Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid Review – We Lived With It for a Week
There are some cars that you drive for an hour and think, “Yeah, that’s pretty good.”
And then there are cars that you actually live with for a week.
That’s what we did with the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid.
This is a seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV from a relatively new name in the UK, and on paper it certainly looks interesting. You get seven seats, loads of equipment, a plug-in hybrid powertrain, up to 56 miles of official electric range and a starting price of £33,545.
And that last number is important.
Because when you start comparing the Tiggo 8 with some of the more established seven-seat SUVs on the market, you quickly realise just how aggressively Chery has priced this car.
But the big question isn't whether Chery can build a car that looks good on a specification sheet.
It's what it's actually like to live with.
So, after a full week with the Tiggo 8, here's what we found.
First things first – what exactly is the Tiggo 8?
The Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is a large family SUV with seven seats as standard.
Under the bonnet is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine working with Chery's Super Hybrid system and a 150kW electric motor. The battery is 18.4kWh and the official electric range is up to 56 miles.
Chery quotes 204 PS for the system, while the car is front-wheel drive.
And this isn't one of those plug-in hybrids where the electric range is basically an afterthought.
If you can charge at home and your daily journeys fit within that electric range, there is genuine potential to do a lot of your everyday driving without using the petrol engine.
That's really where the Tiggo 8 starts to make sense.
Seven seats – but are they actually usable?
This is probably one of the first questions anyone looking at a seven-seat SUV will ask.
Because saying a car has seven seats is one thing.
Actually getting seven people inside it is another.
The Tiggo 8 gives you three rows, with the second row offering plenty of room and the third row providing those two extra seats when you need them.
As with most cars in this class, the third row isn't somewhere you'd necessarily want to put three adults for a five-hour motorway journey.
But that's not really the point.
For families, having those extra seats available for the school run, friends, grandparents or the occasional extra passenger can be incredibly useful.
And that's something the Tiggo 8 does well.
And then there's the boot
This is where you have to remember the golden rule of seven-seat SUVs.
Seven people means less luggage space.
With all seven seats being used, the Tiggo 8 has just 117 litres of boot space. Fold the third row down and that increases to 494 litres, while maximum luggage capacity is quoted at up to 1,930 litres.
So if you've got seven people travelling with seven people's worth of luggage, you're going to have to plan carefully.
But with five seats in use, it's a much more practical family SUV.
And that's probably how most owners will use it most of the time.
What is it like to drive?
This isn't a car that has been designed to make you feel like you're driving a sports SUV.
And that's absolutely fine.
The Tiggo 8 is much more about comfort, ease and getting the family from A to B.
The electric motor gives it plenty of response when you pull away, and the hybrid system makes sense around town where you can take advantage of the electric power.
The steering is light, which makes manoeuvring a big seven-seat SUV around car parks and tight streets relatively easy.
But if you're expecting something that feels sporty through a set of bends, this probably isn't the car for you.
The emphasis here is very much on relaxed family motoring.
The plug-in hybrid system
This is arguably the star of the show.
Chery quotes up to 56 miles of electric-only driving, which is a useful amount of range for a plug-in hybrid.
And this is where a car like the Tiggo 8 can make a lot of sense for the right owner.
If you drive 20 or 30 miles a day and can charge at home, you could potentially do the majority of your weekday driving using electric power.
Then, when you want to head off on a longer journey, you've still got the petrol engine.
That's the big advantage of a PHEV.
You don't have to plan a long motorway journey around charging stops in the same way you would with a pure electric SUV.
Of course, the official MPG figure needs to be treated with caution.
Chery quotes an impressive WLTP figure, but as with every plug-in hybrid, your actual fuel consumption depends enormously on how often you charge the battery and how you use the car.
Living with the Tiggo 8
This is where our week with the car became really interesting.
Because when you're reviewing a car for an hour, it's easy to be impressed by a huge screen, a long equipment list or a clever hybrid system.
Living with it is different.
You start noticing the little things.
How easy is it to get the kids in?
Where do you put your shopping?
Can everyone see out?
Is it easy to park?
What happens when you don't have much battery left?
How intrusive are the driver-assistance systems?
How comfortable is it after a couple of hours?
And how quiet is it when you're simply driving around town?
These are the things that really matter when you're spending your own money.
The interior is one of the big surprises
Step inside the Tiggo 8 and it certainly doesn't feel like a stripped-back budget SUV.
There's a lot of technology, a large central infotainment screen and plenty of equipment.
Chery has clearly gone down the route of giving buyers a lot of car for their money.
That's something we've seen increasingly from Chinese manufacturers, and the Tiggo 8 is a very good example of it.
The cabin has a premium feel in places, and the amount of equipment available for the money is one of the reasons this car gets so much attention.
You also get features such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while higher-spec versions add even more equipment.
But there's a catch with all that technology
Like many modern cars, the Tiggo 8 puts a lot of functions into its screens.
That's great when you know where everything is.
But when you're trying to change something quickly while driving, physical buttons can sometimes be much easier.
This is one of those areas where technology doesn't automatically mean better.
It's something we looked at closely during our week with the car.
Visibility
For a big seven-seat SUV, visibility is obviously important.
You're sitting relatively high up, which gives you a good view over traffic and helps when you're manoeuvring.
The Tiggo 8 also benefits from its camera technology, which makes parking a considerably less stressful experience.
And when you've got a car this size, that's something you'll appreciate every single day.
What about the suspension?
This is another area where the Tiggo 8 shows that it is designed primarily as a family SUV.
The ride is generally focused on comfort, but there are occasions where the suspension doesn't feel quite as polished as some of the more established European competition.
That's particularly noticeable over certain surfaces and sharper bumps.
It's not something that makes the Tiggo 8 undriveable – far from it – but it is one of those areas where you can tell Chery is still learning what UK buyers expect from a family SUV.
Driver assistance – useful or annoying?
Modern cars come with an enormous number of driver-assistance systems.
And the Tiggo 8 is no exception.
You get a comprehensive collection of safety and assistance technology, but one of the things we looked at during our week was how these systems behave in everyday driving.
Because there's a difference between having lots of safety technology and having safety technology that works in a way that feels natural to the driver.
That's something worth trying for yourself on a proper test drive.
The big flaw
And then we found the flaw.
This is the bit that surprised us during our week with the Tiggo 8.
On paper, this car looks incredibly difficult to fault.
Seven seats.
Plug-in hybrid.
Electric driving.
Loads of equipment.
A big cabin.
A relatively low price.
But living with a car exposes things that you simply don't discover from a specification sheet.
We found an issue during our week that made us stop and think, because it's exactly the sort of thing that could be easy to overlook when you're buying the car.
It's one of the reasons we'd always recommend taking a proper test drive rather than simply looking at the numbers.
And it's something we go into in detail in our full Car Chat TV video.
So, would we buy one?
This is where the Tiggo 8 gets interesting.
Because despite the things we found, there is a lot to like.
The value proposition is extremely strong.
A seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV starting from £33,545 is difficult to ignore.
And when you look at the price of some of the established alternatives, the difference becomes even more obvious.
The Tiggo 8 gives families the combination of seven seats, hybrid technology, electric driving capability and a long equipment list without immediately pushing the price towards £40,000 or £50,000.
That's Chery's biggest weapon.
The Pros
✔ Seven seats as standard
Having seven seats gives the Tiggo 8 genuine family appeal.
✔ Plug-in hybrid power
The ability to drive electrically for up to 56 miles officially makes this much more than a conventional petrol SUV.
✔ Loads of equipment
Chery has clearly decided that buyers should get plenty of kit for their money.
✔ Comfortable family cruiser
It's much more interested in relaxed driving than pretending to be a sports SUV.
✔ Strong price
At £33,545 OTR, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is aggressively priced for a seven-seat PHEV.
The Cons
✘ Third-row boot space
With all seven seats in use, the 117-litre boot isn't exactly enormous.
✘ Some suspension imperfections
The ride isn't always as polished as the best established competitors.
✘ Lots of screen-based controls
Some functions could be easier to use with conventional physical controls.
✘ It's still a relatively new brand in the UK
Chery is building its UK presence, but buyers may understandably want to see how the brand develops over the longer term.
The Car Chat TV Verdict
So, after spending a week living with the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid, what do we think?
Well, it's certainly an interesting car.
In fact, it's one of those cars that makes you look at the established manufacturers and ask a fairly simple question:
Why am I paying so much more?
The Tiggo 8 gives you seven seats, a plug-in hybrid powertrain, electric driving capability, plenty of technology and a surprisingly well-equipped interior.
And it does all of that for a price that undercuts many of the obvious alternatives.
It isn't perfect.
There are areas where the driving experience could be more polished, some of the technology takes getting used to, and the seven-seat configuration comes with the usual compromise when it comes to boot space.
And, of course, there's the flaw we discovered during our week with it.
But here's the important thing.
The Chery Tiggo 8 doesn't need to be perfect to make you think twice about the alternatives.
It just needs to offer enough car for the money.
And it does.
⭐ Car Chat TV Score: 8/10
The Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is a hugely interesting family SUV and a serious reminder that the UK car market is changing quickly.
It's not the finished article, but for buyers who want seven seats, plug-in hybrid technology and lots of equipment without spending a fortune, it's definitely a car that deserves a look.
Would you buy a Chery Tiggo 8 over a more established seven-seat SUV? Let us know in the comments.
And if you want to see exactly what we found during our week with the car, check out our full Car Chat TV Living With It review.
