Jaecoo J5 Track 2026 review

When you’re chasing that new car smell at the fiscal depths of the market, perhaps the key question isn’t simply to ask ‘what’s mediocre?’, but to ask how many sins you are willing to forgive in trade for a red-hot price point?

At $25,990 driveaway, the Jaecoo J5 Track is the cheap end of a cheap model lineup. It’s a deceptively small if medium-looking SUV with Temu Range Rover vibes – a smart design, all said. It’s going to fit some buyer whims on face value alone looking infinitely neater than, say, a Kia Picanto that wants for similar outlay.

However, the base petrol version of the J5 is just one of an armada of price savvy SUV-alikes thrust upon Aussie buyers by the Chery Group, across no less than four brands in Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo and, more recently, Lepas.

The uncharitable synopsis is that, after the recent raging local success of the Tiggo 4 – a triple-facelifted, nine-year-old, critically underachieving model with two tyres in retirement – why wouldn’t an importer dump anything and everything befitting a cut-priced SUV mould into the local market, scattergun style?

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the oven fresh Jaecoo J5 shares its ‘T1X’ platform and some technical DNA with the ageing Chery Tiggo 4 (and Omoda 5), if with a fetching Brit-inspired design favour that cleverly makes it appear larger than its (4380mm long) form actually is.

It’s a different spin to Tiggo 4, if birthed from a similar template to, one presumes, strike similar sales magic. Especially in its most affordable ICE-powered guise where J5 is at its cheapest, despite a design aesthetic that achingly – and quite successfully – aims further upmarket.

The 1.5-litre turbo petrol versions’ late 2025 arrival followed on from the model’s debut as a fully electric that digs at least $11K deeper into the hip pocket (from $36,990 on road). These will be joined locally by hybrid variants in due course.

For less of an indulgent splurge, buyers can opt for the top-spec Summit trim of the ICE version ($29,990 driveaway), adding a veneer of niceties, mostly in cabin, to the Track’s relatively rudimentary fitout.

Can this faux-Baby Rangie impress, or at least garner higher critical appraisal than the lowly result (3.5/10) its Tiggo 4 cousin achieved? And what sins might buyers be forced to compromise with in rudimentary Track trim in trade for its enticingly thrifty price tag?

How does the J5 Track drive?

On the plus side, nothing separates the Track from the four-grand-pricier Summit under its stylised metal and plastic skin (bar some bonnet insulation). Both ICE versions fit the same modest 108kW and 210Nm 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine pairing front drive via a CVT automatic.

There’s also a level of baked-in sophistication with the chassis, with the mulit-link rear suspension format (paired with struts up front) rather than the relatively simplistic torsion beam arrangement one expects in the shallower end of motoring’s engineering gene pool. The Track, like Summit, fits flashy 18-inch alloys, too.

Good ingredients. But if there’s a fair shortfall from well-integrated engineering to merely assembling components together and crossing one’s fingers for a somewhat functional outcome, the J5 Track seems hellbent on demonstrating it.

A hairtrigger throttle makes the J5 urgent off the mark plus clumsy at three-point turns and when parking, demanding unnecessarily concentrated right foot precision. But on the move, the boosted 1.5 proves a willing participant and, in isolation, not ‘the problem’. Indeed, at just a tonne and a half kerb, the J5 gets along briskly when it needs to.

Put simply, the willing engine and constantly variable transmission aren’t reading from the same calibration book, let alone on the same page as one another. On constant throttle acceleration, the J5 lunges from a standstill and then falls into a torque hole seemingly entirely of the CVT’s intent.

Result? It bucks along like a Melbourne taxi in peak hour unless you’re constantly adjusting throttle application. That forward progress smooths out approaching motorway speed only really pays dividends when you’ve escaped the confines around town.

What triple-figure motorway speed can’t counter (though usually does in most vehicles) is smother terse vertical movement from the ride evident everywhere seemingly at all times. The ride isn’t brittle, per say, it just remains faintly unsettling at all times.

Drop the road speed and the suspension picks up every detail of the road surface and transmits it up through the chassis and J5’s seats. Even the small road expansion joints can jar at times.

The Chinese SUV clearly hasn’t been tuned for Aussie road surfaces, though its one-dimensional stiffness is wildly at odds – though not necessarily more preferential – to the overly soft and flaccid tunings favoured by many Asian alternatives today.

Some compensation might be unearthed if the J5’s hot hatch ride was complimented by enthusiasm in the handling department, but there’s nothing of the sort.

Instead, the SUV rocks about on its suspension, never quite settled or composed enough even in the most mundane of touring tasks. Its Chao Yang rubber, too, offers merely adequate grip once you push on in corners.

But the worst of it is the steering. It tugs and nibbles incessantly, as if constantly affected by bouts of low-level torque steer. It’s aloof, underassisted, lacks linearity, and tracks off centre as if the front end geometry has been knocked out of spec.

Silver linings? There are a few, faint glimmers…

The J5 feels solid and there’s a semblance of refinement – despite its disheveled on road character – that punches above your average basement-pricing new car offerings.

Active driver assistance is an area of on-road calibration that, demonstrably, seems quite resolved, as evidenced by the on-test performance of driver monitoring and forward collision warning. That this outpunches passive safety – particularly the touchy brickwall brakes – is surprising.

How is the J5 Track’s interior?

Much like the exterior presentation, the base Track largely appears to be a dead ringer for the pricier Summit with few conspicuous downgrades in expected areas.

Seating is the main one, with surprisingly welcoming and comfy cloth trim in place of the Summit’s “pet friendly” faux leather, with expected mechanical adjustment and absence of heating and ventilation.

Illuminated vanity mirrors, ambient lighting, soft finish dash and door top trim, and rear armrest all hit the cutting room floor, and the audio loses two speakers (for a total of six), though none of these ought to be deal-breakers at the Track’s thrifty price point.

It presents well: simple and minimal, little in the way of switchgear, and dressed in conservative grey and flaunting a large 13.2-inch portrait-style central touchscreen as its centrepiece. There’s a pleasant airiness that belies the compact size and it feels somewhat value laden.

However, some of it is a ruse. What appear to be dual phone charge pads offer no inductive charging either side, and material presentation masks the fact that most surfaces are hard, ballistics grade plastics. But everything feels solid and well made.

Storage is decent, logical and usable, including the oh-so-2026 double-stacked centre console, but the user interface starts to become a clumsy mess when it comes to some of the display work and system adjustment.

The wheel looks neat, though its dual twin-spoke design – with glossy garnish inserts – feels clumsy in the hands and tricky to grasp. The 8.8-inch slimline display, too, almost conspires to make critical information (road speed) as illegible as possible.

The tablet-style media screen does project Apple CarPlay large, clear and wirelessly, though you’ll have to wire up to stop draining your phone’s battery. But the real own-goal is that it hides the onscreen air-con system adjustment – Summit gets dual-zone climate – as a default.

After some experimentation, a hidden ‘easter egg’ is that an upward flick reveals air-con adjustment, if for only a few distracting seconds…while the driver monitor system bleats at you to pay attention to the road. And just why the temperature control (not fan speed) is displayed in numeric increments (one through 16) is a headscratcher…

The surround-view camera system, though, is excellent: bright, clear and with adaptive guidelines in either direction of travel.

Row two offers decent space for adults though the pronounced hump in the centre position backrest means that the J5 is functionally better serving as a four-seater rather than a fiver. Again, the base grade omits the centre armrest, but it does fit a single rear air vent and sole USB-A outlet (to compliment the USB-A and -C ports up front).

The bench is quite comfy in the outboard positions, with cushy padding and that same welcoming cloth trim, plus its pair of Isofix mounts boost family friendliness. The tall glasshouse, with excellent outward vision, adds a sense of lightness to the accom.

Boot space is adequate, measuring 384 litres to the top of the back seats (480L to the roof), and there’s no spare wheel despite offering space under the floor to fit one. The fitted tyre pressure monitoring system, commendable at this price point, offers some compensation.

What are the J5 Track’s ownership costs?

At 7.5L/100km/h for combined consumption claimed, the ICE version of J5 isn’t terribly frugal on paper, and attempting to drive through the powertrain torque hole means that, around town at least, it’ll be worse.

Thankfully the turbo engine is rated to run on cheapie 91-octane fuel.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first, with intervals price capped between $299 and $359, or an average of $335 per year across the first five years of ownership.

Warranty is an exceptional eight years of unlimited-kilometre coverage, with roadside assist offered throughout that duration.

The honest verdict

Cheap-to-buy cars are easy targets when critiquing criteria of all-round motoring goodness. However, in fairness, the Jaecoo J5 offers a helluva lot of metal, glass, rubber and fair swag of smarts and tech for what is paltry outlay. Materialistically, you could call it a bargain.

It’s just a shame that its maker hasn’t invested more in sending its small SUV to finishing school. That’s because it’s perhaps got – hardware wise – what needs to be a great little car, it just needs some extra calibration for it to function fitter and better on road.

In many ways, it’s a better car – at least a fresher feeling and more attractive proposition – than a Chery Tiggo 4 in like-for-like spec. But, frankly, that’s more of reflection that the Chery SUV should lift its game (which it well ought to in its forthcoming generational update).

In fact, for kerbside, impress-the-neighbours impact enjoyed at 20 paces, the J5 Track has panache that’s tough to match elsewhere for its $26K outlay, parked up in your driveway. And if those things are high priorities, Jaecoo has you covered well.

But when it comes down to good old-fashioned competency beyond the smart looks and big screens, the cheapest offering in the Jaecoo lineup has plenty of room to grow. And adding more trinkets and outlay to this package – to the Summit – isn’t the solution.