The Jetour X70 Plus is a promising start for an ambitious new brand in South Africa, with striking visuals, an extensive spec sheet, and punchy performance.
The automaker was kind enough to lend TopAuto the SUV for a week, during which time I was able to take it all the way from Pretoria to Sun City and back, getting a good sense of what it’s like as a family car in the process.
An introduction to Jetour
Jetour launched in South Africa at the end of September with two vehicles – the Dashing and the X70 Plus.
The X70 is the larger of the two vehicles, distinguished by the fact that it is a seven-seater, though both cars share the same engine and a similar spec sheet.
My first impression of the Plus was that it is quite the looker, with a flashy studded front grille flanked by daytime running lights and red inserts.
The red accents extend to the side of the SUV, with a line running across the bottom of both doors and subtle highlights around the dark 19-inch alloy wheels.
The back is just as eye-catching, with another accent line that runs parallel to a large singular reverse taillight bar and no less than four tailpipes, though unfortunately, these are just for show.
The red elements may not be to everyone’s liking, especially since this is not a performance car, but it helps to give the car a fun spin that I’m sure others are bound to appreciate.
It’s a similar story inside, with accents on the dashboard and lining that help to break up the dark colour palette.
There are also silver trim elements for parts of the door lining, centre console, and steering wheel, which give the Jetour a premium look.
A few other design attributes that contribute to this feeling are a set of prominently placed speakers, synthetic leather upholstery, illuminated door sills, ambient lighting, and puddle lamp projectors in the side mirrors which are rather prominent after sunset.
There’s a large air-conditioned storage unit in the centre console, as well as a wireless charging pad, and a closable repository for small items like your keys, though sadly there’s only one cupholder that isn’t great at holding taller bottles.
The dashboard features two connected 10.25-inch displays for the driver and infotainment systems, the latter of which can be operated by touch or through a dial and shortcut buttons on the console.
One issue I had with the dual-screen layout is that the various icons for the media functions are located on the screen’s right side and were usually obscured by the steering wheel with my driving position.
You can re-orient the screen for a left-hand-drive layout, but you’ll likely have to stretch your hand to reach the inputs on the display’s far side, which isn’t ideal, and the screen itself is off-centre from the console which might annoy some people, so I’d personally recommend a stand-alone floating screen for when this car gets updated.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is supported and easy to set up, and the screens themselves are a decent resolution and quality with only a slight amount of input delay.
One other design aspect to point out is the automatic climate control, which has a glossy piano black finish on the buttons, making it incredibly difficult to see during the day with any amount of glare.
Thankfully, climate control is something you can generally set and forget so it’s not a huge problem, and the aircon worked very well on our road trip to Sun City.
Later in the day, we also made use of the large panoramic sunroof, which the passengers in the rear particular enjoyed as we took in the evening sun’s rays.
The drive itself was made easy thanks to the inclusion of things like cruise control, blind-spot monitors, and a 360-degree camera for parking, though I found some of the Jetour’s assistance functions to be a bit irritating.
Most prominent is the speeding warning, which plays every time you hit 120km/h.
Even with cruise control enabled, you will naturally go slightly over 120km/h when heading downhill, and you’ll dip below the speed limit when you brake for other vehicles before accelerating again, which means this system will constantly beep at you over the course of a journey.
It was only after I made it back from Sun City that I discovered that I could adjust the speeding threshold (but seemingly not turn it off entirely), so I just set it at 180km/h so I wouldn’t have to hear it anymore.
This leads to a bigger concern with the X70’s user-friendliness, which is admittedly an area that a lot of Chinese cars struggle with.
There infotainment system’s user interface is not particularly intuitive, and you’ll need to jump between sub-menus to access most functions.
You can interact with the digital driver display, too, but it’s rather clumsy with two small touch-sensitive squares on the steering wheel that you swipe with your thumb, and it’s here that I figured out how to change the speed limit warning.
Something that I wholeheartedly enjoyed was the Jetour’s performance, courtesy of a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
It produces a total of 115kW and 230Nm, which is a lot for its price segment and on par with a few of the more expensive midsize SUVs.
Strangely, the X70 only has driving modes for Sport and Eco with nothing in between, and I spent most of the week in Sport mode because Eco hampers the acceleration substantially, making highway overtakes a bit tricky.
With Sport mode enabled, the seven-seater throttle is very responsive with good power for overtakes, and it handles reasonably well despite its size.
You also have access to paddle shifters, which can make good use of the six-speed automatic gearbox.
Fuel consumption is a more complicated story, as I do not know what my official figure was at the end of my week with the Jetour.
The driver screen how shows your tank’s capacity and the odometre, but there was no indication of what my consumption rate was or how much range I still had, and diving into the settings didn’t turn up any results.
What I can say is that the car went through its 57-tank in a week, which is supposed to afford 731km of driving, but the Sun City round trip was only about 350km, and driving to work and the shops added roughly another 100km over a week.
In fairness, the test car we were given was practically new and so its consumption will undoubtedly be worse since the components have yet to be broken in.
However, Chinese cars do have a reputation for being thirsty, and the X70 appears to be no exception, which isn’t helped by its sensitive throttle and the lack of a Normal driving mode, effectively making Sport the new default.
To briefly touch on its practicality, SUV is very spacious inside – particularly for the middle row passengers.
Setting up the rear seats is effortless, and the middle row can actually slide back and forth making it a lot easier to get into the back.
The headroom will be pretty generous for most individuals, and while the rear chairs are only suitable for children, you do get access to an impressive 438-litre boot when the seats are folded down, which easily took six suitcases, backpacks, and tog bags on our trip.
Verdict
Jetour is off to an encouraging start in South Africa with the X70 Plus, which a lot of value considering its price tag.
The SUV is available in two specifications that start at R454,900 and R484,900, making it one of the most affordable seven-seaters in the country.
On top of this, it has a relatively powerful engine that isn’t gate-kept behind a more expensive version, and the equipment sheet is expansive regardless of the trim level you go for.
It also has a very striking appearance, and the interior has a lot of the hallmarks of an upmarket vehicle at a much lower cost to the consumer.
The Jetour’s main issues come down to its user-friendliness and fuel consumption, but these are problems that are common to most Chinese cars in South Africa right now, and it’s something that will likely get better as time goes on and consumers start to send in feedback.
The company is also offering a lengthy 5-year/150,000km warranty and 5-year/60,000km service plan, with an additional 10-year/1-million kilometre engine warranty, which is a big reassurance for customers who may be curious about trying out this new brand.
When you consider how expensive the average car has become in South Africa, it’s hard not to see the value-for-money that the Jetour X70 Plus is offering, so bear it in mind when shopping for a new family SUV.
Jetour X70 Plus
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