All-paw Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max In Need Of A Bit More Fermentation

The Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max, in all-wheel-drive configuration, has been a long time coming for South Africa ever since its reveal at the Shanghai Auto Show last year.

While supposed to have become a reality near the end of 2023 as the first all-wheel-drive Chery, the all-paw gripping Tiggo 8, based on the flagship 2.0 T-GDI engine Max, only debuted last month after a comparatively short social media teaser campaign .

Ranked behind the Tiggo 7 Pro Max as Cherys first model with an all-paw gripping system, the arrival of the Tiggo 8 Pro Max AWD posed a further a question; had the system solved the traction control problems brought on by the overzealous throttle programming that plagued the facelift Tiggo 8 Pro Max tested last year?

Distinguished from its sibling only by the AWD logo on the tailgate, the test unit even came decked-out in the same Roland Purple paint option that featured on the original 1.6 T-GDI Tiggo 8 Pro driven two years ago.

Based on the flagship Executive means the AWD sports the same 19-inch alloy wheels as the two-wheel-drive, plus the same extensive array of tech and safety features.

In fact, the remainder of the alterations have taken place underneath the Tiggo 8 Pro Max s skin.

Besides the systems ability to transfer the engines 187kW/390Nm from the front to all four wheels in 100 milliseconds, Chery has uprated suspension, increased the size of the fuel tank from 57-litres to 61-litres and fitted a torque splitting system it says provides an even spread of twist between front and rear axle.

At the same time, three additional modes have been added to the drive mode selector for a total of six, namely Snow, Mud and Off-Road to the standard issue Eco, Normal and Sport.

Incremental at best, but also not uncommon, the expected dumming down of the Tiggo 8 Pro Maxs eagerness to spin all of its power away, while successful, presented an annoyance the moment the AWD arrived, albeit for another reasons.

Given the nature of the newcomers styling, the status quo is unchanged as it remains a stylish and eye-catching thing prompted-up not only by its wheels, restyled rear facia and colour, but also the illuminated Chery badge on the grille that drew significant attention and finger pointing.

Inside, the changes applied to the Tiggo 8 Pros interior showcased in Shanghai remains a mixed bag as the aesthetic triumph and use of upscale materials are let down by the brown leather upholstery not everyone will find appealing.

As part of the changes, the previous Audi-esque climate control display has been dropped in favour of an aluminium-look touch-sensitive panel on the dashboard, the centre console redesigned and the pair of 10.25-inch displays eschewed in favour of a dual 12.3-inch setup.

Neat looking as ever and seemingly easy to get a grip on, the issues experienced on the two-wheel-drive remains; the complexity of the infotainment systems interface and the lack of sufficient steering column adjustability to fully display the cluster.

The main issue though involves not the somewhat disappointing sound quality of the 10-speaker Sony sound system two more than the front-wheel-drive but the addition of a new Driver Alert system that uses an eye-detection radar binnacle on the steering column.

Part of the Tiggo 8 Pro Maxs catalogue of safety tech, the supposed benefit of the scanner become a massive irritant as tasks such as activating the climate control, talking to passengers or even scrolling through the infotainment system would cause a message to flash-up on the instrument cluster saying, You have been distracted for too long. Keep eyes on the road.

Unable to be switched off as all the other systems are, a further issue also presented itself in the bizarre omission of a deactivation function for the start/stop system.

Present on the two-wheel-drive but not the AWD, the systems abruptness became a worry on hillier sections as it disengaged the Hill Start Assist system with the engine switched off.

This led to instances of the Tiggo 8 Pro Max rolling backwards the second ones foot is lifted from the brake pedal, before the system proceeds to re-start the engine.

An unusual occurrence not experience