Test drive Chery Tiggo 5
Design, quality of fit, texture of materials in the cabin - are they definitely "Chinese"? The new product from Chery got very close to European and Korean classmates, but still it lacks something
Prince Albert II of Monaco unveils the Chery crossover in Monegasque colors. Only this car is called DR Evo5 Monte Carlo, and the Italian company DR Automobiles was engaged in its alteration. In Moscow, at this time, the snow turns into rain, and a big black SUV is trying to enter the car wash without a queue in front of the updated Chery Tiggo 5. He does not respect, but in vain.
The Tiggo 5 has every chance to change stereotypes about cheap Chinese knockoffs. Firstly, it is not cheap, and secondly, it is not a fake. Remove the nameplate - and few people will guess that this is a Chinese car. The crossover was first shown back in 2013 and belonged to the new Ambition Line, which heralded a new approach to car design. The Chinese from Chery sealed a laboratory for creating unsightly clones, and the contents of autoclaves with fetid homunculi were poured into the Yangtze. Instead, foreigners were hired: designers and engineers. The prototype of the Tiggo 5 was done by James Hope, who worked at Ford, Daimler Chrysler and General Motors. He later became the head of the joint stylist team. The list of Chery partners has been replenished with the eminent companies Bosch, Valeo, Johnson Controls and Autoliv.
The restyling of the Tiggo 5 was transferred back in 2015, but the crossover reached Russia only at the end of last year. The update has given him more ambition. The body was decorated with chrome details: wavy lines in the headlights, as on the Beta 5 prototype, moldings along the sidewalls, a bar between the lamps. The front bumper, which has opened the air intake wider, is highlighted with LED strips. The rear has flat tailpipes, almost like on supercars.
Chery's press materials try to convince the Tiggo 5 to look like a tiger with eagle eyes. In any case, the appearance of the "five" may seem like a revelation to some. Especially for those who remember the old Tiggo, artlessly copying the Toyota RAV4, and after restyling - also the Nissan Qashqai. And for those who haven't seen the new Tiggo 7 crossover, it shows just how far the Chinese automaker has come in design. This model, by the way, was recently spotted in Moscow, where it is being certified. Of course, in the exterior of the Tiggo 5, you can find direct quotes from other car brands. Like the third-generation Subaru Forester-styled wheel arches and Mitsubishi ASX headlights. In general, the Chinese crossover turned out to be quite independent.
The Tiggo 5 is not the only one that stands out from the range of compact crossovers. It is easily recognizable by its kurgoz silhouette. As if the sketch of the car was incorrectly scaled at the design stage and the picture was greatly stretched vertically. In length and especially in height, the Tiggo 5 surpasses some representatives of the off-road C-segment - 4506 and 1740 mm, respectively. Its long overhangs and short wheelbase - only 2610 mm - look out of date, as does the narrow track (1840 mm). James Hope argued that in the new reality of Chery, the word of the designer is more important than the word of the engineer, but stylists are unlikely to come up with such a rut. Rather, these are the features of the platform with the big name iAuto. The engineers themselves made the task more difficult - they taught the crossover to ride in several stages.
At the same time, the strange proportions make the Tiggo 5 more massive: it looks more like a boxy all-terrain vehicle rather than a squat passenger car crouched to the ground. The car, of course, does not have a frame. The modern monocoque body was developed with the participation of the German Benteler.
The climate control buttons are tightly pressed against each other, and instrument wells creep onto the screen of the on-board computer. There was no need to save space on the front panel - there was not even a trace of crampedness in the cabin. The front seats are set high, but even tall passengers will still have a decent headroom. Spacious and in the back row - there is a decent gap between the backs and knees, the ceiling is high. Miracles do not happen with such dimensions, so for the convenience of second-row passengers, the trunk had to be sacrificed. It turned out to be small - only 370 liters, like the B-class hatchbacks. The wheel arches are convex and the sill is high. But in the underground lies a full-size spare wheel, and the back of the rear seat, folding, does not form a step.
The interior makes a good impression, despite being made of hard and echoing plastic. And almost does not exude a chemical odor. Design, quality of fit, texture - everything is at a high level. No Asian fancy, no ergonomic oddities. Unless the pattern of carbon fiber inserts looks out of place, as is the case with any inexpensive and far from sports car. To the credit of the Tiggo 5 designers, it is unobtrusive.
The touchscreen display has grown from seven to eight inches and has lost almost all physical buttons, with the exception of the volume knob, which also houses the multimedia system power button. Multimedia now offers Cloudrive, an Android Auto analog that allows you to display your smartphone screen on your car screen. At first glance, the process is simple: just connect your mobile device to both Bluetooth and USB at the same time, and Cloudrive will install a special application on it. But, firstly, you need to enable the developer mode in your smartphone, and secondly, even in this case, the docking may not take place.
For example, the system did not work with the smartphone that came with the test car. Half an hour of wandering around the menu and juggling the cable was rewarded by Yandex.Navigator on the big screen. Basically, you can display anything you want on the display: Facebook feed, instant messengers, watch a video on Youtube. The main thing is not to be distracted by all this while driving. When enlarged, the picture will naturally lose its quality, but for the navigator it is not important. You will have to control the functions from your smartphone - through the touchscreen, the feedback works with tragic pauses and sometimes freezes tightly. The screen of the connected smartphone does not go out and drains the battery great - it will not work to charge it, you can only maintain the current level. In addition, when Cloudrive is activated, the radio does not work, only tracks in the memory of the mobile device are available.
Music, despite the announced speakers from Panasonic, sounds average, but it no longer needs to compete with the voice of the motor. The interior of the restyled crossover has become noticeably quieter: in Chery they talk about a noise reduction of 38 dB, and in press materials they write about "new technology". In fact, there is nothing new in it: porous materials, felt and an additional resonator at the inlet.
Under the hood is the same two-liter engine developed with the participation of the Austrian AVL. A fairly modern unit with phase shifters at the inlet and outlet develops 136 hp. and 180 Nm of torque. Not much in comparison with competitors' similar engines. And he has to carry a car weighing more than one and a half tons, and paired with a variator, on which we decide Sport has changed the Eco button. The dynamic characteristics of the car were not disclosed, but even without them it is clear that the character of the Tiggo 5 is calm.
The variator twitches slightly when changing modes and at low speeds, as if imitating the hitch of a conventional hydromechanical automatic machine, but it picks up speed smoothly, as befits a continuously variable transmission: first it cranks the motor, and then changes the gear ratio. Quite mournful overclocking can be varied by manual mode. It is interesting that the winding groove along which the lever walks is unusually bifurcated at the bottom. If you go to the left, you will change gears yourself, to the right, you will turn on the "lowered" mode, in which the variator keeps high engine speed.
The handling of the crossover has once again been improved - a logical effort appeared on the steering wheel with electric power assistance, tuned with the participation of Porsche engineers. But this is on a car with a variator, and versions with "mechanics" are still equipped with the same hydraulic booster. The track was widened by a couple of centimeters - for some reason Chery does not focus on this. The anti-roll bars have been made thicker, giving the Tiggo 5 a more confident and predictable cornering experience. The settings of the springs and shock absorbers have not fundamentally changed since Chery turned to rally driver Sergey Bakulin for advice. They allow you to fly along a country lane at high speed without fear of breakdowns - the power consumption is excellent. At the same time, on good asphalt, the crossover marks the slightest joints and cracks.
Tiggo 5 looks like a fighter: powerful plastic protection on the bottom, ground clearance of 190 millimeters. The high location of the air intake allows you to take fords up to 60 centimeters deep. Seeming brutality can play a cruel joke with the owner of the crossover. For a quick jerk, the capabilities of the Tiggo 5 are still enough, but the variator does not like long slipping in deep snow and as a result overheats. The stabilization system is not trained for off-road stunts and it is better to turn it off altogether. The Tiggo5 also lacks all-wheel drive, without which there is nothing to do on serious off-road.
The proportions, settings and equipment level of the Tiggo 5 lacks a bit of balance. It has a sunroof, but there is no more topical heated steering wheel and windshield, and the comfort of the rear seats is also lacking. The good geometry and body kit do not come with four-wheel drive. At the same time, the Tiggo 5 is different from the Chinese crossovers we are used to, and it is not ashamed to be in the company of European and Japanese competitors.
This is a case where a car can add value to a brand, not the other way around, be it Chery, Qoros, or exotic DR Automobiles. Nevertheless, it is not easy to offer a modern car to a “Chinese” price, especially given the current ruble exchange rate. A pre-styled Tiggo 5 in 2014 cost at least $ 8. And for this money it was possible to buy a Renault Duster with an “automatic”. Both crossovers now start at $ 572. And the most "packed" Tiggo 12 with a CVT, ESP, multimedia system, leather interior and side airbags will cost $ 129.
With the introduction of the Renault Kaptur and Hyundai Creta, the new Tiggo 5 has had an even harder time. However, it still offers better equipment and rear-row space comparable to the larger, more expensive crossovers.
| A type | Crossover | |
| Dimensions: length / width / height, mm | 4506 / 1841 / 1740 | |
| Wheelbase, mm | 2610 | |
| Ground clearance, mm | 190 | |
| Cargo space, l | 370-1000 | |
| Curb weight, kg | 1537 | |
| Gross vehicle weight, kg | 1910 | |
| engine's type | Gasoline atmospheric | |
| Working volume, cubic meters cm. | 1971 | |
| Max. power, h.p. (at rpm) | 136 / 5750 | |
| Max. cool. moment, Nm (at rpm) | 180 / 4300-4500 | |
| Drive type, transmission | Front, variator | |
| Max. speed km / h | No data | |
| Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h, s | No data | |
| Fuel consumption, l / 100 km | No data | |
| Price from, $. | 14 770 | |
The editors are grateful to the Khimki Group company and the administration of the Olympic Village Novogorsk for their help in organizing the filming.
