Following GreatWall and Xin Kai, another Chinese brand has appeared on the Ukrainian market — Chery. Almost all models of this brand somehow resemble well-known world examples, and the Tiggo crossover was no exception: its creators clearly focused on the Toyota RAV4.
2005 Chery Tiggo
© Photo: Sergey Krestov, 5 Koleso
On the outside, the Tiggo has plenty of borrowings from the RAV4. The difference is only in the shape of the bumpers, optics, and some body panels. Under the hood is a two-liter engine with 125 horsepower, produced by Mitsubishi. A hint of its origin is the emblem with a crystal on the valve cover.
The interior also echoes the Japanese donor, although it has its own touches. The quality of plastics is at the "tolerable" level, but the assembly in terms of neatness approaches Korean cars. The ergonomics pleased. The blue backlighting of the instrument scales and buttons looks bright, but without excess. It is pleasant that there is no chemical smell in the cabin, which many "Chinese" cars are guilty of.
The main drawback of the cabin is the front seats with overly protruding lumbar support. After just an hour behind the wheel, your back starts to ache, and you want to get out and stretch.
In the second row, three men of average build can sit comfortably, but they are unlikely to relax. In addition, getting in and out is difficult due to the narrow door opening. But there is plenty of headroom.
A separate story is opening the hood. You can't do without an assistant here: one pulls the handle in the cabin, while the other presses the lever near the engine compartment cover. True, perhaps this is a feature of our particular example.
On asphalt, the difference between the Tiggo and the original is felt more strongly. The main thing is that the Chinese "SUV" is actually not an SUV at all: all versions are exclusively front-wheel drive. In corners, the car noticeably rolls, and when braking, it dives with its nose. On a broken road, the suspension periodically bottoms out, and on a fine "washboard" surface, a clatter comes from under the bottom.
The 2.0-liter engine is enough across the entire rev range. Gear changes please: the lever moves clearly, with a pleasant metallic click, almost like on sequential gearboxes.
2005 Chery Tiggo
© Photo: Sergey Krestov, 5 Koleso
The steering is informative and left a pleasant impression. But there was a fly in the ointment: in one of the sharp turns, the steering wheel suddenly "jammed". The car tilted heavily, and after a short pause, it sharply jerked in the other direction. Fortunately, it turned out fine, but if such a situation repeated, the consequences could have been sad.
The result is this: the Chery Tiggo is a car that will transport its owner from point A to point B with relative comfort. Despite the external similarity to the prototype, it is unlikely that anyone will confuse the "Chinese" with the "Japanese" on the road. The main trump card is the price of $19,999. For this money, the buyer gets power steering, ABS, a stability control system, power accessories, alloy wheels, and air conditioning. If you add leather upholstery, the price rises to $21,390. The warranty is three years or 100,000 kilometers of mileage.
Technical characteristics of Chery Tiggo 2.0
- Body — station wagon;
- number of seats — 5;
- curb weight, kg — 1375;
- gross weight, kg — 1750;
- dimensions (length/width/height), mm — 4285/1765/1705;
- wheelbase, mm — 2510;
- trunk volume, l — 213/562;
- max speed, km/h — 170;
- fuel consumption (combined cycle), l/100 km — 8.8;
- fuel tank volume, l — 57;
- engine — 4-cylinder, 16-valve, with fuel injection; displacement, cm3 — 1997; power, hp at rpm — 125/6000; torque, Nm at rpm — 168/3000;
- transmission — manual, 5-speed;
- tire size (front/rear) — 215/70R16/235/60R16;
- brakes (front/rear) — disc, ventilated/disc;
- suspension (front/rear) — McPherson/independent, multi-link;
- steering — rack and pinion, with power steering;
- price, $ — from 19,999.