JAECOO handed over the keys to a J5 for a weekend, the kind of loan that turns a spec sheet into something closer to a lived experience. Priced from RM108,000 on-the-road without insurance, we took the J5 running the sort of errands and outings a Klang Valley owner actually would — brunch at Torito at Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur, followed by church at HTBB at Lot 10 on Sunday morning, then brunch at Mimosa Artisan Kitchen & Bar in MET Galleria Kuala Lumpur, and the ordinary mix of city traffic and highway stretches in between. That mileage says more about what it is like to own the car than the brochure figures alone.
The J5 is JAECOO’s entry point in Malaysia, sitting below the J7, J7 PHEV and J8 in the brand’s local lineup, and is offered in a single 2WD variant built locally under a CKD arrangement. JAECOO markets it as an “Urban Explorer” — a car aimed at city driving with enough capability for the occasional weekend trip out of town, rather than a dedicated off-roader. Arriving for a dinner reservation or pulling up outside a hotel lobby is, in other words, closer to its intended use case than any test track ever could be.
The J5’s styling draws comparisons that JAECOO does not discourage. Short overhangs, a upright glasshouse and a defined beltline give the SUV a stance that several reviewers on its launch noted echoes British luxury SUV design language, most obviously around the waterfall front grille and squared-off wheel arches. Whatever the reference points, the effect in person is a car that reads larger than its footprint, helped by LED projector headlights up front and LED tail lamps at the rear that give it a clean lighting signature after dark.
At 4,380mm long, 1,860mm wide and 1,650mm tall on a 2,620mm wheelbase, the J5 is a genuinely large B-segment SUV — JAECOO claims the largest width and height in its class in Malaysia, a claim that tracks with how the car looks parked next to segment rivals. That extra width shows up most in shoulder room up front, noticeable on a drive with two adults sitting side by side through a stretch of PJ’s older, narrower roads. The test unit rode on 18-inch alloy wheels with 235/55 R18 tyres, a size that leaned toward comfort over outright sportiness on the patchier sections of secondary road encountered over the weekend.
Four exterior colours are offered: Zircon Grey, Snowy White, Glacier Blue and Canyon Black.
Power comes from a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine — the same unit found in the related Chery Tiggo Cross, on which the J5 is based — producing 108 kW (147 PS) and 210 Nm of torque through a 16-valve DOHC head with dual variable valve timing. Where the Tiggo Cross pairs this engine with a dual-clutch transmission, JAECOO has fitted the J5 with a continuously variable transmission instead, rated to handle up to 250 Nm at 97 percent efficiency. In everyday driving, the CVT’s character was more noticeable at low speed pull-away, where power delivery was smooth rather than urgent, than in outright response — consistent with JAECOO’s own description of the drivetrain as “silk-smooth and steady” rather than performance-oriented.
Underneath, JAECOO cites a body-in-white torsional stiffness of up to 23,500 Nm per degree, a figure the brand links to both ride quality and crash protection, and a specially tuned multi-link rear suspension aimed at reducing body roll and improving stability — tuning JAECOO says has been calibrated specifically for Malaysian road conditions. Over a mixed weekend route of city traffic, a stretch of the LDP and secondary roads with mid-corner bumps, the rear end stayed settled without the floatiness sometimes found in taller, narrower SUVs in this price bracket, though the trade-off was a ride that leaned firm rather than plush over sharper expansion joints.
JAECOO also claims the largest boot space in the B-segment SUV class in Malaysia, a figure that held up during a weekend grocery run and a separate trip with two medium suitcases loaded without needing to fold the rear seats.
Priced at RM108,000, the J5 is priced below the Honda HR-V and sits close to the Proton X50 on price, while adding a seven-year, 150,000km warranty as standard across the JAECOO range — a longer coverage period than either rival offers at this price point. Whether that warranty length offsets a newer brand’s shorter track record in the Malaysian market is a judgment individual buyers will have to make, but on the road, the J5’s size, ride tuning and drivetrain refinement did not feel like a car cutting corners to hit its price target.
Part 2 of this series covers the J5’s cabin technology and safety systems, and what nineteen driver-assistance features look like in a car under RM110,000.
The JAECOO J5 is priced in Malaysia from RM108,000 on-the-road without insurance, and comes with a seven-year, 150,000km warranty.
For more info, head over to https://www.omodajaecoo.com.my/modelj5
The first stop of the weekend with the JAECOO J5 was Torito, the Peruvian-Japanese restaurant on Level 53 of Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur. Led by chef de cuisine Sergio Porras, the restaurant pairs Nikkei-influenced small plates with sharing-style mains meant for the table, in a dining room and terrace setting pitched as smart casual rather than formal fine dining. Nikkei cuisine refers to the fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cooking that developed among Japanese migrant communities in Peru, blending Japanese technique with Peruvian ingredients such as aji chillies and native corn. Outside of brunch, Torito runs afternoon tea from Friday to Sunday and dinner service daily, with a la carte and beverage menus built around the same Peruvian-Japanese pairing.
The visit coincided with Brunch Bonito, a weekend brunch service held on Saturday, 25 July, from noon to 4pm. The brunch was priced at MYR180 nett for adults and MYR85 nett for children, with an optional add-on of free-flow margaritas or mimosas at MYR149 nett. Rather than a single set menu, the format spread dishes across five stations, letting guests move between live cooking, sushi, mains and dessert at their own pace over the four-hour sitting.
The spread was built around live and stationed offerings across four sections. A live-cutting station and a ceviche station anchored the brunch, alongside a cold and sushi station, a hot station of mains, and a dessert station. Beyond the cuts sampled at the table, the cold and sushi spread also included a guacamole with mixed chips and a mixed green salad with baby gem lettuce, corn and avocado. Hot dishes on offer included chicken gyoza, pan de yuca, chicken empanadas, chaufa rice, pollo quinoa and charcoal-grilled barramundi with aji amarillo mashed potatoes, while desserts spanned a baked egg custard crema volteada, a 77% Callebaut chocolate ganache, slow-cooked pears in sake, a seasonal fruit selection and an opera cake.
Across the table, dishes from every station were sampled over the course of the sitting, and the overall standard held up well throughout. Three items stood out in particular. The live-cutting station’s beef brisket, served for filling tacos with tomato salsa, guacamole, coriander, white onion and brisket sauce, was tender and well-balanced, holding its own against the taco fillings around it. The ceviche, prepared a la minute with tiger’s milk and Peruvian chillies, and talked through dish-by-dish by the serving staff, brought a bright, citrus-forward contrast to the rest of the spread. The cold and sushi station, spanning salmon and tuna nigiri, tuna hoso-maki and rolls built around avocado, was another highlight, with clean, well-executed cuts and rolls that held up against dedicated sushi counters.
The optional free-flow cocktails were a fitting match for the setting. Margaritas and mimosas from the add-on package were refreshing on a warm Saturday afternoon, and the pace of the brunch allowed for a leisurely, unhurried sitting rather than a rushed buffet run, with staff keeping glasses topped up between rounds at the stations.
Torito’s setting on Level 53 added significantly to the experience. The dining room and its surrounding terrace offer sweeping views of the Kuala Lumpur skyline, with the Petronas Twin Towers, Merdeka 118 and the KL Tower all visible from the table — a backdrop that few brunch spots in the city can match.
Taken together, the food, drinks and setting make Torito’s Brunch Bonito a fitting choice for a long, boozy weekend lunch, or for marking an anniversary, birthday or other special occasion.
For more info, head over to https://www.banyantree.com/malaysia/kuala-lumpur/dining/torito
Read episode 2 of my Weekend with the JAECOO J5 here:
Photos by the author using the vivo X300 Pro.
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