2025 BYD Seal 5 DM-i Premium: The 4-door oxymoron
Forgive the English lecture – I do have a point here.
If any of you still recall your grade-school language lessons, you may have encountered figures of speech. Perhaps the ones you remember most are the simile (“Fleece as white as snow”) and the metaphor (“She was a rock amid the crashing waves”).
And then there’s the oxymoron – despite its startling phonological similarity to a popular insult, it is its own word with its own (non-offensive) meaning. It refers to a figure of speech that combines two contradictory words to create a new meaning like “deafening silence” or “cruel kindness” (or arguably in the Philippines, “honest politician”).
The oxymoron is what came to mind when we tested the 2025 BYD Seal 5 DM-i Premium – can there really be a fast economy car?
Flowing style
Compared to other sedans in its price range, the Seal 5 DM-i Premium is nicely proportioned, especially in this elegant Ink Stone Blue paintjob.
The front end is dominated by the parallelogram-shaped grill with chrome inserts. This is balanced out by the large and powerful LED headlights with eyelash-like protrusions into the fenders.
The Seal 5 DM-i Premium’s noticeable length is apparent in its generous wheelbase, along with the high beltline that kinks over the widened rear-wheel arches. These do make the 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 215/55 series tires look rather small – perhaps some wider wheels would fit the car better.
Finally, the steeply raked rear windscreen and short trunklid give this BYD an attractive, fastback-like profile, while the full-width LED taillights look like little blocks of ice nestled in their little hutches.
Spacious interior
That aforementioned long wheelbase really makes itself apparent when you step inside the Seal 5 DM-i Premium.
You get a capacious cabin for five passengers, who will all enjoy the white-and-blue leather upholstery and soft-touch materials on the dashboard and door cards. Combine this with the 8.8-inch digital gauge cluster and BYD’s 12.8-inch, rotating touchscreen infotainment system and you get an interior that is leagues above all other sedans in this price point.
But this clean and premium cabin comes at a price – you have to deal with BYD’s frustrating interface, which requires you to dig through a bevy of menus and submenus to access basic functions. At least the screen is clear and responsive, providing a good view of the 360-degree camera system.
However, the 450-liter trunk is not as commodious as its rivals because of the 18.3-kWh battery pack that lives underneath. This results in a rather high floor that would struggle to handle tall items that other four-doors would gladly swallow.
Electrified heave
Nonetheless, that battery is part of what makes the Seal 5 DM-i Premium such an excellent example of an oxymoron.
Mated to a 1.5-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve, inline-4 gasoline engine, this seemingly benign sedan packs one hell of a punch – combined output is at an impressive 194 horsepower and 325 Newton-meters of torque, which can propel this BYD from 0 to 100 km/h in just 7.3 seconds.
For comparison, the near-perfect (and considerably pricier) Honda Civic RS e:HEV makes just 181 horsepower and 315 Newton-meters of torque from its hybrid-electric powerplant. The Chinese upstart also has a useful Electric Vehicle mode that can do up to 100 kilometers without using a single drop of gasoline.
Speaking of fuel consumption, the large battery pack means that even when you’re in Hybrid Electric Vehicle mode, you can achieve an impressive 20 to 23 kilometers per liter in the city and 25 to 28 kilometers per liter on the expressway. Factor in the impressive refinement, light steering, powerful brakes and small turning radius and you have, arguably, the ultimate daily driver.
However, the Seal 5 DM-i Premium may disappoint keen drivers – despite its sensational performance, the numb steering, wallowy dampers and unsupportive driver’s seat make spirited driving a rather unrewarding exercise.
It’s also unusual that BYD Cars Philippines didn’t install the excellent DiPilot advanced-driver assistance system (ADAS) in this top-spec model, given that its non-electrified rival, the Honda City, has the brilliant Honda SENSING standard across all variants. The additional convenience and safety margin that ADAS provides would have really made this a runaway winner.
Serious value for money
Despite its shortcomings, the 2025 BYD Seal 5 DM-i Premium is for the Filipino who needs a superb commuter car that can occasionally win the stoplight dash against sports cars.
At P1,198,000, this BYD sits in an interesting place in the local market – it is considerably larger, more powerful and more economical than subcompact sedans like the P1,138,000 Honda City RS, while offering similar space and performance as the P1,990,000 Honda Civic RS e:HEV compact sedan.
Although some may be swayed by the standard ADAS and considerably better driving dynamics of the Hondas, BYD has at least proven that you can go fast and save fuel in the Seal 5 DM-i Premium.
A textbook oxymoron, don’t you think?
