The Jetour Dashing is bound to turn heads wherever it goes
The Jetour Dashing is a car that catches people’s attention wherever you go. Whether you stop at a petrol station or overtake someone on the highway, you can feel the eyes of the next person look up and down the vehicle.
It’s rather interesting. This is not a vehicle made by the stylish German manufacturers, nor is it an Italian masterpiece. This car is made by Jetour, which is part of the Chery group, and is manufactured in China.
It also shows how far the Chinese manufacturers have come when you go back to 2008 and look at the Chery QQ3, which was then South Africa’s cheapest car.
The Dashing is not the most pricy, but you could mistake one for a car that sells for more than R1 million; in 2008, the QQ3 looked like the cheapest car in the country.
Inside the vehicle, there are lovely bucket leather seats in the front, more leather in the back and an appealing rectangular dashboard. It also has eight-colour ambient lighting, which can be adjusted to a musical rhythm and turn your car into a party zone, as well as a dual infotainment system that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
That dual-infotainment system can be a pain at times. Manufacturers want to create this seamless process that allows a driver to control all settings from a single screen, but the lack of buttons on the dashboard or where you are used to having them just makes it difficult.
Folding the mirrors on the car is done on the screen rather than where the button to adjust the rearview mirrors is on the driver’s door. The lack of buttons can be infuriating at times, because it hinders your ability to concentrate while driving.
The back of the car is also spacious and comfortable and can easily accommodate three passengers who will have enough head space and leg room.
The Chinese have done a good job at introducing us to luxurious features in their cars at an affordable price, but where they are still falling short is the actual drive itself.
When I began driving the Dashing, I was not too excited, because I drive a Chery Tiggo 7 Pro every day. They both have 1.5 litre turbocharged engines and their power outputs are almost the same.
The Tiggo 7 Pro has 108kW of power and 210Nm of torque while the Dashing has 115kW of power and 230Nm of torque.
But I did want to explore the drivetrain because the Tiggo 7 Pro uses a CVT gearbox while the Dashing is powered by a six-speed-dual-clutch-transmission gearbox.
The drive did feel different. The Dashing was definitely smoother and picked up speed faster, but the fuel tank dropped quicker.
Jetour says the fuel consumption is 7.8 litres/100km, but I struggled to drop it below nine litres/100km and I don’t have a heavy foot on the throttle. Even a casual drive down the R21 still had the fuel consumption at above 8.5 litres/100km. As much as I tried, I could not get it down to the claimed figure.
But Jetour has definitely entered the South African market at the right time. With European cars now becoming a pocket-emptying exercise for the average citizen, the Chinese have allowed us to enjoy the same luxuries and put food on the table.
There’s no doubt that by looking at the car and sitting inside, you feel as if you are driving something German, but where Jetour will need to improve on future models of the Dashing is the drivetrain and petrol consumption.
But given that the Dashing Momentum is priced at R439 900 and the Dashing Deluxe at R469 900, there are not many cars in the country that can make you feel this good for less than half-a-million rand.