Jetour X70 Plus

Despite being a relatively young brand, with just seven years of existence under their belt, Jetour draws upon Chery’s extensive tech and innovation portfolio. The brand’s primary offerings are SUVs and crossovers. The X70 Plus was launched in 2020, in petrol turbo and petrol turbo plug-in hybrid forms. Recently, Euro Motors launched the X70 Plus along with its stablemate the Jetour Dashing at a gala event. Both SUVs are good old petrol-powered machines, so let’s see what they offer.

Exterior

Our test X70 Plus wears a smart black suit with red accents and rolls on a set of 19-inch black alloy wheels. Other colours available include white, silver, grey and a nice metallic green. Regardless of colour choice, the wheels remain in black. Overall, it’s quite a distinctive machine, with bumper-mounted daytime running lamps and a broad grille flanking two slit-eyed headlamps. The side profile features some faux air vents along the front flanks, and the doors offer traditional handles – none of that pop-out jazz that seems to be all the rage these days, which is great if you’ve got kids.

The rear continues the sleek and aerodynamic profile with a set of LED taillamps, the JETOUR script across the tailgate, and of course, X70 Plus badging. Beneath these lie a bumper with a simulated diffuser and what has to be my personal bugbear – four faux tailpipes. In fact, the very reason why these grate me is because the X70 Plus has got a rather distinctive soundtrack under load. I told the good folks at Euro Motors that this vehicle totally deserves a sports exhaust, at least as an option.

Mech & Tech

Our test X70 Plus comes with Chery’s SQRE4T15C 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine. Hailing from the Chery ACTECO engine family, the unit pumps out 156 horsepower and 230 newton-metres of torque. The engine drives the front wheels through 6-speed dual clutch transmission. There’s also a 1.6-litre variant, as well as a plug-in hybrid, but thanks to our taxation structure, these spicier variants would definitely push the price beyond a reasonable point. 

The X70 Plus uses a front MacPherson strut arrangement for its suspension, and the rear uses a multi-link set-up. Braking is via ventilated disks at the front and solid disks at the rear. Steering is assisted via an electric rack and pinion system.

Driving Experience

We’ve got a lofty driving position, and a power-adjustable driver seat makes setting your personal ergonomics even easier. Once you’re in, there’s a start button which, when thumbed, fires up the turbo petrol engine. It’s a welcome sound, to be honest. You can also see the tachometer on the digital gauge cluster settle at 800rpm – or rather 0.8. Select D, and the parking brake automatically releases if you’ve activated the function. There’s also a hold function, which, when activated, keeps the vehicle stationary until you tap the gas.

Step off is gradual and I get the feeling that the X70 Plus is set up for comfort, rather than neck-snapping performance. There’s Sport and Eco driving modes, plus two steering modes that can be independently selected from the main driving mode. Even if you select Sport and give it full throttle, the first half-second of ‘pull’ isn’t as ‘kicking’ as you’d expect. Rather, the X70 Plus gathers itself and then picks up speed. Selecting Eco dulls things down but there’s still ample overtaking urge if you call for it. As for the steering modes, I kept it in the sportier setting as I found the other one to be a tad light for my liking – but it sure does make city driving and parking that little bit easier.

Euro Motors doesn’t have an official 0-100 time for the X70 Plus, but I’d hazard a seat-of-the-pants guess at around 11 seconds. That’s pretty decent for a seven-seater in a Sri Lankan context, where the average driver won’t be testing acceleration or expecting to clip apexes. This is further embodied by the comfort-oriented ride that nicely rounds off road imperfections, even though our test vehicle was running higher-than-normal shipping tyre pressures that are typical for vehicles when they are being shipped. With the right tyre pressures, the ride would be even more plush, albeit at the expense of some noticeable body roll when cornering enthusiastically. Once again though, this is the realm of eager driving that most regular users will never venture into. Braking too was par for the course, with progressive pedal action and no surprises upon hard application – we tried a full ABS stop on a loose surface and slow-mo video shows that the system works as it should.

One point I can’t miss though, is the engine and exhaust note of the X70 Plus. When you accelerate hard and venture into the higher realms of the RPM range, the X70 Plus makes a sort of growl that’s audible inside and quite nice for the keen driver to hear. When you’re outside, you can hear a bit of this, plus some whooshing as the vehicle sets off. We’ve managed to capture this on the video we shot for our partner channel RevMatch SL. And this is the reason why I said in the Exterior section that the X70 Plus could do with a nice sports exhaust option.

Living With The X70 Plus

Unlike the smaller Jetour Dashing that Euro Motors launched at the same time as the X70 Plus, the latter is a full seven-seat vehicle. So, that means three rows, and thanks to the ability to slide the second row fore and aft, two average-sized adults can actually sit in the third row, behind three more average-sized adults who would occupy the second row. While the seat is rather low, necessitating a “knees up” stance, you’ve got decent legroom with the second row slid around midway through its travel. Conversely, if you don’t need the third row, simply fold it into the boot and slide the second row fully rearwards. Then, you’ve got truly impressive second-row leg and knee room. 

There’s an electronic air conditioning system that isn’t one of those automatic affairs, but it’s got capacitive controls and virtual sliders on the vehicle’s infotainment touchscreen for temperature and fan speed. Granted, there’s no temperature measurement in degrees, but most users may prefer the simpler approach of simply moving between “cold” and “hot”. The second-row also gets air vents in a little console that includes two USB charging sockets, a small storage pocket and a larger storage cubby too. It’s also covered by the large panoramic sunroof that really adds some light and air to this predominantly black-themed cabin. The front part of the sunroof is openable, and can be done via voice control too – we tried with great results.

All four doors have door pockets, there’s a deep front-centre console storage area with an AC vent for cooling (or heating if you set the system as such), and your typical glovebox. Curiously, there’s no cup holders for the driver and front seat passenger, although second and third-row passengers get these. I suppose you could place a smaller cup or drinks can in the space reserved for the key fob and keep the key fob in your pocket. You’ve got a wireless phone charger up front and two USB sockets, plus a 12-volt power outlet.

The Jetour X70 Plus uses a duo of 10.25-inch colour screens for information and infotainment control. The central screen is for the latter, and touch sensitive. The screen ahead of the driver is not touch sensitive of course, but you can control its functions via buttons and touch-sensitive pads on the steering wheel. The infotainment system includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and we tested out CarPlay with no issues.

While the major interactions between the screen are via touch, there’s also a physical controller in the centre console for those who prefer it. This consists of a knob that can be turned for volume, as well as moved in four directions for selecting items. The knob can also be clicked to make selections and is augmented by additional buttons. As for the sound system, it’s a six-speaker affair. We’re told that an 8-speaker Sony system is offered in some markets. At the start, the sound quality was rather average and didn’t particularly appeal to us. However, upon making some adjustments via the equalizer, the system’s true nature emerged, and it was quite decent to listen to. That’s why I’d recommend for new owners to spend some time tweaking the equalizer settings – at least the “Bass, Mid and Treble” sliders to find their sweet spot. For me, I found it at 6 for the Bass, 3 for the Mid and 2 for the Treble.

What about luggage capacity? Well, with the third row deployed, you’ve got 94 litres of space. Fold the third row and capacity rises to 438 litres. Mind you, these figures are below the window line, so if you stack your cargo higher, you’ve got more space. The second row can also be split-folded but we’re not given the capacity there – I’d hazard a guess and say it’s easily over 1,000 litres below the window line. Oh, and the X70 Plus also comes with a spare tyre, albeit accessed from beneath the vehicle rather than through the boot, due to the third row seats.

Safety and ADAS Features

The Jetour X70 Plus comes with the now-ubiquitous quotient of six airbags, which include side and curtain units for maximum protection. Then, there’s hill hold control as well as hill descent control. We’ve also got blind spot detection, lane changing assist, rear cross-traffic alert, a 360-degree high-definition surround-view camera system with overhead view, rear parking sensors, and something called car dynamic power control. Overall, it’s a pretty comprehensive suite of equipment.

Fuel Efficiency

We weren’t able to test this properly, but we’re told that Euro Motors have tested the vehicle on the highway with well over 10km/l being yielded, despite enthusiastic driving. City figures should hover around the 8km/l mark for the average driver. After all, this is a regular 1.5-liter turbo engine, propelling a seven-seat body that weighs over 1,500kg before any humans have entered its cabin. With a 57 litre fuel tank, you can easily expect a decent range between fill-ups.

Price & Warranty

Euro Motors have priced the Jetour X70 Plus at Rs. 18,500,000, with a 500,000 discount for the first 100 customers. The vehicle is covered by a 4-year or 100,000-kilometre warranty for the engine and transmission. Furthermore, Euro Motors offer a free first service, and labour free services for the second through fifth services.

Final Words

For those requiring a seven seat SUV with third row seats that can actually accommodate adults, the Jetour X70 Plus is a viable contender. It’s got a smooth and soft ride for everyone on board, and comes with all the tech toys and creature comforts that you’d expect today. So, if you’re searching for three-row practicality and want it with a good old petrol engine, hit up Euro Motors.