Affordable luxury
Affordable luxury from Chery
The phrase ‘affordable luxury’ gets thrown around a great deal – an oxymoron since ‘affordable’ has a massive breadth of meaning across the car-buying population.
At the R500 000 segment, the Chery offers a lot for less money than its nearest price competitors: the Volkswagen Tiguan 1.4TSI 110 kW, Honda CR-V 2.0 Comfort and Hyundai Tucson 2.0 Executive – with a smaller engine than all but the Volkswagen but still offering more power and torque than the other three.
In the price band, buyer expectation demands a long list of fitted luxury and safety features. And the Tiggo answers that call quite comfortably – with the diamond-stitched swathe of leather on all three rows of seats.
Overall design and dimensions
Chery refers to the design language evident in all three of the Tiggo Pro models on the market as ‘Movement Design’ and would have you get the impression the fluid design hides the vehicle size without diminishing its presence.
Well, not really. It is a big vehicle – 4 722 mm long, 1 860 mm wide, 1 705 mm tall – and it feels its size in tight spaces. However, external camera work provides a 310 view when backing into a parking bay.
A stand-out feature is a camera that switches on with the turn signal at low speed. Subsequently, this gives a view of the whole vehicle on the road with a secondary view of the ground (or kerb) alongside the car to evade short-cutting of the turn with potentially harmful results.
Digitised access to infotainment
Inside, access to controls is through three separate digital screens. The first is the instrumentation panel, a large horizontal 12,3-inch high-resolution screen. The screen not only displays the necessary vehicle information but the infotainment and mobile phone information as well.
A second 8-inch screen takes over all the fully automatic climate-control functions – this dual-zone system is also fitted with an N95-grade air purifying system. On the Executive model, a third air-conditioning system is in place for the rearmost seats.
Digital access to infotainment
Mounted in the centre of the dashboard is the infotainment system. This 10.25-inch high-definition floating multimedia display takes care of the audio controls and connects a mobile phone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and the image from the reverse camera.
All Tiggo 8 Pro models offer wireless charging, intelligent voice control and music through a Sony sound system with eight surround sound speakers as standard.
Electro-adjustable seats
The driver gets a six-way electrically adjustable seat with a memory setting, while the front passenger receives a four-way electrical adjustment and electrically adjustable lumbar support.
The rear seats in both models can fold completely flat in a 60:40 configuration creating a luggage variation from 193 litres, which is by far the smallest of its competitors, to 892 litres and 1 930 litres with all seats folded.
The rear passengers, however, have adjustable seats, three USB ports throughout the cabin, a 12V charging port in front and a coat rack and armrest in the rear.
Chery TGDI turbo-petrol engine
Moving the Tiggo along is a 1,6-litre TGDI turbo-petrol engine that delivers a maximum power output of 145 kW at 5 500 r/min and 290 Nm of torque across a powerband between 2 000 r/min and 4 400 r/min. The front-wheel drive engine moves through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (7DCT).
The setup provides a smooth drive on the highways and byways. While Chery claims an average consumption of 7,0 l/100 km, our test cycle returned 8,7 l/100 km, which we believe to be the more realistic – and likely higher in city driving.
1,6-litre TGDI turbo-petrol engine
At 165 g/km, its emissions are lower than its rivals, and it also hops off the line more smartly, getting to 100 km/h in 9,0 seconds against 9,2 seconds and 11 seconds.
While the 1.6-litre engine is willing to haul the 2143-kilogram SUV around, it does become a tad noisy in the upper rev range, irrespective of the Drive mode – these options being Normal, Eco and Sport (each with its dashboard colour scheme).
Still, the ride, both on tar and dirt, is firm and comfortable, with the suspension ironing out most ripples, and it remains stable and well-planted on the road at cruising speeds. There is some front-end fade when pushed a bit hard into corners. But then, it was designed for mannerly motoring.
Tiggo 8 safety and convenience
Safety specification includes six omnidirectional crash bags, Traction Control (TCS), Roll Stability Control (RSC), anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) and ISOFIX child seat anchors.
Brown trim dash
Intelligent safety sees Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Automatic Cruise Control, Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSC), Intelligent High-beam Control (IHC), Blind Spot Monitoring (BSD), Front Collision Warning (FCW), an emergency Brake Override System (BOS) and a Door Open Warning and Prevention (DOW) system as standard.
Retail, warranty and service
Chery Tiggo 8 Pro
The Chery Tiggo 8 Pro follows the example set by its smaller sibling, the Tiggo 4 Pro, and offers a comprehensive 10-year / 1-million-kilometre engine warranty. Only the original owner will enjoy the cover, and it is non-transferable. Add a 5-year / 150 000 km general warranty, a 5-year comprehensive roadside assistance plan and a 5-year / 60 000 km service plan.
