Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

When the Tiggo 8 Pro Max version entered the market, it brought with it both a new design and all-wheel drive. When Tiggo 7 Pro Max appeared next, it brought a design, but… without all-wheel drive. Now all-wheel drive finally appeared with him, but they did not touch the design. In general, it’s time to understand the intricacies of logic and understand what the AWD prefix gave to the “seven”.

Those who say that China is a separate ancient civilization are right and that it is devilishly difficult, and sometimes simply impossible, for Europeans to understand the logic of the Chinese. But sometimes this logic is still visible. For example, for many years the Russian representative office of Chery tried to convince the headquarters that four-wheel drive versions of crossovers are absolutely necessary for success in the Russian market. But they only nodded and smiled in response, saying that we would think, study all the pros and cons … And this lack of enthusiasm had quite clear explanations: in China, four-wheel drive is not too in demand, and in order to do something specifically for the Russian market, sales volumes were clearly insufficient.

But then tectonic changes occurred in the Russian automotive market, Chery sales instantly increased almost 4 times, from 11 to 37-38 thousand, which means it’s time to listen to what the representative office says. As a result, an all–wheel drive version of the Tiggo 8 appeared first, and in the form of a separate Pro Max model, and in six months of sales it almost caught up with the popularity of the leader of 2021 – the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro model. In general, in the Chinese city of Wuhu, where the headquarters of Chery is located, they finally realized that it was their turn to equip the Tiggo 7 with all-wheel drive. But here everything was done according to a slightly more complex scheme…

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

When at the very end of 2022, so to speak, the launch of the Tiggo 7 Pro Max model was announced, almost everyone was sure that it would initially receive all-wheel drive. But no! The Max version just got an updated design, to which front parking sensors and good fog lights were added. Even more changes were made to the interior and finishing materials. But the power unit, consisting of a 1.5-liter engine and a variator, remained the same, as did the transmission with front-wheel drive. We talked about all this in sufficient detail and at the same time made a forecast that an all-wheel drive version of this car would inevitably appear, and an all-wheel drive crossover of the premium division of the concern, Exeed LX AWD, would be used as a “donor of aggregates”. And we had to wait only six months: already in mid-July, the company announced the start of sales of the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD, and it was with the predicted combination of engine, transmission and all-wheel drive system!

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But neither the exterior nor the interior have undergone any major changes this time, except that the “diamond” gradient pattern of the radiator lining has become somewhat different, the white chrome of its edging has changed to black, and the nameplates “290T” and “AWD” have been added to the “Tiggo 7 Pro Max” nameplate on the trunk door.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Inside, at first glance, nothing has changed either – but this is only at first glance. In fact, there are quite a lot of changes, from the appearance of a 360-degree circular viewing system (with the ability to display images from any of the cameras on the full screen) to wireless charging for smartphones and an electrochromic rear-view mirror. But the appearance of two rotor controllers and physical buttons on the climate control touch panel is much more serious – it has become much more convenient to control it.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Another “washer” on the center console is responsible for choosing the driving mode. This front-wheel drive versions lacked one button, since there were only three modes, Eco, Normal and Sport. “It won’t be enough!”, the Chinese engineers rightly decided and supplemented the list of modes with the options Snow (“Snow”), Mud (“Mud”) and the mysterious Off Road (“Off–Road”). Mysterious, because “Dirt” is also off–road, isn’t it? However, this is how the names of these modes are displayed on the virtual dashboard, but on the screen of the head unit they are called somewhat differently. For example, Mud translates as “Ground”, and Off Road – as “4×4”. In general, it can be assumed that in Off Road mode, the coupling is forcibly closed and the rear axle is connected, but in Mud mode, the bridge is connected, so to speak, “on demand” when the sensors detect a slip.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But the main thing, of course, is the change of the power unit. Instead of the 1.5-liter SQRE4T15C turbo engine with a capacity of 147 hp (which it produces only after spinning up to 5500 rpm) and a peak torque of 210 Nm, there is now a 1.6–liter SQRF4J16 inline turbocharger under the hood. The difference in power with a 1.5-liter engine seems to be small, only 3 hp, but the engine has a much higher torque, 275 Nm, which it (and this is even more important!) outputs in a wide range from 2000 to 3800 rpm. Instead of a continuously variable transmission, there is a seven–speed robot with a double wet clutch Getrag 7 DCT 300, and the all-wheel drive system was developed by Chery together with the German concern ZF. The main working body of the system is an electronically controlled viscomuff. The system has a response time of connecting the rear axle within 0.1 seconds, and the redistribution of torque up to 50% in favor of the rear wheels occurs with an accuracy of ± 10%.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Well, now let’s see how the new configuration (yes, if the all-wheel drive Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max is a separate model, then the 7 Pro Max AWD is just a complete set) behaves in real life. I will say right away: I will not write anything about the ergonomics of the driver’s seat, because it is … normal. It doesn’t cause much excitement, but I didn’t find any really serious flaws either. I adjusted the seat and steering wheel for myself literally at the moment, and the only thing I didn’t really like was that, having set the seat height convenient for me, when landing, I cling to the top of the doorway with my head. But we are not proud people, we can also sit down according to the “head in the pocket” system. But the fact that the inner panels are made soft, including all the surfaces that you can touch with your knees while driving – that’s what I liked. But after all, the interface for controlling numerous functions of the car is also ergonomics, and there is something to talk about.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

First of all, I want to note that Chery engineers still do not succumb to the general craze of transferring all control functions to the touch screen, but try to maintain a kind of rational balance between virtual and physical controls. Moreover, they listen carefully to critical comments. For example, I have repeatedly noted that even in the more expensive models of the concern there is a certain problem of switching between working with a large-screen application from the phone and embedded applications. There are no such difficulties in Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD. On the center console, directly above the climate control panel, there is a row of keys. The leftmost one with the house icon instantly calls up the main menu of the head unit, but the neighboring key with the icon in the form of two rectangles with rounded edges returns you to the application that was used through the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay packages. In general, if you are navigating from your phone and you need to change something in the car settings, then you can do it and return to navigation much faster and easier than in the case of the same Tiggo 8 Pro Max or Exeed RX.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Speaking of navigation. Firstly, the head unit has its own offline navigation. Nowadays, this is becoming less and less common. And the graphics of this package are from the decade before last, and the interface is not the best, and it does not know how to route around traffic jams. But I will instantly throw you at least a dozen life force majeure situations in which the presence of such a built-in program will be extremely useful. And this card can be displayed not only on the right, but also on the left display, and regardless of which mode the right one will work in! Naturally, the readings of the speedometer and tachometer on the instrument panel will be superimposed on the map and read a little worse, but you can also remove the map with one movement of the thumb of your left hand: you just need to move down the rocking chair with the inscription “OK” in the center of the block on the left spoke of the steering wheel. And you will need to look at the map – so it is called just as quickly, with one upward movement of the same rocking chair…

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

In general, I have only one question about the work of integration systems. For some reason, she categorically refused to launch “Yandex Navigator” and “Yandex Maps” on the big screen, displaying such a message: “Set up access to the location in the phone. But for safety, park first.” At the same time, any other navigation applications work without the slightest problems, even offline Maps.Me , OsmAnd + or 2GIS, though online Google Maps and Israeli Waze. And this is despite the fact that I have paid for the Yandex Plus package… In general, I had to mostly use Google Maps, although I don’t really like the interface of this application.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But, strictly speaking, the main question in this case can be formulated as follows: how did the four-wheel drive and replacement of the power unit affect the behavior of the car? If we talk about the city, and indeed about traffic on asphalt, then there is practically nothing. Except that different transmission settings affect: Tiggo 7 Pro Max with a CVT quite famously moved off, but then, closer to 60 km/ h, it turned sour somewhat. The all-wheel drive version with a robot and a more torque motor behaves a little differently: it is quite difficult to make it “jump from the spot”, and the car leaves the traffic light quite impressively. But by the age of sixty, the car “rolls out”, and here you need an eye and an eye, because when you hold the pedal in an even middle position, you can suddenly find that the speedometer is already 85, and this, as you know, is fraught with a fine.

Both active cruise control and the lane-keeping system worked perfectly on the track. In general, the “seven” has more than an impressive set of electronic assistants: the ADAS secure management package includes 12 electronic systems. Add an electronic parking brake with an AutoHold system and a system that turns off the engine during stops (I turned it off right away, I can’t stand it) – and it turns out very solidly.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But there is one point … electronics is good and convenient when it works correctly. But a lot of electronics automatically means a huge number of settings, which are not easy to deal with at all. For example, I could not find how to get rid of the inclusion of an accident with quite adequate and not at all emergency braking. And any electronics can “fail”, and the more of this electronics, the higher the probability of this event. So this cup did not pass me: at some point after stopping for photography, the car refused to be removed from the parking brake, and the messages “The AutoHold system is faulty” and “AAC malfunction” appeared on the dashboard. With a sin in half, having turned off the engine a couple of times, I still managed to move off. I was very afraid that the brakes would jam in the clamped position, and then I would definitely have to call a tow truck, but everything worked out: after a few jerks, the car went freely, and after arriving at the car wash, the car completely “self-repaired”, and error messages disappeared.

But the suspension did not present any surprises: it handled a gentle wave very comfortably, swallowed small irregularities qualitatively and practically did not react to the longitudinal track. I didn’t feel any special problems in fast turns either, with one caveat – the steering wheel is still a bit empty, and it doesn’t have any active maneuvering. But after all, no one will demand from a quiet family car the road manners of a sports car? Indeed, the “family values” of the car are in full order. Among them is a roomy enough second row, and a practical trunk with convenient folding hooks for packages, and much more.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But on “speed bumps” you need to be more careful, and it’s worth crawling over them literally stealthily – the energy intensity of the suspension is not one of the advantages of the Tiggo 7 Pro Max, even with full, even with front-wheel drive. This was confirmed by the passage through the “test section”, where the normal asphalt is replaced by a broken one, and then the road is replaced by a grader with deep pits. Here the speed has to be reduced, because breakdowns begin already at fifty…

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

But, having left on the rolled-up primer stretching along the forest, you can break away from the soul: you turn on the “Ground” mode (aka “Dirt”) and calmly fly at a speed of 60-70 km / h, leaving a cloud of dust astern. Of course, you need to look carefully at the road, because there may still be pits on any primer, but the turns in which the front-wheel drive car usually starts to drag, Pro Max AWD passes like a thread. Well, it should be borne in mind that turning on this mode reduces the sensitivity of the gas pedal, and this may interfere in case of an attempt to “give an angle” and take a turn in rally style.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

And finally, the real, albeit not the most extreme off-road. And here Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD pleasantly surprised me… Despite not the largest ground clearance (190 mm is not so much by off–road standards) and far from heroic geometric patency (entrance angle – 20 °, exit angle – 21 °), the car still coped with the forest path, on which quite serious mud pits were periodically encountered. And the attempt to storm them “head-on” clearly threatened the opportunity to sit on the belly or tear off the bumper, and the choice of some lateral trajectories drove the car to diagonal hanging. Naturally, on such a track, I turned on the “4×4” mode (aka Off Road), switched the box to manual mode and drove in first gear. And, you know, everything worked out! To be honest, a couple of times I was already starting to wonder if I got involved in this adventure for nothing, but the car did not let me down. In general, Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD will definitely cope with the problem of the “last kilometer before the dacha”, and you can go fishing or picnic outside the city on it quite boldly. It’s just a pity that it will be possible to check the behavior of the car on really slippery surfaces and the operation of the “Snow” mode only in winter.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

Summing up, we can say that the internal line of the Tiggo 7 family has acquired a certain completeness. There is a simpler version of the Tiggo 7 Pro with two trim levels at a price of 2.82 and 2.95 million rubles, respectively, and there is a more sophisticated Tiggo 7 Pro Max with two versions, front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. The front-wheel drive is offered in three trim levels at a price from 2.87 to 3.15 million, and the all-wheel drive with two trim levels is estimated at 3.3 and 3.5 million rubles, respectively. In principle, the price of any option can be reduced by 95-325 thousand rubles (however, for this you need to hand over an old car to a trade-in and get into credit bondage). Well, for those who are not fundamentally ready to do without all-wheel drive, they will need to decide for themselves whether they are ready to limit themselves to the relatively modest family image of Chery Tiggo or still give up and go to the Exeed salon shouting “Walk like that!” and choose almost the same in size and capabilities, but significantly more dear Exeed LX AWD for 3.6-3.8 million rubles.

Chery,Tiggo, Check on Forest Roads: Test Drive of Four-wheel Drive Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max Awd

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