Mid-life updates or facelifts usually fall within a three to four timeframe after a car’s introduction, though in some cases, they are known to be applied a lot later.
However, as history has often shown, updates can result in a vehicle being improved on or made worse than before whether aesthetically or mechanically.
Not stopping
The rapid expansion of China’s automotive industry is well known to the point where updates often occur after less than a year after a product’s reveal, albeit mostly on the technological side.
South Africa is not immune to this as just over three years after its dramatic market return, Chery unveiled the facelift Tiggo 7 in two stages.
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The first arrived in June with the debut of the plug-in hybrid under the newly established CSH or Chery Super Hybrid system.
One month later, a complete restructuring of the Tiggo 7 range took place, involving the removal of certain trim levels, as well as revisions inside and out.
Now simply Tiggo 7
At the same time, Chery also opted to discontinue the “Pro” and “Pro Max” nomenclature, leaving the facelift simply called Tiggo 7 for the combustion models, and Tiggo 7 Plug-In Hybrid instead of CSH for the partial electrified variants.
Chery’s third best-selling model after the Tiggo 4 Cross and Tiggo Cross, a total of 3 949 Tiggo 7s have so far been sold this year, including the roll-out of the updated variants.
Now comprising five models, the line-up is topped by the Ultra grade of the plug-in hybrid, while on the combustion side, the newly named Legacy replaces the Executive version of the former Pro Max.
As part of the restructure, the Legacy sits above the renamed Prime and Prestige, but unlike the Pro Max, without the availability of all-wheel drive.
Unchanged up front from its “predecessor”, the routing of the 1.6 T-GDI engine’s 145kW/290Nm to the front wheels has come with a sizeable price drop despite the inclusion of the new aesthetics and reworked interior.
Priced at R549 900, versus the Pro Max AWD’s R609 900, the arrival of the Tiggo 7 Legacy for the weeklong stay bore evidence of the mentioned Chinese automotive progress, as it felt considerably better than before, albeit still with a few annoying carryovers.
Much more aggressive
Aesthetically, the frontal design applied to the Pro Max now applies to all combustion engined models, but restyled with a new bumper, wider faux side intakes with gloss black detailing, slightly slimmer LED headlights and a wider diamond “studded” chrome grille.
Still riding on 19-inch alloy wheels, now with an aero-inspired design, the rear facia has also been changed and no longer resembles that of the last-generation Dodge Charger.
Mirroring the Tiggo Cross, the bootlid itself has been altered, the bumper redesigned and the lights a now continues LED strip running across the entire width of the bootlid itself.
More substantial than the Pro Max, the chrome tipped fake exhaust outlets have also been eschewed, as has the horizonal reflectors, replaced by vertical ones integrated into the sides of the bumper.
Decked-out in a colour called Phantom Grey, the Tiggo 7, arguably, looks more stylish, aggressive and upmarket than before, though the opinions were split as to whether the Charger-inspired rear facia should have been kept or dropped.
Small but noteworthy changes
Stepping inside, the interior has undergone a number of smaller changes, the majority related to the infotainment system.
Still a 12.3-inch display, the same as the digital instrument cluster, Chery has simplified the layout with a new user interface that sees the multitude of icons and sub-menus now grouped into three main categories on the main homescreen.
At the same time, the virtual buttons on the side of the display move to a ribbon at the system’s base, which includes those for the climate control.
Still offsetting the latter are the touch-sensitive buttons laid against an imitation aluminium strip on the dashboard, though detailed settings still require going into the display itself.
The streamlining of the system has, however, seen the integrated satellite navigation being dropped, but not the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which both continue alongside an improved Hello Chery-activated voice command system.
The good and not so perfect
On the material front, the retention of the imitation carbon fibre on the dashboard and grained faux alloy decorative detailing on the floating centre console remains a topic of contempt for feeling anything but real against what is still an otherwise well put together and upmarket place to be.
In addition to soft plastics and leathers, the faux alloy inserts on the door feel better than portrayed, as is the still welcome presence of the physical buttons on the console.
Not so are the new touch-sensitive haptic switches on the steering wheel, which replace the previous physical buttons and rocker dials.
Compared to the Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD The Citizen ran as a long-termer for three months last year no creaks or cracks were present throughout the cabin during the seven-day stay.
That being said, the panoramic sunroof still shuddered with the roofblind open, while the driver’s seat still doesn’t drop all the way to the floor for taller folk.
Again, this results in the instrument cluster, which benefits from new graphics and a refreshed layout similar to the infotainment system, being partially obscured, even with the steering wheel set to its highest position.
The seats themselves are still as comfortable and supportive as before, and once again feature heating and ventilation functions as standard.
Elsewhere, the interior is still a pleasant place to be, with no ingress of the panoramic roof on front and rear headroom, and no lack of legroom in both cases.
On the specification front, the list of features hasn’t changed from the Pro Max, which means our original opinion hasn’t changed.
However, the new infotainment system means all of the safety systems can be turned off completely without automatically engaging each time the ignition is switched back on.
This includes the sensor of the irksome Driver Attention Alert system on top of the steering column, which proved the most annoying during the Tiggo 7 Pro Max AWD’s tenure.
Adding to its cabin space, the Tiggo 7’s practicality remains intact as opening the hands-free electric tailgate reveals a total capacity of 626-litres, which expands to 1 672-litres with the split rear seat folded.
The drive
For all its gains, the Tiggo 7’s biggest iteration continues to be driveability as a result of the typical Chinese vehicle issue of a badly calibrated accelerator combined with a mismatched transmission.
As before, this means the Tiggo 7 doesn’t respond immediately due to its electronics not calculating “immediately” when the throttle is depressed.
The result is an initial slow and lethargic response, which hampers the shifting of the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to the point where wheelspin can occur out of likely for frustration for the setup not responding as expected.
Once on the move, the matters smoothen out and becomes more liveable, though it is still disappointing that the matter hasn’t been addressed or, most likely, not viewed as a critical aspect that needed tweaking.
The same goes for the lack of paddle shifters and the sensitivity of the blocky gear lever, which feels too awkward to use in manual mode and requires a steady hand to avoid being knocked into the manual override position unintentionally.
Without all-wheel drive means the Tiggo 7’s drive mode selector now only offers three modes: Eco, Comfort and Sport.
Left in the middle setting for nearly all of the 676 km that passed underneath its wheels, spells in Sport mode were kept to a minimum as a result of the wheelspin tendency.
With due care, better throttle response and the gearbox shifting smoother becomes noticeable, but with an obvious strained engine note as the revs climb.
As before, on-road refinement is still good, as is ride quality, but not the lack of feel provided by the overly electric power steering.
In terms of the other lingering Chinese vehicle criticism, fuel consumption, the Tiggo 7 posted an indicated best of 7.5 L/100 km, 0.3 L/100 km off of Chery’s claim, and exactly the same figure up on the best recorded by the slightly heavier Pro Max AWD last year.
Conclusion
While no longer adhering to the description of our former long-termer as possibly the ideal SUV of its kind now that it no longer has all-wheel drive, the updated Chery Tiggo 7 counters with its dramatically reduced price as a means of providing a better value-for-money prospect.
Still not perfect as per the poor throttle calibration and transmission combination, plus some of the mentioned interior niggles, its appeal still remains, most likely even more despite the loss of all-wheel traction.
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