Chery Tiggo 7 PRO vs Renault Clio

What's the difference?

The Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Elite is a part of the brand relaunch for Chery and it showcases the brand's commitment to safety with its five-star ANCAP rating, awarded in 2023.

The medium SUV market is well and truly saturated with options and the Tiggo 7 Pro has rivals like the GWM Haval H6, Hyundai Tucson and MG HS which offer affordable packages for families in an expensive economy.

So, does the newest offering from Chery hold its own? In this review I'll unpack what my little family of three thought after a week with the mid-spec Elite model. (And why I suddenly have a hankering for Cherry Ripes).

I'm going to reveal something of myself here - I used to be a RenaultSport Clio owner. This is what the purists call what we now know as Clio RS, and I find myself constantly corrected yet unrepentant. It was a 172 - a nuggety three-door with wheels that looked too small, a weird seating position and a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine that was big on torque as long as you belted it.

It was a classic and you could still see the links back to the epoch-making Renault Clio Williams, that blue and gold Mk 1 Clio we never saw in Australia that redefined the genre. The current Clio has been around for four years now and I even drove this current RS Clio at its launch in 2013, memorable for the sudden bucketing rain that drenched the circuit and made things very interesting indeed.

This Clio was a big change from the cars that went before - slimmer-hipped, less aggressive-looking and with a 1.6-litre turbo engine, five-door-only body and (gasp!) no manual, just Renault's twin-clutch EDC transmission. It was a hit, at least with enthusiasts. Back then it was the dawn of a golden age in small hot hatches. But that was then, this is now. With a small power bump and a couple of features thrown in, is the ageing RS still at the pointy end?