JAC T9 gains five ANCAP stars

ANCAP Safety has awarded the JAC T9 dual-cab utility range a five-star safety score stating that the Chinese-made model shows strong overall safety performance.

The announcement comes despite the JAC T9 achieving only Adequate driver chest protection and Adequate driver and passenger lower leg protection in oblique pole and front offset tests, and a Marginal result in protection of the chest of rear seat passengers in the full width frontal test.

The model did however manage to score full points for the protection of the driver in the full width frontal, side impact, far side impact, and whiplash tests.

Full points were also awarded for the protection of child occupants in the frontal offset and side impact tests, however consumers should note that installation of child restraints in the rear centre seating position is not recommended as there is no top tether anchorage.

ANCAP says that in comparison with the Mitsubishi Triton tested earlier this year to the same protocols, the JAC T9 showed “room for improvement” in the area of crash compatibility, with a relatively high 6.22 point penalty (out of 8.00 points) recorded in the MPDB test. By way of reference, the Triton scored only a 3.16 point penalty.

Overall results showed the JAC T9 managed an 85 per cent (34.29 out of 40 points) result in the test’s Adult Occupant Protection category, an 87 per cent (43.00 out of 49 points) result in the Child Occupant Protection category, an 87 per cent (54.93 out of 63 points) result in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category, and an 89 per cent (16.15 out of 18 points) result in the Safety Assist category.

Active safety features ranked highly in ANCAP’s assessment of the JAC T9 with both Oasis and Haven variants capable of detecting and reacting to other vehicles, motorbikes, pedestrians and cyclists.

Full points were achieved by the T9 in autonomous emergency braking (AEB) tests with a motorcycle; adult and child pedestrians when reversing, and AEB frontal tests with an oncoming vehicle.

Full points were also seen in the lane support system tests, including overtaking scenarios with a motorcycle.

“JAC has clearly committed to bring high levels of safety performance to the Australian market with the T9 and are to be commended for achieving these strong results with their first offering,” said ANCAP chief executive officer Carla Hoorweg.

The JAC T9 is further fitted with an anti-dooring system which warns the driver of a cyclist approaching from behind when the T9 is stopped, although this system does not actively prevent the doors from opening like other, more sophisticated systems can.

ANCAP said its five-star safety rating for the JAC T9 applies to all 2.0-litre diesel variants sold in Australia.