Jetour

Dramatic sloping roofline crossover design (it looks like a mini-Urus) with a lot of kit. For not a lot of money.

Decent luggage space at 486-litres, with a lot of cabin equipment. The standard spec is extensive, but some features are superfluous, like the panoramic sunroof, which is pointless for six months a year in South Africa’s heat-soaked climate.

Infotainment interfacing isn’t great, either. Dashing suffers from UX overdesign, with too many apps and interfaces that aren't intuitive, especially for tech-anxious users. But it does have both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

With a 1.5 turbopetrol engine, there’s no performance loss at altitude. But that 115kW engine is heavy on fuel, and that 6-speed DCT transmission feels like it's working a bit too hard to mitigate turbolag. Throttle response and gearbox calibration are not up to European vehicle standards, and it shows in the driving experience.

Like too many Chinese vehicles, the Dashing does not have a full-size spare wheel, which is always an issue if you do any long-distance driving or road trip across South Africa.

Boxy styling meets lots of digital cabin tech. T1 has the same boxy proportions as T2, but without the off-road styling details and a lot less ground clearance.

Jetour’s designers have created a distinctive shape with the T1 and T2 models. T1’s boxy design and reasonably simple surfaces look a lot better than several of the overdesigned Japanese and Korean rivals.

Cabin is loaded with tech, and T1 has some of the comfiest seats you can find in a Chinese vehicle. The front passenger seat features an extendable leg rest for increased long-distance driving comfort.

The front-wheel-drive 1.5 turbopetrol is rated at 125kW/270Nm, and the all-wheel-drive 2.0 turbo motor boosts 185kW/375Nm. Average fuel consumption is high on both.

If you do a lot of highway driving, the 2.0 turbopetrol’s extra power is worth the price. All T1s use a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that isn’t perfectly calibrated, with some throttle lag and at times, a peculiar tempo of up-and-downshifts.

The T1 has only 190mm of ground clearance, and with highway tread pattern tyres, it has limited off-road ability. Like most Chinese crossovers and SUVs, the T1 lacks a full-size spare wheel.

Looks like a Defender. But don’t be fooled.

There’s a lot of standard infotainment and comfort features inside the T2. But this is a soft-roader. Not a proper off-road vehicle, despite its appearance.

T2’s infotainment system is powered by a Snapdragon 8155 chipset, which means that the large infotainment screens are very responsive. With low latency. Cabin comfort is good, and there’s 580-litre of luggage space, which is reasonable.

Despite having 220mm of ground clearance and looking like a Defender, T2 isn’t great off-road. Its all-wheel drive can handle mild sand tracks, but it doesn’t have low-range gearing. So forget about getting up steep gradients off-road. To Jetour's credit, the T2 does have a full-size spare wheel, which is very rare on a Chinese SUV. 

T2 is only available with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. These transmissions can become high-maintenance over time if you do a lot of off-road driving or towing with peak throttle inputs.

The pre-programmed off-road driving systems have too much intervention and allow too little driver control. Jetour says T2 has lockable centre and rear differentials, but the traction control overrides everything. That means the diffs never feel 100% locked when you need them to be.

Two engine options, both of which are heavy on fuel. The front-wheel-drive 1.5 turbopetrol is rated at 125kW/270Nm, and the all-wheel-drive 2.0 turbo motor is rated at 185kW/375Nm. Average fuel consumption is in the 10/100km range in the real world.

T2 looks terrific and is very affordable. But if you want a Chinese value SUV that looks characterful and has real off-road ability, it has to be a Tank 300.

Jetour’s solution for South African buyers who need 7-seats, lots of features, and are buying on a strict budget. If you need seating for the school run or for playdate lift-club duties, the X70 Plus is a great option.

More sophisticated than Hyundai’s Alcazar, but it doesn’t offer the Korean 7-seater’s diesel engine option.

The 1.5 turbopetrol powertrain feels laggy, especially when the X70 Plus is fully laden. And like all Chinese vehicles using 1.5-litre turbopetrol engines, X70 Plus is heavy on fuel.

It might have 7 seats, but the packaging is tight. With all three rows of seating in use. There’s only 56-litres of luggage space available. Even with the third-row seating folded away, luggage space is still quite limited at 292-litres.