For someone wanting a well-priced, brand-new 4x4 ute with all the luxuries and a 200,000k/five-year warranty, a trip down to the local JAC dealer would be worthwhile
From pulling heavy trailers making site deliveries, to driving the rugged potholed streets of Auckland, I managed to give the JAC a good well-rounded workout to see how it compared to my normal daily drive.
With the JAC T9 ute brand new to the New Zealand market, the brand itself has been on the scene for a while now, providing users with a light truck range, which includes an EV option. Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as JAC Motors or JAC) has been in the automotive industry since 1964, so in my eyes it has had time to figure a few things out about how to build an alright truck.
First impression
Having a good look around the exterior my first impression of the new T9 in the flesh was good – it’s eye-catching with its sleek lines and European styling. With what’s under the bonnet and behind guards occasionally neglected on other brands in terms of paint and finish detail, JAC seems to have covered these points well, meaning it shouldn’t start to rust any time soon. According to their specs, the chassis is galv steel with a zinc content of 40.9% and internal wax injection to protect against corrosion. I’m unsure how that compares to other brands but it gives potential buyers a question to ask others when shopping around.
Well-laid-out interior
Popping the door into the cab I was greeted by that ever-so-familiar new car smell. Hopping into the driver’s seat the full leather cockpit was very comfortable, something my body was grateful for over the next 1000kms. From the driver’s seat, I was impressed with the visibility the T9 gave, with few blind spots and the cab felt well laid out. Full electric seats for driver and passenger make for easy adjustment while giving you the option to heat up the old backbones while going about your daily chores.
Sitting in the hot seat with the wife beside me she commented the passenger’s side of the JAC was plenty comfy, with the kids in the back seat also saying it’s not the worst ute I’ve made them sit in as well. The rear seat seems to have a wee bit more recline on it than the usual straight up-and-down back seats I’ve seen in a lot of other similar-sized wagons.
With the decent-size touchscreen central to the dash, everything is at the tip of your fingers for dialling in all the bells and whistles when you need. The only thing I struggled to find with ease was the heated seat switch, which wasn’t actually a switch, but was right under my nose in the aircon/cab temperature control part of the screen.
Under my left arm in the centre console was a handy compartment which can be activated off the aircon, either keeping a few cans cold for hot day refreshments or keeping a couple of sneaky pies warm for cold day smoko.
Out on the road
Hitting the streets, the JAC impressed me with its smooth ride. Its suspension seemed to glide over most things in its path with the rear end not being too stiff and punchy.
With all of the factory safety options assisting me to drive down the road it seemed like the JAC was almost driving itself. Me being me, I chose to turn it all off and take it back old school and enjoy driving something that wasn’t trying to guide you around with numerous notifications.
First stop for the JAC was a tight underground car park in the city. With what I’d call a good steering lock and tight turning radius for a bigger vehicle, you don’t have to be a confident driver to get this thing into a tight space. The 360-degree camera gives you a great bird’s-eye view of the surroundings along with a front and rear camera on the big display screen letting you see virtually everything around the truck. And if that isn’t enough, you have the parking sensors assisting, if you so wish.
The business end
Out of the city and ready to do some work I loaded up one of our trailers with a cube of gravel to deliver to site – roughly 2.5 tonnes all up – to ease the JAC into some real work.
The four cylinders are part of a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine that makes 125 kW and 410 Nm of torque, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, and I was interested in how it’d pull. Handling the task not quite like an over-excited teenage schoolboy, the JAC steadily ventured off on its journey to a job site.
I was impressed with its seamless gear changing, something I’d expect from an eight-speed transmission though. It also talked well with the motor and picked all the right gears for engine braking down the hills, not wanting to take off and stretch its legs which I found great.
I found Sport Mode to be more suitable for towing, which gave me a bit more response on power up the hills, although I found there were times I needed to chuck it into manual mode and chop gears a little quicker as I could read the steep parts a bit better than the JAC computer.
Getting to the site, the JAC had no worries navigating the steep metal driveway and then through paddocks to where the product was to be dropped. The turn-style knob for four-wheel-drive engagement on-the-fly worked well and sits right beside the gear stick.
Selecting Low Four gave great low gearing for backing the trailer up into tricky tight and steep places without straining the T9’s drivetrain. Traction while towing on metal roads seemed good even though the truck was only on standard road tyres. Traction control didn’t kick in too many times when I was giving it a lead foot.
Hooking up the mini digger
Taking 2.5-odd tonnes of trailer and gravel in its stride, I thought I’d try out its maximum three-tonne towing rating and hook up our mini digger and trailer.
With more weight sitting over the rear of the ute the trailer can be rough to tow with other vehicles in our fleet. The JAC seemed to take it in its stride, noticing the extra bit of weight over the rear end. The vehicle easily pulled the CAT digger around with good power and held its balance on the open road.
The T9 has a towing mode, activated it seems by the trailer light plug being plugged in. This senses the trailer and makes the JAC aware of the trailer for when reversing and other activities, so the sensors don’t think someone or something is right behind you.
Summary
All in all, I was impressed with the JAC T9. For someone wanting a well-priced, brand-new 4×4 ute with all the luxuries and a 200,000k/five-year warranty, I think a trip down to the local JAC dealer to check it out for yourself would be worthwhile.
For more information, visit jac.co.nz
Images by Brook Harland