The company is better known in New Zealand for its light truck range, but JAC is making a strong pitch for the ute market with its new T9 4WD double cab ute.
It’s good looking, loaded with tech and spec and has the sharpest possible introductory price.
The JAC team reckon they will score big with tradies looking for something at a good price. They may be right – what other ute has a ‘pie warmer’ standard? But families who love the outdoors are also likely to be eyeing the T9.
JAC has been building trucks for 60 years. In other markets it also makes cars and EVs and even SUVs. The T9 might be new to New Zealand, but the company has built 320,000 utes since the debut of the original T6 in 2015. JAC now accounts for 20 percent of ute exports from China.
The T9’s 125kW/410Nm 2.0-litre diesel is matched to an eight-speed ZF transmission/drivetrain, while the differential-lock is from Eaton. That ZF transmission is as smooth as ever, still our favourite eight speed auto. The engine’s kW output is a fair way from the 150kW of the more costly class leaders, but the torque figure is much closer – and that is more important, no matter who buys the T9 or what they use it for.
Brakes required a little ‘retuning’ of the foot, biting hard at low speeds. That may simply be down to the extreme newness of our test vehicle, though it did make urban parking tricky and it was difficult to carry out tight manoeuvres accurately when off-road.
The single specification offered in New Zealand is pretty loaded. Leather upholstery with power-adjustable/heated front seats, wireless phone charger and 360-degree camera system. There are 27 safety features, 18 of which are ADAS functions. These include lane keep assist, adaptive cruise (which goes right down to zero), a driver monitoring system, and traffic sign recognition. As well as warnings for front and rear collisions, there’s a door opening alert and a driver fatigue monitoring system. The T9 scored a full five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2024.
In the centre console, there’s a hot/cool-box. It works off the main aircon controls. Our test ute arrived with a couple of energy drinks in the box, chilling nicely.
The big 10.4-inch infoscreen is more squared-off than others, its menu system easy to navigate and the resolution exceptionally clear in navigation or reversing/360-degree camera mode.
The 7.2-inch digital dash in front of the driver has scrollable info functions.
JAC has wisely gone for actual buttons and switched for many of the important or often-used controls.
On a walk-around, the T9 is slightly longer, taller and wider than a Toyota Hilux, but not as long as a Ford Ranger. The 3110mm wheelbase also sits between the Hilux and Ranger. The nose of the vehicle is clad in tough plastic, which looks pretty resilient. The grey-black snout even wraps the lights in plastic which seems well able to shrug off brush in the bush. That’s clever, reducing likelihood of dents and scratches off-road or on a building site.
Underneath, the T9 has part time 4WD, a hi/lo range transfer case, four-wheel disc brakes, hill descent control and electronic rear differential lock. There’s an auto hold function that is handy on hills or at stop signs.
It has a one tonne payload and three-tonne tow rating – 500kg shy of the ute-class benchmark but still respectable. Like every respectable 4WD ute these days, it will fit a standard pallet between the wheel arches. The wellside cargo area is protected by a spray-on bedliner and a chunky-looking bar.
Ground clearance is 210mm; wading depth is 650mm.
Our test ute arrived on Giti H/T tyres. It’s the first time we’ve seen Giti get into the ‘OEM’ market, and the tyres went well on tarmac and gravel. Pity the Aussies, their T9s arrive on something called a ‘Chao Yang’ tyre, which must be hard-wearing because Aussie journalists reckon grip and traction are missing in action.
So, how does it drive?
Around town the T9 fits right in. The engine is a little vocal at low speeds in low gear, but at 50 km/h the transmission’s out of low gear and the engine quiets down. That transmission is good. It never ‘hunted’ for the right ratio, and on downhills would shift down to keep the engine in its most productive rev range, giving some engine braking effect.
Heading out of Auckland to find some dirt, the T9 is an easy cruise at the legal limit. Once off the motorway and into twistier ridge roads near Pokeno, the meaty Giti tyres are in their element, offering superb grip even when we accidentally enter tightening corners a bit quickly.
So, into the dirt.
The T9 copes with washboard corrugations, potholes and gravel berms without complaint and when we detour down some forestry tracks the truck never needs more than 4-hi. It deals with the rough in a way more costly utes do.
In our axle articulation test near the Waikato River the 210mm ground clearance was enough to keep the chassis away from the bumps and hollows. Even when fully crossed up in the rough, the ute never broke traction unexpectedly – unless the driver wanted it to.
When sales kicked off in January, the T9 went out at $49,990 – $5500 under Toyota’s Hilux SR 4WD, $9,000 less than the Mitsubishi Triton and $12,500 less than the entry level Ford 4WD Ranger XL.
We like
• Loaded tech and comfort spec.
• The front end with its robust plastic panels to ward off dents and paint scratches.
• The cooler/warmer bin in the centre console.
