2026 Dongfeng 007 Performance Review

A 400kW AWD sedan that cracks 100km/h in 3.9 seconds for $59,990 puts the Dongfeng 007 Performance in a conversation it has no business being in. Tesla’s Model 3 Performance is $84,990. A Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor sits north of $90k. The 007 Performance is, as Armstrong’s Distribution chief executive Simon Rutherford puts it, trying to deliver value in a different way.

After a brief first taste earlier this year, I’ve now had a proper week with the Performance, including a decent slab of rural Northland road work. 

The 007 is a genuinely good-looking thing. Built on Dongfeng’s Quantum Architecture 3 platform, it measures 4880mm long on a 2915mm wheelbase, putting it roughly in Toyota Camry territory. The low fastback silhouette disguises the size well, helped along by frameless doors, mechanically hidden handles and a carefully shaped underbody. Dongfeng claims a drag coefficient of just 0.209, which it says makes the 007 the most aerodynamic car on sale in New Zealand.

Our Performance test car wore the optional $750 Orchid Purple paint that draws stares. So do the matrix LED headlights, made up of 104 individual LED units, and the Sky Matrix tail light bar with 230 elements.

Plenty of presence inside

The cabin pitches at premium and largely gets there. A 15.6-inch central touchscreen dominates the dash, paired with an 8.8-inch driver display and a squared-off wheel with touch-sensitive buttons. The graphics aren’t the sharpest going, but the system is responsive and intuitive once you’ve spent a day with it.

Standard equipment is the real story. A massive glass roof, 19-inch alloys with Continental tyres, ventilated front seats, frameless doors, electric tailgate, wireless Apple CarPlay (Android Auto remains optional, which still rankles in 2026), 50W wireless charging and a 19-speaker WANOS panoramic sound system with two driver-only headrest speakers. The Performance also gets driver fatigue and distraction monitoring as standard, which the Long Range goes without.

The driving position is excellent, with comfortable, supportive seats, though under-thigh extension is on the short side. Rear seat legroom is decent, but the sloping roofline pinches headroom for taller passengers, and there are no rear climate controls beyond a single vent. Boot space is generous at 452L, growing to 1026 with the rear bench dropped, and there’s a small frunk up front. The frunk release on the passenger side is, frankly, an odd choice.

On the road

Around town, the dual-motor setup delivers absurd shove from any speed, and Combat mode, which urges you to “Fight!” via the screen, is good for a laugh and for shrinking overtaking distances. The chassis, with MacPherson front and multi-link rear suspension, feels firm but composed, and the steering is nicely weighted, even if the heft feels artificially dialled in rather than coming from genuine front-end feedback.

Push out onto open rural roads and the cracks start to appear. Road noise is the standout issue. On the coarse-chip seal, the tyre roar becomes wearing. The 235/45 R19 Continentals are part of it, but there’s clearly not enough sound deadening.

ADAS calibration is the other rough edge. The lane departure intervention is far too aggressive, tugging at the wheel on roads where the line is perfectly centred, and the system seems particularly twitchy on narrower rural sections where seal edges are uneven. It’s the kind of thing that gets switched off after the second or third unprompted intervention, and once it’s off, it stays off.

Efficiency and charging

Efficiency was the bigger disappointment. Across our test, including a fair chunk of 110km/h motorway work, we averaged 20-21kWh/100km against Dongfeng’s claimed 16.8. That’s not awful for a 400kW dual-motor sedan, but it’s not great either. The Tesla Model 3, the benchmark in this regard, will cover the same ground at 13-14kWh/100km. Real-world range from the 70.26kWh LFP battery worked out at comfortably under 350km, well shy of the WLTP-claimed 389km.

DC charging proved more frustrating. Of the three fast chargers we tried during the test, two failed to initiate a session with the 007. Whether the issue is on the car’s side or a handshake mismatch with specific charger brands, the result was the same: no charge. This sort of teething trouble is increasingly common with new EV entrants, and it’ll almost certainly be sorted in software. The catch is that Dongfeng doesn’t currently support over-the-air updates, so any fix means a trip to the dealer. For a car aimed at early-adopter EV buyers, that’s a notable blind spot.

Verdict

The 007 Performance is, on paper, the EV bargain of 2026. Cracking straight-line performance wrapped in a body that looks the part and a cabin that punches well above its price. There’s a six-year/200,000km vehicle warranty and an eight-year battery warranty backing it up.

But it needs a little more time in the oven. Road noise, ADAS calibrations and issues with efficiency and charging reliability all add up to a vehicle that feels rough around the edges.

The 007 Performance has huge potential. With software refinement, it could be genuinely outstanding. As it stands, it’s a car you buy with both eyes open, knowing you’re getting more than your money’s worth and accepting a few rough spots as the cost of admission.  

Dongfeng 007 Performance 

$59,990  /  16.8kWh/100km  /  0g/km
0-100 km/h 3.9s
Motor  400kW / 600Nm
Battery/Range  70.2kWh / 389km
Drivetrain  1-speed auto / AWD
Weight  1979kg