BYD Shark 6 Performance review

A lot has been made about all the different new competitors that have keenly entered New Zealand and Australia’s sprawling ute market. Significantly less has been said, however, about the fact that very few of these new pick-ups have actually had cut through with customers. All but one, that is. 

Since it arrived a few years ago, the BYD Shark 6 has been one of the best-selling utes in the country. Now, it’s not about to knock the Ford Ranger off the top spot any time soon, but it didn’t take long to overtake the likes of the Isuzu D-Max and GWM Cannon. It could soon start to threaten the market’s fourth-placed contender, the Nissan Navara.

Originally launching here in just one single spec, BYD has added two new trim levels. There’s a base cab chassis version, and there’s the new flagship Performance grade — out to make an already very quick plug-in hybrid dual-cab even quicker, whilst simultaneously addressing some of the model’s off-road and towing shortcomings. 

BYD’s given the model a bigger petrol engine, reworked electric motors, a trick off-road mode, and more. And we drove one for a week to see how it all comes together. 

How much does the BYD Shark 6 Performance cost?

The new top spec Shark 6 Performance is priced at $78,990 before on-road costs, positioning it seven grand north of the standard Shark 6 Premium. 

Relative to other equivalent ute flagships, the Performance represents competitive value. It’s cheaper than the $85,990 Ford Ranger Wildtrak Hybrid, as well as the $81,990 Toyota Hilux BEV SR. Of course, the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV Ultra undercuts it at $69,990. But it doesn’t have the same performance creds to its name. 

In terms of hotted up performance pick-ups, the Shark 6 Performance is comfortably cheaper than the segment-defining $98,490 Ford Ranger Raptor. You could also chuck in the fully electric Geely Riddara RD6 into the picture here for a bit of a wildcard, which is priced from $69,990. 

What’s the BYD Shark 6 Performance like inside?

Adding a Performance variant to the BYD Shark 6 line-up isn’t the only thing that the Chinese brand has changed about its surprisingly popular dual-cab. It's also introduced a small but meaningful assortment of changes to the 6's cabin. 

The biggest tweak is that BYD has shifted the ute’s gear selector from the centre console to being a Mercedes-style stalk on the steering column.
Off the back of this, BYD has simplified the layout of the Shark 6's centre console. 

Along with no longer having a drive lever in the centre, the slightly awkward centre cubby is gone. Behind the row of centre switches used to sit an area that would be prone to filling up with dust and pie wrapper debris. Now, you have a simple line-up of buttons, including the start-stop button, the drive mode rocker switch, a button for opening the tailgate remotely, and a volume scroll wheel. 

The Shark 6 has gained a new 2-spoke steering wheel, replacing the old steering wheel with its two slightly awkward integrated scroll wheels for drive modes under the airbag area. And, as per a lot of other BYD models, the Shark 6 also does away with one of the brand's previous signature features; a rotating touchscreen. The screen in this car is now permanently landscape orientated.

Barring a somewhat cheap feeling drive stalk, the more simplified layout inside the Shark 6 works quite well.

Beyond those tweaks, there aren't necessarily that many other things to report about the Shark 6’s interior as far as changes are concerned. Therefore, by and large, the things that we knew about the previous Shark 6 still apply to this refreshed model. And that's not a bad thing at all. 

Its build quality and fit and finish is still positioned towards the pointy end of the double-cab segment.
Soft touch surfaces are everywhere from the tops of the door cards, to the majority of the dashboard, to the hand grips in the centre console that double as pads for the tops of your knees. 

The faux-leather bucket seats up front both look and feel great, and come with orange stitching throughout. The orange highlight theme continues throughout the cabin, giving the otherwise completely black and gray interior a nice splash of colour. 

Of course, you get dual screens in the front — a digital cluster, and a main large touchscreen. Standard features include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 360 degree camera, dual-zone climate control, the ability to download apps directly into the car, and much more. BYD's built in software works quite well. Response times are snappy between menus, it has a nice crisp resolution, and its cameras are amongst the most crisp in class. 

That's not to say there aren't a few little frustrations here and there. The Shark 6, like some other BYD products that we've driven lately, had issues with automatically connecting to Apple CarPlay. Whilst it connected to Apple CarPlay perfectly in the first instance, it often would not reconnect to CarPlay on subsequent drives. You’d have to dive into the ute’s connections menu and find Apple CarPlay manually there in order to trigger it. This is hopefully something that BYD can fix with a simple update. 

I also find the Shark 6's digital cluster a bit visually cluttered. In no particular order, the digital clusters shows the ute’s speed, the posted speed limit, what lights are activated, an animation in the middle showing proximity to other cars in your current flow of traffic, range figures for both the petrol tank and the and battery, combined economy for both, how many kilowatts it's currently burning at any given moment, external temperature, whether you’re in HEV mode or EV mode, and your current drive mode. 

It's a lot to take in. A simpler knockdown digital display, I feel, would go quite well at this car. 

As far as space is concerned, the Shark 6 is a genuine contender in class. Rear head room and leg room is excellent, with the back seats also including a hearty amount of recline — great for second row comfort.
There's also no transmission hump in the centre of the floor, so on the occasion that you’ve got to cart five people around, there’s adequate leg room throughout. 

What’s under the bonnet?

BYD has overhauled the Shark 6’s powertrain for its new top dog. The standard turbocharged 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine has been swapped out for a 2.0-litre turbo, and its front electric motor has also had the wick turned up. 

The new 2.0-litre produces 180kW/380Nm by itself — 45kW/120Nm more than the 1.5. The front-mounted electric motor gains 30kW/50Nm, now producing 200kW/360Nm. Overall, the Shark 6 Performance’s powertrain produces a combined 350kW of power and 700Nm of torque. 

The added power and torque don’t just make the Performance quicker. It also gives the Shark 6 nameplate improved towing capacity. The Performance boasts a 3500kg braked towing capacity — 1000kg more than the standard model, and enough to put it on the same industry standard level as the rest of the dual-cab segment. 

Its 29.6kWh Blade battery unit is unchanged, with the brand claiming an 80km electric range and 640km combined range for this new spec. On paper, it’s not actually that much quicker in the 0–100kph sprint than its 1.5-litre counterparts, shaving two tenths off their times to achieve a claimed 5.5 seconds. But, in practice, we found it to be quite a bit quicker than that … 

What is the BYD Shark 6 performance like to drive?

The most logical pick-up to compare the Shark 6 performance to is inevitably the Ford Ranger Raptor. But the two hotted up dual-cabs are quite different characters. 

Whilst the Raptor is an incredibly visceral, bombastic pickup with its twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, its characterful exhaust note, and aggressive drive modes like its Baja mode, the Shark 6 performance has all of the general tendencies of its standard 1.5-litre sibling. 

That's to say, it remains quite hushed and refined the majority of the time.
It starts up silently, leaning on its battery and electric motor. And, so long as it has battery charge in the chamber, the petrol motor rarely makes itself known during standard commuting. 

But the Shark 6 is fast. Very, very fast. In our testing, we were able to complete the 0–100kph in five seconds flat. Not only does that make the Shark 6 Performance quicker than a Ranger Raptor, but those times were also half a second quicker than BYD's own claims. 

Those familiar with the standard Shark 6 will be familiar with how this ute puts down. Being a plug-in hybrid, there's a hearty amount of instantaneous pure electric power from the moment you hit the throttle. The Performance’s added displacement brings a more meaty mid-range, taking its straight line abilities to the next level. 

Barring the pure electric dual-motor Geely Riddara RD6 and the unhinged Ram 1500 TRX (two much more niche competitors) this is the quickest dual-cab ute on the market in New Zealand today. 

Now, the standard Shark 6 has built a reputation for being a bit disappointing on gravel, primarily owing to the fact that it does not come with a conventional mechanical transfer case or locking diffs and has instead relied on software to simulate these abilities — often with mixed results. 

The Shark 6 Performance has two key differences that give it more of a fighting chance on the rough stuff. Obviously, it now gets quite a bit more power. And, BYD has also given it something called ‘Leopard Mode’ (in Australia, it’s simply called ‘Crawl Mode’). This is a crawl mode that essentially acts as a substitute for a mechanical four-low drive mode to help with low speed driving on tricky gravel and when climbing up hills. 

In our admittedly rudimentary testing of the new mode, it felt like a genuine step up on what we’d previously seen from the standard Shark 6. It tackled inclines that I’m pretty sure would’ve flummoxed its predecessor, with Leopard Mode adding an added layer of confidence for those happy to let the tech handle the driving stuff.

Now, the Performance still isn’t what I’d call a confident off-roader. I wouldn’t back it to get up some of the steeper inclines that our colleagues at CarExpert Australia utilise in their regular testing. And it lacks the same degree of articulation, which can make it difficult to find a firm footing in certain conditions. 

Still, I’m not going to dock too many points from the BYD Shark 6 for these shortcomings. I still consider this to be, primarily, urban cruiser — a sound companion for someone who has to lug loads around town and isn't necessarily shopping for a go-anywhere workhorse. 

Those words might cause a few grimaces among the ute and off-road enthusiast community, but the fact is that the Shark 6 has been incredibly popular here since its launch. Its off-road shortcomings haven’t harmed its popularity with customers, as it often sits in around fifth place in the local ute sales charts behind the Ranger, Hilux, Triton, and Navara. 

I’d argue that whilst it may underperform in the dirt, it makes up for that on tarmac. Along with being incredibly rapid in a straight line, the Shark 6 also handles quite well. Its steering is quite numb and vague of course, but its platform adequately handles the considerable power it has on tap — something that we felt whilst driving the Shark 6 Performance around the Hampton Downs club circuit. 

In town, it's hard to ignore the benefit of running around in a pick-up that doesn't have a coarse, rattly diesel engine under the bonnet.
The Shark 6’s hybrid system and relatively quiet petrol engine makes it a relatively relaxing and serene experience around town. This is complemented by its light steering and open visibility from the driver's seat. 

The Shark 6's ride quality is a little bit of a mixed bag, and potentially the one thing about its urban driving experience that lags behind some of its competitors. Although for the most part it is one of the most plush riding utes in its segment, I find that the Shark 6 can feel a little bit challenged by broken pavement, potholes, and speed bumps. It’s still one of the most comfortable pick-ups in the game. 

If ultimate ride quality is one of your key metrics, a Ford Ranger or a Kia Tasman is going to be more to your liking.

What do you get?

Like with a lot of other BYD models, there is no stripped down ‘base’ variant, per se. As such, the cab chassis base variant comes with almost all the bells and whistles (a smaller touchscreen being one of the only key omissions). 

Perhaps one of the few disappointments of the Performance is that, beyond its uprated powertrain, there isn’t much else added. It looks identical to a standard Shark 6 Premium, and only gets a couple of different tech features — an NFC card and a 6-way directional powered front passenger seat.

BYD Shark 6 Cab Chassis equipment highlights:

• 18-inch wheels
• Drive modes (Mud, Sand, Snow)
• Vehicle-to-load (V2L)
• DC charging port 40kW
• 360-degree camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Hill hold control
• Hill descent control
• Adaptive intelligent cruise control
• Automatic emergency braking
• Lane departure prevention
• Traffic sign recognition
• Rear cross-traffic brake
• Trailer stability control
• Fixed side steps
• Roof rack
• 10.25-inch digital cluster
• 12.8-inch touchscreen
• Synthetic leather upholstery
• 11-speaker sound system
• Satellite navigation
• 8-way power driver seat
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
• LED headlights and taillights
• BYD digital key
• Wireless phone charger
• Dual-zone climate control
• Rear air vents

Shark 6 Premium adds:

• Wellside bed
• 15.6-inch touchscreen 
• DC charging port 55kW
• Head-up display
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Rear privacy glass
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• 4-way power front passenger seat
• Heated and ventilated front seatsCargo lights

Shark 6 Performance adds: 

• 6-way power front passenger seat
• NFC card
• Leopard Mode

CarExpert’s take on the BYD Shark 6 Performance

The Shark 6 Performance is a model that largely achieves what it sets out to do, whilst helping right some of the wrongs of the standard Shark 6. 

Rather than thinking of this as a straight rival for something like the Ford Ranger Raptor, the Performance serves as a benchmark for what plug-in hybrid technology is capable of. It is a genuinely impressive straight-line performer, an easy going and refined daily cruiser, and is crammed with equipment. 

Even acknowledging its gravel shortcomings, for the money it is very hard to beat.