SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active list down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and search through the drop-down menu that appears.
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Posted: July 12, 2022
The numbers
Prices: Distinctive at R404 900, Executive at R444 900
Engine: 1498 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbopetrol
Power: 108 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 210 Nm between 1750 and 4000 rpm
0-100 km/h: 10.1 seconds
Top speed: 185 km/h
Car magazine fuel index: 8.2 l/100 km
Tank: 51 litres
Luggage: 475 -1500 litres
Ground clearance, loaded/unloaded: 173/190 mm
Turning circle: 10.2 metres
Fit into garage? 4500mm x 1824mm x 1746mm
Standard tyre size: 225/60R18
Spare: Full size alloy wheel
Warranty: Five years, 150 000 km with roadside assistance
Service plan: Five years, 60 000 km
Engine warranty: Ten years, 1 000 000 km. Non-transferable, for original buyers only
Neatly finished, solid, spacious, well priced by today’s norms, performs competitively versus its peers and is loaded with almost every toy one can think of; what’s not to like?
Winners: Phillipines' Women's Professional Volleyball team, the Tiggo 7 Pro Crossovers, won their Regional Championships in 2021
Tiggo 7 Pro is the third of Chery’s T1K-platform models to be released in South Africa and size-wise, slots neatly between Tiggo 4 and Tiggo 8. T1K is an adjustable platform developed in conjunction with sales and technology partners Jaguar-Land Rover and a Chery subsidiary known as Qoros.
The two local models share a 1500 cc turbocharged petrol engine and Chery’s in-house CVT25, nine-step transmission with electronic shifting. Before you throw up your hands and stop reading, this CVT was voted one of the world’s top ten transmissions for 2021. It simply does not slip, whine or get petulant; the car just accelerates in tandem with increasing engine revs. I tried hard to irritate it into making a mistake but failed. Chalk up one for Chinese technology – with a little help from Bosch, supplier of its new-generation push-belt system.
‘Entry-level’ Distinctive provides, among other kit, warmed and folding wing mirrors; automatic all-LED lighting; Renault-invented, walk-away and approach locking and unlocking; four airbags; fog lamps; synthetic leather upholstery with six-way powered adjustment for the driver; push-button starter; powered tailgate; reversing camera; touchscreen audio system with CarPlay and Android Auto; dual zone aircon and one-touch windows (voice controlled if you want); all the expected braking aids; rear traffic alert and blind spot monitoring. It even adopted Hyundai’s switch-off note to check the back seat for parcels, pets and kids.
The rear traffic alert function took me by surprise, displaying a ‘hazard lights flashing’ notice when some pushy person in a certain make of car (“Get the hell Audi my way! Schnell!”) invaded my rearward personal space. I let him get on with it. This is a family SUV, not some over-hyped scream machine with a point to prove.
Executive level adds four-way electrical seat adjusters for the front passenger, full-length skyroof, a further pair of airbags and an extended safety package with Lane Departure Warning, Front Collision Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking and a 360-degree around-view monitor. Both versions scored five-star C-NCAP ratings.
Getting practical, Tiggo 7 accelerates comfortably if not racer-sharply; handling is sure footed; windows are decently sized; interior space, including rear seat head- and legroom, is generous; the spare wheel is full-size and accessible; the boot is neat and generously proportioned; interior storage is good; there are three USBs and a 12-volt socket; HVAC and sound controls are easy to use; its seats are comfortable; build quality is solid and it simply feels good to drive.
Hyped-up, expensive cars might want to look to their laurels.
Test unit from Chery South Africa press fleet
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is thoroughly researched, given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.
If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8