When
Chery first entered the
South African market their cars were a bit rough, they didn't sell well and just seemed to be years behind the competitors.
Chery went away and I’m not sure what they did but when they came back everything had changed. Not only are their cars good to look at, they are packed with features and in some areas are well ahead of the more established competition. We are a massive fan of the
Tiggo8 Pro, but now there's an even better one and I was amongst the first to be handed the keys.
Chery has just introduced a more performance focused version, the
Tiggo8 Pro MAX.
Chery celebrates its first birthday, and the end of a very eventful first year, in November. Since opening its doors as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Chery in November 2021, the brand has welcomed more than 10 000 customers, became a top 10 best-selling brand and grown its network of dealers to over 70 facilities.
The
Tiggo 8 Pro MAX is the perfect birthday gift to
Chery fans. It offers more power, more safety, and more features than ever before and as such it is the perfect personification of the
Chery value promise
From the outside the
Tiggo8 Pro MAX continues that muscular yet stately design. I particularly like the front design which features a large grille with a new brushed aluminium surround, slim headlights with LED technology. The
Tiggo8 is a relatively large car, in fact it is a 7-seater of which only the
Volkswagen Tiguan All-Space shares the same seating capacity within the segment. The rear features sportier looking tail lights and quad-exhaust pipes for a more performance orientated look.
The
Chery Tiggo8 Pro MAX is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. Step inside and you are greeted by a plush interior full of soft-touch materials, large screens and ample space.
To start, the
MAX has all the features of the
Tiggo 8 Pro Executive. This includes Adaptive Cruise Control, multi-colour Ambient Lighting, Chery Voice Control, a large panoramic sunroof, a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel, a 10,25 floating infotainment touch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and an additional 8-inch touch screen for the dual zone climate control and other vehicle features.
In the
Tiggo 8 Pro MAX,
Chery has added privacy glass to the rear passenger compartment and upgraded the windscreen and front side windows to thicker sound dampening glass for an even more refined driving experience.
From a safety point of view, this
Pro Max model offers items such as Lane Departure Warning, Automatic Cruise Control, Automatic Emergency Braking, Traffic Sign Recognition, Intelligent High-beam Control, Blind Spot Monitoring , Front Collision Warning , emergency Brake Override System, as well as a Door-Open Warning and Prevention system.
The
Tiggo8 Pro MAX now benefits from a more powerful and refined 2.0 litre turbo petrol engine. The 2.0 TDGI engine utilises many of Chery’s newest proprietary engine technologies to deliver 187kW and 390Nm
The engine delivers its power to the front wheels through a seven-speed Dual Clutch Transmission
(DCT) that offers all the comfort of a normal automatic transmission, but with a quicker shift response and better fuel consumption.
Fitted with this transmission, the
Tiggo 8 Pro MAX accelerates to 100 km/h from standstill in just 7.3 seconds. It’s pretty quick and offers various driving modes to suit the occasion. I found
Normal mode the best while
Sport mode definitely excites.
One of the biggest alluring aspects of this car is the price. R629 900 is what you can expect to pay for this feature-packed 7-seater. It is impressive that they have managed to bring the vehicle to market at that price, with all of the features that it has. It is well below the entry cost of many of its competitors and in that regard should be on your list when shopping in this segment.
I will elaborate on my time with the vehicle next year as well as my top 5 likes and dislikes, if I can find any.
Credit: Justin Jacobs
