The Jaecoo brand entered our market a year ago, at the same time the company presented its first crossover Jaecoo J7. The brand belongs to the Chinese auto concern Chery and was created specifically for foreign markets. Now Jaecoo is presented in the country in joint showrooms with Omoda (also a sub-brand of Chery), where two models from each manufacturer are exhibited. The brand name Jaecoo is pronounced as “Jayku”, formed from the German word Jaeger (“hunter”) and the English word Cool (“cool”). As written on the manufacturer’s website, “The Hunter symbolizes Speed, Agility, Wildlife and Passion.”
The exterior of the Jaecoo J7 is stylish and modern, but there are no options here, since the global premiere of the car took place only in April 2023. It has some similarities with the more expensive and famous Range Rover Evoque crossover, which undoubtedly plays into the hands of the Chinese. Unfortunately, we got a white car for testing, it is not the most interesting and attractive for the model. The Jaecoo J7 palette also has more successful color solutions, for example, green or gray, giving off blue, and the latter can be purchased with a contrasting roof for an extra fee.
Jaecoo J7 has very attractive and unusual front and rear optics, which suit the crossover very well and make it recognizable. But the main LED light, by the way, is quite good, following modern trends, here it is lowered down, which is not the best solution for our climate. A pleasant and modern option is the sliding door handles, which show themselves well even in winter, so there is no need to be afraid of the presence of such an option. The radiator grille of the model is large, with vertical slats, it makes the appearance of the crossover more evil, and our customers like it.
The interior of the model is made in the spirit of minimalism, the designers removed almost all unnecessary elements inside, even the driver’s door handle. The digital instrument panel and a huge vertically positioned display of the media system are made in the form of separate elements. The latter looks quite organic and fits perfectly into the overall design. Of the shortcomings that follow from the decisions of the company’s designers, I would note the combined blocks of keys on the steering wheel, which are also made of glossy black plastic. Yes, it is beautiful, but not that convenient and absolutely impractical. Also, of course, it is worth paying attention to the lack of a separate climate control unit. It is completely virtual here, and it is not very convenient to operate it on the go, even despite the large screen and fairly large interface elements on it. The only plus is that the creators were able to neatly fit the same front seat heating buttons into the interior around the large washer for selecting driving modes. The car also has a voice assistant “Jake” that speaks Russian well, which will help you perform simple tasks such as adjusting the temperature or opening windows.
The visually attractive front seats of the crossover turned out to be too loose for me, and they clearly lacked more pronounced lateral support. The cushion here is also a bit short, as in most cars of the concern, and there is no lift in its front part. Despite this, you can get comfortable behind the wheel of the Jaecoo J7, the steering wheel is adjustable both in height and reach, and the set of electric adjustments of the seat is extensive and even includes adjustment of lumbar support. The seats here are upholstered in leather that is pleasant to the touch, but on the upper part of the front panel there is a pad that imitates it, made of soft plastic with stitching. In front of the driver and passenger, as well as on the doors, there is an interesting pad made of rubber with a pattern, which looks very nice. Below the eye level, hard plastic panels are traditionally present in abundance, but not the worst in quality. At night, the interior is pleasantly enlivened by unobtrusive, but visible atmospheric lighting, for which you can choose almost any color.
The second row is very comfortable, even behind myself with a height of 187 cm I fit there without problems. Moreover, I will note that getting in/out is convenient here, and the car doors completely cover the thresholds. At the back there is a wide folding central armrest with two cup holders, unfortunately, only one air duct with the ability to adjust the air flow, as well as two USB – USB-A and USB-C. In addition, the passengers of the second row got separate seat heating, and the Isofix mounts are freely accessible here under plastic plugs. Despite the presence in the cabin of a large panoramic roof with an automatic hatch in its front part and a thick curtain, even tall people still have a decent amount of free space above their heads.
Although five adults can easily sit in the Jaecoo J7 (four, however, will be more comfortable), the car also has a very decent trunk of 412 liters. The trunk door in the crossover is electric and can be opened without contact. Inside, we get a rather convenient curtain, which some manufacturers are now removing from the base and offering as an option. Hidden hooks are located along the edges of the trunk, there are also small niches for small items and one car socket. From the cabin, you can separately fold the backs of the sofa, which form a practically flat floor and allow you to transport oversized cargo in the car.
The media system in the crossover is good, in the top configuration it received a huge 14.8-inch touch panel with high resolution, excellent response and high-quality oleophobic coating. The menu is very high-quality, and the interface speed is high, it is not for nothing that they put the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip here. The menu structure is very similar to that in mobile devices, which makes it easier to interact with it. I note that the manufacturer very competently and in a convenient format arranged all the settings related to the car in a separate section. Plus, a call to the screen with running applications was added so that you can quickly switch to the one you need.
Jeecoo J7 also has a built-in navigation system based on Turbo Dog, which, at least in Moscow, can build an optimal route and knows many speed cameras. In addition, the built-in navigation system can display its data in a window on the dashboard, and there is also the option to stretch it to the entire screen, as was the case with Audi. In addition, navigation tips are displayed in a convenient format on the car’s projection display.
If you don’t like the look of the built-in navigation or want to get more thoughtful routes taking into account traffic jams, then please, the car’s system supports the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto platforms, and even with a wireless connection for both. So you can launch the same “Yandex.Navigator” and drive along it, viewing the route in a convenient format on almost the entire 14-inch display. The wireless connection works stably, but, of course, in the center of Moscow it may well fall off in some places.
Yes, the system has a day and night mode for displaying information, which in the case of automatic operation is linked to the car’s light sensor. But working with the phone in Jeecoo is not ideal, all data is available to you only from the central screen, while the projection and dashboard display only an incoming call.
The digital instrument panel in the car is 10.25 inches with HD resolution and convenient data layout. Information from driver assistants is displayed in graphic mode in the center, and additional data is displayed on the edges. The projection screen displays a digital speedometer, the work of assistants and navigation tips when it is running. The downside of the projection is that it is small in size, and if you lean slightly to the right behind the wheel, leaning on the central armrest, you will no longer see part of it.
In the front part of the Jeecoo J7 cabin, on the lower level of the central tunnel on the driver’s side, there are USB-A (main) and USB-C connectors, but on the passenger side there is only a car socket. On top of the central tunnel there is a place for a large stand with a velvety pad for two smartphones. Interestingly, under the right platform, the manufacturer placed a fast 50 W wireless charger with active cooling, although it is usually placed under the left. Smartphones are charged quickly on the stand, but to start the process, you need to put the phone on it exactly in the recesses, otherwise the charging will start and then stop.
The climate control in the crossover is dual-zone, and almost all of its controls are located on the multimedia screen, which is not very convenient. The only advantage is that the climate control system works well in automatic mode and practically does not require adjustments during the process. Plus, you can partially control it using a voice assistant. In addition, the J7 has a full set of additional climate options, namely heated seats and steering wheel, heated windshield and ventilation of the front seats. The last option works, in my opinion, too aggressively, and both the cushion and the lower part of the seat back are blown through.
There are enough assistance systems in the Jeecoo J7. There is an adaptive cruise control, supplemented by a tracking and lane keeping system, as well as a blind spot monitoring system. All components work well, although lane keeping constantly moves the car to the left, and the cruise is deactivated after stopping after 5 seconds. The latter is not very convenient in traffic jams, since you constantly have to revive it by pressing the gas. But the system maintains an optimal distance, in traffic driving up to the vehicle in front quite close and immediately starting to move, without letting the car go far, and it makes smooth turns confidently. The monitoring system signals an obstacle not only with a bright indicator in the mirrors, but also displays this information on the dashboard and projection. The car also has a 360-degree camera with a high-quality picture, as well as active marking lines, and the information on its operation on a large display is optimally arranged. And, of course, there are emergency braking systems that can stop the car on their own.
In Russia, the crossover is presented with a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a capacity of 150 or 186 hp, which is paired with a seven-speed robotic gearbox with two wet-type clutches. The Jaecoo J7 can have either front or all-wheel drive, in the latter case, an extended selection of driving modes is available, where everything is controlled electronically. True, the ground clearance is not very large and is 196 mm for the 2WD version and 186 mm for the AWD, so it is better not to go somewhere in very difficult road conditions even with all-wheel drive.
The car shows itself well on the road only with unhurried smooth movement, for more active movement it is advisable to activate the sports mode. True, even in “Sport” the steering wheel remains slightly empty, and noticeable rolls in turns, of course, do not go away. When accelerating at low speeds, a dullness of the box is often noticeable, not jerks, but some thoughtfulness, which, again, is completely solved by the “Sport” mode, and this phenomenon disappears with a set of speed. The engine power here is enough for comfortable movement not only within the city, but also on the highway, so you always confidently go out to overtake. Of the additional modes, these cannot even be called off-road, the crossover has one for snow and mud. It is better not to go on serious off-road in the Jaecoo J7, but you can slip through on a snowy road or on a washed-out dirt road.
The crossover seems to have good noise insulation, but the wheel arches are still poorly insulated, so road noise becomes your constant companion. The suspension perfectly hides all small bumps, but on medium and large ones it becomes some kind of shaking, with every bump making the passengers in the cabin swing back and forth like tumblers. But, again, if we smoothly and unhurriedly pass difficult sections, there are no problems. That is, the crossover is tailored precisely for such a smooth and calm manner of movement.
Prices for the Jaecoo J7 start at 2,799,900 and go up to 3,849,900 rubles. Using the manufacturer’s special marketing offers, you can get a discount of 200,000 to 370,000 rubles. Literally at the end of last week, the manufacturer announced that an updated version of the Jaecoo J7 with some nice innovations is entering our market. But there are still enough current versions of the car in the showrooms, for which dealers may make additional discounts.
Source: mobile-review.com
