12/10/2025

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY OCT 12, 2025

The Jaecoo J8 interior has been heavily influenced by Mercedes-Benz.

Similarly designed steering wheel on J7.

A little radar that monitors the drivers attention level.

share a lot in common. The vertical “waterfall” grille gives it an imposing presence on the road while the 20-inch wheels give it an elegant stance as it is in proportion with the overall size of the car. THE INTERIOR The interior is an entirely different story though. The door handles gently whir out to greet you when you walk up to the car, and the door opens with a solid feel. When you take a seat, you sink gently into the plush nappa leather seats. Glance around and you will notice a lot of pre mium materials, and everything is wrapped in genuine leather. Opt for the two wheel drive variant and you get faux leather though. The roof lining in the AWD variant is also finished in suede while the seats, door panels and parts of the dashboard are wrapped in plush leather. The seats are heated and ventilated which may not be a big deal these days but the J8 comes with an advanced fragrance system like that of a Mercedes-Benz S Class. For this to work, you must install car tridges into a slot beneath the centre con sole. After you have done that, you get to select the type of fragrance you want after which it gently releases your chosen fra grance into the cabin. Personally, fragrances give me a head ache, but it is undoubtedly a nice, unique touch. What is even more unique are the rear seats. The two wheel drive variant gets a regular bench, but the AWD model gets individual captain chairs. These also have a massage function, are heated and venti lated, and they also come with a memory function as well, as do the front seats. These captain chairs make the J8 a nice car to be driven in as well because you get plenty of legroom, and they are electroni cally adjustable as well. The latter being unheard of in a car of this price category just a few months ago. The pillar mounted air-conditioning vents are a nice touch as well. And that is also a feature rarely seen in a car of this price tag. If the photos have not given it away already, the Jaecoo J8 gets a lot of its influ ence from Mercedes-Benz. Particularly the W213. The flowing dashboard offers wood trimming for the flagship AWD model and there is a 24.6-inch digital screen that is split into the infotainment system and the instrumentation cluster. For entertainment, you get wireless Carplay, Android Auto, while music is

Rear seats get electronic adjustment and memory function.

Speakers embedded into the headrests of J8.

A 50W charge pad incase you forget your cables.

Turn the crystal knob to select one of seven drive modes .

sales. And that is good for all car buyers. Many have sent me private messages asking if Chinese cars like the Jaecoo J8 are worth it. My reply is always yes. It is either that or buy a sub-standard car for nearly twice the money. It even comes with a Level 2.5 rated ADAS safety suite with over two dozen sys tems working in unison to keep passengers safe. Some cars that cost over RM300,000 don’t even come with a Blind Spot Monitoring system, relying instead on the brand to sell cars. For that alone, the Jaecoo J8 AWD is worth every cent, simply because of every thing that it has to offer and the price tag it comes with. SPECIFICATIONS Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo charged Power: 249PS Torque: 385Nm Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch Price (as tested): RM198,800 We like: Refinement, premium quality. We don’t like: Steering needs more feel.

But this is not your regular adaptive sus pension system that adapts to the selected drive mode. This is a suspension system that is capable of adjusting to road condi tions in just 0.002 seconds. It reacts so fast that you barely feel it inside the cabin. All you feel is a plush ride. And when you do select Sport through the crystal drive mode selector (you have seven driving modes to choose from) the suspension is noticeably stiffer but not uncomfortable. Refinement is brilliant as well, thanks to sound deadening materials and double glazed windows. You barely hear and feel anything of the world around the car. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the ride quality of the Jaecoo J8 matches that of a BMW or Mercedes-Benz. SO, SHOULD YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY ON ONE? The Jaecoo J8 AWD is proof that you do not need to spend a lot of money to experi ence a premium car. It puts to shame cars in the RM300,000 – RM400,000 price category and more than anything else, it has forced car mak ers to improve their products or risk losing

channelled via a 14-speaker Sony sound system with two speakers embedded into the front headrests. Sound quality is decent. If you like a car with neat tricks, you will like the 256 ambient light colour option, and you may also appreciate not having to spend money on a dashcam as the J8 offers a built in dashcam as well. HOW DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO DRIVE? The J8 is powered by a 2.0-litre, turbo charged, four-cylinder engine that puts out 249PS and 385Nm of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels through a slick-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. But despite its power, the J8 never feels like it is in a hurry to get anywhere. It sees off the sprint to 100kph in nine seconds flat and tops out at 200kph. The J8 is not about power and speed though, it is about a premium feel and drive quality, and you get exactly that thanks to a clever suspension system called Continuous Damping Control, which is basically another word for adaptive sus pension.