Chery Tiggo 8 Reviews

Well this is strange. What started as a long term test with an SUV I didn’t want to like, turned out to be one of our favourite cars I’ve ever tested. Now it’s time for the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid to go back leaving all of us in my family missing it already.Fuel for thoughtThere were lots of pleasant surprises when we began our long-term test of the Chery Tiggo 8 Ultimate more than three months ago, but probably the most impressive finding was the fuel efficiency.Until I met the Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid my experience with PHEVs hadn’t been good. I found the batteries ran out of power quickly and fuel use went through the roof. They weren't a good combustion car, nor a good hybrid.Then we reached the end of the first month with the Tiggo 8 and it made it through without needing a tank refill and on closer inspection the trip computer said we’d travelled 869km. That was a record for my testing and I hadn’t even charged the Tiggo 8 regularly. While the official fuel economy is 1.3L/100km that month we measured 6.1L/100km. Imagine how far we could have gone on a tank if we’d charged it more often! The secret to the Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid’s long-haul ability is a large 60L tank, a big 18.4kWh battery and a clever hybrid system that never lets the battery run completely flat while using the engine as a generator on the go.Alas we never managed to test how far we could go on a full tank and a regularly replenished battery, but perhaps that could be a challenge for you, dear reader, to accept?This month we did fewer miles - only 409km - and our fuel consumption was 6.9L/100km.Lounge roomTwo more surprises were the Chery Tiggo 8's spaciousness and comfort.While not an overly large SUV at just over 4.7m long the Tiggo 8 has seven seats with the third row folding flat to offer a decent sized boot - 117 litres with all three rows in place and 479L with the third row stowed.The second row offers great space for adults and big kids and there's plenty of room for the front passenger even with our bulky forward-facing child car seat directly behind.Cabin storage is outstanding, so too are amenities with items like USB ports and a second-row climate zone. Those leather upholstered seats are luxuriously comfortable, supportive, hard wearing and easy to clean, too. Premium bargainThe Chery Tiggo 8 Ultimate Super Hybrid is $49,990 drive-away and the standard equipment list is mountainous. Highlights over the past few months have been keyless entry, which doesn’t need the door handle to be touched to lock and unlock, the excellent Sony sound system, privacy glass in the rear, wireless phone charging, heated seats and a head-up display.The upholstery and trims feel high quality, while the styling of both the interior and exterior is high-end looking.The value, plus the premium look and feel, is outstanding. Drive modeFinally we’ve been impressed with how easy and comfortable the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is to drive.If you keep the battery charged, this SUV feels like an EV most of the time at lower speeds - smooth, quiet and with instant and strong acceleration when needed.And while this isn’t the most agile and sporty SUV, the suspension does a great job of keeping the vehicle composed and comfortable.Not all greatThe Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid isn't perfect. I’ve mentioned the handling not being sporty but the driving position feels way too high (even on the lowest setting) and this leads to partial vision obstruction from the sun visor and rear-vision mirror.Also, while I love column-mounted shifters, the Tiggo 8 requires the driver to simultaneously step hard on the brake pedal to shift from Drive to Reverse. Like really hard. Otherwise the vehicle shifts in neutral and rolls. That annoyed me.The lack of tactile buttons and controls is also frustrating to live with daily. Climate, volume, almost everything is done through the media screen and while that means the cabin looks clean and minimalist it's ergonomically bad. Acquired: December, 2025Distance travelled this month: 409kmOdometer: 8676kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 6.9L/100km (measured at the pump)

Two months into the long-term test of the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid now and I know this car so well it could put me down as a referee next time it applies for a job. So here’s the reference so far, and while this large plug-in hybrid SUV is excellent in many ways there are a couple of personality traits you’d want me to tell you about. In the first instalment last month we discovered what the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid does best - not use much fuel. We travelled 869km on a single 60-litre petrol tank. That was a record for me in all my time testing vehicles and average fuel consumption worked out to be 6.1L/100km.The catch, as with all plug-in hybrids, is you have to charge it regularly. I found if the charge in the battery fell below 40 per cent the fuel consumption started to climb fast as the engine worked to keep the battery charged and drive the wheels.This month we drove 510 kilometres with half a tank left - I refilled to full and put in 27.7 litres. That works out to be 5.4L/100km. So while I didn’t break any long distance personal bests, I probably would have, had I driven it more. The reason I didn’t drive it further is because in the past week I’ve been testing the Toyota GR Yaris which is so fun to drive I chose it over the Tiggo 8 for every trip we did. And that brings me to the first not-so-great thing about the Tiggo 8 - the way it drives.The Tiggo 8 isn’t bad to drive, it’s just not great, if that makes sense. I will say it’s comfortable but to the point where the suspension is so soft and ‘bouncy’ that there are times when the SUV doesn’t feel as planted as it should be. This is especially noticeable in bends with mid-corner bumps where it can become unsettled. Acceleration can overcome traction, too, causing the tyres to squeal just because you didn’t dab the accelerator with the pressure of a feather. This takes some getting used to but it’s not a deal breaker.The driving position might be a deal breaker for you, though. The driver’s seat is too high, even on the lowest setting. I think this might be to do with the battery under the floor eating into the cabin space.But I think the worst characteristic of the Tiggo 8 is the gear shifter which requires so much force to be placed on the brake pedal when shifting from Drive to Reverse otherwise neutral is engaged. The number of times I’ve been half way through a three-point turn and holding up traffic because I keep rolling back in neutral is beyond a joke.It’s not all bad, I promise. Actually it’s mostly all good - especially the way Tiggo 8 unlocks itself, opens the door handles, switches the LED headlights on and turns the climate control on as it detects the key but before you even reach the car. The reverse goes for when you leave the car - it locks itself automatically. No need to get the key out or even touch the door handle. The boot’s hands-free ‘foot-sweep’ gesture control function also works really well. Even today with my hands full of grocery bags I didn’t have to put them down to open the tailgate.This month the Tiggo 8 has been hauling a variety of cargo from large boxes to grocery shopping. I’ve been impressed constantly by its boot capacity and even the space behind the third row is excellent.  The design of the floating centre console is outstanding with storage underneath and wide open area on top to charge your phone. There’s nothing worse than cars which have hidey holes for phones to charge, making them hard to retrieve.People space is also great and having the option to move the front passenger seat forward from the rear row using controls mounted on the seat is so helpful as a parent trying to get small children into their own seats.Well, that’s it for this month - this next instalment you read will be the last and hopefully I’ll be able to drive enough to get my 869km from a single tank. Acquired: December, 2025Distance travelled this month: 510kmOdometer: 8267kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 5.4L/100km (measured at the pump)

We’re only a month into our long-term test of the Chery Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid SUV and we may have already set a record: most kilometres travelled on a single tank of fuel - 869km.And we weren't even trying to be fuel efficient, the opposite actually. I hardly charged it, drove with the climate control blasting non-stop, carried heavy stuff in the boot, drove on motorways for hours, did short trips just to buy hot chips and sat in the car idling for ages doom scrolling while our toddler slept in her car seat.And still we got 869km from one full 60-litre petrol tank and only charged the 18.4kWh battery twice. From experience I can tell you most large SUVs with a four-cylinder combustion engine will give us about 450-600km of range from their tanks with our kind of driving. Regular hybrids tend to go a little further. About 650-700km. I have yet to test a plug-in hybrid properly, long term, but the Tiggo 8 isn't even one of those. It’s a super hybrid. That’s what these long-range plug-in hybrids with large batteries are called and they live up to their name with the ability to go a long way on a tank of fuel. According to Chery, the range of the Tiggo Super Hybrid is more like 1200km and it official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel consumption figure is 1.3L/100km. Our average on test was 6.1L/100km.To hit almost 900km without trying is impressive. Really impressive.The Tiggo 8 has a 1.5-litre, four cylinder engine which produces 105kW and 2145Nm, as well as a 150kW/310Nm electric motor driving the front wheels. Charging the lithium-ion battery is done through a fast charger which can quickly top up this battery when depleted in about 30 minutes. There was so much varied driving this month, spanning mid-December to mid-January, I feel for our Tiggo 8. It's been through torture, thrown into the end of the school year, the start of the holidays, as well as three birthdays and one Christmas, all of it requiring us to be places near and far. Our little family of four includes a three-year old and an 11-year old, together creating a perfect storm messiness and being rough on a car. From reappearing biscuits to doors being slammed way too hard the Tiggo 8 has seen it all and probably can never unsee it.The Tiggo 8 handled its baptism of chaos perfectly. This large seven-seater is comfortable, spacious and practical. I can also testify, it hasn't shown any signs of wear and tear... unlike me. It's also excellent value for money.Our Ultimate grade is $49,990, drive-away, at the time of writing and the list of included features is extravagant, from three-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats and 15.6-inch media screen to the head-up display and 10.25-inch driver display. There’s also an excellent-sounding 10-speaker Sony audio system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus built in sat nav.However, while the front passenger seat has a massaging function the driver's seat doesn't. That’s a bit odd.Adding to the value equation is a long seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, plus an eight-year, unlimited kilometre battery warranty.As for the way the Tiggo 8 drives, the ride is comfortable, but handling isn’t superb. Despite having It doesn’t enjoy twisty roads as much as some I've piloted on my test runs, with traction and body control systems sometimes struggling.But most of the time we were doing urban duties and for that the Tiggo 8 performed well - apart from the way stationary gear shifting requires a lot of pressure on the brake pedal to enable engagement of Reverse or Drive. This makes three-point turns slow and frustrating for everybody involved including other drivers.The Tiggo 8 scored it's maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2025. And I'm happy to report driver-assist safety tech isn’t overly intrusive, unlike many new cars we've experienced recently.Well, that’s it for the first month and now that I know how fuel-efficient the Tiggo 8 is, I want to see just how far I can go on one tank. That said, I'm already off to a bad start, the battery is on 20 per cent and I keep putting off charging it. Anyway, let's see how far we get this next month.Acquired: December, 2025Distance travelled this month: 869kmOdometer: 7757kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 6.1L/100km (measured at the pump)

Chery's Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid might be a plug-in price leader, but the Tiggo 8 ticks even more boxes.