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    I drove 'car of the year' Chinese EV that's £50k cheaper than Audi and one word sums it up

    2 days ago

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    A Chinese car has been named as one of the best vehicles of the year – but what is it really like? Renowned motor review site Carwow recently crowned the Chery Tiggo 8 as their car of the year. Mat Watson, Chief Content Officer at Carwow, heaped praise on the Tiggo 8 for delivering exceptional bang for your buck alongside a top-tier vibe. He said: "Chery's debut to the UK market couldn't have impressed me more. The Tiggo 8 is one of those cars that seems almost too good to be true. "It's a premium-feeling SUV with loads of space for seven occupants, a cutting-edge hybrid system, all the luxury kit you could want... yet it costs about the same as a European hatchback." Following such rave reviews, I took the Tiggo 8 out for a spin over a weekend around the capital to see if it lives up to the hype. And what I found left me stunned. Specifications The Tiggo 8 carries an RRP (Regular Retail Price) ranging from £28,545 to £36,545. In terms of cost, it positions itself as a fierce rival to comparable SUVs like the Audi Q7, which fetches between £70,000 and £99,999. Yet, as my experience would reveal, appearing similar whilst undercutting rivals on price is one matter – matching their performance is quite another. I got behind the wheel of the Summit PHEV variant, boasting a 204bhp 1.5-litre engine paired with a hybrid system. This particular model carries an RRP just north of £36,545 and promises a potential MPG (Miles Per Gallon) of up to 218mpg. Built to accommodate seven passengers, the Tiggo 8 features a third row of seats that emerge from the boot floor. Boot capacity sits at 117 litres with the seats up, expanding to 494 litres when they're folded down. Interior The interior of the Tiggo 8 has many early-2020s car design trends, boasting a massive touchscreen in the centre, wireless charging pads, ample cupholders, and a spacious interior storage box. Apart from a few physical buttons on the steering wheel, the touchscreen is your command centre for all things Tiggo 8. With European and Japanese manufacturers reverting back to buttons, it feels slightly out of step with the current customer-driven trend. As Car Wow puts it, it feels premium. It doesn't feel cheap, nor does it feel as plush as sitting in an Audi, BMW, MINI, or Honda (more on that later), but you certainly don't feel like you're driving a shack. While the Tiggo 8 mirrors its competitors in terms of aesthetics, both inside and out, it's when you hit the road that things take a turn for the worse quicker than you can say the word Nán (Chinese for south). Driving Remember when I mentioned there's a difference between looking like the competition and performing like the competition? The Tiggo 8's urban driving behaviour is a case in point. Before I go into details, I should clarify that we only had the car for a couple of days, so our experience was limited to running errands around south London and not motorway driving. As such, I'll be the first to admit that this section comes with an asterisk at the end of it. However, the ride is rather jarring over potholes and speed bumps, the tyres can't handle more than 15 to 20 percent of throttle before losing grip from a standing start, the steering's feel fluctuates, the gearbox is very slow when switching from drive to reverse and vice versa, and some features are just downright odd. For instance, flicking on the indicator triggers a small screen on the main display showing you the rear three-quarter view of the car. This serves no purpose other than to distract and obscure information on the screen it's covering. Like many other vehicles, the Tiggo 8 boasts keyless entry, which means it automatically unlocks as you approach and locks as you walk away. As you climb in, it fires up the power unit (there is no start button). This is a car that tries to do as much for you as possible and is worse off for it. In defence of the Tiggo 8, the steering does offer feedback, occasionally, and brakes are solid with plenty of feel. Moreover, the engine isn't overly loud and it's easy to park. And Chery has endeavoured to give the driver as little to do and worry about as possible. It boasts a large range, good mpg, is easy to drive, and has a spacious boot. How it stacks up against a rival In a word, poorly. The closest I've driven to a rival to the Chery this year is the Honda H-RV HEV. Just like the Chery, it's a sub-£40k hybrid car that uses the petrol engine as a generator to charge the batteries. Much like the Chery, the HR-V HEV features a 1.5-litre petrol engine powering the front wheels, though this one produces 130bhp—70 less than the Tiggo 8. Despite being less practical and lacking in power, the Honda remains the superior car. The infotainment system and driver assistance features are less obtrusive, the steering offers greater feedback, you can modify the regenerative braking whilst cornering, and it includes a start button. The HR-V HEV provides the driver with more control and greater involvement in managing the hybrid system, whilst simultaneously delivering clearer communication about what the platform is doing. It represents a higher-quality product at a lower price point. Verdict Caveats aside, my principal conclusion from my weekend with the Chery Tiggo 8 is that it isn't a fundamentally flawed motor. It's spacious, affordable, straightforward to drive, highly fuel-efficient, and solidly constructed. However, if I had to describe it in a single word, regrettably, it would be "disappointing". I found it frustrating to operate and not as good value for money as alternatives from rival manufacturers. Rating: 5/10.
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