If Chery Tiggo 9 turned out to be simply enlarged models with indexes 7 and 8, then it would be easy to understand its place among other large crossovers of the Chery group. If you need space and seven seats, we are looking at the Tiggo 9. For a cheaper option, we are looking at the Tiggo 8 Pro Max. We need something more refined – we are studying the Exeed VX, and if the third row of seats is not needed, we are looking towards the RX or Jaecoo J8… But in reality, this choice will not be easy. Because Tiggo 9 offers not only size, but also a new level of performance.
— What are you going to test?
— Chery Tiggo 9. Just not the Chinese one: there it is, in fact, our Jaecoo J8, which was actually originally called Jaecoo 9. And our Chery Tiggo 9 is the Chinese Chery Tiggo 8L, although technically it is still much closer to Jaecoo J8 than to our Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max. But since Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max will continue to be sold in Russia, Chery Tiggo 8L for our market has been renamed Chery Tiggo 9. Hey, are you listening to me? Hey!..
Chery
This is a completely real conversation that I had with a friend on the eve of the presentation. In response, he loudly crunched his brain, trying to comprehend what he had heard, took three slow sips of beer – and vowed never to ask about work again. And rightly so: for a normal person to understand these ups and downs is not only useless, but even harmful. The largest and most expensive Chery model with the highest index? That’s great, everything is clear, no need to fill your head with all sorts of nonsense.
It’s funny that even the Chinese themselves don’t bother anymore: the beautiful 3D model of the car on the central screen is completely devoid of any logos! Just another general corporate product, and marketers will figure out where and with what sauce to serve it. But still, let’s take a closer look at what this “New Crossover (1)” is.
The power structure of the body here is exactly the same as that of the Jaecoo J8, and this relationship can be read at first glance. But all the external panels of the Tiggo 9 are original: the sharp lines are smoothed, the corners are rounded – and the Hannibal Lecter mask that Jaecoo wears as a radiator grill has given way to a neutral “crystalline” pattern. Personally, this image is clearer to me, and it should raise a minimum of questions among family clients.
And yes, the main emphasis is on them – if only because Chery only comes with seven seats, and for Jaecoo such a version cannot be ordered even for an additional fee. Moreover, we are not just talking about the presence or absence of an additional pair of seats in the trunk: even if you wanted to, the second row in the Tiggo 9 cannot be pushed back as far as in the J8, so the amount of space here is simply sufficient, nothing more. But the top-end Ultra version has not only heating, but also ventilation – unfortunately, no massage.
The gallery also does not indulge in space, although on the whole it copes with its task: if there are five medium-sized and accommodating adults in the two back rows, after a series of mutual concessions they will be able to take an acceptable position. I would easily sacrifice only the electric drives of the middle row – in the equipment table they look solid, but in reality they work too slowly. It will be more convenient and faster to use your hands, and with the money saved you can organize, for example, a separate climate zone for rear passengers. Alas, there is no such configuration in the Tiggo 9 arsenal.
But leave the front passenger seat with an ottoman and a folding function in the “zero gravity” position – a cool thing for both the navigator and the wife. Like the driver, there is heating-ventilation-massage, and the rollers knead the back quite diligently, not for show.
And in the front part of the cabin, Chery is already difficult to distinguish from Jaecoo: the same (or almost the same) pleasant tactile sensations, similar fit and ergonomics – even if you close your eyes, the smell of materials and the balanced sound of Sony acoustics will be familiar. Although formally the architecture is different: if the J8 imitates Mercedes with dual displays under a common glass and GLS-style air vents, then the Tiggo 9 simply looks the same as an undecillion other modern crossovers. Not even necessarily Chinese. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
I like the relative position of the seat, pedals and steering wheel – you don’t have to push anything or reach anywhere. I like the high central tunnel with wireless charging for the phone, the drive mode selector and the emergency warning button right at hand, and also that the massage is activated in one movement using a physical button on the side of the pillow. The fashion for the Mercedes steering wheel-mounted transmission selector is also okay – in real life it is very convenient.
But the seat adjustment remotes located on the door cards are an unsuccessful borrowing simply because it is not intuitive. It was also not necessary to spy on Tesla’s mirror adjustment using the buttons on the steering wheel, nor was it necessary to send heating and ventilation to the multimedia system. It’s good that they, along with temperature and fan speed controls, are always displayed on a panel at the bottom of the screen – but it’s bad that they’re on such a small scale. Especially when the 15.6-inch diagonal is mostly occupied by beautiful animated wallpapers rather than useful functionality.
The system itself is almost free of machine translation gems, but the logic is still lame: items that should be in one section are sometimes scattered across different tabs – and therefore routine operations turn into mini-games. But many thanks to the programmers for the fact that the results of their passage are finally saved!
I remember how I went crazy in the spring, turning off the annoying Exeed VX assistants every time, but once I set it up here, that’s it, you don’t remember anymore. Although, to be fair, the assistants themselves have learned to work more intelligently: for example, monitoring driver fatigue now only beeps delicately, and does not announce the sacramental phrase “Where are you looking? Don’t look around while driving.” Progress!
It’s great that the instrument panel still has a classic mode with normal round dials, and the head-up display is drawn nicely: navigation tips are even displayed here in augmented reality format – again, like on Mercedes. And by the way, standard navigation from Yandex, music and video from VK are already built into the multimedia system – that is, you don’t even need to use the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. The only thing I would add is a function for dividing the central screen into zones – for example, so that navigation and music are displayed there simultaneously. Fortunately, the size allows.
In general, with good basic inclinations, there are still a lot of minor complaints about the interior of the Chery Tiggo 9 – mainly due to savings on physical buttons. Yes, the owner will get used to most of these points over time, but I am convinced that good ergonomics is when you sit down and use it, and not get used to it and adapt. I managed to do this with the ride, in the end!
The Tiggo 9 shares the T2X platform with the Jaecoo J8, but is not equipped with adaptive dampers – which, as it turns out, it doesn’t need. Because passive struts and springs work almost flawlessly: the chassis diligently filters out minor defects, keeps the body from swaying and is absolutely not lost on primers, allowing you to literally drive wherever your eyes take you – and this is on 20-inch wheels! Posing for the camera, I even missed the transverse track and flew into it at full speed – here the struts, of course, closed, but still there was no feeling that the suspension had fallen apart into molecules, and the body was wrapped in a knot. Surely hydraulic silent blocks of levers instead of simple rubber bands make their contribution, but still there is a comprehensive high-quality tuning.
Returning to Moscow, I immediately calibrated the observations with a fresh Tiggo 7 Pro Max from a car sharing service – and yes, it didn’t seem like it: there was flabbiness, swinging, bumps, and in general a level familiar to the mass “Chinese”. And here – a good, high step higher. There are no special questions even about the steering wheel in the “nine”: if the “seven” requires constant steering and upsets with that same notorious “synthetics”, then the older model simply drives along the Altai turns where you ask – without a drop of excitement, but with complete mutual understanding. A quiet family crossover doesn’t need more.
And in any case, all racing ambitions will be dashed by the settings of the power unit. This is a two-liter turbo engine with 245 hp. and an eight-speed automatic transmission of Chery’s own production – more precisely, the basic Aisin architecture with a Chinese “hitch” and software. Such a box is already installed on the Exeed RX platform, but it has not yet reached the Jaecoo J8, although initially there were talks about it. The good thing is that this tandem works smoothly, without jerking and almost imperceptibly, and the power reserve is quite enough for suburban overtaking.
What’s offensive is that even in Sport mode, reactions are so damped that you simply don’t want to be fast, and it’s better not to turn on the standard, and even more so, environmentally friendly algorithm at all. Something strange is that although it is an automatic, it allows the car to roll back uphill when starting, as if slowly closing a non-existent clutch. And under full throttle, a strange and very loud hiss is heard from the exhaust side, which at first can be mistaken for the sound of slipping on wet asphalt. But no, this is exactly the exhaust.
Although on slippery surfaces the Tiggo 9 may well slip: in 4×4 mode, enough traction is sent to the rear axle so that the crossover can even be pulled a little in a power slide. Moreover, the all-wheel drive transmission here is the most ordinary, without individual clutches on the rear wheels. Is simpler better?
If you compare how Tiggo 9 and Jaecoo J8 drive, it turns out that yes. I can only complain about the subjective loss in dynamics, although according to the Chery passport it’s even faster: 8 seconds to hundreds versus 8.5. But without adaptive shock absorbers and sophisticated all-wheel drive, it certainly hasn’t lost anything, and in all other respects, the crossovers are extremely close to each other. And due to the integration of Russian digital services, Tiggo will probably be more convenient in real life.
But the price list will surprise you: with a price ranging from 4,750,000 to 5,050,000 rubles, Chery turns out to be even more expensive than the formally higher-status Jaecoo! But this can be explained simply: Tiggo is a new model, it does not have warehouse stocks formed before the October increase in recycling collection. So these numbers are, one might say, a small teaser of what awaits the entire market in the very near future. /m
Car Chery Tiggo 9 Likes Pleasant chassis in all respects Dislikes Somewhat confusing ergonomics Verdict A successful family crossover, which is difficult to find fault with to a large extent Engine 1998 cm3, L4 turbo, 245 hp, 375 Nm Transmission Automatic transmission-8 Figures 8.0 s, 220 km/h Weight 1974 kg
Chery Tiggo 9 Engine type petrol, L4 turbo Displacement, cm³ 1998 Max. power, hp/rpm 245/5500 Max. torque, Nm/rpm 375/1750–4000 Drive type full Gearbox automatic, 8-speed Front spring suspension, McPherson Rear spring suspension, multi-link Dimensions (LxWxH), mm 4810x1925x1741 Wheelbase, mm 2800 Ground clearance, mm 200 Volume trunk, l 200–2150 Curb weight, kg 1974 Acceleration 0–100 km/h, s 8.0 Max. speed, km/h 220 Fuel consumption in the combined cycle, l/100 km 8.3 Fuel tank volume, l 65 Price, rub. from 4,750,000 Good giant Geely Okavango Test of the Jaecoo J8 – a flagship crossover that tries to be more than its price Updated Exeed VX. Now it’s a different matter! Jetour T2: getting to know the first all-wheel drive crossover of the Chinese brand
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