mReview: Jaecoo J6 – Easy On The Eyes

The Jaecoo J6 takes an inspired approach to its design that has resulted in a strong look that’s hard to dislike.

The Jaecoo J6 was originally known as the iCar 03 (or iCaur, in some export markets), but was renamed upon export here, though they are all still under the Chery Group umbrella. In Singapore, the two Chery Group brands are Omoda and Jaecoo, both sold by the same distributor. 

There are some similarities between the Jaecoo J6 and some of the other Chery products, but we’ll touch on those later. The best way to start this Jaecoo J6 story is with how it looks, because I think it looks great. 

When I visited the Auto Shanghai exhibition earlier this year with Chery Group, they had just revealed a new iCar, the V23, and in that presentation, they were proudly announcing the fact that the design of the car was heavily inspired by the off-roading greats like the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. They also mentioned that the iCar brand is meant to evoke a sense of adventure, individuality, and an active lifestyle in its customers. 

Useful for storing things like sandy clothes, wet shoes, or durians.

Though the presentation wasn’t given about the Jaecoo J6, the same mindset and sentiments were present when Chery came up with the car. And you know what? I see the vision.

The J6 has a classically square body appearance that manages to show off its influence while still maintaining some level of distinctiveness as its own vehicle. There are “i” motifs all around the car, linking back to its roots as an iCar. These are found everywhere from the LED daytime running lights to the spare-tyre-style storage box on the tailgate, not unlike a hidden Mickey. 

Rugged grip handles for when the going gets rough.

To really give it that off-road vibe, there are also flared fenders with matte cladding to really enhance the J6’s stance on the road. There are also a plethora of accessories that can be fitted to the car to increase its active-lifestyle-ness, like roof racks, tents, ladders, and more. 

The interior of the J6 is pretty similar to what we saw in the Omoda E5 or Jaecoo J7, with minimal buttons and a large screen dominating the dashboard, though there are some J6-specific aspects to the user interface. It still has the usual range of features and creature comforts, though, like a 540° camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, V2L functionality, and adaptive cruise control, all offered as standard regardless of variant. 

A fully flat floor and reclined seat angle make the rear rather comfortable.

Speaking of variants, the J6 is available in Singapore with either rear-wheel drive (Cat A COE compliant) or all-wheel drive (Cat B COE compliant). Our test car was an all-wheel drive model with dual motors pushing out a combined 205kW (275hp) and 385Nm of torque. That’s good enough for a 6.5-second century sprint and up to 470km of range on a full charge. 

There's not a bad angle of the J6.

While the efficiency of the J6 isn’t brilliant (it’s all-wheel drive and shaped like a cube, after all), it does drive fairly well. It’s quiet and comfortable, and the dual motors have a good amount of poke when driving around town and on the expressway. 

"i" spy with my little eye.

The ride quality isn’t too busy or too soft either, which can sometimes be the case for off-road style vehicles, but it is rather well-sorted in the J6. However, the braking of the J6 still has room for improvement. Though there isn’t anything wrong with braking performance, the pedal is far too sensitive, which makes it hard to modulate, and the calibration of the regenerative braking lacks refinement, which can make the car feel hard to drive smoothly. 

Overall, while there are still some kinks to be ironed out, there’s no denying that the J6 has been quite popular in Singapore. All you need is a cursory glance at the showroom lot to see how many J6s are sitting out front waiting for their new owners to take delivery, adding to the growing number of them on the roads. 

It’s not difficult to see why it’s proven quite popular; the J6’s appearance alone makes driving around in it feel like much more of an occasion than pootling around in traffic may actually be, an excellent trait to have in a car and one the Jaecoo J6 has for sure. 

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