Chery Tiggo 8 review

Different to the Tiggo 7, that’s for sure – and not just round the back. The whole dashboard layout is distinct, dominated here by a vast, 15.6in central touchscreen (compared to the 7’s 12.3in with supplementary climate control pad).

It looks more impressive but is a mite more confusing to operate on the move, though there’s a voice assistant to help you avoid the wrath of the car’s own distraction monitor – which is quick to scold you for dithering in front of those rich pixels too long, desperately trying to adjust the air con. That’s not a complaint that solely sits at Chery’s door, though. Plenty of its Chinese rivals have stepped into the same, self-made trap.

Voices emanate from everywhere, in fact, with sat nav instructions barked through the driver’s headrest at you; this particular reviewer hated it, but maybe you’ll value having the instructions piped in over the kids’ hullaballoo.

Hullaballoo which you can spy on through the odd aspect of its rear-view mirror, which looks ideal for supervising the seats behind you, but is of bafflingly little help for seeing out the back window. At least its lush array of parking cameras are nicely hi-res, the slick 540-degree augmented reality display – which can be rotated briskly thanks to punchy processing speeds – feeling OTT but not without charm. It's standard even on base cars, too.

Lots of oddities, then.

This Chery suffers quirks its pricier European rivals (and that pesky Dacia) happily avoid, but it fights back with uncanny levels of perceived quality. Much like the Tiggo 7, its materials feel surprisingly lush for the price, and the Tiggo 8 makes a strong first impression with its flush exterior door handles (though the jury’s out on how easy they are to use with a toddler in each arm) and diamond-embossed interior door cards like it’s a budget Bentayga.

The gear selector has moved up to the column stalks (unlike the Tiggo 7, curiously), which clears up some cubby space but makes you fumble for the wipers the first time you drive it. It gets more USB ports than its littler sibling – thankfully – with a USB-A and C pairing both front and back, plus a wireless charging pad by the dashboard.

Luggage volume is 117 litres with all the seats in place, extending to 494 if you’re using it as a pure five-seater or 1,930 litres with all but the front row stowed. The former figure notably lags behind its more established European rivals and might limit the Tiggo’s usage on long family trips. Adults can squeeze into the third row, but probably won’t thank you for it, not least because access is far from graceful. The right-hand side of the car allows a more flexible aperture, but that, you’ll note, is not the side of the car most likely to be perched by the kerb during the school run. D’oh! Again, rivals currently do this stuff better.