► Jaecoo’s smaller SUV driven in the UK
► And it’s powered by petrol
► Lots of toys but not much substance
More for your money is the calling card of the Jaecoo 5, for both equipment levels and sheer size. Jaecoo’s latest combustion entry is priced in line with the small SUV market but offers the proverbial kitchen sink of features and family SUV dimensions.
It’s a similar strategy the Dacia Bigster and MG ZS Hybrid+ use, and with reasonable success, so has Jaecoo nailed the formula?
To find out, I’ve been driving the Jaecoo 5 in the UK, inspecting both Pure and Luxury trim levels to see what’s what. Find out how we test cars to see why you can trust us here.
Should you buy a Jaecoo 5? No. The Jaecoo 5 might be cheap and stuffed to the gills with premium bits and bobs, but the driving experience and powertrain leave a lot to be desired. The electric Jaecoo E5 is a much better overall package.
At a glace
Pros: Big boot, lots of equipment, priced to sell
Cons: Clunky gearbox, overly light steering, bouncy ride
What’s new?
This is Jaecoo’s answer to the likes of the Ford Puma, Renault Captur and plethora of other, small combustion-powered SUVs that fill driveways and make up the UK’s best-selling car lists – as a nation, we clearly can’t get enough of them.
The same can be said of Jaecoo, the larger 7 has already lept onto the best-sellers list despite the entire brand only launching at the start of 2025. Perhaps that’s why the Jaecoo 5 looks like a shrunken down Jaecoo 7, complete with ‘Waterfall Grille’.
There is also an electric variant that we’ve driven separately, the Jaecoo E5.
What are the specs?
There’s just the one engine, a 1.6-litre turbocharged four pot that makes 145bhp and 275 Nm of torque. It manages 0-62mph in 10.2sec and has a top speed of 113mph. Unremarkable but adequate figures for the small SUV class.
There’s no hybrid assistance at all, I even checked under the bonnet and the closest thing was the 12V battery. Jaecoo didn’t have any data for fuel efficiency, but don’t expect it to hold itself against even the mildest of hybrid systems found in rivals.
Prices start at £24,505 and top out at £28,000 for the Luxury trim, excellent value for money for the size and equipment levels.
How does it drive?
This is a clear weak point for the Jaecoo 5 and its biggest fault. It’s not offensively bad, it needs more refinement to cut it in the small SUV class. This isn’t keen driver’s pick stuff either that’ll see it challenge the sweet-handling Ford Puma, the 5 needs work to make it a middling performer here.
The engine is fine, but the seven-speed DCT it’s yoked to feels ancient. It lurched from gear to gear, bogging down before kicking down with a noticeable jolt – failing to use the engine’s torque particularly well.
The ride is bouncy and jumpy at low speeds, skipping into potholes and imperfections. It doesn’t get much better at speed, the entire car feels like it could use some extra weight to settle the ride.
The steering is too light too, not matter which driving mode it was in. Sport did add some welcome extra heft, but it wasn’t enough to make the car planted turning into a corner. It was loose and numb for the first few degrees and unpleasant throughout. Like a lumpy jacket potato, driving the 5 feels half baked.
What’s it like inside?
The interior is the highpoint for the Jaecoo 5, it’s pleasant. The quality of everything within eye level is nice, especially for the price tag, and there’s loads of room up front – with headroom particularly generous. Rear space is solid but not as plentiful as I was expecting. Still, it should be ideal for children, especially with two Isofix points for the rear outer seats.
The interior is identical to the E5, meaning it has a steeply raked 13.2-inch touchscreen that control pretty much every major function. There are a few haptic controls on the steering wheel for volume and skipping tracks, but that’s about it. The good news is that the touch screen is quick, relatively straightforward to use and supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. The bad news is that the screen is mounted just out of sight for an easy glance while driving. I almost cricked my neck simply to follow the sat nav.
The boot is 480-litres, which is huge. It’s comfortably larger than the Ford Puma’s massive 456 litres of boot space which makes it one of the most commodious SUVs in the price range – only the Dacia Bigster’s whopping 677 litres puts it to shame. There’s 1,180 litres of boot space with the seats folded flat and loads of useful interior storage options too that’ll make it practical family transport.
Before you buy.
There are two trim levels, Pure and Luxury. Luxury commands an extra £3,000 and Jaecoo throw everything you could imagine in. It gains heated and ventilated front seats, LED headlights, a massive panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting and a Sony eight speaker system. It’s a lot of equipment for the cash.
All models come with a generous seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, with no mileage cap for the first three years.
The small SUV class is in rude health, and the Jaecoo 5 comfortably undercuts rivals including the Ford Puma, Volkswagen T-Roc and Skoda Kamiq. That being true, the MG ZS Hybrid+ undercuts it on price and has an entire hybrid system to boot. The Dacia Bigster also offers better value for money than the 5 if size is the only metric that matters.
Verdict
The Jaecoo 5 is a swing and a miss for the brand, let down by crude driving dynamics. The all-electric Jaecoo E5 built on the same platform feels like an altogether more complete package.
There are some positives, the boot is huge and useful for a start. It’s well-equipped and the interior is a cut above a lot of similarly priced rivals. If the gearbox, suspension and steering were all overhauled, it’d be a decent pick.