Review: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro SUV – A New Contender Has Arrived!

The arrival of the Proton X90 earlier this year has caused a stir in the local D-segment SUV marketspace, offering comprehensive specs at a very competitive price tag. What used to be an ‘unattainable’ vehicle segment filled with foreign brands has now become more accessible, thanks to this new three-row SUV model from the national automaker.

Fortunately, this also attracted other brands to put their best bet against the burgeoning X90 to further stir up this segment market. One of those brands is Chery, who recently relaunched itself into our local market by debuting two new models – the Chery Omoda 5 B-SUV and Chery Tiggo 8 Pro three-row SUV.

2023 Chery Tiggo 8 Pro three-row SUV

Locally-assembled (CKD) at Inokom’s Kulim plant, the Tiggo 8 Pro stood as a stellar left-field alternative to the X90. It features a better spec sheet with more on-board equipment than Proton’s new flagship model, all while being priced rather competitively.

Having spent the last election weekend piloting this three-row SUV to Kota Bharu, Kelantan and back, it’s safe to say that Proton has a lot to worry about…

OVERVIEW

Visually, the Tiggo 8 Pro stands as the flashier, more striking vehicle compared to the X90. This is courtesy of several premium styling touches it boasts, as well as this classy Dark Black hue it’s dressed in.

The Tiggo 8 Pro is a handsome-looking SUV indeed, primed with a slew of chrome trims

Highlights include its sizable front grille featuring chrome-finished diamond pattern inserts, LED headlights with auto high beam and sequential turn signals flanking that, and a host of tasty chrome trims all around – fender-mounted TGDI badge, door handles, side skirt trims, and window surround. 

This SUV also rolls on stylish 19-inch two-tone alloy wheels with multi-spoke design shod in comfort-biased CooperTires Evolution CTT tyres. At the rear, this three-row SUV sports chromed quad exhaust tips that slot nicely within its faux rear diffuser, full-width LED taillights with sequential turn signals, as well as a unique T-shaped third brake light.

From here, the Tiggo 8 Pro’s flared-our rear fenders become noticeable too, giving this tall SUV a slightly muscular stance too.

Overall, it is hard to disagree with the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro’s universal appeal in style, which arguably see it stand a tad more stylish and posh against its rivals.

ON THE INSIDE

Truthfully, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro’s cabin design serves as a testament to Chinese SUVs available in the market against those who are still sceptical about them.

The Tiggo 8 Pro's infotainment supports wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, while its sound is provided by an 8-speaker Sony premium audio system

Up front, the car comes with a massive 24.6-inch dual display setup consisting of a smaller digital instrument cluster with selectable modes and a bigger 12.3-inch central infotainment system. The latter is supported by an 8-speaker Sony sound system, as well as wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.

Aside from the ambient lighting and big sunroof, the Tiggo 8 Pro also comes with built-in dashcam!

Apart from that, there’s also multiple USB-A and USB-C charging ports present, a 50-watt wireless charging pad, built-in digital video recorder (DVR), cooled central glovebox, 64-colour ambient lighting system, large panoramic sunroof, as well as powered and ventilated leather front seats.

Life at the Tiggo 8 Pro's second-row seats are pretty comfortable, indeed

Also, second row passengers get their own dedicated A/C vents and USB charging ports, while the leather-wrapped seats are both reclinable and slidable. Present here too are ambient lights that double up as novel Door Open Warning system that visually alert passengers of oncoming traffic before opening the door.

Life at the third row seat is, predictably, a tight fit – figuratively and literally. Head and leg rooms are a tad scarce, but perhaps expected given the Tiggo 8 Pro’s 2,710 MM wheelbase – almost 100 MM shorter than the X90 (2,805 MM). Fortunately, passengers here still get dedicated A/C vents with blower control and sizable C-pillar windows. With the third row seats up, the Tiggo 8 Pro offers a decent 193-litre boot space. This expands to a massive 1,179-litre figure when they are folded flat-down.

To summarise, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro comes with a well-equipped cabin, so much so that all these amenities could almost make for the car’s ‘shortcomings’. Simply put, how this Chinese fighter’s innards pretend to be German is Oscar-worthy…

DRIVING

This is arguably where the Tiggo 8 Pro shines brightest. Underpinning Chery’s proprietary T1X platform like the Omoda 5, the Tiggo 8 Pro offers respectable driving dynamics and surprisingly peppy performance, especially for its size.

The Tiggo 8 Pro's four-pot turbocharged mill is the peppiest in its segment!

This stems from the class-leading 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo mill under the Tiggo 8 Pro’s hood. Mated with a Getrag-sourced 7-speed DCT, this setup delivers 256 HP and 390 NM – making it peppier than the range-topping Mazda CX-8 2.5 Turbo AWD model. Unlike said rivalling Mazda though, the Tiggo 8 Pro makes do with a front-wheel drive (FWD) setup, but this isn’t bad news entirely.

In spite of its bulky facade, the Tiggo 8 Pro handles pretty well, while being pretty peppy

That's because Tiggo 8 Pro’s respectable damper setup, featuring multi-link suspension at the rear, grants this three-row SUV a pretty respectable driving dynamics too. This was evident even when the Tiggo 8 Pro was caned a little by this writer through the steep uphill and downhill sections of the KL-Karak expressway with ease. Boosting this too were the confident-inspiring performance of this SUV’s braking hardware.

Indeed, passengers will also find the ride to be respectably comfortable, with said fact boosted by the Tiggo 8 Pro’s decent noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) suppression. There’s but a hint of tyre roars and wind noise to live with, even at highway cruising speeds –  all thanks to the aforementioned comfort-biased tyres it rolls on.

To wrap things up, there’s no hiding the fact that the Tiggo 8 Pro is a pretty good car to drive. This largely stems from the segment-leading powertrain and surprisingly decent ride setup. On top of that, it also comes with respectable ride comforts, whilst a full-swing of ADAS functions just bolsters both this sizeable SUV’s driving ease and safety too. Speaking of which…

SAFETY

No longer the Chinese cars that our folks used to despise, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro offers a plethora of safety features – both passive and active – primed as standard equipment too.

This three-row SUV comes with a full-swing of ADAS features

For the active ones, the presence of key ADAS features such as the Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Blind-Spot Monitoring (BSM), 360-degree view camera system, as well the rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA) helps drivers to confidently drive this sizable SUV, even for first-timers. Meanwhile, other features like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane-Keep Assist (LKA) with Lane Departure Warning (LDW) all worked pretty well. More importantly, these aren’t as finicky as what we experienced in its smaller Omoda 5 sibling.

The Tiggo 8 Pro also gets both HDC and HSA as standard

On the passive front, the Tiggo 8 Pro covers all the essentials with nine airbags, ABS with EBD, traction (TCS) and stability (ESC) control, ISOFIX child seat anchors, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), and more. Meanwhile, the presence of both Hill Descent Control (HDC) and Hill Start Assist (HSA) also helps amateur drivers in handling this big vehicle.

To put it simply, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro comes with a full-swing of both active and passive safety features that keeps it on par with key segment rivals.

RUNNING COSTS AND RELIABILITY

While it is impossible to prove the Tiggo 8 Pro’s reliability during our short testing stint, we’d reckon it’s important to highlight Chery Malaysia’s efforts in ensuring their vehicles run better for much longer. Clearly, they’ve learnt bitter lessons from their previous attempt through the much-loathed Eastar MPV.

Highlights include the comprehensive 7-year or 150,000 KM vehicle warranty plus 5-year free alternating services and labour charges. The firm even has an additional 10-year or 1 million KM separate warranty for its powertrain offered as part of the marque’s Extended Warranty option worth RM2,000. More importantly, these warranties are tied to the vehicle itself, meaning second-hand owners are covered too so long as the limits have not been exceeded.

While peppy, the Tiggo 8 Pro is a pretty thirsty car!

Regarding fuel economy, this is where the Tiggo 8 Pro fell short against a certain mildly-electrified rival. While Chery Malaysia claims a 7.4 litres/100 KM fuel economy rate for this three-row SUV, we only managed to get 10.5 litres/100 KM after a mix of both city and highway driving. Also contributing to this thirstiness is the fact that this car was pretty new when we tested it, with less than 1,000 KM mileage clocked in when we picked it up.

As we iterated just now, we can’t be 100% sure of the car’s reliability through this short test, but judging by Chery Malaysia’s extensive warranty packages offered, it is safe to bet that you’ve got nothing to worry about the Tiggo 8 Pro. Should there be any problems, you can just stop by at any of the 30 Chery outlets nationwide that’s now operational…

SHOULD YOU BUY ONE?

Decent styling, well-equipped cabin with ample practicality, plus respectable performance and comfort level, it is hard to argue the good job Chery Malaysia has done to its flagship SUV model.

Like the Omoda 5, it is somewhat still unfair to pit the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro against established rivals in terms of reliability and after-sales support – it’s still too early of a stage to tell. But judging from our time with the car, and the comprehensive warranty packages offered, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro is indeed a decent product.

At this price, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro is one of the cheapest offerings in its segment!

At only RM159,800 sans insurance, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro is also one of the most affordable options compared to its segment rivals. Not only it is just a few thousands more expensive than the range-topping Proton X90 Flagship model (RM152,800), the Tiggo 8 Pro is also cheaper compared to several baseline D-SUV models like the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4 TSI Life, Peugeot 5008 THP Allure, as well as the Mazda CX-8 2.5 Mid 2WD  –  each costing no less than RM165,000.

By day’s end, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro will stand out as a stellar left-field option against both its local-badged and international rivals. Whether fate favours Chery this time or not, the Tiggo 8 Pro will certainly play a huge role in rejuvenating both the marque’s stature and reputation in our local market. For now though, we’re sold on it, and we’re certain many others will be too…

SPECIFICATIONS

CHERY TIGGO 8 PRO PREMIUM SUV