JAC T9 UTE vs Renault Trafic

What's the difference?

It's not the roughest, toughest ute in the marker. Nor is it the smoothest to drive. But I found the T9 easy to live with, and I'm a fan of the value proposition.

The Renault Trafic is a practical and capable workhorse, but then so are some other mid-sized van rivals which sell in greater numbers and come standard with five-star safety credentials. Therefore, a potential buyer must be prepared to accept the Trafic’s inferior standard safety menu (or pay extra to enhance it) to exploit its numerous strengths in a working role.

Okay, so the T9 doesn’t change the ute game in terms of design, but I reckon it looks pretty sharp. The domed bonnet, the blacked-out grille and the seemingly ubiquitous giant brand lettering all kind of scream tough truck, and the side steps, roof rails and sports bar all help it look the part, too.

There does seem to be two competing approaches to new-ute design at the moment. The first is to borrow from the existing pool of products to create something familiar, though hardly groundbreaking. The other is to rip up the rule book and create something fresh, but potentially polarising.

JAC has gone with the first approach here, with the benefit being nobody is going to be talking negatively how the T9 looks, and the drawback being nobody is going to be talking about it much at all. For mine, I side with no news is good news, and I reckon JAC has made the right call.

Anyway, climb into the JAC T9 Haven and you’ll find a surprisingly premium – in ute terms at least – feeling space, with the leather-wrapped seats and steering wheel, and the hard plastics countered by soft quilted leather-like patches in the door panels and a soft panel in the dash.

The screen looks good, but is old school in its graphics and a bit clunky in its operation, but we're really talking big, bulky ute design here, without anything particularly standout about it.

Our LWB example rides on a sizeable 3498mm wheelbase with four-wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and MacPherson strut front suspension.

The rear suspension uses torsion bar primary springing, supplemented by a pair of secondary coil springs for carrying heavy loads.

Its 1967mm height ensures access to height-limited areas like multi-storey car parks and underground loading zones, but its lengthy wheelbase and front wheel-drive configuration combine to produce a relatively large 13.8-metre turning circle.

The Pro’s no-frills work focus results in extensive use of unpainted dark grey plastic in external areas where bumps and scrapes usually occur in hard-working vans, including the door mirror shells, wheel hubcaps, front/rear bumpers (including the rear pillars from top to bottom) and along the sides.

As a result, the Trafic has a robust and purposeful appearance, combined with a neat and practical cabin design with seating for three on a tasteful blend of contrasting grey fabrics. Hard surfaces are enhanced with satin chrome highlights.

The minimalist dash design (thankfully) provides physical ‘piano key’ buttons for numerous functions, plus there’s a trio of large manual dials to control fan speed, air-flow and cabin temperature in preference to distracting touchscreen prompts.

Remember I said the T9 isn’t trying to out muscle Australia’s dual-cab big guns? That mostly occurs in the workhorse stuff, with the JAC able to tow 3200kg, rather than the 3.5-tonne norm, but its payload is pegged at a competitive 1045kg, and the brand says you can fit an Aussie pallet in its tray.

Speaking of which, the tray arrives with a tub liner and stretches to 1520mm (length) by 1590mm (width), and there are four tie-down points for cargo.

While we're talking about the back, there’s a solid axle with leaf springs at the rear, and a rear diff lock, too.

There’s 210mm of ground clearance and JAC promises a 650mm wading depth. And if you are venturing off road, expect approach and departure angles of 27 and 23 degrees, respectively.

In terms of the backseat, I had more than enough room to get comfy with my 175cm frame, and there are two USB charge points, and air vents with no temp controls.

But I did struggle a bit with the baby seat. The top-tether point is located in the middle of the cabin, which makes fitting a seat in either window seat tricker than it needs to be. There are ISOFIX connections in the window seats, too.

With its relatively light 1816kg kerb weight and 3070kg GVM, our test vehicle has a substantial 1254kg payload rating which is almost 200kg higher than Toyota’s HiAce LWB (1055kg).

Its 1630kg braked tow rating is also higher than the HiAce’s 1500kg limit and with its 4700kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) the Trafic (like the HiAce) can haul its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight.

Standard cargo bay access is through a single kerbside-sliding door or glazed swing-up tailgate, but a right-side sliding door and glazed symmetrical rear barn-doors with forklift-friendly 180-degree opening (the latter as fitted to our test vehicle) are available as options. The cargo bay walls and doors are lined to mid-height.

The load floor is 2937mm long and 1662mm wide, with 1268mm between the rear-wheel housings. So, it can carry up to two standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallets or up to three 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets, secured by a choice of eight load-anchorage points.

The cargo bay offers a competitive 6.55 cubic metres of load volume. Our example is fitted with a 12mm-ply non-slip floor kit and cube shelving kit provided by local industry supplier Autosafe. According to Renault, this tradie-focused set-up retails for $5254 including freight and installation.

The fixed two-passenger bench seat has a lap-sash belt for the central passenger and even someone my height (186cm) can get reasonably comfortable in the middle of a crew of three, albeit with knees competing for space with the prominent dash protrusion that houses the gearshift. By contrast, the outer passenger has ample knee and foot room.

The cabin is equally generous with headroom and displays optimum use of storage space. This includes a large bin in each door which can fit large bottles, with a smaller bin above.

There’s also small-bottle/cupholders on each side of the dash-pad plus a clamshell-lid compartment ahead of the driver, a large open tray in the centre (with two USB-C ports), small closable bins in the lower dash on either side of the driver and a single glove box.

If you choose the glazed bulkhead option, the centre-seat backrest folds forward to reveal an elaborate three-tier workstation, starting with a clipboard on top that can also be detached to use outside the vehicle or mounted vertically in the workstation to face the driver or passenger.

Beneath the clipboard is a hinged work desk, which when raised reveals a shallow felt-lined compartment that’s ideal for hidden storage of phones, tablets, lap-tops etc.

Folding the bench seat’s front-hinged base cushions forward also reveals a cavernous hidden storage compartment underneath.

Our Pro LWB (Long Wheelbase) L2H1 test vehicle, in 'Glacier White' and ‘Pro’ model grade, comes with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine and optional six-speed dual-clutch automatic for a list price of $53,000.

In comparison to the major players, that's in the same ballpark as the Toyota HiAce, lower than Ford's Transit Custom and higher than Hyundai's Staria Load and LDV's G10+.

Our example has a couple of extra-cost options including a glazed cabin bulkhead ($400) and glazed rear barn-doors ($400). The cabin is also equipped with a set of carpet mats ($138) from Renault’s genuine accessories range.

Its work-focused standard equipment list includes no-frills 16-inch steel wheels with 205/65R16 tyres and a full-size spare, plus an eight-way-adjustable driver’s bucket seat, 4.2-inch colour driver’s display including digital speedo, two-passenger bench with under-seat storage, rear parking sensors, reversing camera, LED headlights and LED daytime running lights.

Multimedia is provided by an 8.0-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple and Android smartphone mirroring and Bluetooth audio streaming.

Renault also offers numerous individual options, plus option packs including the 'Comfort Pack', 'Peace of Mind Pack' and 'Trade Pack'.

The JAC T9 is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, producing 120kW and 410Nm, which is fed through an eight-speed automatic and delivered to the tyres in either 2WD, 4WD High or 4WD Low.

And if you’re thinking those numbers don’t sound overly exciting, you’re right.

The turbocharger helps get things moving eventually, but when you first plant your foot in this two-tonne-plus truck, not much of anything happens. And we haven’t towed or carried anything yet.

The Euro 5-compliant 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel produces 125kW at 3500rpm and peak torque of 380Nm at 1500rpm.

The six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission offers the choice of sequential manual-shifting using the shift-lever (no steering wheel paddles) and offers three drive modes comprising 'Normal' (default setting), 'Eco' and 'Performance'.

JAC is claiming 7.6L/100km for combined fuel consumption, but our figures have been more like 10 litres.

There’s a 76-litre tank under there, which at today’s money means about a $150 to fill up, and using JAC’s figures, a full tank should carry you 1000km.

Renault claims official combined (urban/extra-urban) average consumption of 6.5L/100km but the Trafic’s dash display was showing 7.9 when we stopped to refuel at the end of our 359km test, of which about one third of that distance was hauling a one-tonne-plus payload.

Our own figure, calculated from actual fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, was higher again at 8.9 which falls comfortably within the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between official and ‘real world’ consumption.

Fact is, any mid-sized van that can produce sub-10L economy in the real world gets a big thumbs-up from us. So, based on our numbers, you could expect an expansive driving range of around 900km from its 80-litre tank.

First, a caveat – we didn't put the T9 through its paces off-road, with a full tray, or with a load in tow, so you'll have to consider this a more urban, lifestyle review. We will put it through the tough stuff in time, so watch this space.

In the meantime, I actually found the T9 fairly easy to live, and fairly car-like in the way it goes about its business.

Yes, it's got that unladen jostle and bounce common to most utes, but it's pretty easy to drive, easy to steer and easy to park, helped by the bird's-eye view camera, which makes it simple to see where the ute's edges are in tighter parks.

But there are some downsides. For one, it feels as though the turbo is doing a huge amount of heavy lifting in the T9. Plant your foot, and almost nothing happens for a moment or two, before all the power arrives in a big lump, sometimes setting the tyres squealing if you're going around a corner.

There is turbo lag, but this feels like it is taking a turbo holiday before the power finally turns up, and it does make the overall drive experience a little jarring and unrefined.

Issue number two is the safety squawking, but more on that in a second.

The driver’s seat offers good comfort with its firm bolstering, fold-down inboard arm-rest and adjustable lumbar support. The only thing missing is a left footrest, just like the one residing in the outer passenger footwell which is of course the driver’s footwell in LHD models.

The synthetic leather-rimmed steering wheel feels nice in your hands and has a premium look. Eyelines to all mirrors are good and the large window in the optional cabin bulkhead allows a clear view through the rear barn-doors, but only if you remove the centre seat’s headrest when the middle seat is unoccupied.

Engine response is at its most energetic from 1500rpm where maximum torque is tapped and it continues to pull strongly all the way to maximum power at 3500rpm.

The decisive shifts of the dual-clutch automatic in Normal (default) drive mode feel well calibrated in terms of optimising the engine’s performance in all driving conditions, which is confirmed by only small differences in response when using the Eco and Performance modes.

Its gearing also ensures the Trafic is well-suited to highway work, requiring only 2000rpm to  maintain 110km/h. It’s even better with the optional bulkhead/cargo barrier as fitted to our test vehicle given it insulates the driver from most cargo bay noise, which can become intolerable in vans at these speeds without this item fitted.

To test its payload rating we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay. Combined with the weight of the Autosafe fit-out and driver, it equalled a total payload of 1150kg which was only about 100kg less than its legal limit.

The rear suspension compressed about 50mm under this loading, yet still had ample travel to ensure there was no bottoming-out during our test drive. It hauled this one-tonne-plus payload with commendable ease in city, suburban and highway driving, with negligible effects on handling and braking.

It also impressed on our 13 per cent gradient, 2.0km set-climb at 60km/h, quickly downshifting to third gear to easily haul this load to the top.

Engine-braking on the way down, in a manually-selected second gear, wasn’t as robust, but in our experience typical of small displacement (sub-3.0L) turbo-diesels trying to restrain one-tonne-plus payloads on steep descents. Even so, the four-wheel disc brakes comfortably kept speeds under control without a hint of fade.

There’s no ANCAP star rating and the current range (September 2022 onwards) only earned a silver medal in ANCAP’s Commercial Van Safety Comparison, with its score of 45 per cent reflecting the absence of AEB for pedestrians/cyclists and lane-keeping assist.

Even so, its standard safety menu includes front and lateral-curtain airbags for driver and passengers plus driver’s thorax airbag, car-to-car AEB, lane departure warning, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and more.

However, with a huge blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder created by the solid cargo bay walls, a Trafic buyer should not have to pay extra to get essentials like blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, given these active safety features are standard on the segment-leading Toyota HiAce.

JAC offers a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with 24/7 roadside assist and the promise of a like-for-like loan vehicle if yours is off the road for a warranty repair.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km (whichever comes first), and the capped-price servicing program averages out to around $438 per year.

The Trafic comes with a five year/200,000km warranty, which includes five years 24/7 roadside assist. Scheduled servicing is 12 months/30,000km whichever occurs first. Capped-pricing applies to the first five scheduled services up to five years/150,000km which totals $3555, or an annual average of $711.