Jaecoo J5 Track: Upmarket looks, down-market price

What is it?

If you’re in the market for a small SUV that’s not going to break the bank, the Jaecoo J5 could be the answer.

But be sure to check out the competition, because parent company Chery markets what is essentially the same car under different names with different price tags, including the Chery C5 and Chery Tiggo 4.

The J5 is available in petrol, hybrid and EV form, but both the hybrid and EV cost considerably more.

Setting the trio apart are styling and equipment levels.

What’s it cost?

The J5 is a flash looking five-seater.

There’s two petrol models from which to choose.

Prices start from $25,990 for our test vehicle the entry Track or $29,990 for the better-spec’d Summit — both prices driveaway.

While similar in design to the EV variant, the petrol and hybrid J5 features Jaecoo’s signature waterfall radiator grille as seen on the larger J7 and J8 SUVs, while different alloy wheel designs serve to differentiate the two versions.

Inside, the designers have taken a minimalist approach with a clean yet functional interior.

Standard kit includes cloth trim, manual air conditioning with rear air vents, manual adjust front seats, push-button start, LED lights inside and out, power-fold mirrors, auto lights and wipers and rear parking sensors.

There’s also auto high beam, adaptive cruise control, speed sign recognition, walk-away locking, plus remote engine start, and remote window and aircon control.

The 18-inch alloys are different from those in the Summit, but the two-spoke steering wheel is a lift from the Omoda 9.

While there’s two cup holders in the centre console, there’s none for the rear seat passengers.

Infotainment is based on a 13.2-inch touchscreen, with a tiny, inset 8.88-inch driver display, Bluetooth, Hello Jaecoo voice control, AM/FM and DAB+ digital radio, wired and wireless CarPlay and Android Auto — plus six-speaker sound.

There’s USB-A and USB-C ports and a 12 volt outlet in front, as well as a single USB-A port in the back.

What you don’t get is navigation, nor for that matter wireless phone charging — not in this grade.

Summit adds just about everything this is missing, including leather, climate air, a sunroof, power tailgate, heated and cooled power front seats, and two more speakers — but still no navigation.

J5 has not been tested for crash safety by the ANCAP organisation but comes with a comprehensive range of safety features.

This includes seven airbags, a 360-degree camera, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Forward Collision Warning (FCW).

J5 is covered by an 8-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with capped priced service and roadside assistance for the same period.

What’s it go like?

Jaecoo advertises the J5 as built to handle whatever life throws your way.

At a compact 4380mm long, 1860mm wide, 1650mm high, with a 2620mm wheelbase, it’s designed to seat five but is a better fit for four.

And with features like scratch-resistant seat material that stands up to pet claws and everyday spills, plus a spacious, airy interior, it’s designed to be both pet-proof and family-proof – ready for every adventure.

That’s the Summit anyway, our test vehicle the Track misses out on the pet-friendly stuff.

Even though it’s a small SUV, the J5 looks larger than it is and from some viewpoints, the lines are very Range Roveresque.

The bluff, cascading grille adds some drama to the looks, giving the car a stronger street presence — the icing really on supermarket cake.

Power comes from a conventional 1.5-litre, turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine that produces 108kW of power at 5500 rpm and 210Nm of torque from 1750 to 4000 revs.

It’s paired with a CVT-style continuously variable auto, with drive to the front wheels.

Fuel consumption is claimed 7.5L/100km.

There’s three selectable drive modes from which to choose — Eco, Normal and Sport. There’s a button in settings to lock in your favourite mode.

While the J5 boasts auto walk-up/walk-away locking/unlocking it has conventional door handles.

Oddly, though, we found getting into the car a bit of a squeeze, with a limited gap between the wheel and seat back.

Unlike many of the cars that we’ve driven recently, this one has a start/stop button with the transmission lever mounted on the right of the steering wheel.

And, yes, you need to fasten your seatbelt before the brakes will release and you can move off (great in theory but irritating in practice).

The 18-inch alloys are fitted with 235/55 series rubber and the suspension setup is unexpectedly sophisticated, with a Mac-strut/multi-link rear setup instead of the usual cheapo torsion beam.

So far so good.

But throttle response runs hot and cold, sharp and difficult to predict, rather than linear.

This kind of response is usually associated with twin-clutch trannies, not CVTs.

Remember, this is a turbocharged engine, so turbo lag will come into play and does, with a 1 or 2 second lag before it hits.

The brakes can be aggressive too.

You get used to it, but it could do with some refinement, because the car is difficult to manoeuvre when reversing and parking and you could give the car in front a nudge if you’re not careful.

Steering is okay but is a chore when it comes to parking because it requires several turns to full lock.

Despite the sophisticated suspension setup, someone forgot to tune it because ride quality deteriorates quickly if you venture onto the road less travelled, with some minor rear wheel skip from time to time.

The cloth seats are comfy but a little on the small side, not unexpected in a vehicle this size.

The portrait style touchscreen can be a challenge to use and as usual does its best to conceal whatever item you want.

You can assign some shortcuts to the steering wheel but the labels are so faint they are impossible to see in strong light.

But it did answer a question that has been bugging us and that is: whatever happened to the third section of the screen that Android Auto used to offer (and the icon still shows).

Despite the continued growth in the size of screens, it seems to have quietly disappeared — or so we thought.

In the J5 it makes a reappearance as a small weather panel.

Working out how to change the cabin temperature is a challenge on the fly, despite swiping this way and that.

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The dash looks smart and the driver display, though very small by today’s standards, is kind of cute (although more of a head-down rather than heads-up offering).

The centre console tray looks to support wireless charging, but looks can be deceiving.

That means plugging in your phone or run the risk of it going flat if you use it for navigation.

The USB ports are tucked away in the lower console area, which is becoming a common feature in the cars we are testing, but makes the USB ports difficult to access.

Rear legroom is okay but ultimately limited.

Rear seat passengers miss out on a centre armrest and this cupholders of any kind, but the door pockets in the front do accept large sports bottles.

We were getting 8.5L/100km after close to 400km.

Not as good as promised and certainly not respectable for a car this size.

There’s tyre pressure monitoring, but no spare tyre — just a tyre repair kit.

What do we like?

Looks good
Value for money
Quality fit and finish
Perfect second car

What we don’t like?

Entry a squeeze
Too thirsty for size
No rear cupholders
No wireless phone charging
Ride quality deteriorates on secondary roads

The bottom line?

The J5 is what it is, a cheap wagon that is minimalist in execution.

Despite the somewhat bare bones fit out, it remains an appealing package based on looks alone.

Fit and finish is good and, as a bonus the J5 looks larger and more expensive than it actually is, and as such is making headway in the crowded sales charts.

The J5 Track has almost everything you want from a car these days and nothing you can’t live without.

Sorry, Chery, but it’s better than the feted Tiggo 4 too.