The Jaecoo E5’s slightly stronger resistance at 52 per cent is significantly higher than the Ford Puma Gen-E’s 38 to 40 per cent, as well as the Renault 4’s 44 to 47 per cent.
The Jaecoo 5’s interior isn’t the most exciting, but the tech belies the price
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The styling of Jaecoo’s first model, the 7, has been compared to Range Rover’s Evoque and Velar from some angles, particularly the side and rear, and the smaller 5 very much keeps things in the family. The petrol model also retains the huge toothy grille, which is certainly distinctive on the road. This is also the main differentiation between the petrol and electric version, with the latter getting a more subtle, panelled front end.
Interior and dashboard design
The cabin is dominated by a huge 13.2-inch vertical touchscreen, but is otherwise clean and neat, with pleasingly comfortable leather seats in the higher-spec Luxury trim level. As with many other Chinese SUVS, minimalism is the name of the game here, and that means a total lack of proper buttons.
Materials and build quality
The Jaecoo 5 does what many mainstream cars do, where quality in the eyeline is good, but lower down, the glovebox and door bins betray the lower-cost reality. That being said, we’re willing to be fairly forgiving considering that this car is quite a bit cheaper to buy than several of its key competitors.
Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo
The touchscreen controls everything, and it’s well laid out, although it doesn’t always respond to the first prod of a finger. Fans of physical buttons will be disappointed to see a cabin devoid of such old-fashioned adornments, but at least the climate control is only ever one upward swipe away, and there are plenty of voice-activated commands if you want to use them.
While the Jaecoo is a bit so-so in some areas, it has an ace up its sleeve in terms of practicality
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They might be closely related, but the Jaecoo 5 has the edge over the Omoda 5 in terms of space and practicality. This is partly thanks to its more traditional boxy shape, and the result is one of the better small SUV options for those seeking a new family car.
Dimensions and size
The Jaecoo 5 isn’t quite as long as its Omoda stablemate, but it is much taller and a little bit wider, and this extra space is put to very good use.
| Dimensions comparison | |||
| Model | Jaecoo 5 | Renault 4 | Dacia Duster |
| Length | 4,380mm | 4,144mm | 4,343mm |
| Width | 1,860mm | 1,808mm | 1,813mm |
| Height | 1,650mm | 1,552mm | 1,656mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,620mm | 2,624mm | 2,657mm |
| Boot space | 480 litres | 339 litres | 349 litres |
Seats & passenger space
Rear-seat passengers have plenty of headroom, and we found that a pair of six-foot adults can comfortably sit behind equally tall front-seat occupants – something that not many cars in this segment can boast. It can’t boast the option of having seven seats like the Citroen C3 Aircross, though. There’s plenty of space up front, although the driving position is perhaps a tad higher than we’d like.
