Toyota Fortuner vs Chery Tiggo 4

What's the difference?

The Toyota Fortuner is a family friendly wagon and a very capable 4WD, but it’s looking and feeling decidedly old, especially when cross-shopped against the current highly competitive 4WD wagon market in which vehicles are increasingly stylish, sophisticated and packed with driver-assist tech (that isn't clunky) and standard features (that are extensive).

The Fortuner is practical and easy to live with as a daily driver, and in GXL spec it makes a lot of sense as a functional not flashy off-road tourer, but it’s far from the best family 4WD wagon around.

Until a next-generation Fortuner possibly arrives, there are plenty of Toyota fans who’d happily settle for a current Fortuner – if they haven’t already.

If you’re just looking for an affordable hybrid which will save you money at the pump, the Tiggo 4 will do the trick, but there are so many little things which could be better here, it’s evident you’re getting what you’re paying for.

This makes the Tiggo 4 hybrid a bit of a let down, because the other Cherys I’ve driven recently have been pleasantly surprising given their price-points, not to mention the price-gap between the Tiggo 4 and many of its rivals is nowhere near as large.

The GXL is 4795mm long with a 2745mm wheelbase. It is 1855mm wide, 1835mm high and has a listed kerb weight of 2185kg. It has a 11.6m turning circle.

Not a lot has changed in terms of the Fortuner’s looks over the years and while it stubbornly retains that pleasingly non-offensive exterior of most modern SUVs, it does manage to not be totally bland.

The GXL is a body-on-frame 4WD based the HiLux, so it’s no sports car in appearance whether you gaze at it from the front, side, rear or from a bird’s eye view, but it doesn’t look like a block of rotten wood, so unless you’re looks-obsessed, then you should be okay driving this around.

The Fortuner interior is looking dated and the standard dark grey fabric cloth seats, though well-suited to coping with day-to-day messes and spills, don’t do the cabin any favours either, and – you know what? – I don’t mind any of it. Note our test vehicle on this occasion had black leather-accented seats as part of its GXL Option Pack, but I've spent time in cloth-seat Fortuners.

On the outside, I think the Tiggo 4 Hybrid is pretty generic and inoffensive. It shares its 'box-on-wheels' aesthetic with cars like the outgoing Mitsubishi ASX and Hyundai Venue, which, to be fair, have been strong sellers.

It might not be an eye catcher, then, but there’s something to be said for not trying anything controversial, and this is pretty consistent across Chery’s range. In fact, compared to some brands in the market, Chery is doing a solid job of design consistency for its mainline SUVs.

Highlights on the outside include the enormous grille and contemporary LED light strip across the rear.

On the inside things also look pretty swish for this compact SUV category. The seats immediately jump out as a highlight, big and lavishly trimmed in comparatively soft synthetic stuff. The glitzy steering wheel and dual-screen layout continues from other Chery products and the dash design is tidy, if a little generic.

The Fortuner’s cabin has a comfortably familiar feel to it and, thankfully, this interior is all about function not fashion.

It’s a practical space, with standard cloth seats (as mentioned our test vehicle has the Option Pack leather-accented seats, but I’ve spent enough drive time in Fortuners with cloth seats to know how those cope with the mess and dirt of everyday life), carpet floors with rubber mats, and durable plastic surfaces everywhere.

Up front, there’s an 8.0-inch multimedia screen (too small, not clear and bright enough) and that system has USB-connected Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (no wireless anything), and a 4.2-inch colour driver’s display, which is too small, too basic and part of an outdated mix of analogue and not-new-enough digital instrumentation.

There are the usual storage spaces – including a glovebox, a centre console, a tray for your smartphone, pop-out cup-holders on the outboard edges of the dash – and a USB port and a 12V socket for charging purposes.

The Fortuner’s three rows are in a 2-3-2 seat configuration. The 60/40 split-fold second-row seat has a one-touch, tumble feature. The 50/50 third-row seats are able to be stowed away, sort of. When folded to each side they protrude into the load space, reducing the size of what would otherwise be a more useable cargo area.

It’s reasonably comfortable in the second row; I sat behind my driving position and I had adequate head and knee room.

The second row has cup holders in the fold-down armrest, ceiling-mounted controls for the aircon, and two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchor points.

All three rows get aircon – with ceiling-mounted vents – and there are a few storage spaces in the third row, but no cup-holders. 

In terms of comfort, it’s ordinary back here; the seats are flat and unsupportive – and, for anyone other than children, the space is tight. 

Boot space is listed as 200 litres with the third-row seats in use, and in that area there are cargo hooks and a 12V socket.

Stow away the third-row and cargo space increases to 716 litres. But the seats still jut into the cargo area, greatly reducing your actual useable load space, and they also obscure a lot of driver vision to the rear.

With the second and third rows out of the way you have a listed 1080L of cargo area.

I can see this car having a lot of wow factor on a dealer forecourt but up close things are less good. The software on the screens is pretty ordinary; hardly the sharpest, fastest or most logically laid-out. There’s a selection of clumsy-looking themes, and while the multimedia portion has a logical smartphone-style main menu, beneath lies an array of confusing and inconsistently-labelled sub-menus.

The digital dash could be smoother and better looking and it’s a bit confusing to use with the poorly labelled buttons on the steering wheel.

The centre console area is finished in a gloss finish, which is easy to scratch or smear with fingerprints. Up front underneath the main screen is an entirely separate dot-matrix style climate control panel with actual physical buttons. It looks a bit clunky compared to some other solutions on the market, but at least it’s clearly labelled and straightforward to use.

Somewhat infuriatingly, though, interacting with this climate panel brings up a menu on the touchscreen which you don’t need and it takes several seconds to go away. Why?

The cabin is reasonably practical from there, though. There are decent bottle holders in each front door and a further two atop the console. There’s a pass-through beneath, good for handbags and the like. There are some strange additions, like an upright holster with rubberised sides which seems to be for a phone, and behind the shifter there’s a key fob-sized cut-out, but it’s gloss finished, so it will scratch if you actually use it.

The wireless phone charger is tucked away underneath, which makes your phone hard to get at in a pinch, and easy to forget when you exit.

Ergonomically, this car is a bit strange. The seat base is very high, so for me (at 182cm tall) even with the driver’s seat set to its lowest position, my head feels close to the roof. Plus, I’m peering down on the instruments, rather than have them at a comfortable height.

However, there are soft-touch surfaces adorning the doors, which can’t be said for every car in this segment and the rear seat hasn’t been forgotten, either.

I fit pretty comfortably behind my own driving position in terms of knee and headroom and the plush seat trim continues.

There’s a nearly flat floor, so while it’s a reasonably narrow vehicle, at least someone in the centre position will have somewhere to put their feet.

On the amenity front for rear passengers, there’s a small bottle holder in each door, pockets on the backs of the front seats, a weird storage tray and USB port on the back of the centre console and a drop-down armrest with two shallow cupholders. There’s just a single adjustable air vent for rear passengers, so they’ll have to fight over who gets the airflow.

The boot surprised me. It looks tiny, but the brand claims it weighs in at 470 litres. On top of this, the floor is a strange shape because the 12-volt battery is under the floor and doesn’t quite fit level.

However, when I went to load the full three-piece CarsGuide test luggage set, I was surprised to find it fit snugly, with the tailgate able to shut without a problem. I was also impressed to find a space-saver spare wheel and not just a repair kit under the floor.

The Tiggo 4 Hybrid we’ve been driving for this review is the top-spec Ultimate, which wears a price-tag of $34,990, drive-away.

The surprising thing about this is how close it is to rivals. Yes, the Tiggo 4 Hybrid is still more affordable than most of its contemporaries, but it’s not by the same massive margin as its larger models like the Tiggo 7 PHEV ($39,990), which undercut the outgoing Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV by almost $20,000.

Instead, the Tiggo 4 Hybrid only just slips under a Toyota Yaris Cross GX hybrid ($34,790) although the margin increases considering Chery’s offer is drive-away. It also continues to look impressive compared to popular hybrid alternatives from more traditional automakers, like the exxy Honda HR-V (from $39,900) and the sightly larger Hyundai Kona (from $36,950).

The Tiggo 4’s value proposition is also complicated by how much competition there is in this small SUV space. A Haval Jolion hybrid, for example, can be had at $32,990, drive-away and is a slightly larger vehicle with a similar warranty offering, while MG’s ZS Hybrid+ can be had from $33,990, also drive-away, giving you plenty of things to think twice about.

Still, compared to those base prices for rivals, Chery is offering a top-spec and the Tiggo 4 Hybrid is pretty well equipped in this Ultimate form.

On the outside there are some expected things like 17-inch alloys and LED lighting, while on the inside the Tiggo 4 punches above its weight with things like dual 10.25-inch scregens for the multimedia and digital dash, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, synthetic leather seat trim with power adjust for the driver and heatin in the front two positions, dual-zone climate, a sunroof, ambient interior lighting, a wireless phone charger and a six-speaker stereo system.

There’s also a pretty good 360-degree view parking camera, walk away locking and auto-folding wing mirrors.

At this price, and in this segment, you generally have to spend a lot more to get this level of kit.

Every Fortuner in the line-up has a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 150kW and 500Nm – and that’s matched to a six-speed automatic transmission.

In terms of performance, the Fortuner is not going to set any hearts a-flutter: it’s sluggish off the mark, it takes a heavy right boot to make it feel like anything other than lacklustre on the move, and the six-speed auto downshifts quite harshly at times, especially when going up or down long, gradual inclines on the highway.

However, the 4WD set-up is effective, with adequate low-range gearing, a quietly efficient (but a tad clunky) off-road traction control system, and a rear diff lock.

The Tiggo 4 hybrid variants pair a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a relatively large electric motor housed in a transaxle-style unit driving the front wheels. In effect, it's continuously variable without being a much-derided CVT auto.

Weirdly, Chery doesn’t state combined power figures, just separate ones for each power source, with the engine producing 72kW/120Nm and the electric motor producing 150kW/310Nm.

You’ll note the electric motor is much more powerful than the engine, which has an effect on the way this car drives.

The Fortuner has official fuel consumption of 7.6L/100km.

On this test I recorded 9.6L/100km.

Going by my on-test fuel figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 833km from this Fortuner’s full 80-litre tank.

The whole point of this plugless hybrid set-up is fuel efficiency and on paper it’s not as good as some rivals.

The official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) economy number is 5.4L/100km, but we easily beat that claim on test with a figure of 4.5L/100km. Worth noting that average came primarily from urban and expressway driving. It seems the hybrid transmission might require significantly more combustion input in freeway scenarios, hence the higher official claim.

A 51-litre fuel tank translates to a 944km range using the official economy figure and around 1100km based on our on-test average.

On-road, the Fortuner offers up a pretty standard driving experience for a ute-based wagon. It’s on the HiLux ladder-frame chassis, and it has a firm ride, bordering on harsh. Having said that, you do get used to it soon enough and the Fortuner's coil-spring suspension set-up takes most of the sting out of surface irregularities, except for the more severe dips and bumps.

The Fortuner’s driving position offers plenty of visibility – although the A-pillars are bulky and the third-row seats block vision to the rear when they’re folded up to the sides of the cabin.

This 4WD wagon is generally quiet, although there’s noticeable wind-rush noise around the wing mirrors and engine noise builds to a diesel shriek when you use a heavy right boot as is regularly required.

Steering – reach- and rake-adjustable – is adequately light and sharp, and the Fortuner, with its 11.6m turning circle, is reasonably nimble in suburban areas.

Acceleration, from a standing-start or for overtaking, is laggy but available power and torque come in handy during general driving, making the Fortuner more agreeable all-round than previous versions.

The six-speed auto is generally right for the job, but it downshifts harshly, especially when going up or down long, gradually sloping highway stretches. That happens enough for it to be on the wrong side of annoying.

Some aspects of the Fortuner’s driver-assist tech is annoying: active cruise control is too abrupt and pre-emptive, consistently miscalculating the space between the Fortuner and the vehicle in front as accurately as most of its rivals. This clunky application of tech to real-world scenarios works against the Fortuner. 

While driving a lightly corrugated and rutted dirt track o the way to our set-piece off-road tests, the Fortuner’s ladder-frame chassis yielded a stiff, firm ride, bashing and bouncing over any and all surface imperfections. Airing down the Yokohama Geolandar ATs (265/65R17) from 38 psi (pounds per square inch) to 26 psi takes some sting out of the ride.

The Fortuner is a very capable 4WD with standard off-road measurements, including ground clearance (216mm), approach angle (29 degrees), departure angle (25 degrees) and rampover angle (23.5 degrees). It has a listed wading depth of 700mm.

The Fortuner’s switchable part-time 4WD system has two-wheel drive (H2), and high- (H4) and low-range (L4) four-wheel drive. There’s ample low-end torque on offer – on tap across a broad rev range – for controlled low-speed 4WDing and the unfussed turbo-diesel engine keeps the Fortuner ticking along, without any hassle. 

Engine braking is good, keeping the Fortuner to a sustained and composed momentum on downhill runs.

The off-road traction control system is an effective set-up, limiting wheel-spin and sending much-needed torque to the tyres with some useable traction, with the aim to keep the vehicle moving along at a safe, controlled pace.

Besides that, the driver always has the option of engaging the rear diff lock for more traction action.

Wheel travel is decent for a wagon like this and if you can get the full suspension flex, and drop any mid-air tyres to the dirt for more traction, chances are you’ll be able to get moving along safely soon enough.

So, the mechanicals are fine – its 4WD set-up is very effective – but the Fortuner doesn’t have a whole lot of ground clearance (a claimed 216mm, standard for a contemporary 4WD wagon) and the side steps are prone to hitting on the edges of steep and deep ruts, but those factors are easily overcome through considered driving and tyres that are better suited to off-roading. 

The standard Yokohama Geolandar AT tyres are somewhat of a flaw in the Fortuner’s off-roading set-up. Sure, they’re technically all-terrains, but I reckon a better bet for you – if you’re planning to drive anything beyond formed trails – is to invest in a set of more aggressive all-terrains with greater sidewall bite. 

If you’re planning to use your Fortuner to tow anything, keep in mind that it has a 750kg unbraked towing capacity and 3100kg braked towing capacity. Remember: to be on the safe side, avoid going loading up to anywhere near those capacity figures.

Payload is 615kg (easily reached when you factor in people, pets, camping gear and more), gross vehicle is (GVM) is 2800kg, and gross combined mass (GCM) is 5900kg.

The Tiggo 4 is a strange one. This hybrid one in particular has me in two minds.

My initial impression was not a good one. The high seating position makes you feel as though you’re sitting on the car rather than in it, and the overly electrically-assisted steering removes you from feeling what’s going on at the front wheels.

Even the pedal feel is wooden, with the car having to modulate the electric and combustion drive components and blended regenerative braking at arms length, leaving the driver with little in the way of feedback.

The ride isn’t one of the worst I’ve had in recent years, with an overall soft enough edge to it, but it also doesn’t feel very sophisticated, and harsher over the rear than it is in the front, giving it an unbalanced character. On top of this, our test car had a couple of intermittent rattling noises in the B-pillar (around where the belt retainer is) as well as somewhere in the rear.

Acceleration is pretty impressive at speeds under 80km/h, however, with plenty of power instantly available from the electric motor, although this has the side-effect of being able to easily overwhelm the Sailun tyres this top-spec Tiggo 4 ships on.

One thing I quite like about the Tiggo 4, however, is how smooth it is. The seemingly primarily electric drive is excellent, particularly at lower speeds where this car is at its best, surging forward largely in silence with no annoyances from a fiddly transmission.

Even the way it blends the combustion power in is seamless, even compared to a Toyota, for example, with the engine distantly buzzing away only when required.

It's impressive that unlike the MG3 and MG ZS which have similarly powerful electric motors but run out of juice and lose a bit of punch when the hybrid battery is low, the Tiggo 4 does a better job of managing its battery reserve level, making sure the strong electric power is always available. This might mean the engine idles higher and longer, but with decent sound deadening, it’s not something you notice much.

Overall the Tiggo 4 is okay to drive. The hybrid components impressed me enough, but these are tarnished by sub-par driver feedback and inputs, handling, tyres and some ergonomic issues.

The Tiggo 4 has a lot of safety kit for this segment and for such an affordable price, so much so that combustion versions have a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating (although this hybrid variant didn’t exist when it was tested).

Active equipment includes all the key stuff like auto emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise and auto high beams.

The 360-degree parking camera is a nice touch and there are seven airbags (dual front, side, curtain and centre).

Is the active stuff annoying? Yes, but you can most of it off and the car remembers your choice next time you start it, so you can turn the most egregious offenders, like lane departure warning, and speed limit assist off. 

Even when they’re on they are okay, but I found the driver monitoring to be the most annoying of the usual crop, pinging at you constantly, sometimes for reasons beyond my comprehension.

The one you can’t seem to permanently turn off is driver attention alert, which is annoying because it is this car’s most egregious offender, chiming at me for even daring to peer down at the digital dash to see how fast I’m going.

A five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty covers the Fortuner, which is par for the course these days.

If you stick to the relatively short servicing schedule – six months or 10,000km with at authorised dealerships – Toyota says it will cover the engine and driveline for up to seven years. All warranty elements are subject to terms and conditions, so make sure you’re fully aware of those.

Capped-price servicing applies and, for our test vehicle, it was $290 per appointment for the first five, then $377.38, $813.93, $572.55, $478.93 and $377.38.

The Tiggo 4 Hybrid is offered with a seven-year/unlimited km warranty, seven years of roadside assist and seven years of capped price servicing with an eight year and unlimited kilometre warranty for the high-voltage battery.

The servicing is required once a year or 15,000km, with each service costing $299 for the first five years. It jumps from there, with a particularly expensive service at $736.62, dragging the yearly average for the warranty period up to $360 a year.

It’s a little pricier than Toyota, for example, but very reasonably priced compared to most.