded like a pharmaceutical for people who’ve misplaced their sense of wonder.
You half expect it to arrive with a TED Talk and a LinkedIn profile. But after a fortnight of living with it, driving past vineyards, crawling through Pokolbin traffic, and watching tourists attempt roundabouts like they’re optional, the name stops sounding ridiculous.
The Glacier Blue paint helps. It’s sophisticated, particularly in the Hunter Valley sunlight. The look doesn’t hurt either. There’s no angry grille, no fake vents pretending to cool brakes, and no weirdly squinting headlights.
Instead, Geely’s designers have shown the kind of restraint usually reserved for explaining to tourists why they can’t just pop in to a working winery during vintage. The result is clean, modern, and quietly premium. At just over $40,500 drive away, it’s priced well too.
The interior should have been a disaster. White seats in a press car, in a region where red wine flows like tap water and dust coats everything. We had the same concerns you do. But our test proved the material choice is less marketing gamble and more quiet witchcraft.
Spills wipe off, dust vacuums away and the colour stays crisp instead of developing the grey tinge that haunts lighter interiors like a bad decision. Trim aside, you’ll find a 15.4-inch Flyme OS touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
It’s paired with a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster and a crisp 13.4-inch head-up display, all complemented by the 16-speaker 1000w premium audio system. There’s a clever central rotary dial for volume and climate controls.
The latter is part of one of the few issues that plagues this car, and others of its ilk, and while the cabin is clean and modern, it’s missing real buttons. A few too many everyday tasks live behind menus, which is fine until you’re trying to adjust something while dodging tourists.
This SUV makes a decent mobile storage unit for the debris of real life though. Shopping bags from Cessnock IGA, beach towels from the Newcastle escape when the Valley hit 42 degrees, and the Esky you keep meaning to clean, the Starray swallows it all with quiet dignity.
The cabin feels genuinely spacious too. Rear passengers get real comfort, and the boot handles life’s nonsense without requiring Tetris qualifications. It’s here you’ll find 428-litres of storage, that expands to 2065-litres with the 60/40 split seats folded flat.
The Inspire variant grabs a panoramic sunroof as well. Safety is comprehensive, with multiple airbags, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, and blind spot monitoring.
A 360-degree surround view camera with 3D capability is joined by lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition and a door open warning. It all sounds lovely, but you knew there’d be a but, and that lies in the over-enthusiasm of the driver assist technology.
It’s naggy and somewhat uncalibrated. Think of it as being like a back‑seat driver who’s read one road‑safety pamphlet and now thinks they’re the Transport Minister. Under the bonnet you’ll find the 1.5-litre petrol engine, paired with a 160kW electric motor.
Combined output is 193kW and 262Nm from the super hybrid platform. Fuel usage sits at a claimed 2.4-litres/100km and an impressive 943km total range. Reality saw figures closer to 5.4-litres/100km.
That’s still decent and comes thanks in part to the 18.4kWh battery, which provides 83km of pure electric driving. Press the accelerator. The Starray moves, smoothly and predictably. There’s no piped-in engine noise pretending you’re in something Italian.
Nor is there any artificial gear shifts programmed into the CVT to mimic a gearbox it isn’t. In a vehicle designed for comfort and efficiency, it works. It keeps the engine in its happy place, eliminates shift shock, and maintains unflustered progress.
It does a good job of overtaking and merging in traffic. The suspension prioritises spinal integrity, and the steering is light, accurate, and refreshingly free of fake sportiness. This isn’t a car for people who treat every vineyard commute like a qualifying session though.
And occasionally the Starray feels like it’s had one too many at a long lunch. Not dangerous, just a touch loose over bumps and at speed. Tip it into a corner with enthusiasm and it responds with the kind of lean usually reserved for deckchairs on a ferry.
Perfectly fine for normal humans, less ideal for anyone pretending they’re on a reconnaissance lap of Mount Panorama. By the end of our test drive, something subtle happened.
The Starray EM-i Inspire stopped being the Geely press car and became simply, the car. It was the default choice, the keys you grabbed without thinking, and that says something. It doesn’t demand attention or create problems.
It just works, letting you focus on more important Hunter Valley matters like whether that cheese pairing was excessive or merely enthusiastic. It isn’t a hero car. It won’t star in posters or drift compilations. It survived two weeks of dust, wine, heat, and chaos.
It has real life efficiency and is decently priced. Sure it’s got a few foibles, particularly with its tech, but who doesn’t. If you can get past that, it’s more than worth a look. It’s also backed by a 7-year unlimited kilometre warranty and 8-years coverage on the high voltage electrics.
You can find out more on the Geely website, or by talking to your local dealership. To get a low rate finance quote, talk to Australia’s best reviewed car finance broker; Credit One. To see a great range of vehicles for sale, check out OnlyCars.com.au.
Our test vehicle was provided by Geely Australia for independent review purposes. Exhaust Notes Australia has not been paid to review this vehicle.
