There’s more to new Chery Tiggo than just a sweet warranty

When launching a new vehicle, it is handy to have some sort of superior benchmark in your arsenal.

That was what Chinese carmaker Chery came up with this week when it returned to the South African market with the Tiggo 4 Pro compact SUV.

The five vehicles in their line-up will all boast an industry-leading 10-year or one-million-kilometre engine warranty. That’s right, a one and six zeros kilo engine warranty.

As an expression of product confidence that will be hard to beat from a manufacturer that first entered the local market in 2009 before departing in 2018.

Linked to vehicles with an impressive range of two petrol engines, three transmissions and three different specification levels, the warranty will bode well for the Tiggo’s anticipated local success. Not to mention the very competitive pricing that starts at R269 900.

Good looks

Fighting for market share in a murderously competitive category, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro will be helped by its unique appearance.

Chery’s press release uses phrases like “new design language, muscular bonnet, deeply sculpted creases, Chery Crystal Diamond lenses and three-dimensional visual effect”. Not being that clever, we figured the newcomer looks chunky, rather aggressive and solid, sitting on either 16-inch or 17-inch machined alloy wheels in 215/65 rubber.

ALSO READ: One-million km engine warranty Chery Tiggo 4 Pro priced

Customers will have the option of two in-house designed 1.5 litre, four-cylinder petrol engines.

How much power does Chery Tiggo have?

At the bottom of the range, the Urban and Comfort specification grades offer a normally aspirated version of the mentioned 1.5 with 83 kW of power at 6 150 rpm and 138 Nm of torque at 4 000 rpm.

The Urban grade has a five-speed manual gearbox, while the Comfort comes with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with paddle shifts for manual override mode.

Elite and Elite SE model buyers will have the choice of either a manual transmission with six speeds or the CVT.

These models also replace the normally aspirated four-cylinder for a powerful 1.5 turbo-petrol engine. The Chery 1.5T mill delivers 108 kW of power at 5 500 rpm and maximum torque of 210 Nm between 1 750 rpm and 4 000 rpm.

CVT models fitted with the turbocharged engine boast a driving mode selector with three settings; Standard, Eco and Sport.

All Tiggo 4 models have ABS and Electronic Brake Force equipped disk brakes all round with an electronic parking brake.

Electronic vehicle safety systems include a Stability Programme, Traction Control, Roll Stability Control, Hill Descent Control and Hill Assist.

Comfortable cabin

All models have a digital instrument cluster with multi-information readout. On the normally aspirated models, this screen is 3.5-inches wide with high-definition colours.

The turbo models swop this digital cluster for one double its size, with more display and customisation options.
All models offer a touch-responsive 10.25-inch central infotainment system, equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, two USB ports in the front and one in the rear, a DVD player and Bluetooth hands-free connectivity.

Elite versions also have voice control. Urban and Comfort models are fitted with a standard air conditioning system, while the Elite models exchange this for a dual-zone climate control system and standard sunroof.

The Elite models have full leather upholstery with an electrically adjustable driver’s seat, while all models offer keyless access and a Start / Stop button. Elite models are equipped with front, side and curtain airbags.

How does Chery Tiggo perform?

We drove the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 Elite fitted with nine-step CVT on a route between Lanseria Airport and Sandton, which did not tell us much about the vehicle. But, we can attest to the fact that the engine is perky, the transmission one of the better CVTs we have come across and the interior comfortable.

The steering is direct and the car involves you as a driver, which makes it a pleasure to handle.

The above-mentioned million-kilometer engine warranty apart, all Chery Tiggo 4 Pro models are sold with a five year/ 60 000 km service plan.

Interested parties keen to view and test the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro models are invited to visit any of Chery’s 30 dealerships across South Africa.

Pricing

Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 Urban – R269 900
Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 Comfort CVT – R299 900
Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 T-GDI Elite – R319 900
Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 T-GDI Elite CVT – R349 900
Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 T-GDI Elite SE CVT – R359 900

For more information on the Chery Tiggo Pro, click here.