Mahindra Scorpio-N vs Chery Tiggo 8

What's the difference?

It might seem like I’ve been harsh on the Scorpio but I actually reckon this vehicle is in fact a step in the right direction for Mahindra.

It’s nice enough to drive on-road – refined and comfortable – and it’s also a capable 4WD, with a few issues though…

It’s a good value-for-money prospect but it’s lacking a lot of driver-assist tech that should be onboard every modern vehicle, especially one that will serve as a family mover.

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 Scorpion reminds me a bit of the early-generation Hyundai Terrcan – long bonnet, generic cabin, and it appears to sit quite low.

The Mahindra SUV has 18-inch alloy wheels, side steps, roof rails and sunroof.

It all looks fine and, anyway, the more interesting stuff on the Scorpion is under the skin – the fact that it is a body-on-frame 4WD.

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.

The cabin is tidy and functional. The 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system is easy enough to operate without strife and the screen is clear, although it’d be great if it was bigger.

The tan synthetic leather interior trim looks good and superficially the whole interior looks nice, but if you inspect a little more closely the Scorpio’s cabin is missing the storage spaces, USB charge points and build quality of rival SUVs.

There’s one cupholder (between driver and front passenger), the door pockets are narrow and there are few other storage spaces.

With the third-row seats in use, there’s a very small rear cargo area, and those seats don’t fold flat so when they’re not in use they seriously impact the storage space.

As a result, the Scorpio is one of the few modern 4WDs that I’d consider taking out the third row every time long-distance loaded-up travel was on the cards – just so it’s a more practical touring vehicle.

Some features, such as the directional air vents, feel flimsy. Otherwise, the Scorpio’s cabin is suitably practical, rather than overly impressive.

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 Scorpio has 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which produces 129kW at 3500rpm and 400Nm at 1750-2750rpm.

It has a six-speed automatic transmission, an auto-locking rear diff, and a part-time 4WD system with a dual-range transfer case incorporating low range.

Note: the Scorpio must be in neutral and stationary for the driver to shift into 4WD low-range, but the driver is able to shift between 2WD and 4WD High on the move, up to 80km/h.

Its '4Explor' system’s drive modes include 'Normal' (2WD for sealed surfaces), 'Grass/Snow' (4WD), 'Mud & Ruts' (4WD), and 'Sand' (4WD).

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 use is listed as 7.2L/100km on a combined cycle.

Fuel consumption on this test was 9.6L/100km, which is impressive, especially in light of the fact that we spent the lion’s share of two days during the test period in 4WD low-range.

It has a 57-litre fuel tank, so, going by those fuel figures, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 593km out of a full tank. 

Note: That 593km is a best-case scenario figure and has not had a 30-50km safe-distance buffer subtracted from it, and it also does not take into account the fact that, when being used for touring, the vehicle will be loaded with people, pets, camping gear and more.

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.

The Scorpio is a 4WD with a body-on-frame chassis. For those of you who don’t know (no shame in that) a body-on-frame chassis denotes a chassis onto which the vehicle’s separate body is attached, and the engine, wheels, and suspension are fitted.

The set-up is well suited to towing and/or carrying heavy loads, and 4WDing.

It’s 4662mm long (with a 2750mm wheelbase), 1917mm wide and 1857mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2100kg and a 12.6m turning circle.

Right, that’s enough (boring?) measurements for now.

This Mahindra 4WD is surprisingly refined on-road: quiet inside, comfortable and with a no-stress engine and a low-key workmanlike Aisin-sourced auto delivering a relaxed, almost lethargic combination on the road.

Steering has a nice weight to it, ride quality is okay, erring on the side of spongy rather than too firm, and some body roll creeps in on more energetic bends.

Overall, however, the Scorpio does satisfactorily well on sealed surfaces. But how does it perform off-road?

The Scorpio handled the undulating dirt track leading to our off-road test site with ease, riding nicely over the light to medium corrugations, and was only ever minimally unsettled by the bumpy terrain.

This Mahindra is able to be shifted between 2WD and high-range 4WD (4H on the dial) so you can keep moving even when the road/track surface changes all of sudden.

The Scorpio has plenty of old-school foundational 4WD mechanicals onboard – low-range and a rear diff-lock (albeit an automatic one) – and it also benefits from off-roading-oriented tech such as its 4Explor system with selectable terrain modes, each of which adjusts engine output, transmission settings and traction control to best suit the terrain, conditions and driving style. 

It also has hill descent control and hill hold control.

Even its forward-facing camera comes in handy. I still think of these as more a novelty – I prefer to get out and check the track ahead or get a spotter to do the work for me – but I can see the inherent value of this tech in helping the driver to maintain vision, especially if forward visibility is compromised, say for instance up and over the crest of a steep rocky hill, or edging towards a steep drop into a creek bed.

While the Scorpio’s 400Nm may seem a bit lowly, that torque is on tap across a good spread of revs, and this 4WD does well with what it has. The engine keeps everything moving along nicely.

In terms of off-road-relevant measures, the Scorpio has 227mm of ground clearance, a guesstimated wading depth of 500mm or so (it’s not listed), and approach, departure and ramp-over angles of 27.2 (good), 21.3 (not so good), and 23.5 (okay) degrees, respectively.

The Scorpio is quite an effective off-road wagon and it tackled every obstacle it faced without fail, but it has to be driven with extreme care and laser-focused concentration.

No harm in that, I hear you cry. In response, I say, sure, but it’s bloody exhausting work having to nurse a vehicle through even innocuous terrain in order to avoid nudges, bumps and scrapes to its underbody and side steps.

Not to mention how tiring it is having to anticipate if/when off-road traction control and/or the auto diff-lock will engage – or not – at crucial moments.

Not a major concern on flat ground, but think about the auto rear diff-lock cutting out on you while driving up a rocky 32-degree hill. Yep, I’m old.

Now for some more of the Scorpio’s less-than-ideal characteristics.

1. I hinted at this in the previous paragraph: off-road traction control doesn’t seem as well calibrated as it should be. It’s a bit patchy in its application, and certainly not as seamless as the tech in something like the GWM Tank 300 (yes, I know – the Tank costs about $15,000 more.)

2. The automatic rear diff lock is on the wrong side of clunky, abruptly engaging as it senses wheel-spin then disengaging just as abruptly when it deems the problem over ... even if it isn’t quite over yet.

3. The Scorpio feels low: a lot of underbody components are vulnerable to rocks, tree stumps, track debris, and the AdBlue tank sits low behind the rear left-hand wheel.

4. The side-steps seem very flimsy. The right-hand side-step took a soft knock going over an exposed tree root early on one test day, which I thought nothing of. But when I looked at it soon afterwards, the fasteners had popped out at the front and middle of the sidestep.

I didn't think the bump had been anywhere near enough to result in that.

5. The Scorpio’s standard tyres – MRF Wanderer SUV tyres (255/60R18 “All-Season”) – are not great for hard 4WDing.

They don’t offer anywhere near the degree of grip you need in difficult 4WDing and they quickly became gummed up with mud. The Scorpio does have an underslung full-size steel wheel spare.

The Mahindra Scorpio Z8L has a listed payload of 510kg, and can legally tow 750kg (unbraked), and 2500kg (braked). Gross vehicle mass (GVM) is a listed 2610kg; gross combined mass (GCM) is 5155kg.

I experienced a bit of an issue on a drive home after a few hours of tough 4WDing: 4H kept trying to engage during a 100km stretch of highway.

A dot kept flashing above 4H near the shifter, and terrain modes (other than Normal) kept flashing on the centre console and driver info display and I was being prompted to drop below 80km/h to shift into 4H.

Of course, I’d earlier switched from 4H to 2WD at the end of our filming day (at the 4WD location) and made sure I'd engaged Normal mode before I left the dirt and drove onto a sealed surface.

When the 4H-related issues kept happening on the highway I was able to fix the problem by stopping, switching the Scorpio off and back on again – but I had to do this every 5.0km or so four times before it finally sorted itself out.

To Mahindra’s credit, technical staff members are looking into the issue.

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 Mahindra Scorpio Z8L has a seven-year/150,000km warranty.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km. 

Pricing details were not available at time of writing.

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.