Kgm Musso vs Chery Tiggo 8

What's the difference?

The KGM Musso Advance is a large 4WD ute offering a decent amount of appeal for the price and it makes a lot of sense in XLV form.

It’s generally nice to drive, it’s comfortable and capable for a ute and – as with the Rexton – the Musso is another clear sign that KGM continues to improve its vehicles, albeit incrementally in some cases, in terms of quality and functionality.

A bargain price, clever hybrid system, and a spacious interior with useful third row is a rare and potent combination which should continue to catapult Chery into a successful future.

Sure, the dull driving dynamics, sometimes befuddling software, and over reliance on touchscreens could and should be addressed, but at this price and with these ownership terms, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is a tough proposition to argue with.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

The Musso is based on its SUV stablemate, the Rexton. It’s a body-on-frame 4WD ute, available only as a dual-cab, and its appearance is inoffensively pleasant.

Styling changes to the Advance include a black grille, black 18-inch alloy wheels, HID headlights (on short and XLV grades), and rear privacy tint.

It also has a black leather-look interior with black leather-look seats.

The Musso’s interior offers plenty of space for the driver and passengers and is neat and well laid out.

Build quality and fit and finish are impressive with a mix of durable plastic and soft-touch surfaces throughout including a leather steering wheel and leather-look seats in the Advance.

Unlike some of its rivals in this space, the Tiggo 8 has a fairly generic boxy SUV design. It’s not as interesting as many of its rivals, but it also strays away from being controversial.

The derivative grille design and light signatures make it blend into traffic nicely, making it an ideal SUV for someone who intentionally doesn’t want to stand out, at least not in quite the same way as something like the BYD Sealion 6.

There’s also nothing that looks proportionally off about it, and the strong lines and spoiler piece over the rear give it a (very) faint air of toughness.

Inside this plug-in hybrid version gets a significantly different interior compared to the combustion Tiggo 8 that launched in 2024. The design is much more contemporary, dominated by the huge central touchscreen which is much bigger than the one in both the Tiggo 7 and the combustion Tiggo 8, and there’s new switchgear for the indicator stalk and for the steering wheel buttons, too.

Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of the climate shortcut panel which remains in the Tiggo 7. Instead, you’re forced to navigate through new software which has a dedicated climate zone.

Still, it’s a glitzy looking interior with big screens and interesting material choices, particularly at this price. The Tiggo 8 even manages to avoid some of the blatant Mercedes-Benz worship as seen in the smaller Tiggo 7, and the synthetic seat trim is also distinct from the rest of the Chery range. In this plug-in Tiggo 8 it’s a kind of sturdy-feeling neoprene finish which looks a little bit like suede. It’s weird, but I don’t hate it.

There is the expected array of storage spots (glove box, door pockets etc), cupholders (two to the rear of the auto shifter) and charge points (two USB-C ports and a 12-volt plug point for driver and front passenger).

The seats are comfortable and supportive and, in general, KGM has maximised space in the cabin, yielding plenty of shoulder and legroom for driver and passengers.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system works reasonably well although you do have to cycle through numerous menus and sub-menus to change some settings and I did have to try several times to pair my phone to it, so overall functionality is clunky.

Rear-seat passengers have access to directional air vents, but there are smart-device charge points.

The tub size is as follows: 1600mm long in the XLV (1300mm in the standard Musso), 1570mm wide (1100mm between wheel-arches) and 570mm deep. The tub has a plastic tub liner and four tie-down points.

For a direct comparison of dimensions: the standard Musso is 5095mm long with a 3100mm wheelbase while the XLV is 5405mm with a 3210mm wheelbase; the standard Musso is 1950mm wide and 1870mm high (the XLV is 1885mm). For reference, the Ford Ranger XLT dual-cab ute is 5406mm long (including rear bumper and tow bar receiver) with a 3270mm wheelbase.

The difference in dimensions between a standard Musso and the XLV version also means a difference in off-road angles so approach is 22.8° / 25° (XLV), departure is 23.4° / 20° (XLV) and rampover is 23° / 20° (XLV).

Minimum ground clearance is 215mm in a standard Musso and 220mm in the XLV, so the Musso XLV does stand taller off the ground than its regular stablemate.

Kerb weight is listed as 2090kg for the standard Musso and 2100kg for the XLV. Turning circle is 11.8m for the standard Musso and 12.2m for the XLV.

The Tiggo 8’s cabin is enormous and has had various upgrades since the combustion car launched that make it both easier and less easy to use.

For example, the centre console redesign is more contemporary, offering pride of place to the wireless phone charging bay, offering two larger bottle holders off to one side. Some key driver functions appear on the right-hand side, including a drive mode selector dial and a handful of shortcuts for the most basic climate functions, like an auto AC button and front and rear defoggers.

This means the shifter has moved to the column on the right-hand side, with a multifunction stalk for the indicators and wipers on the left instead.

The armrest console box is an overcomplicated split opening design, but offers plenty of room inside. There are two large bottle holders and pockets in each front door, too, and there’s a large pass-through area underneath the bridge-style console which will be great for a handbag or something.

The seating position is quite adjustable, but you sit unusually high in the car, which makes it feel as though you’re peering down on the instruments.

As already mentioned, the full array of climate functions can only be controlled through the touchscreen, with no physical buttons outside of the handful on the centre console. Would it be so hard just to have a temperature and fan speed dial you don’t have to take your eyes off the road?

The software itself is typical of many Chinese cars at the moment. It looks good, but isn’t as functional or easy to use as you’d like. Some core functions are still buried in confusingly labelled sub-menus, particularly things like active safety features. It’s not the worst I’ve used (the Leapmotor C10 springs to mind), but it should be better given the massive screen is such a focal point of the cabin.

At least the Tiggo 8 doesn’t feel cheap in other areas, with generous soft-touch materials throughout the cabin. It might be fake leather and suede, but it does a good enough job of making the cabin feel plush and comfortable for longer journeys.

The second row is impressive. I had leagues of room in all dimensions behind my front seat position at 182cm tall. The generous amount of soft trims continue and the seat bases are comfortable enough, too. Storage comes in the form of seat-back pockets and large bottle holders in each door.

Maybe the most impressive feature is the third row. While I felt squashed into the rear row of the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Tiggo 8 offers just enough space for an adult to travel in some form of comfort. Access isn’t the easiest, but there’s so much space in the second row the the seat can slide forward to allow sufficient room for my legs. My head touches the roof, however.

There’s not much in the way of amenities back there, with a bottle holder and storage tray for third-row occupants, as well as a 12-volt outlet in the boot.

The boot itself seems large enough, although at the time of writing there was no official boot figure. For context, the combustion version offers 479 litres with the third row down, or 117 litres with it up, and this plug-in doesn’t seem significantly different to my eye.

Unfortunately though, the placement of the battery and DC inverter under the boot floor leaves no room for a spare. There’s only an inflator kit.

The Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is also super affordable. With a price of just $45,990 drive away, it’s a terrible day to be the product planner for Mitsubishi’s upcoming Outlander PHEV facelift which used to be one of the only options in the space.

In fact, it’s bad news for any mid-size SUV, whether they’re combustion powered, hybrid, or previously good value.

For context, the outgoing Outlander PHEV started from $57,290 before on-roads, and even MG’s five-seat-only plug-in hybrid HS costs from $52,990. You can have the BYD Sealion 6 for less, at just $42,990 for a base essential, but it is also just a five-seater.

If it’s just a plug-in hybrid you want and you don’t need seven seats, the smaller Tiggo 7 bests them all, starting from a new low of $39,990 drive-away.

Regardless, the low price and big hybrid battery (we’ll talk more about this later) don’t stop the Tiggo 8 from being packed with standard gear. 

Highlights on the entry-level Urban spec include 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and DRLs, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 15.6-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 50W wireless charger, synthetic leather seats, ambient interior lighting, six-way power adjust for the driver’s seat, a 360-degree parking camera, and even an acoustic windscreen.

Not only is this impressive equipment, but the Tiggo 8 is more than just a seven-seat version of the Tiggo 7, with a larger touchscreen and some standard kit like the 360-degree parking camera and wireless charger, which don’t come on the most basic version of its sibling.

The top-spec Ultimate, which costs $49,990 drive-away, adds heated and ventilated front seats, two additional speakers (bringing the total to 12), a head-up display, a panoramic opening sunroof, privacy glass, illuminated scuff plates, and a message function for the front passenger.

It’s hard to see how the Tiggo 8 isn’t good value full stop, and it's a plug-in hybrid!

The KGM Musso Advance with the XLV Pack has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 133kW at 4000rpm and 420Nm from at 1600-2600rpm – it gets an extra 20Nm over the shorter version's 400Nm from 1400 to 2800rpm.

It has a six-speed automatic transmission, part-time 4x4 with high and low range, and an auto-locking rear differential.

This is a sluggish combination producing a generally lacklustre performance and the powertrain is not particularly efficient but, having said that, the Aisin auto is a reliable, well-proven transmission and the Musso ultimately does reasonably well with what it has.

The 4WD mechanicals and driver-assist tech actually work better in this package than they do in the Musso’s stablemate, the Rexton.

Chery’s Super Hybrid system is a little different from other plug-ins on the market. It pairs a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine (105kW/215Nm) with a ‘dedicated hybrid transmission’ (DHT). This is a transaxle which contains a large electric motor (150kW/310Nm) and uses a set of clutches and gears to blend the power sources.

The end result of this is a drivetrain that feels a bit like a CVT but isn’t the much derided rubber-band-on-a-cone set-up. To Chery’s credit, it almost feels like driving an electric vehicle, such is the relatively smooth power delivery and seamless blending of the power sources depending on speed.

Just don’t expect to tow much more than a tinny as capacity is limited to just 750kg.

Official fuel consumption for the Musso Advance with the XLV treatment is 9.0L/100km.

On this test, I recorded 11L/100km, but on the test I spent a chunk of time in 4WD high and low range.

The Musso has a 75-litre fuel tank, so going by my on test fuel-consumption figures, from a full tank, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 681km.

But it is worth noting that I didn't have a lot of weight on board during this test – it was just me and the vehicle recovery gear – and you will have a lot more weight on board: your family or your mates, pets, camping gear, surfboards, kayaks, the whole kit and caboodle.

The Tiggo 8 has a headline electric driving range of 95km, although this is rated to the more lenient NEDC cycle. Usually you can expect more like 75km in the real world, but these plug-ins tend to vary greatly from their official figures for better or worse, so stay tuned for a longer test to see what the real-world figure is.

Regardless, it draws this range from a 18.3kWh battery pack, that is capable of charging up on both DC and AC, which is rare for a plug-in. On the faster DC chargers, it is capable of topping up at a maximum rate of 40kW for a claimed 30 to 80 per cent charge in 20 minutes. Combined range, using a full tank of fuel and full charge can have the vehicle travel up to a claimed 1200km.

The overall fuel efficiency is 1.3L/100km, a somewhat useless figure. The actual figure will depend entirely on how you use the car. Have a short commute and charge at least at one end of it? It may as well be zero.

What’s particularly clever though is how Chery has put significant work into the software map of the hybrid transmission to keep it as efficient as possible, even when the battery is drained. 

The vehicles we tested on the launch were all hovering around the mid-5.0L/100km mark, even with the batteries long drained to their reserve level. The brand’s engineering people say the software map is specifically designed to achieve less than 6.0L/100km even when the battery is dead.

Again, not every plug-in hybrid can claim the same.

On-road, the longer-wheelbase Musso is composed and comfortable with well-subdued NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels adding to an impressive overall sense of low-key refinement.

The engine and auto work reasonably well together, but as mentioned earlier this is a sluggish unit and it takes some urging to get it going. Pronounced lag from stand-still can be disconcerting, especially when you need plenty of zip to punch you into the traffic flow.

This ute’s suspension – double-wishbone, coil springs and stabiliser bar at the front, multi-link with coil springs at the rear – is firm, mostly controlled, but the Musso becomes jittery on irregular surfaces, such as lumpy back-roads bitumen and mildly corrugated dirt tracks.

One noteworthy annoyance: the Musso does not have adaptive cruise control.

Despite that, the Musso is actually quite reasonable for general driving duties.

As a 4WD, the Musso actually performs pretty well. It is a long wheelbase ute, so you have to drive it with consideration because you have to take into account its shallow off-road angles – approach, departure and ramp over – and it has quite a large overhang of tub behind the rear axle.

It has an auto locking rear diff, which is clunky in operation and I’d prefer a switchable diff-lock, which you could select whenever you want to, but otherwise it's effective in a workman-like kind of fashion.

Steering is not too shabby, it has a nice weight to it in all situations, whether you are on the bitumen or a dirt track. Turning circle on this long-wheelbase ute is 12.2m, but it feels nimble to steer around on the tracks.

The Musso has part-time four-wheel drive and high and low range 4WD gearing. It doesn't have a lot of power and torque in terms of the contemporary dual-cab ute market, but it does fine with what it does have; 420Nm in the XLV Musso gives it that little bit of extra punch over the standard Musso (400Nm) and that torque is available across a decent spread of revs.

If you intend to use your Musso as an off-road adventure vehicle or a weekend holiday machine, then it's handy to know that it's unbraked towing capacity is 750kg and its braked towing capacity is 3500kg and that's on par with the dual-cab ute market.

In terms of tyres, it’s the same story here as with most standard 4WDs – the Musso’s Nexen NPriz RH7 (255/60R18 108H) are not well-suited to anything other than light off-roading. The easy fix? Replace those tyres with some decent all-terrain tyres.

Payload is a listed 880kg (790kg in the standard Advance), GVM is 2980kg and GCM is 6480kg.

The Tiggo 8 leans into the traits on display in the smaller Tiggo 7. This means a too-high seating position trading driver ergonomics for visibility, a vague steering tune defined far too much by software, and an overly soft ride quality.

There are various trade-offs here, but it’s about the opposite of a driver’s car. The steering lends hardly any feel to what’s going on at the wheels, and the floaty ride conspires with the tall seat base to feel a bit disconcerting when cornering at high speed.

However, the positives include ease of use and relative comfort. The steering is light enough to make the Tiggo 8 pretty manoeuvrable at low speeds, and the soft ride has the Tiggo 8 floating over road imperfections with relative ease.

It’s also quick, with the electric motor providing urgent acceleration, but this is somehow not very engaging or fun regardless. Plus, slamming the accelerator down, particularly in Sport mode, will overwhelm the front tyres.

This car maintains over 20 per cent of its total battery capacity in reserve, in order to have a large buffer to draw from in hybrid mode to facilitate the smooth electric driving, but this also allows more room to store regenerated energy from idle time or braking compared to a plugless hybrid.

It seems to drive as an EV most of the time, although it lacks a true one-pedal driving mode despite having three levels of regenerative braking.

The cabin is impressively quiet, particularly at lower speeds. It’s genuinely hard to tell when the combustion engine is on to assist the electric driving functions, and the standard acoustic glass keeps most of the nasty ambient noise out. However, at speeds above 80km/h, road noise eventually finds its way into the cabin.

There are many rivals that provide an overall better balance of driving dynamics and handling with comfort, but this Tiggo 8 shoots for a more comfort-oriented family buyer who just wants a quiet and fuel-efficient SUV.

There’s plenty of safety kit for the Tiggo 8 with nothing left to options or based on grades.

The key stuff is present, including auto emergency braking (AEB), lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and braking, traffic jam assist, door open warning, a speed limit information system, and driver monitoring.

I bet you want to know if they’re well calibrated? After all, Chery’s Omoda 5 was slammed on its arrival for an infuriating lane assist system and overbearing driver monitoring, two of the most frequently offending systems for interfering with the drive experience.

I am pleased to report though these systems have been toned down significantly. Oddly, I found the driver monitoring system was fussier in the Tiggo 8 than the Tiggo 7, verging on being annoying, but it could have been the different road conditions we were on. The lane system on the whole was pretty tame, and the traffic sign alert was easy enough to tone down to a barely noticeable audible warning.

However, the lane centring software on the adaptive cruise was a bit frustrating, strongly tugging on the wheel if it disagreed with your interpretation of the centre of the lane.

It’s far from one of the worst systems in recent memory, and nice to see Chery take on the feedback and improve the cars with each release.

Plug-in hybrid versions of the Tiggo 8 are yet to be rated by ANCAP, but the combustion car was rated a maximum five-stars to the 2023 standards. The Tiggo 8 is equipped with nine airbags, however it is worth noting there is no child seat mounting system in either of the third-row seats. 

The MY26 Musso range is covered by a seven-year/unlimited kilometre new-vehicle warranty, and five years of roadside assistance.

A service is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest with cost per service either $418 or $522.

Note, KGM considers off-roading as an example of a “severe driving condition” and so your Musso may require more frequent servicing.

KGM Australia has more than 50 dealerships across the country with a decent spread across metro and regional areas. Rextons can be serviced at those dealers or at approved workshops.

The Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is covered by seven years and unlimited kilometres of warranty, seven years of roadside assist, and seven years of capped-price servicing, following the successful formula of once-underdog Kia.

The servicing price varies year on year according to the capped-price schedule, between $299 and a particularly expensive service at the 90,000km mark which costs $1291.31.

The average yearly cost works out to $453.45 if you keep the car for the full seven-year duration. Not the cheapest we’ve ever seen, but all things considered, it’s pretty good.