JAECOO 5 review

Driving position

Given the market the JAECOO 5 is going after, you’ll be pleased to know it has a pretty high seating position that makes it feel like a true SUV.

Thankfully, and like its bigger sibling, the JAECOO 7, there’s plenty of adjustment in the seat and it's not overly limited to how low it can go, which can be an issue with cars from some other emerging brands, like the Leapmotor B10.

Because of the upright front-end design, the A-pillars are positioned well and are slim enough not to cause any major blind spots. In fact, thanks to slim pillars and extra panes of glass at the back, all-round visibility is great.

Tech and features

JAECOO 5 trims

– Pure

– Luxury

Despite the low starting price of under £25,000, inside the J5 doesn’t feel like a bargain basement. It’s not quite as luxe as the bigger and more expensive J7, but you still get a modern interior with soft materials.

All cars also have keyless entry, a handy remote start feature that lets you heat or cool the car before you step inside and a really handy 540-degree parking camera, which paints a picture of what’s around and beneath you.

All cars are also fitted with an 8.8-inch screen behind the steering wheel, which you can configure to show your speed, fuel level, temperature and more.

You’ve also got a 13.2-inch, portrait-oriented touchscreen, but this feels less refined than it could be.

For example, only the electric JAECOO E5 gets a built-in sat-nav, and the apps don’t make the best use of the space available – particularly on the home screen, which leaves a large, blank area.

The screen gets wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, but it’s not quite built the same as others.

Smartphone mirroring takes up every pixel of the screen, leaving no room for car controls, so changing the temperature, for example, requires far too many clicks. Hopefully, this is something that’ll be ironed out with a software update.

Our test model in top-spec Luxury trim had the added panoramic glass roof with an electric sunshade, and this makes a huge difference to the lighting and overall feel of the cabin.

Other welcome upgrades include a powered boot lid, front seats that are heated, cooled and electrically adjustable, a cooled wireless phone charger up front, and an upgraded SONY sound system.

LED headlights and a rear armrest are also only in the Luxury trim, which might be where JAECOO has prioritised to bring overall costs down, but not many cars have halogen bulbs these days.

Engines and power

JAECOO 5 performance stats

– Power: 147hp to 224hp

– 0-62mph: 7.9 to 10.2 seconds

– Top speed: Up to 113mph

– Driven wheels: Front-wheel drive (FWD)

You don’t buy a JAECOO 5 to shave seconds off the school run, but the performance can feel a little clunky compared to rivals.

JAECOO gets the headlining figures of a low price tag with its 1.6-litre petrol engine, which is probably the one to avoid.

Performance from the 147hp engine is fine, however, the J5 is let down by a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox that isn’t the slickest.

Any meaningful throttle can see it noisily change down two or three gears and, combined with the over-eager engine start-stop system, setting off can also feel jolty.

It can feel jolty when setting off or coming to a complete stop, and any meaningful throttle demand will generally have it change down two or three gears, causing it to become noisy.

The 224hp self-charging hybrid JAECOO 5 is definitely smoother. It uses a smart hybrid gearbox to run through various clever driving modes – the engine can drive the wheels, or it can be used to charge the battery, and you’ll drive on electric power.

We’ve driven this setup in various other JAECOO, OMODA and Chery products (they’re all related), and it’s consistently smooth and efficient.

The closely related JAECOO E5 (which you can read our review of here) also does away with a gearbox completely, letting you enjoy a smoother, quieter drive.

Handling and ride comfort

The JAECOO 5 is probably firmer than most of its rivals, making it feel more put-together in the corners, but slightly less comfy than rivals.

This also helps it feel stable at motorway speeds, but larger potholes around town can unsettle it.

Its light steering is also noteworthy, because very little effort is needed to do challenging manoeuvres in tight spaces. The two-spoke steering wheel also feels good to hold and ergonomic during turns.

That probably sums up the J5’s drive – it’s clearly more of a town driver than a motorway mile muncher.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s totally up to it, but the excessive tyre noise can make it a bit wearing, although a change of rubber should sort that.

Boot space

JAECOO 5 boot space:

– Boot space: Up to 480 litres

– Incl. rear seats folded: Up to 1,180 litres

This is one of the J5’s strong suit, because the 480-litre boot is far bigger than you’d expect of a compact SUV like this.

It’s on par with the VW T-Roc (475 litres), but that’s also on the higher end. The BYD ATTO 2 (400 litres), Jeep Avenger (321 litres) and Vauxhall Mokka (350 litres) all have significantly less space.

We also like the usability, with a false boot floor that you can lower or raise. In its highest position with the rear seats down, you’ve got a very nearly flat loading area, which is perfect for furniture shopping.

Rear seats

Rear-seat space is also plentiful for this size of car – we carried three extra passengers with ease and in comfort, but the rear middle seat is, of course, less desirable.

The panoramic sunroof in our Luxury trim we mentioned earlier really improved the airy feel in the back without hurting headroom. While a lack of tinted windows these days is becoming a rarity, it also helps the back of the J5 feel much lighter.

Storage solutions

JAECOO proudly proclaims there are 35 storage spaces inside the J5, which feels about in-line with rivals as drivers of this kind of car love a cubby.

Up front, you’ve got twin cupholders behind two phone holders, and then storage under the armrest which is plenty big enough for a couple of bags of sweets.

The glovebox and door bins are also good sizes, but it’s a shame the rear armrest (with integrated cupholders) is not standard on entry-level Pure cars.

JAECOO 5 dimensions

– Height: 1,650mm

– Width: 1,860mm (excl. door mirrors)

– Length: 4,380mm

– Kerb weight: Up to 1,535kg

Safety

JAECOO went to town on the J5, fitting it out with 19 ADAS safety functions and Level 2 autonomous driving tech.

Some of the highlights include adaptive cruise control with steering assist, which is really handy for the motorway, and various collision mitigation systems.

Compared with some other cars’ systems, the driver attention monitoring doesn’t tend to be too invasive (it’s much more sensitive in a Volvo EX30, for example), but turning off the speed limit warning could still be easier as it’s buried deep inside menus.

Fuel economy

Petrol power isn’t the way to go if you want cheap running costs – JAECOO claims around 35mpg from the petrol model, which is reasonably on-par with our testing. We got 30-33mpg through mixed driving.

Other petrol-powered cars tend to be more efficient, such as the T-Roc (47mpg for the 150hp equivalent).

The hybrid model often scores consistently well on the economy front, claiming 53mpg and often surpassing that.

If the lowest running costs are important to you, consider the electric JAECOO E5, which we’ve reviewed separately.

Reliability

Long-term reliability for JAECOO is still relatively unknown due to the brand’s new status in the UK, but parent company Chery has had over two decades of global experience so it’s not as new as it seems.

To ease that burden on new owners, JAECOO sells its cars with a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty – about as good as it gets from factory short of Toyota/Lexus (which require annual servicing at authorised dealers to unlock up to 10 years).