The new sweetest Chery? Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD keen to show it is

A lot has been said and written about Chery’s dramatic rise up the South African market sales ladder since its reinvented, high profile return three years ago.

No longer the maker of copycat, “cheap-for-a-reason” products it once was, the last 36 months has seen the brand from Wuhu feature among the country’s 10 best-selling brands, often ahead of fellow countryman, Great Wall Motors (GWM).

Not all rosy

However, it hasn’t been all sweet. Besides the common Chinese vehicle issue of high fuel consumption, murmurings on social media include poor dealer service and niggling in-car entertainment issues.

ALSO READ: Why impressive Tiggo 7 Pro Max is the sweetest Chery yet

Ultimately, good and bad aspects of a vehicle are better gauged over a longer timeframe than the usual seven days. In the case of the depicted Tiggo 7 Pro Max, this is what will exactly happen over the next three months.

The Citizen Motoring’s first extended tenure with a modern Chery product, initial expectations pointed to the new dual-clutch transmission Tiggo 4 Pro being the model that would be dropped off.

The Max in our care

As it turned-out, a different self-shifting variant to Chery’s bread-and-butter model arrived at the end of the August, the flagship Tiggo 7 Pro Max.

Finished in a colour called Blood Red contrasted by a black roof, the Max not only doubles as the most powerful of its type, but also the first Chery in South Africa to come with all-wheel-drive (AWD).

While The Citizen Motoring’s first dealing with the Max occurred in February, it involved the front-wheel-drive over the weeklong test.

The arrival of the AWD though had thoughts wandering of whether it could perhaps be the most “complete” model on-sale today.

Besides the chrome AWD and 290T badges on its tailgate, the Max’s differences from the regular Tiggo 7 Pro involves new LED headlights, a dark gloss diamond-pattern grille and a restyled front bumper with the blue accents.

A new lower intake finish in gloss black and chrome completes the exterior, along with red brake calipers, dual exhaust outlets and 19-inch alloy wheels versus the front-wheel-drive’s 18-inches.

Loaded spec sheet

Officially called the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max 290T Executive AWD DCT, the range-topper boasts an expansive array of features requiring a write-up of its own.

These include a panoramic sunroof, a 50-watt wireless smartphone charger, ambient lighting, dual-zone climate control with rear vents and N95 air filtration and an eight-speaker Sony sound system – finally with RDS.

It doesn’t stop there as the Max also gets push-button start, keyless entry and remote engine start, perforated leather electric, heated and ventilated front seats, folding electric mirrors and rain sense wipers.

Standard on the tech side is a dual 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and infotainment system, the latter with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite navigation and an improved Hello Chery-activated voice recognition system.

Taking care of safety is a 360-degree surround-view camera system, front and rear parking sensors, Blind Spot Monitoring, Adaptive Cruise Control, Driver Attention Alert, Forward Collison Warning and Lane Departure Waring.

On top of this, the Max also boasts Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Change Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Hill Start Assist, six airbags and a tyre pressure monitor.

Max power

Up front, and as evident by its equally long name, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max makes use of the lower-spec Tiggo 8 Pro’s 1.6 T-GDI engine that produces 145kW/290Nm.

Sending the amount of twist to all four wheels is a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Compared to the front-wheel-drive, the AWD receives three driving additional driving modes to supplement the existing Eco, Normal and Sport – they being Snow, Mud and Off-Road.

The story so far

Soon to embark on its first out-of-city escape at the time writing, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD’s first few weeks involved mostly town driving and running errands.

The heavy but unsurprising fuel consumption did prevail throughout the first weeks as the instrument cluster displayed a best of 9.8 L/100 km after 360 km in mixed driving conditions in Normal mode.

Admittedly though, improvements are expected, especially on the planned road-trips.

In fact, the main gripe remains an all too familiar Chinese vehicle foible; an awkwardly calibrated throttle mismatched with the engine and transmission that will require a fair bit of getting used to.

Other not so pleasantries are the look of the rear-view mirror, the driver’s seat partially obscuring the instrument cluster no matter how low the seat is dropped, and the sensitivity of the gear lever.

Easier to overcome is the trip computer resetting itself every time the ignition is switched off. The solution? Switch from Trip A to Trip B as no self-cancellation takes places.

However, the biggest irritation remains the Driver Attention Alert system. Using an eye detection module on the steering column, the system cannot be switched off and constantly displays a distraction reminder when one’s eyes are taken off the road.

The other side of the coin though is an absorbing and well executed ride, abundance of space and an engine that pulls with a verve amount verve once over its initial dead-spot.

Conclusion

Of course, the next three months will speak the loudest and while the annoyances are present, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD’s biggest trump card remains its price tag.

Given what its offers, its R609 900 sticker price comes as nothing short of a bargain on paper, especially as it also includes a seven-year/200 000 km warranty, a five-year/60 000 km service plan and the first-owner only applicable 10-year/1 000 000 km engine warranty

As such, the incoming trio of months will prove interesting nonetheless.

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