Chery South Africa has expanded its Tiggo 8 Pro Max line-up, with the local arm of the Chinese automaker introducing an all-wheel-drive variant of its flagship SUV to SA. Here’s what you can expect.
The third model in Chery SA’s Tiggo 8 Pro portfolio, the all-wheel-drive derivative, which sits at the top of the range, is priced at R731 900. Compared to the front-wheel-drive Tiggo 8 Pro Max, which we tested in 2022, that’s a premium of around R60 000.
“Our engineers have spent a considerable amount of development and testing hours with the all-wheel-drive system to ensure that it is robust enough to work in the blink of an eye, but that it also offers a long operational life,” said Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery SA.
“Chery completed another round of extreme weather testing in 2023. The results of these tests have been incorporated in the design of the all-wheel-drive system. It means that whether the driver finds themselves in snowy or desert conditions, the Tiggo 8 Pro Max AWD will deliver.”
According to the firm, “During its development, [it] repeatedly pushed up to ten times the expected vehicle torque through the all-wheel-drive system to ensure that its operation remains faultless and fast, regardless of the conditions or the workload.”
The automaker says the result of all of this development is an all-wheel-drive set-up that can switch from front- to all-wheel drive in 100 milliseconds. In addition, the company claims that this operation is imperceptible to the driver, while it provides extra grip and stability to on slippery surfaces or during high-speed (sticking to the national limit, of course) dynamic driving.
All four corners of the all-wheel-drive Tiggo 8 Pro Max is driven by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, tuned to deliver 187 kW and 390 Nm of torque, with the latter available from 2 000 r/min to 4 000 r/min. The powertrain is coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which, Chery says, has been mapped to smoothly deliver power to two or four wheels as required.
In addition, for this model, Chery has increased the fuel tank’s capacity to 57 litres (up by six litres, compared to the front-wheel-drive derivative). The suspension, too, has been upgraded.